So a lot has gone on here the past few weeks and there are varying opinions on basically all of it. So I figured I'd weigh in with my two cents for whatever it's worth. So my thoughts, even if they are really late, on some of these developments:
Hop's move to UW
So I'm admittedly a JB apologist in a lot of ways but I'm not sure the conspiracy theories and 'JB pushed him out' stuff makes all that much sense to me. If you look at the context, with Hop a west coast guy who was reportedly very interested in the USC job that ultimately was offered to Enfield, I'm not sure those theories hold that much water. I mean, guy in his late 40s gets offered a six-year deal at a school in the Pac-12 (the only jobs Hop appears to have been tempted by for the most part) making good coin (I believe the total comp is about $3M/year including shoe money) is simply a really good deal and a really good landing spot. I don't think it's crazy to suggest JB wanted to coach longer nor do I think Hop wouldn't have loved to take over the Cuse and spend the next 20+ years here. But the departure didn't seem acrimonious, the new job seems like a really good one, and he doesn't have to replace a legend, a task which can often seem thankless. My best guess, with zero inside info, is that Hop got offered a great job, conferred with JB who seemed to be eager to continue coaching and Wildhack, who may not have been entirely thrilled that JB's successor was already tabbed before he had his say, and all parties decided it was a really solid solution. Who knows, I guess, but it just seems like a pretty logical move for all three parties as opposed to someone being told you're not the next HC here and snapping his fingers to end up with a really impressive HC job.
Lydon's departure
This board seems intent on arguing basically two things: 1. That a player leaving is always a 'good' decision or a 'bad' decision and 2. That draft position should be the only determining factor in making a decision. I disagree with both and Lydon is a good example. I hope any player who leaves finds success and I don't think any of them owe any of us anything. Want to get that out of the way. I also don't know that Lydon improving his draft position by returning is a given or even a likelihood (though I don't think all drafts are created equal and I do believe players can improve). But to me, if I'm consulting a player, I want the tool that is going to be his calling card at the next level is actually ready for the jump -- regardless of where he gets drafted.
For Lydon, he is going into the league as a stretch 4 -- basically a guy who brings an offensive mismatch into the game when he enters. Yet, Lydon spent the vast majority of the final 5 weeks trying to find his offense. He topped 15 points just twice after his 24-point effort vs. ND on 1/21. He shot lower than 50% in 6 of his last 9 games, and struggled to even get shots off in three of his last four.
So what does that say? I don't know. Again, if he wants to go and can get drafted in the first round, I'm cool with it. But I don't see how that's the black/white decision some think it is. A junior Lydon playing more comfortably within the offense, reliably finding ways to score outside of an open three, perhaps putting the ball on the floor a bit more and unquestionably being a key focal point of the offense would seem like a really solid option. If you're uncomfortable or unsure of yourself at the next level ... that's not a good thing.
So, in short, I think he made a perfectly fine call but the point is to become a solid NBA player, not just a guy who got a contract once a couple years ago. What's the best path to that end? I'm not sure it's simply going as soon as some team decides they'll call your name.
Replacing Hop
I'm like everyone else here that a big recruiter would seem like a great fit, but a guy with really good coaching credentials -- a guy who could help big men or whatnot -- would be a huge benefit as well. Getting talent is obviously important and we haven't done a great job of that the past couple years, but you can bring in program guys and develop them ... as long as you develop them. That's not an indefensible strategy, IMO.
Speaking of recruiting and players leaving early
It will be interesting to watch and see how the roster is managed going forward. For all the criticisms of or compliments for JB (final four run vs. three disappointing regular seasons), the major issue the past three seasons is holes in the roster due to a few factors (players leaving, swings and misses, unexpected departures, etc.).
Rak's senior season is really the story of two unexpected departures in Grant and Ennis -- not sure many here saw either of those coming before the season. Grant couldn't make a jumper AND didn't get drafted in the first round and still left. Ennis made a good call leaving but I would argue it's safe to say he way exceeded any draft projections of him prior to the season and perhaps ever (not sure I ever would have guessed he was a first-rounder).
Then McCullough leaves after a not overly impressive 16 games in his frosh season which you have to believe would have made at least a couple games difference in 15-16 and then Richardson leaving after a pretty up-and-down season in which he shot pretty poorly overall. Would his return have made us a really good team this season? probably not but we clearly struggled with continuity issues.
Which brings me to my point: Of the last five players to leave early, the only one to have a truly excellent season before departing was Ennis. Grant couldn't hit a jumper, McCullough failed to score more than seven points in his final eight games, Richardson was inconsistent and Lydon struggled to figure out his role (yes, I realize PG was an issue). Even Fab, who had a phenomenal season defensively and was dramatically improved offensively, scored fewer points in his career (in far more minutes, by the way) than Taurean Thompson did this season.
The bottom line is the staff needs to figure out a way to either recruit and develop players who are likely to stay for close to three years (easier said than done) or get high-end seasons out of players before they leave. Obviously they aren't going to be hitting 1.000 on all their recruits and obviously guys are going to leave early. They just do.
But I think, as a program, you either want to be UNC with lots of veteran solid players or UK with a ton of premium frosh talent.
Happy to have Howard back
Not sure what Frank Howard did and whatever it was may have crushed us in multiple ways (losing recruits? losing games due to a rift in the team?). But I think having a junior who is at least theoretically capable of playing decent basketball back, is better than not having him. Hopefully there is buy-in from Frank, obviously, but the one thing I'll point out on his play: Early in the season his jumper looked better an he had some really good games. it's not unusual, or at least it wasn't unusual back in the day, to see a frosh come in and play sparingly, then do some nice things early in the season as a soph before finding the bench for much of the conference season, before emerging as a key piece as a junior. Can frank do that? Remains to be seen, but I still think this is a guy who can contribute. Time will tell I suppose.
What do we have next year?
This is an answer that will have much more clarity a few months from now but my gut says this is a program that is trying to find itself in an unfamiliar basketball landscape. Relatively new conference affiliation, era of unprecedented player movement (grad transfers, hosts of kids leaving early -- transfers, not just NBA entrants), very little continuity from year to year, etc. Strong finish to recruiting and some good things could be afoot (Tucker, Ayala and a grad transfer?), but I think JB is adjusting and trying to find his niche and groove again. It could easily by another tough year, but ultimately I like having him at the helm and am confident this program will adjust and continue to thrive.
Either way, we shall see.
Hop's move to UW
So I'm admittedly a JB apologist in a lot of ways but I'm not sure the conspiracy theories and 'JB pushed him out' stuff makes all that much sense to me. If you look at the context, with Hop a west coast guy who was reportedly very interested in the USC job that ultimately was offered to Enfield, I'm not sure those theories hold that much water. I mean, guy in his late 40s gets offered a six-year deal at a school in the Pac-12 (the only jobs Hop appears to have been tempted by for the most part) making good coin (I believe the total comp is about $3M/year including shoe money) is simply a really good deal and a really good landing spot. I don't think it's crazy to suggest JB wanted to coach longer nor do I think Hop wouldn't have loved to take over the Cuse and spend the next 20+ years here. But the departure didn't seem acrimonious, the new job seems like a really good one, and he doesn't have to replace a legend, a task which can often seem thankless. My best guess, with zero inside info, is that Hop got offered a great job, conferred with JB who seemed to be eager to continue coaching and Wildhack, who may not have been entirely thrilled that JB's successor was already tabbed before he had his say, and all parties decided it was a really solid solution. Who knows, I guess, but it just seems like a pretty logical move for all three parties as opposed to someone being told you're not the next HC here and snapping his fingers to end up with a really impressive HC job.
Lydon's departure
This board seems intent on arguing basically two things: 1. That a player leaving is always a 'good' decision or a 'bad' decision and 2. That draft position should be the only determining factor in making a decision. I disagree with both and Lydon is a good example. I hope any player who leaves finds success and I don't think any of them owe any of us anything. Want to get that out of the way. I also don't know that Lydon improving his draft position by returning is a given or even a likelihood (though I don't think all drafts are created equal and I do believe players can improve). But to me, if I'm consulting a player, I want the tool that is going to be his calling card at the next level is actually ready for the jump -- regardless of where he gets drafted.
For Lydon, he is going into the league as a stretch 4 -- basically a guy who brings an offensive mismatch into the game when he enters. Yet, Lydon spent the vast majority of the final 5 weeks trying to find his offense. He topped 15 points just twice after his 24-point effort vs. ND on 1/21. He shot lower than 50% in 6 of his last 9 games, and struggled to even get shots off in three of his last four.
So what does that say? I don't know. Again, if he wants to go and can get drafted in the first round, I'm cool with it. But I don't see how that's the black/white decision some think it is. A junior Lydon playing more comfortably within the offense, reliably finding ways to score outside of an open three, perhaps putting the ball on the floor a bit more and unquestionably being a key focal point of the offense would seem like a really solid option. If you're uncomfortable or unsure of yourself at the next level ... that's not a good thing.
So, in short, I think he made a perfectly fine call but the point is to become a solid NBA player, not just a guy who got a contract once a couple years ago. What's the best path to that end? I'm not sure it's simply going as soon as some team decides they'll call your name.
Replacing Hop
I'm like everyone else here that a big recruiter would seem like a great fit, but a guy with really good coaching credentials -- a guy who could help big men or whatnot -- would be a huge benefit as well. Getting talent is obviously important and we haven't done a great job of that the past couple years, but you can bring in program guys and develop them ... as long as you develop them. That's not an indefensible strategy, IMO.
Speaking of recruiting and players leaving early
It will be interesting to watch and see how the roster is managed going forward. For all the criticisms of or compliments for JB (final four run vs. three disappointing regular seasons), the major issue the past three seasons is holes in the roster due to a few factors (players leaving, swings and misses, unexpected departures, etc.).
Rak's senior season is really the story of two unexpected departures in Grant and Ennis -- not sure many here saw either of those coming before the season. Grant couldn't make a jumper AND didn't get drafted in the first round and still left. Ennis made a good call leaving but I would argue it's safe to say he way exceeded any draft projections of him prior to the season and perhaps ever (not sure I ever would have guessed he was a first-rounder).
Then McCullough leaves after a not overly impressive 16 games in his frosh season which you have to believe would have made at least a couple games difference in 15-16 and then Richardson leaving after a pretty up-and-down season in which he shot pretty poorly overall. Would his return have made us a really good team this season? probably not but we clearly struggled with continuity issues.
Which brings me to my point: Of the last five players to leave early, the only one to have a truly excellent season before departing was Ennis. Grant couldn't hit a jumper, McCullough failed to score more than seven points in his final eight games, Richardson was inconsistent and Lydon struggled to figure out his role (yes, I realize PG was an issue). Even Fab, who had a phenomenal season defensively and was dramatically improved offensively, scored fewer points in his career (in far more minutes, by the way) than Taurean Thompson did this season.
The bottom line is the staff needs to figure out a way to either recruit and develop players who are likely to stay for close to three years (easier said than done) or get high-end seasons out of players before they leave. Obviously they aren't going to be hitting 1.000 on all their recruits and obviously guys are going to leave early. They just do.
But I think, as a program, you either want to be UNC with lots of veteran solid players or UK with a ton of premium frosh talent.
Happy to have Howard back
Not sure what Frank Howard did and whatever it was may have crushed us in multiple ways (losing recruits? losing games due to a rift in the team?). But I think having a junior who is at least theoretically capable of playing decent basketball back, is better than not having him. Hopefully there is buy-in from Frank, obviously, but the one thing I'll point out on his play: Early in the season his jumper looked better an he had some really good games. it's not unusual, or at least it wasn't unusual back in the day, to see a frosh come in and play sparingly, then do some nice things early in the season as a soph before finding the bench for much of the conference season, before emerging as a key piece as a junior. Can frank do that? Remains to be seen, but I still think this is a guy who can contribute. Time will tell I suppose.
What do we have next year?
This is an answer that will have much more clarity a few months from now but my gut says this is a program that is trying to find itself in an unfamiliar basketball landscape. Relatively new conference affiliation, era of unprecedented player movement (grad transfers, hosts of kids leaving early -- transfers, not just NBA entrants), very little continuity from year to year, etc. Strong finish to recruiting and some good things could be afoot (Tucker, Ayala and a grad transfer?), but I think JB is adjusting and trying to find his niche and groove again. It could easily by another tough year, but ultimately I like having him at the helm and am confident this program will adjust and continue to thrive.
Either way, we shall see.