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The John Groce effect.....

Harpo Marxist

Hall of Famer
Sep 11, 2002
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This guy was the hottest coach around (MAC) and Ilinois snatched him up. He took them to the NCAA tournament his first year...then..finished five years at .558. Not unlike Archie. He is now back in the MAC. This is the kryptonite that concerns me.

I am leery of these up and comers on the hot board. They look great on paper....just like Crean and Archie did. If I had to choose....I would go with the known commodity like Matta...but it seems we are looking at former players and up and comers. Could be wrong.
 
No announcement so far in spite of all of the “insider sources”.
Maybe time to not respond to them?
Not specifically this thread but the multitude of others.
 
The biggest thing a coach can do is get complete buy-in from the players. Obviously obtaining talent and even more so players willing to work their tail off to improve are the next two most important factors.........but being willing to buy-in to what the coach is telling you is the #1 formula for success. I like an established coach more too but if we get a former player and they can inject that motivation and willingness to put their trust in the coach, I think anyone that knows the game can understand we will be successful. It may take someone from IU who understands the passion of this fanbase and can instill that into his team as a positive and not a negative.

I can't guarantee that is the answer but lord knows we have tried quite a bit of other things. I am all in no matter who the coach is.
 
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or, Jim could coach and recruit Leroy as a 3.. After all...he was "at least" 6 ft 4....

Big Jim Walker (the King of 42nd Street) at the 4, LeRoy Brown at the 3. Although both are suspect in their toughness—Slim took down Jim without too much trouble and old LeRoy was bested by the wife of a jealous man.
 
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This guy was the hottest coach around (MAC) and Ilinois snatched him up. He took them to the NCAA tournament his first year...then..finished five years at .558. Not unlike Archie. He is now back in the MAC. This is the kryptonite that concerns me.

I am leery of these up and comers on the hot board. They look great on paper....just like Crean and Archie did. If I had to choose....I would go with the known commodity like Matta...but it seems we are looking at former players and up and comers. Could be wrong.
The majority of high major coaches were up and comers before getting their current gigs. Croce isn't a great example of anything. There were Bombs before him and the were Homeruns before him. Same is true after him.

Most coaches hired from other high majors weren't there for very long. That presents a different set of risks. Oats and Musselman for example didn't build their rosters. So while they aren't really up and comers, per se. They have risks.

Risk in everything. Personally, I think hiring someone without a lot of high major recruiting experience is a huge risk. Woodson and Calbert would be a no for me for that reason.

I would be eyeing someone with experience building depth and complete rosters with success doing it. A style that can compete at the P6 level. Good with in game coaching and philosophy. Beard is a great fit but probably not to be. Altman would fit. Drew eh....
It's all a crap shoot anyway...
 
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