The STAFF

[newmexicuse]

Absolute kudos to the staff for the way they have managed the sanctions.

Just a few short months ago it looked like there was a significant risk that our programs would descend to mediocrity for the next five years or so.

Now things could hardly be brighter under the circumstances, all the credit to the staff for the way recent events have been managed.

First - they held together the incoming class. No defections or any talk thereof. We only need for the Diagne issue to be resolved favorably.

Second - To me a big understated key was the ability to maintain the Moyer verbal. Had Matt paniced and left who knows what the fallout might have been.

Third - They come up huge w the 2016 class. Securing the commitment of long time #1 recruit Tyus and also adding Pascal as a big who may be perfect to man the center of the Zone in addition to MM.

Fourth - They assure Mike's future here.

Fifth - It was regretful about some of our transfers. I would have particularly liked to see if BJ could have blossomed here, but under the circumstances we retained the best part of our roster.

Now if we can only win our appeal to the Nin-Compoop Association of A (i'll let you all complete this last word) & get some of our scholie's back all will be right in Orangeland.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

I agree with the OP that many kudos to the staff are in order. But I don't think their work is done yet. They need to really do a good job coaching this crew of 15-16 to a decent record. It would be nice to just have 14-15 show as a one time below average fluke - semi-masked and excused as our banned year.

Getting 20+ wins and a tourney appearance out of the on-paper mediocre 15-16 crew would really help. It's going to need to be one of those years where we root on - experience,grit, and hopefully intelligence over raw talent.
Troops are on the way for big expectations for the 16-17 class and beyond. Bridging the gap with one of those unexpected runs (like the recent FF team) would really be a great bonus to big time name recognition.

The quicker we can restore being the dominant team in the Northeast the better.

 

[jekelish]

The biggest eye opener lately is learning just how instrumental Gerry has been. I was never quite sure what kind of coach he would be, because I'd always read he was a little bit introverted and thought he may have been on the staff at least in part because of the name recognition. I'm convinced, though. The dude is a future head coach for a P5 school. Quite possibly the Hop to Mike's JB, but Gerry may be too close to Hop in age for that, so we may see him coaching somewhere else.

Prediction: next time Penn State comes open, Gerry McNamara is going to get a phone call.

 

[newmexicuse]

I agree with the OP that many kudos to the staff are in order. But I don't think their work is done yet. They need to really do a good job coaching this crew of 15-16 to a decent record. It would be nice to just have 14-15 show as a one time below average fluke - semi-masked and excused as our banned year.

Getting 20+ wins and a tourney appearance out of the on-paper mediocre 15-16 crew would really help. It's going to need to be one of those years where we root on - experience,grit, and hopefully intelligence over raw talent.
Troops are on the way for big expectations for the 16-17 class and beyond. Bridging the gap with one of those unexpected runs (like the recent FF team) would really be a great bonus to big time name recognition.

The quicker we can restore being the dominant team in the Northeast the better.

Agree, it would be nice to get back to dancing this year.

Team has potential, but still lot's of questions. Biggest question is the five spot. Can DC2 be healthly and build on his previous body of work ? I think if the 5 spot riddle gets solved favorably then there will be enough talent everywhere else to get us back to the tourney. We will also need meaningful contributions from 2 or 3 of the incoming frosh.

The staff can't control DC2's health. If Diagne isn't eligible that will really, really hurt as he is probably in line to be the backup 5 or even the starter if DC2 breaks down. In terms of the everything else they will get the job done one way or the other.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

Agree, it would be nice to get back to dancing this year.

Team has potential, but still lot's of questions. Biggest question is the five spot. Can DC2 be healthly and build on his previous body of work ? I think if the 5 spot riddle gets solved favorably then there will be enough talent everywhere else to get us back to the tourney. We will also need meaningful contributions from 2 or 3 of the incoming frosh.

The staff can't control DC2's health. If Diagne isn't eligible that will really, really hurt as he is probably in line to be the backup 5 or even the starter if DC2 breaks down. In terms of the everything else they will get the job done one way or the other.

I agree that the 5 has issues, namely as you mention DC2 health issues. It could be a spot of strength if DC2 is healthy, Diagne is eligible and can apply some of the moves he has shown in HS and Chino can give us 5 good fouls. But if things go right, I think it will be DC2, TR, and Diagne with all the 4/5 minutes.

But to me the biggest question is at the 1. It has the least experience, the soph KJ2. And I felt KJ2 didn't meet expectations last year. He should be improved. But JB could put MG at point and get one of Malachi or the rapidly rising Tyler L also on the court.

 

[jekelish]

I agree that the 5 has issues, namely as you mention DC2 health issues. It could be a spot of strength if DC2 is healthy, Diagne is eligible and can apply some of the moves he has shown in HS and Chino can give us 5 good fouls. But if things go right, I think it will be DC2, TR, and Diagne with all the 4/5 minutes.

But to me the biggest question is at the 1. It has the least experience, the soph KJ2. And I felt KJ2 didn't meet expectations last year. He should be improved. But JB could put MG at point and get one of Malachi or the rapidly rising Tyler L also on the court.

I see what you're saying with the 1, but honestly, I don't think it's much of a question at this point. I'm FAR more confident in the depth at the 1 than I am with the depth at the 5. You can have Gbinije, or even Cooney or Howard play the PG if KJ doesn't make a jump. But at the 5, you've got DC (health issues), Diagne (eligibility issues), and Chino (still a project even as a junior). There are more places to turn at the point than at the 5.

 

[longtimefan]

The biggest eye opener lately is learning just how instrumental Gerry has been. I was never quite sure what kind of coach he would be, because I'd always read he was a little bit introverted and thought he may have been on the staff at least in part because of the name recognition. I'm convinced, though. The dude is a future head coach for a P5 school. Quite possibly the Hop to Mike's JB, but Gerry may be too close to Hop in age for that, so we may see him coaching somewhere else.

Prediction: next time Penn State comes open, Gerry McNamara is going to get a phone call.

Re: Penn St--Gerry might be more attracted to one of the Philly Big 5.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

I see what you're saying with the 1, but honestly, I don't think it's much of a question at this point. I'm FAR more confident in the depth at the 1 than I am with the depth at the 5. You can have Gbinije, or even Cooney or Howard play the PG if KJ doesn't make a jump. But at the 5, you've got DC (health issues), Diagne (eligibility issues), and Chino (still a project even as a junior). There are more places to turn at the point than at the 5.

I guess I agree there are more concerns at the 5. But if you have your orange colored optimistic glasses on, the 5 is going to be DC2 - no question.

Under the same optimistic conditions, there can be some questions when one of Malachi or Lydon blow up. You have to believe DC2, MG, and Cooney are locked in for big minutes. That only gives room for TR or KJ2 to make way. I don't see either Malachi or Lydon as a 4 (TR is barely a 4 physically and is 15-20 lbs and 2 years older than Lydon), so I think the big minutes 4/5 go to TR/Diagne/DC2.

So what do you think JB will do when it is apparent that Malachi is the ready for prime time?

 

[longtimefan]

I guess I agree there are more concerns at the 5. But if you have your orange colored optimistic glasses on, the 5 is going to be DC2 - no question.

Under the same optimistic conditions, there can be some questions when one of Malachi or Lydon blow up. You have to believe DC2, MG, and Cooney are locked in for big minutes. That only gives room for TR or KJ2 to make way. I don't see either Malachi or Lydon as a 4 (TR is barely a 4 physically and is 15-20 lbs and 2 years older than Lydon), so I think the big minutes 4/5 go to TR/Diagne/DC2.

So what do you think JB will do when it is apparent that Malachi is the ready for prime time?

Lot of assumptions in there.

I prefer to wait and see how things shake out. But your way can make for an interesting summer on the board.

 

[Col. Bleep]

Absolute kudos to the staff for the way they have managed the sanctions.

Please forgive my ignorance, but don't some of them bear some measure of responsibility for the situation the Orange are in?

 

[longtimefan]

Please forgive my ignorance, but don't some of them bear some measure of responsibility for the situation the Orange are in?

Certainly.

If I were to venture a totally uneducated guess, I would break it down like this:

Current staff 33%
Ousted administrators 33%
NCAA 33%
Fanbase 1%

Feel free to give your own estimates.

 

[newmexicuse]

Please forgive my ignorance, but don't some of them bear some measure of responsibility for the situation the Orange are in?

Agree, but that isn't the point. The point is that the magnitude of the sanctions did not fit the crime. If the sanctions were more reasonable and more measured - say the loss of one scholie per year for three years then there would not have been the risk of a serious program decline, which is what the staff seems to have circumvented.

 

[CuseHulk]

Prediction: next time Penn State comes open, Gerry McNamara is going to get a phone call.

And he will hang up the phone and laugh.

Penn State basketball r u kidding me.

 

[NYCorange]

Re: Penn St--Gerry might be more attracted to one of the Philly Big 5.

It would be weird to see Gerry patrolling the sidelines for Villanova whenever Jay Wright decides that it's too much work running a basketball program and would rather be the spokesperson for dove and Armani. I think, though that it'd be even weirder seeing him on Pitts bench--I know it's a bit further from Scranton but I bet he'd play well to the base there.

 

[jekelish]

And he will hang up the phone and laugh.

Penn State basketball r u kidding me.

Do you drink jet fuel out there? That would explain a lot.

A 30 year old dude with zero head coaching experience is going to listen when a Big 10 team calls about a head coaching job. And it's called an "example" you clown. A P5 school from his home state, he's going to listen. That's the level he's going to get in on.

Hop certainly would have listened, considering he seriously considered freaking Charlotte not all that long ago.

Hop also nearly took the Oregon State job, which isn't exactly a lot better than Penn State. Over the last 5 years, Penn State is 75-90, while Oregon State is 79-83. Penn State has made the NCAA tourney 4 times since 1991, Oregon State has made it zero times.

But yes, Gerry McNamara - who again, has zero head coaching experience and only a few years as an assistant coach, is going to hang up and laugh at a P5 school when Mike Hopkins - a guy with roughly two decades of assistant coaching experience and one of the hottest assistant coaching names around - was considering Charlotte and Oregon State in recent years.

You're a genius.

 

[Dave85]

The biggest eye opener lately is learning just how instrumental Gerry has been. I was never quite sure what kind of coach he would be, because I'd always read he was a little bit introverted and thought he may have been on the staff at least in part because of the name recognition. I'm convinced, though. The dude is a future head coach for a P5 school. Quite possibly the Hop to Mike's JB, but Gerry may be too close to Hop in age for that, so we may see him coaching somewhere else.

Prediction: next time Penn State comes open, Gerry McNamara is going to get a phone call.

He coaches like he played basketball. He makes terrific plays and has a great spirit.

 

[Dave85]

Do you drink jet fuel out there? That would explain a lot.

A 30 year old dude with zero head coaching experience is going to listen when a Big 10 team calls about a head coaching job. And it's called an "example" you clown. A P5 school from his home state, he's going to listen. That's the level he's going to get in on.

Hop certainly would have listened, considering he seriously considered freaking Charlotte not all that long ago.

Hop also nearly took the Oregon State job, which isn't exactly a lot better than Penn State. Over the last 5 years, Penn State is 75-90, while Oregon State is 79-83. Penn State has made the NCAA tourney 4 times since 1991, Oregon State has made it zero times.

But yes, Gerry McNamara - who again, has zero head coaching experience and only a few years as an assistant coach, is going to hang up and laugh at a P5 school when Mike Hopkins - a guy with roughly two decades of assistant coaching experience and one of the hottest assistant coaching names around - was considering Charlotte and Oregon State in recent years.

You're a genius.

First, I agree with your post. But second, you should not have ended it with "You're a genius". The last thing we want to do is to get Hulk angry! You should have said, "Maybe you have to rethink this."

 

[Noexcuse]

Certainly.

If I were to venture a totally uneducated guess, I would break it down like this:

Current staff 33%
Ousted administrators 33%
NCAA 33%
Fanbase 1%

Feel free to give your own estimates.

Feels good to be a part of that 1%.

 

[Brooky03]

Certainly.

If I were to venture a totally uneducated guess, I would break it down like this:

Current staff 33%
Ousted administrators 33%
NCAA 33%
Fanbase 1%

Feel free to give your own estimates.

80% NCAA
19.9% Ousted administrators
0.1% Jim Boeheim

 

[CuseHulk]

Do you drink jet fuel out there? That would explain a lot.

A 30 year old dude with zero head coaching experience is going to listen when a Big 10 team calls about a head coaching job. And it's called an "example" you clown. A P5 school from his home state, he's going to listen. That's the level he's going to get in on.

Hop certainly would have listened, considering he seriously considered freaking Charlotte not all that long ago.

Hop also nearly took the Oregon State job, which isn't exactly a lot better than Penn State. Over the last 5 years, Penn State is 75-90, while Oregon State is 79-83. Penn State has made the NCAA tourney 4 times since 1991, Oregon State has made it zero times.

But yes, Gerry McNamara - who again, has zero head coaching experience and only a few years as an assistant coach, is going to hang up and laugh at a P5 school when Mike Hopkins - a guy with roughly two decades of assistant coaching experience and one of the hottest assistant coaching names around - was considering Charlotte and Oregon State in recent years.

You're a genius.

Boeheim to Hopkins to McNamara.

 

[jekelish]

Boeheim to Hopkins to McNamara.

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN IN THIS CONTEXT

That's an even worse response than I could have anticipated.

 

[CuseHulk]

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN IN THIS CONTEXT

That's an even worse response than I could have anticipated.

He can take over for Hop.

A coaching lineage continues.

 

[jekelish]

He can take over for Hop.

A coaching lineage continues.

Hop is 45, Gerry is 31. Hop could conceivably coach 20-25 years, if he's successful. Are you really trying to suggest that Gerry McNamara will be willing to wait until he's in his mid-50s for his first head coaching job? Because you're delusional if you think that.

 

[AlaskaSU]

How much dz Hop make as the head asst?

 

[reedny]

The biggest eye opener lately is learning just how instrumental Gerry has been. I was never quite sure what kind of coach he would be, because I'd always read he was a little bit introverted and thought he may have been on the staff at least in part because of the name recognition. I'm convinced, though. The dude is a future head coach for a P5 school. Quite possibly the Hop to Mike's JB, but Gerry may be too close to Hop in age for that, so we may see him coaching somewhere else.

Prediction: next time Penn State comes open, Gerry McNamara is going to get a phone call.

I'm sure you remember how high a BB IQ G-Mac had .. his junior and senior years he was almost a player-coach. I'm not disagreeing with your description of him as introverted ... that's true but most particularly with outsiders. With his players (or team), he gets his meaning across M2M.

Still one of my all-time favorite players to wear Orange ... great integrity as a person and uncanny in the clutch as a player. Every time I see him I remember the squadrons of School Busses coming up from Scranton to watch him ... he didn't need to talk trash. He just played.