BGleas

See, Mike White! :)

Mike was great the last 2 minutes. Getting his guys defensively to foul the proper guys, etc., and put Barry in a perfect spot when he entered the game for a quick hit layup off a Wiscky free throw.

I feel like any conversation with the BOT would go something like... BOT 1: Alford is the only guy to unite the fan base. He's an "IU Guy" we need him. BOT 2: Don't forget Woodson, he's coached in the NBA BOT 3: Mack isn't bad. See what he did to Sean Miller. Go get him Fred! Glass: Hey guys, I got Billy Donovan, he's ready to sign BOT 2: Wait, what? BOT 3: You serious, Clark? BOT 1: Did you all hear about that Pierre Pierce case while Alford was at Iowa? I hate that guy! BOT 1, 2 & 3: Billy it is!

I have no idea if that post is true or not. For discussion sake let's say it is. You don't fly to Bloomington to say no, fly there to dot the i's and cross the t's in preparation for an announcement.

I'm going to assume you haven't watched the NBA in a long time? The isolation, one-on-one style of the 90's went away a long time ago. The 2015 Spurs (the year the won the title?) were an amazing offensive basketball team. If someone asked me to teach them offensive basketball I would just put in a tape of what they did to the Heat in the Finals. Have you watched the Warriors, Celtics, etc.? Also, NBA defenses are infinitely more sophisticated than college defenses. This mantra that NBA team don't play defense has always been a fallacy. Wrong thread, but figured we'd need some help to get to 1,000 pages...

After Stevens and Donovan, I'm fully aboard the Mike White bandwagon. Everything I've heard about him is that many expect him to be one of the next coaching stars, he's got good defensive teams, and I love his sideline demeanor. I hate to throw this out there, but I feel like he's got that Brad Stevens cool, calm and confidence in him.

Same logic, yes. But the context is different. In college you can finish 5th and then have a top 10 recruiting class coming and win the conference the next year. Whereas in the NBA Kevin Durant is an all-time great and you simply can't replace that, especially at a place like OKC. The fix is a great deal longer in the NBA.

I think it's been pretty well established that these firms are brought in after the candidates are established. They do things like background checks, drawing up/negotiating the contracts, allowing for anonymity so denials can be made publicly, etc.

I don't think the manager would know if the head coach was fielding offers from another school in the middle of a tournament run.

You don't think former players have agendas? Dakich has been openly lobbying for Alford on SportsCenter and everywhere else. Maybe have one former player on a committee or something, but Glass shouldn't be letting them really influence his decision making process here. Its the same reason a GM shouldn't let their players have input in coaching/trades/draft picks.

Disagree. Former players should be honored and involved (invited to speak, attend practice, camps, functions and game, and be around), should not be involved in hiring decisions. Too many agendas, etc.

I know you've been pushing White. I hate to be reactionary over one game, but I have read some on White before, and then seeing this performance, I think he's one of the next great coaches in college basketball.

Then he must be a PHENOMINAL coach to have all this success as a piss poor recruiter. Imagine what he could do with IU's resources?

Yeah, nobody is arguing for Marshall over Donovan.

In 19 years of coaching Marshall has finished below 2nd in his conference 3 times. Two of those were his first two years at WSU as he was building that program, Three times in 19 years. That's insane at any level.

Marshall is infinitely more proven than White or Holtman and it's not even close, and he's just as proven as Bennett if not more. How has Marshall not won with X's and O's?

I don't get it either. I guess some think he's on the older side, or the Canada thing? If can't imagine anyone not supporting his coaching. Like you, I don't think he's on the Donovan/Stephens level, but he's as good as anyone else we're discussing after that.

30+ wins four out of the last five years, and at least one win in the NCAA Tournament four years in a row. Add all of that to his conference titles (regular season and conference), the guy is a great coach. I don't know how he'd recruit at IU, but he is a great coach.

Bennett was an assistant for Ryan for a couple seasons before joining his father at Washington St. Bennett was also brought to Wisconsin by his father, so it's not like he's Ryan's "guy". Gard was Ryan's longest tenured assistant, having coached with him for 23 years. Seems Gard's appointment has nothing to do with any referendum on Bennett.

Yeah, that was a pretty weak denial.

Heard a stat during their game today that Bennett's UVA teams are something like 96-6 when they score 70+ points in a game. Imagine winning games with defense. His offenses are often ranked really high in efficiency, so it's more of a pace issue, not how good they actually are on offense.

Any guesses on where Cuonzo bolts for 2 years from now? Has he ever been through a full recruiting cycle?

I can't fathom Crean coming back, but if he does, if I'm the AD part of a return is a complete sweep of his staff. You absolutely can not come back with the status quo. I hate to scapegoat the assistants, but you just can't bring this full staff back in tact, you have to at least give the optics that change has been attempted. Again, maybe not entirely fair, but some change has to occur.

How is Marshall just a little better than Crean? The guy has won 30 games 4 of the last 5 seasons and has, I believe, 20 conference championships (when you combine regular season and tournament). I think Crean has 3. The guys is a winner. If people don't like his age or his temper, I completely get that and have questions myself (Marshall isn't my #1 or even #2 choice), but from a purely coaching standpoint the guy is one of the top coaches in the country.

Yeah, on my list I have Marshall right there in tier 2 with Bennett and S. Miller. Obviously Stevens and Donovan are tier 1, but Marshall is right there with those other guys. I might have him 3rd in terms of Bennett, S. Miller and Marshall, but he's right there with them IMO.