Coaching Staff Change

[CAHUSKY]

I don't know.. Maybe I'm wrong..but I would take my chances with Ray all day long.

Not it that contest. You take "Slice" all day and twice on Sunday.

 

[joober jones]

Not it that contest. You take "Slice" all day and twice on Sunday.

I'd like some Orange Slice.

 

[The Funster]

Clyde is a very very good big mans coach, at 6'3"-6'4". My point is you don't need a "big" to coach the bigs. Clyde played big when he was at Pitt even at his size because he was a wide strong guy who used brains and brawn to rebound and score. He is welcome on my staff anytime but not so much for UConn's due to his errors in judgement off the court. I'm willing to forgive LOL

Clyde knew how to play with a guy on his hip. Too bad he liked to play with a rented lady on his lap.

 

[Chief00]

Clyde certainly played a price for his mistake. What it will come down to is how badly UConn wants to win - in my opinion the APR pendulum has swung too far in the academics direction. We need some flexibility!

 

[Gurleyman]

Not it that contest. You take "Slice" all day and twice on Sunday.

Slice got some good NYC kids at Pitt, none of whom made a sniff in the NBA, and then was an epic failure at Manhattan - pretty much the only guy who ever couldn't win there (look - took them 2 years to get good again after he left). Now he got a golden parachute into a place where a cute puppy could probably land a couple recruits.

I still think Slice, Ace Recruiter is largely a myth. Had he landed at Rutgers as an assistant and did something there, I'd tip my cap.

 

[gtcam]

abdelmessiih, yup. i remember him dapping up KO and hugging him before and after the game last year. Although Not sure what he can do recruiting wise when he cant lure players because of in conference schedule chalked full of ranked teams ( kansas,texas, etc)

Seems to me the guy has recruited some pretty rugged athletic players to ISU and the last time I checked - they are fairly competitive in their conference

 

[CAHUSKY]

Slice got some good NYC kids at Pitt, none of whom made a sniff in the NBA, and then was an epic failure at Manhattan - pretty much the only guy who ever couldn't win there (look - took them 2 years to get good again after he left). Now he got a golden parachute into a place where a cute puppy could probably land a couple recruits.

I still think Slice, Ace Recruiter is largely a myth. Had he landed at Rutgers as an assistant and did something there, I'd tip my cap.

His classes at Pitt were fantastic. Who cares what they did in the NBA? his classes at KY are legendary. Hard to imagine you wouldn't want him on your staff. Couldn't care less about his head coaching record. Which Uconn recruiter would you rate more highly?

 

[mauconnfan]

I don't know.. Maybe I'm wrong..but I would take my chances with Ray all day long.

Tony Saprano has cast a wide network though so tough to contend with.

 

[TheRogers]

They need a big man coach who had a post game in college and doesn't like easy women. LOL!

You just eliminated 99.99999% of eligible male coaches as well as a good percentage of the female coaches.....

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Clyde is a very very good big mans coach, at 6'3"-6'4". My point is you don't need a "big" to coach the bigs. Clyde played big when he was at Pitt even at his size because he was a wide strong guy who used brains and brawn to rebound and score. He is welcome on my staff anytime but not so much for UConn's due to his errors in judgement off the court. I'm willing to forgive LOL

I personally believe that Vaughn, needing to learn how to score in the low post at his height (and he was exceptional as a college player) is what made him as good of a big man coach as he was.

I don't believe that someone needs to be at any specific minimum height to be a big man coach but I do believe he needs to have played that position at some level (there is no reason to believe a former D-3 6'3" PF couldn't be a quality teacher of post play) in order to fully understand the position.

As far as adding another former Husky, while the names thrown around sound nice, the only one who should receive any consideration at the moment is Donyell as he not only has played the position we are most lacking on the coaching staff, he has paid quite a bit of dues in the coaching profession.

 

[David 76]

I agree. The guy who had to work his butt off is a better coach because everything didn't come naturally. Naturally gifted players often don't know what to teach. It is instinctual for them.

 

[mauconnfan]

I agree. The guy who had to work his butt off is a better coach because everything didn't come naturally. Naturally gifted players often don't know what to teach. It is instinctual for them.

Exactly and the UConn staff is full of them. A HC who worked his tail off, an assistant who was over his head at UConn and transferred to Northeastern, an assistant who was undersized at the PG and overshadowed by hs AA center in HS, a PG who turned himself into he best defensive guard in college basketball by his Sr year and a undersized PF who outworked his opponents consistently in his career. In all reality they have a great staff, question is can they recruit. I have no doubt that amongst them they can teach a big how to play as well as most so this is not the issue we have.

 

[storrsroars]

Not it that contest. You take "Slice" all day and twice on Sunday.

Maybe I've been asleep all season, but was surprised to see Slice with UK. I know there was a huge outcry when Pitt/Dixon cut ties. He was responsible for every decent NYC recruit Pitt got for Howland and for Dixon's early years. The guy has a way about him - might've been too sketchy for Dixon though.

 

[Walker11]

Maybe I've been asleep all season, but was surprised to see Slice with UK. I know there was a huge outcry when Pitt/Dixon cut ties. He was responsible for every decent NYC recruit Pitt got for Howland and for Dixon's early years. The guy has a way about him - might've been too sketchy for Dixon though.

Slice left Pitt for UK. The ties were cut by him.

 

[mauconnfan]

Slice left Pitt for UK.

Guessing Slice and WWW are tight.

 

[ctchamps]

I personally believe that Vaughn, needing to learn how to score in the low post at his height (and he was exceptional as a college player) is what made him as good of a big man coach as he was.

I don't believe that someone needs to be at any specific minimum height to be a big man coach but I do believe he needs to have played that position at some level (there is no reason to believe a former D-3 6'3" PF couldn't be a quality teacher of post play) in order to fully understand the position.

As far as adding another former Husky, while the names thrown around sound nice, the only one who should receive any consideration at the moment is Donyell as he not only has played the position we are most lacking on the coaching staff, he has paid quite a bit of dues in the coaching profession.

You just described KFree. And KO although the analogy is about hard working guys who lacked the physical attributes and not coaching the 4's and 5's.

 

[Gurleyman]

His classes at Pitt were fantastic. Who cares what they did in the NBA? his classes at KY are legendary. Hard to imagine you wouldn't want him on your staff. Couldn't care less about his head coaching record. Which Uconn recruiter would you rate more highly?

Rohrssen has been at Kentucky for 10 months. Hired in May of 2014. His first class hasn't even arrived yet. Thank you for proving my point that his reputation is largely a myth.

At Pitt, his biggest success was Chris Taft. DeJuan Blair wasn't his - he came in after. Neither was Krauser - he came in before. There were some good players, yes - Young, Fields. But Pitt didn't drop off when he left.

http://www.cardiachill.com/2014/4/1...-recruiting-pittsburgh-panthers-john-calipari

 

[Walker11]

Rohrssen has been at Kentucky for 10 months. Hired in May of 2014. His first class hasn't even arrived yet. Thank you for proving my point that his reputation is largely a myth.

At Pitt, his biggest success was Chris Taft. DeJuan Blair wasn't his - he came in after. Neither was Krauser - he came in before. There were some good players, yes - Young, Fields. But Pitt didn't drop off when he left.

http://www.cardiachill.com/2014/4/1...-recruiting-pittsburgh-panthers-john-calipari

I can think of three 5 stars ... The big from Oriakhi's class, Adams, and the Canadian lefty that transferred to UNLV. We're any of them Slice recruits?

 

[aceboon]

Can't cosign this post enough, dude gets a catchy nickname, wears a zoot suit so that he can complete the college coach caricature, and immediately the hype for him begins. Forget about what his guys did in the NBA, besides Taft who had a quick layover in the NBA, none of those guys even made it to that level. I've long thought that guy was overrated, we had guys on here in the fall crediting him with landing Briscoe when it was obvious Briscoe was enamored with the aura around Calipari and UK. Calipari could've took a random pizza shop owner from Brooklyn and put him in a pinstripe suit and Briscoe wouldn't have known the difference.

Slice got some good NYC kids at Pitt, none of whom made a sniff in the NBA, and then was an epic failure at Manhattan - pretty much the only guy who ever couldn't win there (look - took them 2 years to get good again after he left). Now he got a golden parachute into a place where a cute puppy could probably land a couple recruits.

I still think Slice, Ace Recruiter is largely a myth. Had he landed at Rutgers as an assistant and did something there, I'd tip my cap.

 

[aceboon]

I can think of three 5 stars ... The big from Oriakhi's class, Adams, and the Canadian lefty that transferred to UNLV. We're any of them Slice recruits?

Tom Herrion recruited Dante Taylor and Steven Adams, although Dixon played with Adams's brothers in New Zeland so that played a big part in him committing to Pitt(Herrion also landed Ashton Gibbs and Lamar Patterson among others) and Pat Skerry landed Khem Birch. Skerry leaving for Towson is a big reason why Birch eventually transferred.

 

[Gurleyman]

I can think of three 5 stars ... The big from Oriakhi's class, Adams, and the Canadian lefty that transferred to UNLV. We're any of them Slice recruits?

No - he was gone in early 2006 to take the Manhattan job, where he drove that program into the ground.

I mean, he's obviously not a bad recruiter or Kentucky wouldn't have opened the purse strings for him. It certainly wasn't for his keen X's and O's basketball mind. But people think he was the guy behind all the great Pitt players in the 00s, even though Pitt first became good with some great players before he became an assistant (Knight, Page, Troutman, Krauser) and they got great players after he left (Blair, Gibbs, Adams). His big gets were Taft, Fields and Young - certainly good players, but we aren't talking about guys who transformed the basketball landscape.

 

[msgordon]

okafors a brilliant, cultured, well-rounded dude who will probably retire with a net worth of about 100 million dollars. i imagine grinding the college recruiting trail after he hangs it up from the league would literally be his worst nightmare. as for burrell, id wager 75%+ of high school-aged uconn fans couldnt even identify him, let alone kids from around the country.




other than that, i like your idea

 

[Palatine]

okafors a brilliant, cultured, well-rounded dude who will probably retire with a net worth of about 100 million dollars. i imagine grinding the college recruiting trail after he hangs it up from the league would literally be his worst nightmare. as for burrell, id wager 75%+ of high school-aged uconn fans couldnt even identify him, let alone kids from around the country. other than that, i like your idea

Burrell will walk in the door as the only athlete in history that was a first round draft pick in MLB and the NBA. He earned an NBA championship ring playing with Michael Jordan on the Bulls.

I think he might carry a little credibility.

 

[caw]

Burrell will walk in the door as the only athlete in history that was a first round draft pick in MLB and the NBA. He earned an NBA championship ring playing with Michael Jordan on the Bulls.

I think he might carry a little credibility.

That and some time as an assistant at Quinnipiac. Not sure he's quite ready for the jump, but he would probably be better than Ray or Okafor.

Similar with Donyell. At least both of them have been assistants for a few years.

 

[MattMang23]

Haven't read through the whole thread, and maybe it was mentioned before the post above mine, but if we are clammoring for a bigs coach, in the family, with a bit of coaching experience, isn't Donyell Marshall a no-brainer?

 

[CAHUSKY]

Rohrssen has been at Kentucky for 10 months. Hired in May of 2014. His first class hasn't even arrived yet. Thank you for proving my point that his reputation is largely a myth.

At Pitt, his biggest success was Chris Taft. DeJuan Blair wasn't his - he came in after. Neither was Krauser - he came in before. There were some good players, yes - Young, Fields. But Pitt didn't drop off when he left.

http://www.cardiachill.com/2014/4/1...-recruiting-pittsburgh-panthers-john-calipari

Youre right, I erroneously gave him credit for this years KY class. That said, his Pitt classes were strong and I don't really care that those players, for the most part, didn't have good NBA careers. What we need, in my opinion, is someone who is respected/liked on the AAU circuit with long standing relationships. That's exactly what our staff, in my opinion, is lacking. I love Ray but he isn't what we need and that's what my initial post was referring to.

 

[Gurleyman]

Youre right, I erroneously gave him credit for this years KY class. That said, his Pitt classes were strong and I don't really care that those players, for the most part, didn't have good NBA careers. What we need, in my opinion, is someone who is respected/liked on the AAU circuit with long standing relationships. That's exactly what our staff, in my opinion, is lacking. I love Ray but he isn't what we need and that's what my initial post was referring to.

I actually mostly agree with you. Just sometimes laugh at how Rohrssen got some sort of super guru reputation over Chris Taft and Levance Fields. And then couldn't do squat in a head role in the city where he has all his contacts. But he obviously brings a lot to the table or he wouldn't be where he's at.

On our staff, I still kinda feel like the assistants have done the early leg work to get us on the final lists of a lot of players. We haven't closed enough, which is really what the head coach generally does (only under extreme circumstances - dad or former coach on staff - is an assistant really the reason a player makes his choice). Some of our misses can be excused away (got in late, kid wanted to stay local, trying to recruit wings behind Hamilton, Ollie was still an unproven coach, etc.) and I'm sure some of it is on us (Ali/Jackson was a costly waste of time, felt like we backed off Jones to go harder for Mack and ended up with neither since UNLV stayed on Jones and VCU had a one year head start for Mack). Hobbs is supposed to be the primary guy who has been the primary recruiter for better recruits than Slice ever got (Rip, KEA, Caron) but maybe he's not quite the aggressive go-getter he was in his first go round, I don't know. If we feel he's lost his touch, maybe he can take over for Howie soon and we can find someone knee deep in the AAU world. But maybe Hobbs has been doing all you can legitimately expect from an assistant and we need to just figure out a better closing strategy - (and have a better sense of our own needs before it's too late).

 

[Kitaman]

Haven't read through the whole thread, and maybe it was mentioned before the post above mine, but if we are clammoring for a bigs coach, in the family, with a bit of coaching experience, isn't Donyell Marshall a no-brainer?

Vin Baker is available and is currently coaching: Linky

BTW: He seems to have gotten his act together.