Three topics that tend to get some discussion going around here.
1. Oregon. Some having taken issue with me calling Dana Altman a "coaching beast." I'm not sure why. What Altman has done the last two seasons at Oregon is nothing short of remarkable. He had a S16 run in his third year at Oregon. In his fourth year, he had to replace 3 starters and his 6th man. In addition, his #7 guy who looked like a future stud managed to basically run himself out of the program (suspended much of 2014 and now gone). With nothing coming back, Altman cobbles together a #7 seed that takes Wisky to the wall in Milwaukee with the S16 on the line. This season, he replaces 4 starters, and his team looks potentially horrible (Joseph Young is quite good, but he literally has nothing else). Yet Altman is not only back in the tournament, they finished T-2 in the Pac 12 and lost the P12T final. It was a great year for them, with 4 new starters (and frosh eating up many minutes).
That, folks, is what a coaching beast does. It's why Bo Ryan keeps winning (though Bo seems to run a much tighter ship and doesn't have a revolving door at his practice facility). Just keeps winning, regardless of who is in the program.
Here's the thing about guys like this. Was Bo Ryan not a great coach because he coached at some small school in WI much of his career and then at UWM? You can only do so much at places like that. Altman made 7 NCAA tournaments at Creighton (in 15 years) and now three at Oregon (in 5 years). Maybe the program upside at those places is only so high.
In reality, both IL and Altman were victims in the disastrous choices made by RG (and Altman) when our job was open before the glorious BW hire. RG should not have made the job conditional, and Altman should have still taken it. Even with just good talent evaluation and mediocre top-end recruiting, Altman would have been contending for S16s or better for the last decade. He's that good of coach.
2. Oklahoma. I still don't understand why some don't give Kruger the respect he deserves. In two weeks, you will. OU got the bracket I was dreaming of, and IMO they will cut down the East Regional nets next weekend. Since we don't have a team to get behind, I nominate OU. They play hard, they play fast, they jack 3s, and they are fun to watch. Everyone else in the B12 is a pretender. Here's your contender.
3. Lou Henson. There are three people on this board that are very upset with me about Lou Henson. Shockingly enough, all three (a) live in Chambana and (b) are old. I mean, how about bursting some stereotypes about Lou being an ECI legend but not a real one, guys. That aside, I'm not sure why this isn't clear. Lou Henson was an above average coach, IMO. He was most certainly not a legend, IMO. That doesn't mean he wasn't a great guy or a good representative of the school, it means we've never had a truly special coach at IL that has stayed for the long haul. Some day, that will happen, and then I'll have to remind everyone that we probably won't be UK, KU, or UNC without that coach. Because no one "commits" like those programs do.
This post was edited on 3/16 5:06 PM by dtrain79
1. Oregon. Some having taken issue with me calling Dana Altman a "coaching beast." I'm not sure why. What Altman has done the last two seasons at Oregon is nothing short of remarkable. He had a S16 run in his third year at Oregon. In his fourth year, he had to replace 3 starters and his 6th man. In addition, his #7 guy who looked like a future stud managed to basically run himself out of the program (suspended much of 2014 and now gone). With nothing coming back, Altman cobbles together a #7 seed that takes Wisky to the wall in Milwaukee with the S16 on the line. This season, he replaces 4 starters, and his team looks potentially horrible (Joseph Young is quite good, but he literally has nothing else). Yet Altman is not only back in the tournament, they finished T-2 in the Pac 12 and lost the P12T final. It was a great year for them, with 4 new starters (and frosh eating up many minutes).
That, folks, is what a coaching beast does. It's why Bo Ryan keeps winning (though Bo seems to run a much tighter ship and doesn't have a revolving door at his practice facility). Just keeps winning, regardless of who is in the program.
Here's the thing about guys like this. Was Bo Ryan not a great coach because he coached at some small school in WI much of his career and then at UWM? You can only do so much at places like that. Altman made 7 NCAA tournaments at Creighton (in 15 years) and now three at Oregon (in 5 years). Maybe the program upside at those places is only so high.
In reality, both IL and Altman were victims in the disastrous choices made by RG (and Altman) when our job was open before the glorious BW hire. RG should not have made the job conditional, and Altman should have still taken it. Even with just good talent evaluation and mediocre top-end recruiting, Altman would have been contending for S16s or better for the last decade. He's that good of coach.
2. Oklahoma. I still don't understand why some don't give Kruger the respect he deserves. In two weeks, you will. OU got the bracket I was dreaming of, and IMO they will cut down the East Regional nets next weekend. Since we don't have a team to get behind, I nominate OU. They play hard, they play fast, they jack 3s, and they are fun to watch. Everyone else in the B12 is a pretender. Here's your contender.
3. Lou Henson. There are three people on this board that are very upset with me about Lou Henson. Shockingly enough, all three (a) live in Chambana and (b) are old. I mean, how about bursting some stereotypes about Lou being an ECI legend but not a real one, guys. That aside, I'm not sure why this isn't clear. Lou Henson was an above average coach, IMO. He was most certainly not a legend, IMO. That doesn't mean he wasn't a great guy or a good representative of the school, it means we've never had a truly special coach at IL that has stayed for the long haul. Some day, that will happen, and then I'll have to remind everyone that we probably won't be UK, KU, or UNC without that coach. Because no one "commits" like those programs do.
This post was edited on 3/16 5:06 PM by dtrain79
