A week ago, we were probably in our lowest point that I could remember in a long, long time.
The new coach hadn't been picked, we were just dealing with the hysteria of losing a coach that took us to 3 straight NCAA's and we had seen our recruiting class go from somewhere in the top 10 to not even worth discussing. When we did get a coach (the one we really wanted wouldn't come), few were happy if any. The quote that seemed most fitting was "These are the times that try men's souls." In a week, we got to meet the new Coach and frankly some of us (me included) are feeling a whole lot better about the choice. This coach is no nonsense and has a lot of traits in him that I liked about Tim Floyd. We sit in the best city in the world for recruiting. Just check the draft and see where these kids are coming from. Pete Caroll had the philosophy of taking care of business locally and then going out and cherry picking the other parts of the states. It was just reverse of what schools like Arizona and others were doing to us. It worked for Football and it was starting to work in Basketball. The Program was looking great even with the adversity of Ryan's death. I will always remember the class job that TF and the University did dealing with the tragedy.
OK, so here we sit with a defensive minded coach that has had the reputation of rebuilding. In his words, he doesn't have to rebuild. We sit with Lewis, Stepheson, Washington, Simmons, Vucevic and Johnson as the core. Some say that these kids (except Lewis) didn't play a lot of minutes. Well any of you that saw Washington, Simmons, Johnson, Cunningham and Vucevic play, you know that these kids can bring it if they get the chance. When you have a DeMar and Taj and Daniel, they will get the majority of the minutes, but the new kids can play people, they can play. In the Pac-10 Tourney, Marcus Simmons was in another dimension in defense. TF said that he thought that Nicola was going to be one of the best players in the Pac-10. We are in pretty fair shape in my opinion; we will not be in the bottom 4 this season and the cupboard is not bear. Add to this another good performance in the NBA draft, we beat UCLA again for the higher draft pick and we get two in the first round (again).
So it comes down to the NCAA cloud that's hanging around that those who wish the program ill are using against us to scare away recruits and try to sow discontent. It's working so far, especially with the help of our local sports people (I didn't like the Times before and I sure as hell hope Plaske takes a job in Boston). The Bush thing doesn't concern me as much as most. It has been going on for 3+ years and it involved his step father more than him. The only concern I would have is "Institutional". The Guillory thing is more concerning because it's directly related to the basketball program and the institutional thing is the center piece. I really doubt whether the payment for Mayo has any credibility at all (my opinion). So should have we kept a better eye on these agent people. Obviously in 20-20 hindsight, we should, but the question is what will be the NCAA's position and if they do take one what will be the consequences. Here is where the speculation gets going. My opinion (once again) is that we don't have a lot of boosters handing kids cash nor did we give these kids cush jobs making a ton of cash for doing nothing. These have gotten programs in trouble. I believe AZ is dealing with a camp or something that the NCAA had an issue with and but I think the penalty is not that severe. Memphis is dealing with cheating on SATs and the NCAA moved quickly on that one. My guess is that we are not going to be facing the most severe penalties. We shall see. Our only hope is that they can finish up this investigation so that we can get on with our program. Nevertheless, I feel a lot better writing this on Saturday morning than I did last week.
Fight On
Fast Frank
The new coach hadn't been picked, we were just dealing with the hysteria of losing a coach that took us to 3 straight NCAA's and we had seen our recruiting class go from somewhere in the top 10 to not even worth discussing. When we did get a coach (the one we really wanted wouldn't come), few were happy if any. The quote that seemed most fitting was "These are the times that try men's souls." In a week, we got to meet the new Coach and frankly some of us (me included) are feeling a whole lot better about the choice. This coach is no nonsense and has a lot of traits in him that I liked about Tim Floyd. We sit in the best city in the world for recruiting. Just check the draft and see where these kids are coming from. Pete Caroll had the philosophy of taking care of business locally and then going out and cherry picking the other parts of the states. It was just reverse of what schools like Arizona and others were doing to us. It worked for Football and it was starting to work in Basketball. The Program was looking great even with the adversity of Ryan's death. I will always remember the class job that TF and the University did dealing with the tragedy.
OK, so here we sit with a defensive minded coach that has had the reputation of rebuilding. In his words, he doesn't have to rebuild. We sit with Lewis, Stepheson, Washington, Simmons, Vucevic and Johnson as the core. Some say that these kids (except Lewis) didn't play a lot of minutes. Well any of you that saw Washington, Simmons, Johnson, Cunningham and Vucevic play, you know that these kids can bring it if they get the chance. When you have a DeMar and Taj and Daniel, they will get the majority of the minutes, but the new kids can play people, they can play. In the Pac-10 Tourney, Marcus Simmons was in another dimension in defense. TF said that he thought that Nicola was going to be one of the best players in the Pac-10. We are in pretty fair shape in my opinion; we will not be in the bottom 4 this season and the cupboard is not bear. Add to this another good performance in the NBA draft, we beat UCLA again for the higher draft pick and we get two in the first round (again).
So it comes down to the NCAA cloud that's hanging around that those who wish the program ill are using against us to scare away recruits and try to sow discontent. It's working so far, especially with the help of our local sports people (I didn't like the Times before and I sure as hell hope Plaske takes a job in Boston). The Bush thing doesn't concern me as much as most. It has been going on for 3+ years and it involved his step father more than him. The only concern I would have is "Institutional". The Guillory thing is more concerning because it's directly related to the basketball program and the institutional thing is the center piece. I really doubt whether the payment for Mayo has any credibility at all (my opinion). So should have we kept a better eye on these agent people. Obviously in 20-20 hindsight, we should, but the question is what will be the NCAA's position and if they do take one what will be the consequences. Here is where the speculation gets going. My opinion (once again) is that we don't have a lot of boosters handing kids cash nor did we give these kids cush jobs making a ton of cash for doing nothing. These have gotten programs in trouble. I believe AZ is dealing with a camp or something that the NCAA had an issue with and but I think the penalty is not that severe. Memphis is dealing with cheating on SATs and the NCAA moved quickly on that one. My guess is that we are not going to be facing the most severe penalties. We shall see. Our only hope is that they can finish up this investigation so that we can get on with our program. Nevertheless, I feel a lot better writing this on Saturday morning than I did last week.
Fight On
Fast Frank
