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Denver
Feb 9, 2014 9:35:56 GMT -6
Post by jackl on Feb 9, 2014 9:35:56 GMT -6
Almost wins like the one tonight are exactly why James will get the permanent job. USD doesn't judge on wins and losses but rather almost wins and losses. 5 straight losses in the Summit will get many to say the program is headed in the right direction. I can't say for sure, but I feel that anything short of a complete disaster of a season was going to end with Joey James getting the job. If the search comes and goes and Joey is the best candidate for the job, he should get the job. kind of candidates we are going to attract, but I can't imagine much D-1 talent is lining up to come to USDI don't know what . Most of our team is returning next year, but I don't know that we will be any better. Losing Gruis will kill us since he is pretty much our entire inside presence. Plus it's pretty hard to get excited about anything when we're barely competitive on the road, if that. That's crazy talk. D1 head coaching jobs don't come open that much,there will be a ton of good candidates apply for the job. Also, USD is supposedly breaking ground on a new BB facility at about the same time as your coaching search is taking place which help attract viable candidates.
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Denver
Feb 9, 2014 11:53:39 GMT -6
Post by GoYotes on Feb 9, 2014 11:53:39 GMT -6
My guess is that David Herbster already has a pretty good idea who the coach will be next year, be it Joey James (which I hope is the case) or a new hire.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Denver
Feb 9, 2014 12:39:53 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2014 12:39:53 GMT -6
I think it will be Joey James as your next bb head coach. Herbster is basketball player, and has to know a bit about playing defense. James has went from the zone match up used by forever Boots, to man to man defense. Coach Nagy from SDSU was very complimentary of James in that he thought the Yotes knew their man to man assignments better than Nagy's own Jacks. Could Herbster have made a friendly suggestion to go to man to man to Boots, and this was the straw that broke the camel's back and David took his ball and went into retirement? Just curious, but James defensively has something going this year, that Boot never had. The match up zone worked at D2 level, but D1? Not so sure.
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Denver
Feb 9, 2014 13:30:11 GMT -6
Post by Yotes on Feb 9, 2014 13:30:11 GMT -6
Almost wins like the one tonight are exactly why James will get the permanent job. USD doesn't judge on wins and losses but rather almost wins and losses. 5 straight losses in the Summit will get many to say the program is headed in the right direction. I disagree. I think it is a real long shot that James keeps the job. Unless he goes on a run now or wins the SL Championship, I think he is done. This is Herbster's first real chance to put his own mark on the program. Also, I have heard from multiple sources that the quality of the coaches that have expressed interest will be too hard to pass up doing a national search. There are plenty of up and coming assistant coaches that want their chance to be a HC. If this is indeed true that he is a long shot at the moment, you can't say he hasn't had his chances. 7 losses by six points or less, with about half of those being games that would have really gotten the fans excited if we had won them (Kansas State, Green Bay, NDSU, Wyoming, SDSU, plus a game we should have had against Air Force). I think having someone dedicated to USD is fantastic, but whoever is best for the job should get it.
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Denver
Feb 9, 2014 14:36:32 GMT -6
Post by yotefan on Feb 9, 2014 14:36:32 GMT -6
I think from a scheduling standpoint it would behoove USD to schedule a few D2 games on the road to get some confidence going when this team hops on a bus and heads to an unfamiliar gym. Although that would be breaking standard operating procedures for D-1 basketball scheduling, I feel that it could do a lot of good for a squad sorely lacking in confidence. Think about it, what good does it do for a team that perennially struggles on the road to bring in cupcakes to their home gym and beat up on them (like we did NAIA Peru State 80-40) in an environment you're already expected to win in? I've always scratched my head when I hear coaches say how hard it is to win on the road in the Summit and other conferences and ignore an obvious opportunity to get better in that department. Counter-intuitive if you ask me, but I digress.
Perhaps I'm just EXTREMELY tired of watching and listening as our talented team and coaching staff continues to come up short on the road. This squad is so much better than their record would indicate, but at the end of the day, they aren't judged by near misses, great blocks, dunks, individual plays or stat lines, but by their overall body of work as a team in the wins and losses column. No one knows this better than our guys and our coaches, but we aren't playing horseshoes and hand-grenades, we're playing basketball. Close doesn't count and moral victories are just plain getting old.
With that said, I think it's counterproductive to talk about a coaching change until after this season is over. No one is sicker to his stomach right now about this situation than Joey James. I am reminded of comments on the Bunny Board several years ago calling for Nagy's job after the Jacks had a couple of horrendous seasons. Look what the man has done in just a few short years. Just as in football, we knew this wouldn't happen overnight, and it takes time to lay a foundation and make your own mark. I think Joey deserves some time to do so. To give him anything else is just plain unrealistic.
This team from top to bottom is full of guys who can scrap and claw, who can play with grit, fire, heart, tenacity, whatever you want to call it. These guys have it, we've all seen flashes of it. The challenge for them now is to see whether can they harness these qualities with their individuals talents and finish strong as a team when it matters. I believe they can do it, the question is do they still believe?
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jackjd
Senior Member
Posts: 656
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Denver
Feb 9, 2014 14:47:56 GMT -6
Post by jackjd on Feb 9, 2014 14:47:56 GMT -6
...With that said, I think it's counterproductive to talk about a coaching change until after this season is over. No one is sicker to his stomach right now about this situation than Joey James. I am reminded of comments on the Bunny Board several years ago calling for Nagy's job after the Jacks had a couple of horrendous seasons. Look what the man has done in just a few short years. Just as in football, we knew this wouldn't happen overnight, and it takes time to lay a foundation and make your own mark. I think Joey deserves some time to do so. To give him anything else is just plain unrealistic. ... Lot's of wisdom in yotefan's post. It seems to be a rule that when a school brings in a new coach, there's going to be a lag of two to four years before that new coach can show his system works. Certainly there are exceptions to that rule but the exceptions seem to occur when the new coach walks into a team with competent personnel and even in those cases, when the talent left by the departed coach runs out, the team goes into a slump. I remember well some message board posters suggesting Nagy should be cut. I read similar comments on the Bison board (well, those guys tip over and ask for Saul's resignation when they lose one game but that's what happens when you have more than a few fourteen-year olds with unfettered access to the internet). I think objective observers would give Coach James good marks...certainly he's demonstrated enough skill as a coach to warrant another season.
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Denver
Feb 9, 2014 16:02:07 GMT -6
Post by coyotega on Feb 9, 2014 16:02:07 GMT -6
"I think it will be Joey James as your next bb head coach. Herbster is basketball player, and has to know a bit about playing defense. James has went from the zone match up used by forever Boots, to man to man defense. Coach Nagy from SDSU was very complimentary of James in that he thought the Yotes knew their man to man assignments better than Nagy's own Jacks."
Scott Nagy would love for Joey James to be coach at USD. James has been exposed to but one coach, Dave Boots, for his development. We need and deserve someone with far more breadth.
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Denver
Feb 10, 2014 8:38:06 GMT -6
Post by golfingyote on Feb 10, 2014 8:38:06 GMT -6
From what I have seen so far, I am on the I believe Joey is out wagon. Losing all these close games reflects coaching. Wins and losses are all that matters at this level. It is hard to judge a coach on a single season, but that is all Herbster has to go off of. With philosphy changes, and losing a valuable player early(Rico), Joey has obviously had some difficult decisions to make.
What Joey does have going for him is a plethora of former players who played with Joey or for Joey that will pledge for him to Herbster. Based on results alone, this would be a fairly easy call for Herbster I think. Its not always black and white though, and Herbster will be sleeping about as well as Joey is now when that time comes for him to make a decision.
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Denver
Feb 10, 2014 8:51:44 GMT -6
Post by azsod73 on Feb 10, 2014 8:51:44 GMT -6
I do not like to hang losses on the players. But, in the close game losses, players have been in position to make plays (free throws etc.), that would turn at least half of those losses into wins. Joey James played a major role in recruiting each of these guys, has worked closely with everyone since they landed on campus, and yet they are aren't getting it done for him. I like James, I think the players like James, but for whatever reason they aren't winning for him.
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Post by yoteforever on Feb 10, 2014 10:39:53 GMT -6
The problem with being a small town university is everybody gets to know everybody for the most part. Joeys predecessor won games for most of his career but had the personality of a wet bag. Very few people ever got close to Boots. Then Dave fought the D-1 move, he wasn't as successful, so therefore it was easy for me to mentally cut him loose. Then Joey comes along and gets the job because Boots didn't have the faith that Herbster would name Joey coach unless he managed the transition. And guess what? Everyone likes Joey, Joey does all the things fan friendly coaches do, but yet the results aren't what we would like, and certainly what Joey would like.
I'm not a basketball guy, but it looks like to me that we just don't have the talent quite good enough to compete at this level. My opinion is that the guys are playing hard for Joey, but as the season progresses, most teams get better. And the league is pulling away from us. Who's responsible for our current roster? Some say they are Joeys recruits because Boots never recruited. Others say Boots ultimately is responsible so no blame goes to anyone but him. I don't know. Probably the truth is somewhere in between.
I feel sorry for David Herbster as this will be a big decision. Here's what I would suggest. I want my cake and eat it also. I would strongly consider bringing in a n assistant coach from a Top tier league that has a national presence in recruiting. Also a coach that has connections that can bring D-1 teams into Vermillion, especially into a new arena and raise the bar of talent that comes into Vermillion ultimately giving us (the fans) something fun to watch. And I would ask that new coach to retain Joey and get him connected nationally to prepare him for the next time. And I would ask Joey to swallow his pride if this were to happen and learn from a real D-1 coach so the next time there would be no doubt.
Make no mistake, the coaches fraternity is strong, and they all do things for each other to prop them up. Imagine once or twice a year we would host a Big 12, Big 10, Pac 12 or others like that that we only dream about now. It can happen. I hope that whatever happens includes Joey being on staff.
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Denver
Feb 10, 2014 11:15:20 GMT -6
Post by Cousin Eddie on Feb 10, 2014 11:15:20 GMT -6
I hope Joey makes a run here at the end, and then can win at least two in the tourney. That will certainly give him a fighting chance. Anything short and I think the political pressure to at least conduct a national search will be too much for Herbster to bear. In the event that we do look elsewhere, this guy would be up there on my list: www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=205435851
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Denver
Feb 10, 2014 11:29:40 GMT -6
Post by yoteforever on Feb 10, 2014 11:29:40 GMT -6
I hope Joey makes a run here at the end, and then can win at least two in the tourney. That will certainly give him a fighting chance. Anything short and I think the political pressure to at least conduct a national search will be too much for Herbster to bear. In the event that we do look elsewhere, this guy would be up there on my list: www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=205435851Interesting profile. What made you think of him?
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Denver
Feb 10, 2014 13:39:18 GMT -6
Post by Cousin Eddie on Feb 10, 2014 13:39:18 GMT -6
A few things. I am a big Nebraska guy and I know the Tim Miles story well. Tim is a Dolan, SD guy and spent his time in the upper Midwest with Mayville State, NSU, NDSU and CSU before getting to Nebraska. Craig is his right hand man and spent comparable time at UND, NDSU, Mayville and NSU. Also, Herbster spent time up in Fargo at NDSU and I believe there is a prior relationship between he and Miles. I would think Herbster would reach out to his contacts in the basketball family and I suspect Miles might be a person that he would contact for a recommendation - I am just not convinced that Miles would give up Mr. Smith.
For what it is worth, as of 2012, Craig was paid $160K. A pay bump to between $200-250K is not unreasonable, with the necessary incentive requirements to get him there.
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Denver
Feb 10, 2014 13:59:22 GMT -6
Post by Yotes on Feb 10, 2014 13:59:22 GMT -6
I don't see Craig Smith jumping from Nebraska to come here, at least not for a couple years. He's been with Miles for a long time, and I bet he would like to be in on the big things that are coming to Lincoln. It would be a huge get, no doubt about it, but I have a hard time seeing it.
Like has been stated before though, it's counter-productive to talk about prospects when the season isn't even over yet. There is still a month of play left, we could go on a run and make the Big Dance for all we know. We have the talent, we have seen our guys come inches within many huge wins, while also putting together very complete efforts against Denver and IPFW. If Joey finds a way to tie it all together and bring the best out of his players we will be a big force in the Summit Tourney.
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Post by cantguard3 on Feb 10, 2014 15:00:35 GMT -6
I kind of skimmed through this thread so if I repeat what anyone has said I'm sorry.
There were points that I saw about Joey changing the defense from a 2-3 to a man, which in my opinion is phenomenal. I love that the yotes are playing a man to man defense because they are fast and athletic enough to do so. But what this all boils down to folks, is recruiting. Look at how many guards USD has compared to any other school, correct me if I'm wrong but I count about 9 or 10 guards. That's ridiculous, get some Bigs in there. Every good basketball team in the history of ever has been successful because they were able to rebound, USD is having troubles with that as well, but we already knew that. I feel that they need to get rid of the JuCo recruiting as well. Sure it was good during the transition years and D-2 days as well, but look at the success that SDSMOO is having with recruiting guys out of high school. They are favorited top 3 almost every year and those players have been in the program for all 4 years. It's tough for USD to get a good pre season ranking because the starters have been playing together for a few months! Another thing that I am sick and tired of is how after almost every loss, Joey goes out and says that they are a " young, inexperienced team." That excuse worked for the first few losses but now it's time to think about the other reasons why the team is losing. Rant over.
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