Id say McRae and Dennis won't be back next season then....

Well he may be a great person, but what has he really accomplished as a coach to say he is great...

McRae seems like the obvious one but who else?

Dennis came back to the club after major injury, rest of the Tigers guys you would think wouldn't have stuck around if they didn't like the team.

Kickert maybe annoyed at playing out of position?

Barlow looks disinterested especially when his shot isn't dropping but I think that's just his standard demeanour?

LOL at wortho making those statements about others

Ennis went through this around about the same time last year.

DMac, in the event you pass by this forum and read this thread may I suggest you consider the following as your Sydney pre-game address:

"Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy s..t we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very p..d off.

All the best, Big Ads

Not sure where you have been anonymous. Wortho certainly has stood up and can speak on the subject. It's a shame that in recent times many players have checked out and with injuries limiting what Dmac can do compounding his inability to coach well at that level.
It's a shame that the clubs bullshit ' we are scoring the world' for this season is indeed bullshit.

It's an interesting conundrum.
I don't fault MU for giving DMac a go. It's been his ambition, and he was seen as being ready. Giving him almost a full season to see what he could achieve was a reasonable risk, and if the wheels hadn't fallen off we wouldn't be having this conversation. Obviously he has failed.
But that raises the question; two coaches have failed to "get their message across." Do you blame the coaches, the players, or management?

Its really united own doing this mess.

They didn't go and get a coach like they said & then left the "interim" tag out there which doesn't strengthen D-Macs position with the players as they know he is getting replaced.

so if players did doubt D-Mac's ability they basically have management justification for doing so as management won't replace him or back him so he is a lame duck.

A number of players talk a lot of behind the scenes with each other and to the owners/management about coaches and other players...it has become a real political hot bed of gossip around the club rather than just playing ball.

Its a pity that Wortho learned nothing from his days at the Kings about team harmony. Since then, its either been "play for a team that buys a title" or a "ruin a team with a lack of professionalism."

Interesting topic and some obvious passion for MU, both positive and negative.

As always we all have an opinion, some informed and some otherwise.

My opinion would be that DMac has done enough to earn another season in the role.

Apart from recycling past NBL coaches there isn't really anyone that is better suited to the role. He has been involved in the league for a long time and has built some solid experience.

Sometimes getting the promotion from asst coach to head coach is a hard process. As mentioned, there may be some players who aren't showing the respect etc...

I think MU should look at their recruiting from this past season and make the necessary adjustments moving forward.

I would suggest that bringing in older guys with a sense of entitlement may not be the way to go. Especially when there already appeared to be a bit of a culture issue at Melbourne.

They need to bring in some guys who are willing to sacrifice for the team first and not look at ageing guys with a resume...

I know it's only a very small window into the now absurdly named "united" team but watching Dmac in timeouts are cringe worthy most of the time. If his practices and game planning are any reflection then it doesn't appear he's a nbl head coach. As an assistant coach he would be ideal, mentoring and hands on teaching with his playing days as a reference. Just look at Bill Russell, arguably the greatest winner in team sport but was terrible as a head coach. The only way he could've won was if he was coaching himself, it seems similarly the same for Dmac.
Melbourne spent a lot of money on players but when Anstey quit the should have moved onto someone with experience whether it be nbl, seabl, etc. It was like giving the keys to the Mercedes to an L plater.
The only thing I think Dmac can do now is bench the guys he sees as not wanting to be there and run with the youngsters. Who cares if they get blown out, at least he can send a message.
And go back to being the Tigers, United is a joke in name as well as on the court.

There are guys that make good oncourt leaders, and decent assistants, but just can't handle the top job. (Mike Ellis springs to mind.)
Maybe DMac is in that category? Thing is, a few weeks back I would have been saying he'd done enough to earn the job fulltime, but unfortunately this implosion damages his chances.
On the face of it, there seems to be a good case to be made for pinning this on the playing group, but can the coach escape the splashback?

So much irony in a team called United being so divided.

"2) Let the fans, owners and sponsors know he has lost control of the team by publicly admitting it. "

Once again if they did nothing then the team continues the way it is going and he loses his job anyway. This is a last effort by McDonald and they players to change their ways. If they do change they could get the last playoff spot and DMac might retain his job.

Makes me wonder if Chris Anstey could see this coming.

Yea i think Melb would have been better keeping Morrison as an import instead of one of Barlow or Kickert, both are stretch 4s and on likely expensive too.

Using a import spot on Morrison means McRae probably doesnt get picked up, but a Dennis, Tomlinson, Corletto back court could have been solid and had less chemistry issues.

I feel sorry for Dmac, but this is part of coaching i guess, and yea id say Anstey saw it coming big time, hence why he got out.

They should've got a Centre instead of Barlow. Still wonder why Anstey left? I wonder who put the roster together too?

"On Wortho, I think he's had a good season so not really sure why there's so much criticism of him. "

He's played well but his attitude stinks.

I don't think the disharmony in the playing group is a result of the coaching. They have got too many egos in the squad, and while a top coach will get those egos to work together, the players have got a wealth of experience and they should be able to sort it out themselves.

The co-captains are not leaders.

It's just this group of guys. Lots of attitude problems / lazy players / no leaders. I called it before the season that they would fail due to chemistry issues.

Can't believe this crap. I have seen DMac coach in the flesh at various levels for years, including NBL. Trust me, it is NOT the coach.

Look at it this way..

* 30% of squad injured (bad luck)
* Lack of club support (bad management)
* Inherited a poorly composed roster (bad club)

Look at the assist numbers and the bench production from both Hawks games, in addition to FG% across both. Honestly, there are better PG playing SEABL

An average 10 assists and 41% FG% against the Hawks in 2 games, and then tell me he hasn't inherited a sub-par squad.

How was he going to succeed ?

So please think before you make unwarranted comments about someone's ability, especially if that person's ability exceeds your own.

Unless you think you can do better, in which case send your resume to Melb Utd Basketball Club Inc. Att: Vince, Level 13 10 Queens Road Melbourne 3004

Learning year for DMac. Top Dog is different to 2nd Top Dog. Each step up the coaching ladder you should be learning, well, should never stop learning because once you do stop learning you are finished as a coach or even player!
Melb. Utd need to give him their full support for the next season and stay Utd. It has to start at the very top.
The question is, and i know it's their money and so on, but do they have the balls?

United are about as divided as a team can be.
Seen a couple of training sessions and they are a professional disgrace. They lack leadership in every way. Co Captains need to agree on how they will handle the group, especially off the court. It can really work. Blaze and Kings had no problems. Think Perth also had success.

"Blaze....had no problems."

Not so sure about that.

"tell me he hasn't inherited a sub-par squad"

He hasn't inherited a sub-par squad, in fact he has a very talented squad. It's not talent that's the issue, it's the fact when things get hard they don't work as a team.