Well it's not an argument, it's simple facts. Depth is an issue but when you look around the country, it is the same nearly everywhere else. Only the top tier teams really go beyond 7 deep. That's college basketball for you, thanks to the NBA's eagerness to accept players at any age. Fast forward to next year. Providing Thomas and Davis stay (and this is looking promising), we lose only Darrell Mitchell. We get Minor back, and add two key proven gaurds to the team in Mason & Martin. How's that for depth? That's a program that is looking up and a coach that's doing a nice job if you ask me. I sometimes wonder if the underlying reason that most LSU fans dislike Brady is because Dale Brown did not approve of his hire and pretty much shunned Brady for the first couple of years. Somehow LSU fans support the coach that buried the program and refuse to rally support about the coach who's been man enough to build it back up again. It sickens me to see how much camera time Dale Brown gets on tv when he is at a game.
I think the anti Brady sentiments were spawned when he couldn't duplicate the Stromile Swift/Jabari Smith success. The fact that we were so successful, so quickly was absolutely amazing and when the reality of trying to field a team after probation set in the following few seasons, no one was willing to accept that it (sweet 16) couldn't be done again immediately. IMO, Brady has done a masterful job at getting the program to where it is now. People got a "mad on" and aren't able to let it go, despite what's on the floor now. Plus, it didn't help that JB was percieved as an A-hole.
According to my calculations, here are the statistics (assuming restrictions ended at the start of the 2001-2002 season): Unrestricted (2001-Present): 0.650 93-50 Regular Season 0.568 42-32 SEC 0.556 5-4 SEC Tourney 0.200 1-4 Other Postseason Tourneys 0.635 94-54 Overall Record 0.429 6-8 Overall Postseason Record Overall (1997-Present): 0.595 153-104 Regular Season 0.449 62-76 SEC 0.467 7-8 SEC Tourney 0.375 3-5 Other Postseason Tourneys 0.589 156-109 Overall Record 0.435 10-13 Overall Postseason Record Most wins in a tourney: 2 (3 times) Tourney 1-and-dones: 6 Tourneys won: 0
Ahh yes, the whole "If he can do it under probation then he should be able to do it anytime" argument. Which is just crazy. People should applaud him for having accomplished such a thing during such a trying time for the program.
that may have had something to do with it... I've viewed it as inconsistency. He did a great job with stro/smith that year and when they left, he was left with practically nothing. Im 21, so I was only like 12 or 13 when dale brown left so it's hard for me to really look back that far. I can, however, say that just looking at the stats above my post, objectively... I just don't find those stats to be good enough.
You dwell too much on the past. Look at the here and now. This is a young team and a program on the rise. Embrace it. Enjoy it. There's nothing to be gained by pouting about what was. If Brady can keep this team together, we are in for a fun ride. I'd like to enjoy it here on TF without all of the crying and gnashing of teeth.
We'll see. maybe my dissatisfaction with Brady comes from a feeling that we might have something great going here and due to his past he might waste it? I wish I had more confidence in him.
To Brady's credit, I think being a college basketball coach is probably one of the toughest coaching positions to be in. Would anyone do better? I don't feel confident in that.
That is such a bs statement. People say it over and over. How about some of the current players talking about how Coach Brady started recruiting them in middle school. They've talked about how they'd see him at some of their games when they were in SEVENTH grade. I guess Butch sent Brady to watch all those times?
