Donovan is already a no, presser already released. Calipari is an unlikely from the rumors I have heard media wise. Izzo is pretty ingrained in MSU... but out of the three I would make him the best bet. Honestly, I don't think any of those guys are coming to UK.
really...i have the complete opposite. it wouldnt surprise me at all that donovan ends up at UK..might have released the presser just to calm the masses. give it a week and who knows. i dont see anyway izzo leaves msu..imo hes the long shot, just been there to long. i also think he wants to be able to hand pick his successor. for some reason i think it will be ford
A lot of coaches deny that they are interested in a job and then end up their anyway. Who do you think will come since you don't think any of those will come?
The problem is they already went through this recently and had to settle for Gillispie. The climate hasn't changed, its the same pool, and now UK's stock has dropped slightly. Its still an elite program but...
HAYLE NAW! I loved Gil, but Turg is a freaking badass.. I love the way he coaches, his old school mentality, and the fact that he gets our guys to play what I consider "intelligent" basketball 90% of the time (the 10% when we're playing dumbass basketball could be seen in the UConn game).. I just hope that he stays in aggieland for a while and continue to improve our basketball program.. as for Billy, any thoughts of where he might land?
I think Izzo would be crazy to leave MSU for the environment at UK. I could see Billy Donovan going there.
You really think Turgeon is better? How so? And don't give me his recruiting classes are good, Gillispies' were good and Turgeon's have yet to even start a game. Other than offensive philosophy BCG has him beat in every category, and personally I don't like Turgeon's strict motion philosophy. I don't like any coach with strict offensive principles. Oh and the AD brought in BCG. Offered BCG more money to stay. So thats not a great reason for me not to be AD. I can think of some better reasons.
The problem is that Billy G has NO offensive philosophy period. He can coach defense and it works to a point (if he can get prima-donna recruits to buy into his methods). BCG did a lot for Texas A&M and I'll always appreciate that, but I think at this point I'll take Turge.
I think BCG was the better fit for the Aggies. Just as how he doesn't seem to fit in to the UK persona, I thought he had the right personality and mindframe to click with the the A&M crowd. No matter now- he went the vagabond route, and burned his bridges in College Station, while Turgeon seems to be settling in a little bit more. I'm just hoping that Rick Barnes doesn't leave us in Austin for greener pastures elsewhere.
I respect your stance. Turge has really done a hell of a lot. More than I would have thought. But the wizardry I have seen BCG pull I will never forget. I mean Acie Law was near player of the year, you think Law could have done that without BCG? I don't.
Turge is a better person. That is one of the reasons that Kentucky got rid of BCG. He is, by all written accounts, a crappy human being. That is part of the equation. As for strict basketball purposes, Turge got as much out of the team this year as anybody could have. The team under Turge still plays good defense. I really don't believe that BCG would have had a much better defensive result this year. Turge is a much better offensive coach. Davis and Elonu really blossomed offensively this year. I doubt that they would have had the same results under BCG.
I definitely agree with that ... at that time in our program there was no one better for A&M than BCG, no doubt in my mind. With the state our program is in now, I think Turge is better for us, but don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be unhappy having a BCG right now either, and I think he will be very successful somewhere else. Someone is going to get very lucky that Kentucky gave up on him so fast. If he could have had 4 years of his own recruits that bought into his way of doing things, he would have been amazing there. Right now he just had prima-donna recruits that were used to the easy life under Tubby, and their crying and moaning was infectious to the whole team. Antoine Wright said something about how if they hadn't gone 0-16 the year before, they might not have been hungry enough to buy into BCG's way of doing things.
I think you are dead wrong on this. When your coach tells your best perimeter scorer, aka Jodie Meeks, not to shoot in a key matchup that's shooting yourself in the foot. Regardless of who recruited him. There were only six kids on that roster this season who ever had Tubby as a coach, Jodie Meeks, Michael Porter, Perry Stevenson, Ramon Harris, the lone senior Jared Carter and the ball boy Dwight Perry (who I call the Ollie of the team.. he wasn't ever going to play, he's there because he loves the school and the program). Everyone else Billy brought in. 19 kids on the roster and none of the ones who complained during the season were ones that played for Tubby. The ones that did whine and complain were the recruits he brought in... Liggins, Stewart, Galloway. So don't place the blame on leftovers from Tubby. This was about more than him winning and losing, it was about his philosophy and attitude angering everyone around him. From his staff to the kids parents to the administration and he lost the team. There are going to be a lot of stories come out about the things he did in the next couple of weeks. Not the least of which was brow beat a kid to come back from micro fracture surgery 5 months too soon in Derrick Jasper and ultimately that decision caused a domino effect into the problems this season. His program philosophy of breaking them down and building them back up I believe works, when he makes the right decisions on the court. He didn't do that nearly often enough. I honestly thought they would give him two more years, but from the different stories I am hearing, if he had stayed both Patrick and Jodie would be gone. So he would have been back where he started and the program would have struggled even more. This is of course just my take on the whole thing. I will be interested to hear when media is finally allowed to speak about some of the things going on to see what really was going on. I am most especially interested in the "walk back to the hotel" story and the in multiple time out huddle "Jodie stop shooting" stories.
Thats why I love him so much haha. He doesn't care about anyone else, and doesn't even take good care of himself. He is all about what happens on the court. So much so its to a fault. Gotta love that commitment. Whats the "walk to the hotel" story? Sounds interesting. If BCG tells Meeks to stop shooting he is probably right. Also when a Gillispie team wins by 8 pts thats the equivalent of a 15pt victory, the way he manages games thats just how it is.
wasnt that part of the appeal to fans for bringing him in. isnt he single with no kids, so he was able to just be involved with bball all day everyday? i find part of the whole PR business and how its used to fire coaches a little silly. i say a little because i can understand, fans/boosters/alumni would like a little love for their support. on the other hand though, coaches are brought in to coach, having to deal with a bunch of alumni events and banquets and what not can be overwhelming and take away from what the coach was hired to do.
Which is why UK just wasn't the right fit. The boosters want to feel close to the heat, they want recognition, blah blah blah. I mean its not a lot to ask, elite level programs want a charismatic guy that the boosters and alumni can get all cushy with. BCG didn't even want to waste time signing the contract. Hahaha. I want him at Arizona but they wont let him do his dirty work there either. Poor guy. Hes one of the best at the game but cant play it like they want him to.