What do y'all think about Mike anderson becoming the new coach at arky? his uab team beat the hell out of us in the first round of march madness and he is fron Nolan Richardsons coaching tree. It looks like that move will make for lonlier winters in the pmac.
Makes me think about Wimp Sanderson and Nolan Richardson. See Bama and Arky dominating the west with an occasional Miss. St thrown in for good measure.
Yup, it scares me. It also makes Trent's window here for success smaller. We already know this, but next year's coaching job and recruiting job, will be key because the SEC West just got upgraded in coachng. Johnson, Grant, Anderson are proven coaches (interestingly as well, the SEC West is stacked with black coaches who are all going to be recruiting against each other). Jury's out on Barbee, but I see slow gradual improvements where Auburn is a middle of the pack SEC West team. I frankly see Kennedy, Stansbury in trouble. I don't buy that Miss St will be there in the long haul, Ole Miss will continue to struggle as a NCAA bubble team. If Trent can get Talley on board (or see better fruits of coaching labors with kids like Stringer, Turner, Dotson and Derenbecker) and a decent 2012 class in here, LSU will be in the hunt for the SEC West still in years to come. Those are still ifs, but if so, book it.
Looks like Arkansas got lucky. Xavier and Butler's coaches have already said no to Tennessee. I gotta assume they will go after Smart at VCU or Pastner at Memphis next. Also, I hope that serves as a lesson to LSU. If TJ isn't here, LSU will not be able to hand pick a coach just because we're in the SEC. High level mid major coaches won't bolt just to be in a power conference. They will stay even if it means less pay.
Nothing better than hiring a weather tested, proven coach. How is Tennessee gonna sell all these experienced guys on 10 major basketball violations? That's not the worst of it. Then you inform them they got to wear that orangish, yellowish jail break looking Popsicle blazer, at all big games.
And, to all of the self-centered SEC fans out there, this is exactly it. You can go to the Final Four at Butler in today's day and age, and beat the SEC school. And, you've got a school that cares about hoops first, has an arena that is sold out for every game and 95% capacity filled. To my points earlier, in a building SEC school it's actually a tougher job than being at mid-major hoops school. To take that tougher job, you have to incentivize them with a lot more $$s than people think. Frankly, I think that Trent has done a better recruiting job than folks give him credit for (recovering from later Brady years), and if he should get canned prematurely, some coach will actually be lucky to come in and take his talent and build on it. The thing that again folks are not giving Trent credit for on top of this is his running a clean program, cleaning up the APR mess, bringing in players that are coachable and clean, DOES make the program more attractive for another coach. Whether his record proves it or not, the program isn't some hornet's nest like Tennessee--Pearl had to recruit a certain way to get players to Knoxville (much like Lane did), and that was encouraged. At LSU, at least in football (and soon to come in basketball), the talent's in your backyard. Run a clean program, be a respectable coach and convince your best talent to stay in state, leads to at least a respectable showing at LSU. That doesn't take a rocket scientist, but it's more difficult than it sounds. Trent and his staff aren't perfect, but with a few tweaks and more time they can get there.
Nolan Richardson? And what has he done lately? Sorry if I fail to see the connection with him, Anderson and greatness. He may turn out to be a good coach but just the association doesn't make it so. Can you tell I'm not impressed?
I don't recall mentioning anything about Trent Johnson. Is this like one of those 8 degrees of separation games where you mention something different in several threads and you try to tie it all together in one post? Good show... So you'll go away when LSU makes it to the tourney or is it the Final Four that will convince you? Also wondering if the jury is still out with your opinion of Les Miles too. Maybe Paul Mainieri is on the hot seat in your eyes because of this latest bump over on the baseball diamond? Lots of young guys over there...oh yeah...that's right. Youth is no excuse. Trent should have had us in the Super Bowl against the Steelers. Oh...and Obama started his own oil war... Did I cover everything? Oh...I forgot...tsunami...
