In a season in which a team underperforms, it doesn’t matter if Gregg Popovich, Phil Jackson or even John McDougal is the head coach, partial blame always gets placed on the team’s leader and decision-maker.
The NIU men’s basketball team underperformed this season, especially once it entered Mid-American Conference play. In a season that began with the team going 12-6 in its first 18 games, the team has gone 3-10 to end the regular season and have a 15-16 overall record and 7-11 in conference, good enough for the ninth seed in the MAC Tournament in which they lost to Eastern Michigan University 72-69 Monday, which exemplified the disappointing season.