Assessing the progress on and off the court
November 26. 1978
Mac Court is shaking. The 10,000-plus fans
jammed into the ancient structure are clapping,
stamping, screaming their approval as the Oregon men's
basketball team beats San Diego State 75-64 in coach Jim
Haney's first game as the Oregon mentor.
February 27, 1982
Mac Court is half empty Bitter Pacific 10 Conference rival
UCLA is coasting to an 88-66 breeze over the Ducks. The fans,
the same 6,473 who loudly booed when Haney was introduced,
sing a chorus of "Good-bye Haney" as the final seconds tick
down on the Oregon's last home game
Rr-I-I-I-N-G The secretary reaches for the phone
"Good morning, Oregon basketball No, coach
Haney isn't in right now No, I really don't know
when he's going to be in
The pace is slow in the Oregon basketball office this March
morning
Assistant coach Stu Jackson strolls in wearing beat-up
sneakers, leans on the arm of a couch, and chats with the
secretary Senior forward John Greig wanders in, filling the
doorway with his 6-feet-7-inch frame Head coach Jim Haney is
at Mahlon Sweet Airport, putting a recruit onto an airplane
It won’t be until 10 a m that Haney arrives, sitting down
behind his cleared-off desk, crossing his arms calmly as he
leans back and waits for the first question
“I can’t sit
here and
defend
everything I
do”
It's not the type of atmosphere you would expect in the
office of an athletic program under fire
Jim Haney and the Oregon basketball program is the
current popular target of abuse from tans and foes alike in
Eugene these days
Where once only cheers and screams echoed through
venerable Mac Court, now boos rain down from the upper
balconies whenever Haney's name is mentioned Irate letters
fill newspaper columns calling for Haney's removal
The groundswell of opinion climaxed this season with the
dismissal of popular guard Barry Walker for comments about
Haney appearing in newspapers following the lopsided loss to
Oregon State Only a public vote of confidence from his boss.
Oregon athletic director Rick Bay. stemmed the tide two weeks
ago
For Haney, now 33, the criticism is not unexpected 'Your
program will always be open to criticism he says "You have
to be willing to accept that Everybody is going to judge some
way ”
Haney thinks his players are holding up well under the
strain They haven't allowed the criticism to become a reason
for not winning, and that s important.'' he says "When people
start criticizing a coach, its an easy out for a player It's too easy
for them to say ‘Hey, I’m not playing well because this guy can't
coach’.’’
The uproar this season has 'hardened me to the realities
of life," says Haney. “If people want to go into Mac Court and
carry on, then they have to live with it Someday, some one is
going to criticize them Those that judge the most are also the
ones who are judged the most."
"But I can’t sit here and defend everything I do."
In terms of only win-loss records, Haney's reign has seen
the decline and fall of Oregon basketball. But in reestablishing
human values to the game, people can only respect what
Haney is trying to do with the Oregon basketball program. Both
must be considered in an assessment of the Haney Era.
The facts about the last four years of Oregon basketball
are not on Haney's side
• In terms of straight wins and losses, the Ducks
show no improvement from Haney's first season (9-16) to this
year (12-15).
• In the 71 -year history of the Oregon basketball program,
only one coach has gone his first four years without a winning
season - Haney In comparison, Howard Hobson, Oregon
coach from 1935-44, won the NCAA championship his fourth
year
• Haney inherited a 16-11 ballclubthe year he began, and
styled it into a 12-15 team
• Haney s career coaching percentage of 432 ranks the
lowest of any Duck coach since Hugo Bezdek's mark of 265 in
1917
• Of Haney 's 44 wins at the Oregon helm, most have been
against such creampuffs as St Martin's College, Nicholls State
and Humboldt State Moreover, the Ducks have never beaten
UCLA in his tenure, and have defeated Oregon State just once
• Where there were once waiting lists to buy season
tickets, now there are empty seats as home attendance slipped
to 5989 per game this season
(For more statistics on the Haney Era, see story below)
In this day and age. those are numbers which announce
the imminent departure of a head coach But Bay, still in his first
year heading the Duck athletic program, is giving Haney time
"Coach Haney is going to be back here next year,''
declares Bay "Coach Haney has the kind of personal
characteristics and sense of values that we need very badly in
college alhletics I think when you have someone like that, then
you go the extra mile with him "
"I think we should go another year, see where we stand a
year from now, and make a decision at that point ”
But Bay's patience could wear thin if another losing
season occurs tor the 1982-83 Duck squad. "It’s not enough to
just have a high sense of values and the kind of character I like
to see dealing with our athletes," says Bay "In the final
analysis, you have to win Certainly we have to win more than
we lose, that's a given But where we go beyond that I'm not
sure I'm not anxious to put number values on it, I want to see
“If people
want to go
into Mac
Court and
^ carry ont they
have to live
with it”
how the season unfolds ”
Haney is the first to admit that winning is going to be the
ultimate judge of his tenure at Oregon "Winning and losing is
so important in our society,” he says “It’s just difficult to give
people philosophical things that are happening and expect
them to hang their hats on it."
Winning is also important to Oregon’s financial picture
The team is expected to produce $100,000 less than predicted
in ticket sales “This team has to win back the fans,” says Bay.
"I don’t care how much promoting you do who coaches the
team, what players we ll have The only thing that will bring the
fans back is to win ”
But for all the statistics damning his Oregon career, Jim
Haney is unwilling to compromise. He remains deter
mined to keep the Oregon program his program And
to make his program work.
"I’ve got to do it my way,” he says “It’s may not be the
fastest way, but I’ve got to do it my way because I’ve got to be
able to face myself.”
Haney's statements come not out of sfajbborness, but
more with confidence His belief in a coaching philosophy that
equates basketball prowess with academic achievement and
personal growth, and intertwined with compassion is unsha
kable
“I’m all for winning, but there’s a right way to win,” says
Haney. "To win and not win the right way is to have a program
that I don’t believe in, where say the kids are abusing their
academics or they’re creepy people."
In his own defense, Haney can only point out subjective
areas where the Ducks are showing progress
• "The most obvious progress is the level of talent,” says
Haney. "The players in this program right now have talent
For the record: the Haney chronicle
1978-79
Season record — 12-15 Pac-10
record — 7-11
"The reason I’m nol as concerned
with whining as most people is that I'm
! not afraid to lose — winning is not the
beginning and It is not the end.”
Avg. Mac Court attendence — 10,000
(91 consecutive sellouts)
1979-80
Season record — 10-17 Pac-10 record
- 5-13
Dan Hartshorne, Paul Bain dis
missed from squad in December.
Three players — Rich Davis, Phil
Bamer, and Stu Lyon — leave squad
before season.
Quotes Irom Haney:
‘T think we're a better basketball
team, but now we're going to have to go
out and prove it."
Avg. Mac Court attendence — 8,963
1980-81
Season record — 13-14 Pac-10 record
-6-12
Ray Whiting, '79-80 MVP misses
most of the season with personal
problems.
Quotes from Haney:
“I’m getting a little tired of being the
one who losses.'*
Avg. Mac Court attendance — 9,102
1981-82
Season record — 9-16 Pac-10 record —
4-12
Barry Walker dismissed from squad
in mid-season.
Quotes from Haney:
“This team has just enough talent to
get me fired.”
Avg. Mac Court attendance — 6989
They don’t know how to win yet, and a lot of them haven’t
logged a lot of experience, but they have ability as athletes."
• Haney maintains that the image of Oregon basketball
has improved considerably from the Dick Harter/Kamikaze
era. "People in Mac Court may not be happy with the way we
play, but athletes around the West Coast like what we stand for
and represent.”
• In keeping with his philosophy, Haney believes he’s
elevated the caliber of student/athletes in the program. "To
sustain a quality progam, you need to bring kids who are good
students.”
• "The general attitude of our kids,” Haney says is another
area of improvement. “They’re growing as human beings and
becoming more responsible.”
But the progress Haney maintains his Ducks are making is
difficult to detect by frustrated, win-starved Oregon fans.
‘ Unless you’re going to be there and live it, day in and day out,
you can’t know," Haney admits.
"Their record doesn't indicate it, but we’re a better team
now than we were six weeks ago.
“And yet we’re not winning, and that’s what people want to
see.”
Rick Bay would like nothing more than to have the best
of both worlds “The best thing we could ever have is
to have a guy like coach Haney to also be successful,”
he says. “That kind of person is the ultimate role model in
college athletics.
“You give that person the opportunity to develop their
coaching technique, fundamentals and philosophies. The only
question is, how long do we wait."
Oregon fans are tired of waiting. The boo-birds who flock
to Mac Court have made up their minds about Jim Haney and
his program, and the Oregon coach is aware of it
“Everybody is going to judge some way. You can either
look at us and say, "Hey, I like the way they play, they’re young,
I can understand why they're not winning, but they’re playing
hard.’
“Or they can say, "Hey, I want to win. I don't care what
they’re doing, how many points they’re scoring, they're not
winning and I want to win.’
“Each person's got to make that decision. I can’t make it
for them. ”
Story by Steve Spatz
Photos by Bob Baker
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