Is Cooley Worst Coach in BE??

[nelsonmuntz]

1) Hurley - winning the NC gets him top billing.

2) Holloway - He has done as much with as little as any coach in the country. He has a roster with one guy that can actually shoot (Dawes), a center he found in the discount rack (Bediako) and a bunch of tweener 1990's street ballers (everyone else). Richmond and Addae-Wusu are terrible from outside (23.5% and 27.4%) and that is with teams not even defending them on the 3 point line. They can't hit wide open 3's. The team also doesn't have a point guard. And while the team's defensive scheme and fundamentals are pretty good, they aren't a lock down defense this season. Seton Hall does one thing well, take it to the hole, and that should be hard to do given that everyone knows they are going to do it. This team should suck, and yet it is going to finish 4th in the Big East. Holloway has done an amazing job this season, and I would not object if Holloway won BE COY. He might cut down the nets in April some year once he is running a big time program.

3) Smart - put together a good team quickly in Milwaukee, but feels like he is treading water a bit this season. We will see how they do in March.

4) McDermott - Building a national program in Omaha is no small feet, so McDermott gets props for that. And Creighton's "A Game" is as good as any team's in the country. Their "C Game" shows up a little too often though.

5) English - Providence could have nose dived when Hopkins got hurt, and yet they are still in the mix for an NCAA Tournament bid. And they do it without all the drama queen nonsense of the Cooley era. Good job by the new coach.

6) Miller - He is a great game coach, but he gets dinged a little for roster construction this year. Freemantle is a big with foot problems who has played a lot of minutes early in his career. That situation is not going to improve, and Miller should have found another forward in the transfer portal to protect him in case Freemantle's injury was serious or Hunter got hurt. Providence, Butler and Seton Hall found quality bigs in the transfer portal, and Xavier struck out.

7) Pitino - He took a college rotisserie team and has coached them into the tournament, so I will give him credit for that. I wouldn't say he has had a great year though.

gap

8) Matta - I feel like he has been mailing it in since he has come out of retirement. Put together a few mid-20's low major players that could score, and Butler was fun to watch this season, but this team has a long way to go to be actually competitive, and he is going to have to rebuild much of the team again this offseason. Also, he looks like death warmed over on the bench.

9) Cooley - he has always been an overrated coach that people think is great but is really just mediocre. Whiffed in the Transfer Portal despite being at a program that has resources. This season should be unacceptable if I am Georgetown's AD.

10) Neptune - I could tell this guy was not a big time head coach by the middle of last year. He reminds me so much of Lappas in that he seems to know his stuff, but is just small time. Not a winner. Villanova should cut him loose at the end of the season. This is not going to get better.

11) Depaul - It will be interesting to see what the administration does in the offseason. I think there is a meaningful shot Bobby Hurley takes this job.

 

[runner11]

This season has caused me to reconsider my Cooley opinion. There is no excuse to be this bad with the portal. Plenty of programs have flipped their roster towards respectability in one off-season.

 

[husky429]

I think English would be a much better coach right now if his best player hadn't been lost for the season. Definitely a "could have been" season for the friars.

Either way, Hopkins wasn't his recruit. When he starts bringing in his own talent, he'll start making his case.

 

[Huskybass]

Cooley took Providence to the tournament 8 of his last 10 seasons there if there was the Covid canceled tournament. Providence missed the previous 7 tournaments before Cooley got there and hadn't won a tournament game in 14 seasons before he got there.

The Cooley is a terrible coach because Providence has no success thing this board does is beyond stupid.

Would you want a Head Coach who has won 3 total NCAA Tournament games in 18 seasons as a Head Coach? I didn't think k so.

 

[superjohn]

Would you want a Head Coach who has won 3 total NCAA Tournament games in 18 seasons as a Head Coach? I didn't think k so.

At Providence? Yes

Going to the tournament constantly is the goal for a program like Providence.

 

[banshee]

I think English would be a much better coach right now if his best player hadn't been lost for the season. Definitely a "could have been" season for the friars.

What games have you been watching? Hopkins was at best their 3 best player and it wasn't even close.

 

[HooperScooper]

Pitino is #1

Depends what you're ranking. Scumbag and cheat? I'll agree with you then.

 

[August_West]

I don't understand the disrespect for Cooley, I think he's a very good coach who gets the most out of his players. This year, he's playing the hand he was dealt.

Until now, he's never been at a school whose name alone has any drawing power. In a couple years, he's going to have that program competing.

He's not a very good coach. Never has been.
And I promise you there are 9 other coaches in the BigEast who could scratch out at least one league win with that Georgetown roster other than beating DePaul. I would bet my IRA and 401k on it. Just 1 league win.

 

[August_West]

Cooley took Providence to the tournament 8 of his last 10 seasons there if there was the Covid canceled tournament. Providence missed the previous 7 tournaments before Cooley got there and hadn't won a tournament game in 14 seasons before he got there.

The Cooley is a terrible coach because Providence has no success thing this board does is beyond stupid.

Cooley's hiring coincided with the conference realignment. That benefitted Providence getting set up for some success as much as Cooley did at the time. He did get some momentum going there subsequent to that which sure you can credit him for. But he was at his ceiling and is now way far on the other side of the hill. He wont ever have any success at Georgetown close to what their actual expectations (and pay!) for him are.

 

[SellersElbow]

Georgetown has fallen badly over the start of this century, but it has the potential to get even worse.

They currently share a downtown arena with the Wizards and Capitals. The owner of those teams is planning to move them to Virginia. If that happens investment around the arena will completely dry up. Crime (already an issue) will worsen and bar and restaurant options will further disappear.

Unless Georgetown improves markedly before then, I don't see how they will even manage to draw the paltry attendance they currently get. They need a coach who can turn the program around ASAP. The first season from Cooley has not been promising.

 

[Waquoit]

I think Cooley can coach. And that he has a Top 20 recruiting class coming shows he might be able to bring in some players. If he gets them in the Top 25 in a couple of years I would think G'town would consider it money well spent.

 

[superjohn]

Georgetown has fallen badly over the start of this century, but it has the potential to get even worse.

They currently share a downtown arena with the Wizards and Capitals. The owner of those teams is planning to move them to Virginia. If that happens investment around the arena will completely dry up. Crime (already an issue) will worsen and bar and restaurant options will further disappear.

Unless Georgetown improves markedly before then, I don't see how they will even manage to draw the paltry attendance they currently get. They need a coach who can turn the program around ASAP. The first season from Cooley has not been promising.

If the DC pro teams were to move it would mean Georgetown would get a brand new pro arena to play in that's 20 minutes away from campus instead of the older pro arena they currently play in that's 15 minutes from campus. It sounds like Virginia lawmakers won't fund the project anyways.

 

[Huskybass]

At Providence? Yes

Going to the tournament constantly is the goal for a program like Providence.

And doing nothing whatsoever once they get there, ever. No thanks.

 

[gtcam]

Pitino is overrated on an overall career basis in the pros as well as his later NCAA years. He has done less with more. He should have won more at Kentucky. His Louisville teams were formidable but lost games they had no reason to lose. He was great at BU and UMess but was bitten by bad characters but then again, he was the boss. IMO

 

[superjohn]

And doing nothing whatsoever once they get there, ever. No thanks.

You have a much higher opinion of Providence basketball than I do.

 

[Matt1010]

You have a much higher opinion of Providence basketball than I do.

Seriously, it's almost like single elimination tournaments have extreme variance and counting his 5 seasons at Fairfield makes no sense. Prior to last season Hurley had 2 tournament wins in 12 seasons as a HC.

 

[Sibeerian]

What games have you been watching? Hopkins was at best their 3 best player and it wasn't even close.

Might look that way now after others have risen up in his absence, but you can find assessments like this when he went down. This was borzello from espn:

>

Hopkins, a 6-foot-7 junior, has been No. 23 Providence's best player since transferring to the Friars from Kentucky in the spring of 2022. He averaged 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season, earning first-team All-Big East accolades and leading Providence to the NCAA tournament.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I tried breaking the coaches into tiers. It is hard for me to compare a coach like Holloway or English with a Pitino or Matta (or Cooley for that matter). I ordered the coaches by where I would rank them in their tier

Tier I - Coaches in their prime: Hurley, Smart, Miller, McDermott
Tier II - Last stop of a long career: Pitino, Matta, Cooley
Tier III - Up-and-coming: Holloway, English, Neptune
Tier IV - DePaul

For me Tier I coaches have demonstrated success in this Big East. I could see Holloway making a jump to Tier I with another solid BE season and some success in March. Of course Pitino could or should probably be Tier I as well but I want to see it come together for Johnnies next year

I'm not sure if you're aware of this but McDermott is older than Matta.

 

[FriarJ]

Cooley's hiring coincided with the conference realignment. That benefitted Providence getting set up for some success as much as Cooley did at the time. He did get some momentum going there subsequent to that which sure you can credit him for. But he was at his ceiling and is now way far on the other side of the hill. He wont ever have any success at Georgetown close to what their actual expectations (and pay!) for him are.

He also benefited from an administration that said enough is enough, we don’t want to languish anymore and he was given almost unlimited resources. The team chartered to DC this week. That was unheard of when Cooley took over. Only a few bus rides a year now, just like UConn.

That being said, the DC of 1980 is a completely different DC now. He will never have the fan support there that he enjoyed (and helped cultivate) at Providence.

I wish he wasn’t such an az because I feel like we owe him respect, but he apparently doesn’t want it, with his ridiculous quotes he keeps popping out there.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

I'm not sure if you're aware of this but McDermott is older than Matta.

And Cooley is younger than both. When Matta has Butler humming as a perennial top 4 team in the league we can discuss Tier I

 

[banshee]

Might look that way now after others have risen up in his absence, but you can find assessments like this when he went down. This was borzello from espn:

Hopkins, a 6-foot-7 junior, has been No. 23 Providence's best player since transferring to the Friars from Kentucky in the spring of 2022. He averaged 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season, earning first-team All-Big East accolades and leading Providence to the NCAA tournament.

1st half of last year, you could make the argument that he was the league's best player. He fell off hard the 2nd half and PC never got back on track. This year, he was playing worse than even the 2nd half of last year and he was nowhere near even being anywhere near any all league player.

 

[FriarJ]

Might look that way now after others have risen up in his absence, but you can find assessments like this when he went down. This was borzello from espn:

Hopkins, a 6-foot-7 junior, has been No. 23 Providence's best player since transferring to the Friars from Kentucky in the spring of 2022. He averaged 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season, earning first-team All-Big East accolades and leading Providence to the NCAA tournament.

He was definitely one of our top two players. He was off to a slow shooting start this year and that’s what the banshee is comparing him to (lazy). His defense was vastly improved and had the best defensive analytics on the team (a good defensive team) when he went down. This season goes a lot different if he doesn’t go down. Averaging 16/9 when it happened. It was a killer.

We lead the country in best shot making, bad shooters. I like KE’s offense a thousand percent better than TFG’s. He just needs to recruit some shooters.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

This year, he's playing the hand he was dealt.

I would argue he’s playing the hand he dealt himself for many different reasons.

 

[Sibeerian]

1st half of last year, you could make the argument that he was the league's best player. He fell off hard the 2nd half and PC never got back on track. This year, he was playing worse than even the 2nd half of last year and he was nowhere near even being anywhere near any all league player.

I'm sorry I described the unanimous first-team all big east player as their best player, and that his stats until he got hurt this year were similar to last year.

 

[bendm]

Hurley
Smart
McDermott
Holloway
Pitino
English
Mata
Miller
Neptune
Cooley
DePaul.

swap miller and holloway

 

[DFW HOYA]

What an odd topic--have you seen the Georgetown roster this season?

Three returnees from a bad team last season (one starter (Heath), one doesn't play (Mutombo).
Two freshmen (one starts--Brumbaugh)
Four transfers (three start: Epps, Styles, Cook)
Five walk-ons, four had no prior Div. I experience and one with 3 mins. on the court in four years
A greenshirt

Othe than Epps, could you see any of these players starting at any other Big East team?

 

[FriarJ]

What an odd topic--have you seen the Georgetown roster this season?

Three returnees from a bad team last season (one starter (Heath), one doesn't play (Mutombo).
Two freshmen (one starts--Brumbaugh)
Four transfers (three start: Epps, Styles, Cook)
Five walk-ons, four had no prior Div. I experience and one with 3 mins. on the court in four years
A greenshirt

Othe than Epps, could you see any of these players starting at any other Big East team?

I think the question is why does he have that roster? He was recruiting the portal for Georgeclown during the “what rumors?” Phase of last season.

 

[UCTitleTown]

DePaul has an interim coach.

I bet that guy would turn down the interim assignment if given the chance to reconsider now. Probably killed any chance of ever being hired as a D1 headcoach in the future.

 

[MexicoHusky]

Cooley has been a D1 Head Coach since 2006 and has won a total of 3 NCAA Tournament games. I'm guessing that's some sort of longevity/futility record among active head coaches.

Im not 100% sure thats all that bad. I quickly did the math so i may be wrong, but he was PC coach for ~12 years and won 3 NCAA games. I think PC had 1 win in the 12 years before Cooley.

 

[runner11]

What an odd topic--have you seen the Georgetown roster this season?

Three returnees from a bad team last season (one starter (Heath), one doesn't play (Mutombo).
Two freshmen (one starts--Brumbaugh)
Four transfers (three start: Epps, Styles, Cook)
Five walk-ons, four had no prior Div. I experience and one with 3 mins. on the court in four years
A greenshirt

Othe than Epps, could you see any of these players starting at any other Big East team?

I think the question is why is the roster so bad and why is the defense so terrible. I really don’t see an excuse for this complete train wreck. Why was Butler able to field a competent team flipping their roster? Xavier lost their best 2 players to injury in the summer and are competent. Pitino flipped the entire roster. And sure the players did not turn out great but Georgetown has 3 or 4 former top 100 recruits which is more than a lot of teams in this conference can say.