It had started lol. UTk fans thinking about Pastner

Quote:I'm admittedly not a basketball guy but are $$$s the only reason I've seen no mention of Josh Pastner?
Played and coached under Lute Olson . . and later Calipari.
.747 winning percentage in four seasons
Recruits Memphis!
He has struggled against rank teams but is only 36 or so years old.
Seems he has a lot of the qualities people are looking for and he's right in our side yard. I know Memphis is a basketball school but maybe he'd like to coach in a big conference against his mentor. Like I said though . . I'm not a basketball guy.

Also, what you said is wrong. They hired Bruce Pearl of a sweet 16 run and Cuonzo from Missouri State. Neither of those came from D2.

(04-19-2014 04:28 PM)Rob Wrote:  Also, what you said is wrong. They hired Bruce Pearl of a sweet 16 run and Cuonzo from Missouri State. Neither of those came from D2.

Quote:The big problem with basketball in the SEC is it's basically known as a two team conference. Sadly, when UTK goes after a coach, they have to draw them out of D2 or the equivalent. You have to be patient with those guys and, even so, you're rolling the dice on how good they'll be at a lower D1 level.

This is exactly why I never post on VN or argue with them over here.

Because you don't know how to frame your thoughts in a way that is both correct and makes any sense? You also called UT "lower tier D1". Why are you people making me defend UT?

(04-19-2014 04:36 PM)Rob Wrote:  Because you don't know how to frame your thoughts in a way that is both correct and makes any sense? You also called UT "lower tier D1". Why are you people making me defend UT?

You misunderstood. I just meant mens basketball. They have a good football history. Women's basketball is top notch.

Yeah, 4 16s and an 8 since 2000, including a #1 ranking, is lower tier D1. It's amazing some people here manage to continue to breathe.

(04-19-2014 04:43 PM)Rob Wrote:  Yeah, 4 16s and an 8 since 2000, including a #1 ranking, is lower tier D1. It's amazing some people here manage to continue to breathe.

Anomaly.

Breathing instructions are detailed on VN's front page.

Good one!

(04-19-2014 05:00 PM)Rob Wrote:  Good one!

No, seriously.

(04-19-2014 03:52 PM)Rob Wrote:  

(04-19-2014 03:47 PM)memphistiger89 Wrote:  

(04-19-2014 03:36 PM)Rob Wrote:  UT is a better job. Since 2000 they've been to 4 16's and an 8, also been ranked #1. Minnesota only made the tournament 4 times in that period, winning only 1 game. The SEC is a conference where perception is possibly ahead of reality and a good coach could come in and compete for a top 4 spot early on. Tubby found out how hard it is to compete in the Big 10. UT is better and it isn't all that close.

Well, if you are going to judge the history of a program by a small window of success, then that means Memphis football is a great job. We went to 4 bowls in a 5 year span not that long ago.

Tennessee plays in a really weak conference and they have an AD that tries to hire all their BB coaches on the cheap. Their basketball will always play second fiddle to their football. But other than that, it's a great job.

You can be biased if you want, I don't care. It's ridiculous to compare the last 15 years of the UT basketball program to a small run our football team had years ago. It's also dumb to compare making sweet 16s and elite 8s to making low tier bowl games. I told you how the weaker conference helps it be a better job but you ignored that. Minny plays in a conference where they would have to leapfrog Michigan, OSU, Sparty and Wisconsin. UT, as we saw this year, has a much smaller hurdle to climb to being in the top portion of their conference.

I didn't think I was being biased. I just don't understand how the few seasons of success Pearl had there all of a sudden makes Tennessee such a good job. They had never advanced to the Elite 8, EVER, until just a few seasons ago under Pearl. You have to go back to the Mears era of the 60's and 70's to find a period of sustained success. The have had good teams since the 70's but no sustained success.

I think we both agree that it would be easier to win the conference at Tennessee than at Minnesota but I don't think an easier conference makes it a better coaching job. I think most coaches would rather coach in the Big10 than in the SEC unless it was UK or Florida.

We will see how their coaching search goes but I suspect they will have a hard time finding a proven coach to take that job.

In this case I believe it does make it a better job. Would you rather be buried in the middle-lower tier of the Big Ten or in the top 4 of the SEC? It's still the SEC, it's not the Missouri Valley or something. By the way, 3 different coaches took UT to a 16 during this stretch, not just Pearl. I'm not saying that UT is a marquee job or anything, just that it's easily better than Minnesota. If we both agree that it's easier to win the conference at UT, what are we even arguing about? I think most coaches would pick a place where they can win and get paid.

(04-19-2014 05:19 PM)Rob Wrote:  In this case I believe it does make it a better job. Would you rather be buried in the middle-lower tier of the Big Ten or in the top 4 of the SEC? It's still the SEC, it's not the Missouri Valley or something. By the way, 3 different coaches took UT to a 16 during this stretch, not just Pearl. I'm not saying that UT is a marquee job or anything, just that it's easily better than Minnesota. If we both agree that it's easier to win the conference at UT, what are we even arguing about? I think most coaches would pick a place where they can win and get paid.

If I was a D1 coach, I would rather coach in the Big10, even at Minnesota than any SEC school outside of UK or Florida. Maybe that's just me. I will be surprised if Pitino leaves Minnesota for Tennessee. I could be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Then you'd likely be fired in a few years and looking for work. Case in point, Tubby gets canned and Cuonzo gets to willingly move on to another job. Coaches look at jobs like jobs, not how fans look at them.

Right now the TN job is not great, primarily because the cupboard is bare, the NCAA run the team made this past year, and the delusional fanbase. What coach in their right mind wants to walk into that giant cluster.

(04-19-2014 05:36 PM)Rob Wrote:  Then you'd likely be fired in a few years and looking for work. Case in point, Tubby gets canned and Cuonzo gets to willingly move on to another job. Coaches look at jobs like jobs, not how fans look at them.

Wasn't Martin's winning percentage in his 3 years at Tennessee similar to Pearl's first 3 years? And yet the fans wanted to run him out of town on a rail. Great job security.

Martin "willingly" moved to a lesser job because he knew he would be taking a step back next year with the loss of personnel and the fans would be screaming for his job again if he didn't make the tournament. I know all fan bases can be delusional, ours included, but Tennessee has taken it to a whole new level. I think a coach would have to be out of work or looking to step up from a lesser conference to take the UT job. Again, we will see how it plays out.

If UTK fans would be a little more comfortable with a tier 3 level in D1, I think it would be easier for them to get an up and coming coach. They need to accept the fact that they're going to be a stepping stone for a coach. No coach will be comfortable being judged against tier 1 programs while trying to drag an anchor over the finish line. The question is why is UTK so delusional about basketball when the other SEC teams (not named UK or Florida) aren't so much?

SMH

(04-19-2014 08:53 PM)HoopDreams Wrote:  SMH

Sigh. Wish I knew what that meant. My 14 year old niece won't tell me.

(04-19-2014 08:53 PM)HoopDreams Wrote:  SMH

I'm done feeding the troll.

People are saying it will be michial White. UTk fans already expecting him to compete from day 1. Poor guy