Well you could go through a dozen coaches and have a dozen bad or mediocre seasons. You could also find the right personality guy and he may not be able to be successful. Some had problems with Dale Brown. You just can't please everyone all of the time. The only thing a coach can do is win or be successful, that is the only thing that will make everyone happy. Wait? Maybe I should take that back? I had no intention of this part it just popped into my head. Some still have a problem with some things about the football team and it is still undefeated. I do believe most people are now happy with Coach Les Miles because he has proven to be successful and a winner. This is what Coach Trent Johnson has to do, also discipline and character are 2 more key elements.
This is a different era of basketball. The players are different. They want a proven program to be "seen". They all want to be superstars to move on to the NBA. The big basketball schools have cornered the market on the "one and done" types and are happy with that. The others have to take the time to season a team to play well together.
My favorite part of the game last night was a Marquette player tried to save a ball going out of bounds near their bench. The ball landed right in front of Buzz Williams who picked it up and took a shot. That brought on calls for a technical from the crowd. Not sure if this was picked up by the cameras, but I got a chuckle out of it.
We do agree on something here (and I've made this point in other threads), I do think a college coach's success is probably at least 50% based upon recruiting. Afterall, is Coach's success now due to Hickey at the point or the schemes he's running? Just like if these LA kids that are able to put LA back on the map like Gathers, Bridgewater, Martin, Craig, etc., just decided they went to LSU, you don't think LSU would be better? Of course. But, what is that other 50%? Integrity, keeping the program respectable and out of trouble, keeping kids graduating, obviously being an ambassador for the program--such that when folks hear LSU they don't think of it as a joke program. Well, and that's why I made it a point to post that Idaho article. Win or lose, Trent's time will be recognized at a minimum for a SEC championship, fixing the APR program, and influencing the minds and hearts of kids like Chris Bass, Malcolm White, Eddie Ludwig, etc., and bringing some integrity back to the program. With the right recruiting breaks, it could also hopefully be associated with consistent winning again (note that even with Brady this was never a standard). As for the X and Os coaching, well, it's interesting what other SEC coaches think. “He has a great offensive mind. Obviously, he built Nevada with old-school defense and rebounding and a commitment to the dirty work, but he has the ability to put players together so they can flourish offensively. I mean, he’s won the WAC, Pac-10 and SEC.” - Mark Fox The interesting thing about "offensive" coaching in basketball is just that sometime the ball goes in and sometimes it doesn't. Trent's repeated time and time again that the team is taking good shots. This past game they went in (plus LSU's FT% leads the SEC, and last night was an aberration). So, is that good coaching? The one thing that I am noticing with this young backcourt is the lack of maturity and smarts to go inside more and start the offense in and then out. If they get a handle better on how to get Hamilton and O'Bryant and Warren more touches working in-out (including against a zone), I think the offense will be fine. (Some more thorough-breds on the wings in transition might also help:grin But, the offense often just looks better when the court is balanced, and there are more talented guys who can penetrate and create separation. I'm not entirely convinced that a coaches' personality fills seats or frankly recruits. Trent is, as the article suggests, clearly not going to "hard sell" recruits. I think he's old school that way. And, well, I do think sometimes that sells to certain kids poorly who want the slick salesman. Is he Lavin, or Calipari, or even Mark Gottfried at NC State? Let's see what St Johns or NC State does with their recruits before we annoint the 50% recruiting as outweighing the other 50%. What's clear is that Trent does want to get to the most out of his kids, and his kids seem to want to stay and play hard for him and learn. And, that ultimately produces better players given some time. In the end, the winning drives the program. The recruiting part of it is a little bit of a crapshoot. But, hopefully the program starts to recruit these kids. Morgan is already another very talented guard to add to this interesting team of Hickey, Turner, Stringer, Isaac, O'Bryant, etc. We are probably an explosive wing and more depth along a few spots away from being VERY stout, considering we just beat the #10 team in the country with 18 TOs and 50+% FT shooting. And before we cast off Trent's recruiting--let's not forget that we hadn't signed MS kids of the caliber of Stringer and O'Bryant, in a long time. We hadn't signed kids out of N.O. in a long time. And, as with last Spring, we've seen Trent has shown some ability to surprise in this department here as well--quietly and in the 11th hour. There could be some interesting buzz come Spring signing period.
I still think there is a place for the "also ran" recruits. Dale Brown made a good living out of 3 and 4 star recruits. Johnson can too if he is what they say he is as a coach.
I wanted to say something about the win but it looks like you guys have that covered...Can't say more great win...But I will say that looking a LSU's schedule we have a good chance of ending the first half of the season RANKED! Yes I did say RANKED! Our next game will is against UNT, who is one of those sneaky teams...Plus Tony Mitchell a top 10 high school guy from a year ago just became eligible to play...If we beat them at home coupled with the win over Marquette, I think that will get the voters attention and we should get a few votes towards the top 25...Then we play Gambling (very winable) and then we get UVA at home...UVA is ranked in 1 poll and getting votes in the other...They have 3 or 4 games before they play us and they are all game that can be easily won...By the time they get to the PMAC they should be ranked in lower half of the top 25...I would guess about #17 or so...But if the PMAC is rocking and we see the same team we saw a few nights ago that would be a good win that would make it 8 in a row and 2 wins over top 25 teams...I'm not trying to get ahead of myself but looking at the last few game it seems as if the Tigers are learning to win...After last game they should know it and confidence should be high...Now just being honest I don't think we are a top 25 team yet but I do think the team that played Marquette is a tournament team that could win a first round and maybe even a second round game...Lets go CTJ, lets get some quality wins and open the eyes of some of those Louisiana recruits who are thinking of playing elsewhere!
You're right, I certainly do not want to get ahead of ourselves! :hihi: UNT is a very dangerous team, and their record is very misleading because of the fact that Tony Mitchell (who played on the USA youth basketball team with JOB) just came back. They are a different team with him, a powerful 6'8"-9" 235 lb forward with step back skills. UVA also looms large, yes. Interesting storylines as Tony Bennett (UVA) was rumored to be a guy LSU was considering as a coaching candidate, and Johnny Jones, as folks know, coaches UNT. But, the point that jumps at me about this recent run is we often forget the importance of just having that winning mentality. Teams, good or bad, can have that intangible winning, or lack of winning, "know how." Case in point, look at our SEC brethren Vanderbilt this year. Predicted to be the SEC #2 team, they have certainly struggled--in fact, very good coach and good recruits, with losses to Cleveland State and Indiana State (they also btw play Marquette next week). Not saying LSU is a better team, but sometimes good teams on paper just don't get the chemistry and spirit right. While some bad teams just need to learn how to win. This LSU team certainly is taking strides in learning how to play hard for 40 minutes, and to "find ways to win." as cliche as it is. The key now is the leadership on the team and the coaching staff going to be able to sustain it. Getting the non-conference schedule up to 10 wins would be great, entering into the SEC, because we know the SEC will be a dog fight. The goal then obviously is trying to have a winning record and to make some noise in the SEC tourney. A lot of ball to go for sure, but if Stringer comes back and he and Turner can shoot a little bit more consistently, I like our chances. As an aside, how long has it been since LSU hoops has gotten front page pub? ESPN has a picture of John Isaac on the cover of its hoops page... NCAA - Men's College Basketball Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings, Rumors - ESPN TMA: Monday night is upset night - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN The King's Court scours the nation for all the latest in college basketball - ESPN
And, where does being a good person, a role model and a shaper of young mens' minds come into this? Is "winning" and "success" the only thing that matters? Perhaps in this 24/7 winning is everything day and age, it is, but I found this little tidbit interesting... What on Earth is Phil Martelli doing? - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN Remember when Garrett Green wanted to start his masters at San Diego State? Trent say, I'm sorry to see him go, but certainly we want what's best for Garrett's academic and athletic career... Not so with Phil Martelli, a once well-respected coach for St. Joes. Interesting also that this is the man that Langston Galloway chose to go play for. Galloway's doing decently on a more competitive St. Joes team this year, but I'd make the case that there's more to college ball than just winning and recruiting should be more than just getting kids to the NCAA tournament or pros. This is certainly a black mark against St. Joes and what kid would want to go play for this guy now. Trent, as "no frills" as he his, is a guy that kids can respect and follow. I hope that as our good LA recruits start to digest this all, they'll see that more and more.
That is indeed interesting, I think there should be an investigation and if what the player says this coach should be fired. I wouldn't ever play for him personally if I would have known that. I think college people need and deserve to have quality character coaches and teachers. I would want to play for a coach that is a good person, great role model and cares about his players. Perfect example is CLM's. As a player there is no way I'd play for CNS, mainly because of the demeanor of the two men. As a player it isn't necessarily all about winning a championship! But as a FAN or School some pressure is on the administration and coaches if they aren't successful or winning or borderline. I think you could put Coach Trent Johnson in this category? Borderline? I want him to succeed and be successful here no matter if he has a quiet demeanor and isn't like Dale Brown in that respect.
