Small Schools Which small schools are you talking about? Those that are in a conference that gets an automatic bid if they win their conference? There is much more talent available today than back in the eighties. If you aren't allowed to have the kids in for a visit it is very difficult to recruit them. You were complaining in another post that the poster resorted to name calling rather than making a point. I noticed that you did not address my counterpoint of your kow-towing to John Wooden. Brown always referred to Wooden as a friend and mentor, maybe that led to his mistaken belief that he could get Lester Earls without penalty. In regards to you 86 comparison there is no reason what so ever that Dale Brown, since his program was well extablished at the time, should have a bench full of good athletes who were all accademically qualified. You say that Brady was a poor coach because, with Stromile Swift he only got to the final sixteen. If you remember LSU was picked to finish last in the SEC West by the coaches and media that year. I believe they were under dogs in both of the post season game. With Shack, Stanly Roberst, Chris Jackson, and Vernel Singleton how far did Dale take the Tigers? Were the tigers underdogs or favorites?
Lost revenue Since the loss of revenue on the basketball program is not common knowlege, supposedly being leaked by the LSU Administration, according to Tuhoo. Supposedly it is being leaked with a purpose. Does that mean our fellow tiger fan is a tool of the administration and is being used to spread the word? Maybe Mr. Tuhoo could fill us in on other Athletic programs in the state, in particular LSU, that are losing money?
Touche Jeff I agree with you 100%. Brady performed a few miracles while on probation. You have to give the guy another couple years befor judging him.
Brown did not win with Shaq, stanley, jackson and singleton because shaq was 17 with very few actual basketball skills, roberts was a 1st year soph who did not care about anything in life(great 8 page story on this in SI a few weeks ago), and singleton and jackson were sophs too. They lost to a very talented, veteran Ga. Tech team who went to the final 4. They could have gone farther, but the team they lost too was on about the same talet level at the time, but more experienced. I'm not going to get into an arguement whether John Wooden was a good coach or not, because thats just a dumb arguemet. If I was a Bama fan I would sure want Gottfried gone as soon as possible, but I'm sure some of their so called "real fans" want to give him a real chance and bring up the fact that he got them to #1. Didn't he come in during probation? Bama is pathetic right now.
Hey everyone is forgetting about good old Nolan. He has not have a job since Arkansas. Lets give him a chance.
I'm not in favor of firing Brady right now. But at some point he will be replaced and LSU can get a good coach if it wants to. It will have to pay a top-10 salary to get a top-ten coach, but if LSU is willing to pay...the coaches will come. Not every coach wants the pressure of a high-profle program like Duke or North Carolina. Dale had 10 straight NCAA's here including two final fours and packed the PMAC, so there is support here for a winning program. Basketball paid its own way. A good coach can recruit here, too. There is no in-state rival. Three of the top-50 college and NBA players of all time have their numbers hanging in the PMAC. Now, considering what we pay our chancellor and football coach, there may not be enough bucks left for basketball. But if the cash is there, a good coach will be found.
