How about something other than the coaching search? Only 1 BT team in the sweet 16......some seemingly bad work on the coaches' part. It does seem that the BT doesn't have as many big-time coaches as years ago. Look at 2010-11--Then we were talking about a younger Izzo, Matta, Tubby, Painter, Beilein, Bo Ryan, Weber & Carmody in an 11 coach league. Of course, we had Crean and Iowa had Fran so they weren't all big-time.
Anyway, considering their past work in the BT, their skill as recruiters, development of players, recruiting et al....how would you rate the current BT coaches (I'm including CAM & Patino) as of the close of this year? I'm not talking about who had the better coaching year, necessarily. I'd see it as follows:
1. Izzo--Looking a little ragged, getting an old man vibe, but still has a couple of years in him.
2. Howard--Has really been outstanding this year. How much of his freshness will wear off as he goes along? Will he transition as a veteran coach?
3. Painter--Hard to argue now that he's not a really good regular season coach, and a really poor tourney coach, at least when there are expectations. Always seems to make a bad decision when the chips are down.
4. Holtmann--Did a good job this year and has the program moving in the right direction. Did have a deer in the headlights look in the NCAA.
5. Gard--Hard guy to rank. The first couple of years it seemed like he was coasting on Bo Ryan's work. Then last year they were amazing. They come back this year, and never really got it going.
6. Pikiell--Has done a great job. Just doesn't 'feel' like a big-time coach, ultimately.
7. Holberg--He's been scrambling for two years. Probably hurt more by lack of fans than any other BT coach. They actually played better at the end of the year, and didn't quit when they were winless. They will be much improved next year when McGowen's 5* brother comes.
8. Turgeon--This seems like his best coaching year. Had no true center & no true pg. He got a lot out of those two 6'8" transfers. And he can recruit.
9. Underwood--For being such a tough guy, he never really seemed to bring mental & physical toughness to the team this year. He really needed to get a lot more out of Frazier. Does seem like a recruiter though.
10. Collins--NW wasn't too talented, but seemingly underachieved overall. He seems capable enough but the results aren't great.
11. Pitino--Another guy who scrambled around, one step ahead of the posse. I think they had it going fairly well until the injuries to Robbins & Gabe K. killed them. Was not able to keep Carr under control.
12. Fran--You have to give him credit for developing Garza & recruiting Weiskamp. And for having a nice offensive system. But so weak physically. So little effort on D. A much more dour Crean.
13. CAM
14. Farry--Outperformed CAM this year, but only prior HC experience was a failure.
Overall, a pretty damn weak collection, for all the $ floating around in this league. Only Izzo is a sure-fire big-time coach at this point.
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Anyway, considering their past work in the BT, their skill as recruiters, development of players, recruiting et al....how would you rate the current BT coaches (I'm including CAM & Patino) as of the close of this year? I'm not talking about who had the better coaching year, necessarily. I'd see it as follows:
1. Izzo--Looking a little ragged, getting an old man vibe, but still has a couple of years in him.
2. Howard--Has really been outstanding this year. How much of his freshness will wear off as he goes along? Will he transition as a veteran coach?
3. Painter--Hard to argue now that he's not a really good regular season coach, and a really poor tourney coach, at least when there are expectations. Always seems to make a bad decision when the chips are down.
4. Holtmann--Did a good job this year and has the program moving in the right direction. Did have a deer in the headlights look in the NCAA.
5. Gard--Hard guy to rank. The first couple of years it seemed like he was coasting on Bo Ryan's work. Then last year they were amazing. They come back this year, and never really got it going.
6. Pikiell--Has done a great job. Just doesn't 'feel' like a big-time coach, ultimately.
7. Holberg--He's been scrambling for two years. Probably hurt more by lack of fans than any other BT coach. They actually played better at the end of the year, and didn't quit when they were winless. They will be much improved next year when McGowen's 5* brother comes.
8. Turgeon--This seems like his best coaching year. Had no true center & no true pg. He got a lot out of those two 6'8" transfers. And he can recruit.
9. Underwood--For being such a tough guy, he never really seemed to bring mental & physical toughness to the team this year. He really needed to get a lot more out of Frazier. Does seem like a recruiter though.
10. Collins--NW wasn't too talented, but seemingly underachieved overall. He seems capable enough but the results aren't great.
11. Pitino--Another guy who scrambled around, one step ahead of the posse. I think they had it going fairly well until the injuries to Robbins & Gabe K. killed them. Was not able to keep Carr under control.
12. Fran--You have to give him credit for developing Garza & recruiting Weiskamp. And for having a nice offensive system. But so weak physically. So little effort on D. A much more dour Crean.
13. CAM
14. Farry--Outperformed CAM this year, but only prior HC experience was a failure.
Overall, a pretty damn weak collection, for all the $ floating around in this league. Only Izzo is a sure-fire big-time coach at this point.
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