Agree 1000%. We have too many institutional advantages to be this mediocre for this long.Originally Posted by SeattleUte
Agree 1000%. We have too many institutional advantages to be this mediocre for this long.
Not counting the exhibition, I'll accept two "dreck" games (NET 200-plus). One as a tuneup, one during finals week. But I'm not sure it really matters. Consider what has to happen for us to be a lock NCAA team, or one on the bubble with a strong case for inclusion:
Are we gonna beat Kentucky? (Probably not) Are we gonna go three games at Myrtle Beach without having a significant brain fart and lose a game we shouldn't? (we always have a game in these classics where we look like crap) Will Missouri get rescheduled? (We're gonna have to have ESPN pull some strings on this one) Will Nevada remain a Q1-2 win? (highly unlikely) Will the league finally pull itself out of its 3-year malaise in the non-con and actually establish itself as a 5-6 bid league once conference play starts? (it has to eventually, right?) Will Cal and Wazzu stop being millstones around the neck of the Pac-12? (Cal eventually will pull out of it; Wazzu better hope its new coach is the second coming of Tony Bennett. But their problems will almost certainly extend into 2019-20).
And all that has to be added to a league slate in which we go 11-7 or better and we improve our defense significantly from last year.
I would disagree with the thought that 20 wins will have us on the bubble. Colorado had 21 regular season wins and wasn't within a million miles of anyone's bubble. Now, our non-con next year will be significantly better than CU's was this year, but there's the Cal/Wazzu issue, not just in the regular season, but in Vegas as well, where if you just miss out on a bye, you're gonna get one of those two teams in Vegas.
There are too many variables that need to fall our way, and too much history and/or current events to suggest they probably won't. The first domino to fall will be how Larry fills out the rest of the schedule. If he packs it with dreck, it just means we need more of the variables listed above to fall our way.
I've tried to be patient with Larry and not be one of those fans who insist he be fired long before it's financially prudent or without giving him time to turn things around. The S16-R32 years were a lot of fun, and Larry inherited a much worse hand leading up to those years. Even the NIT Finals run had several signs that things could/would get better, or that missing the NCAA two straight years wasn't that bad.
Now, we're in a mode where every year is Groundhog Day, and we gotta relive Larry's mistakes. Yeah, the Jayce transfer was a huge blow for me. I get transfers and I've never been upset at kids leaving that were nailed to the end of the bench. But Chapman, Daniels, Hendrix and Jayce collectively represent a significant signing class. Losing them is akin to scholarship reductions while we're on probation, and we can all agree Larry would be fired in a nano-second if he got caught doing anything illegal. Why are we content to blame the kids and today's culture while being saddled with on-probation-like results?
I'm ready to move on. I want the kids to play well and enjoy some moments that will last forever. And if we're undefeated after playing Kentucky, I will change my tune quickly. But I would be far from hurt if we lost enough games for us to go in another direction after this season.
Last edited by SoCalPat; 04-18-2019 at 11:14 AM.
I’m with SoCal. I will never cheer for a coach to fail or team to lose. However, if the headline tomorrow were that LK was fired. It wouldn’t matter one bit. We are again rebuilding but using the same Contracter that got us in the position to begin with.
That makes more sense. Leaves Jones in charge of operations & they bring in a Recruiter.
Sounds like he is going to be LK's Dennis Ericksen.
To Bill's Credit, he actually asked some questions this week of Mark Harlan relative to the basketball program: https://espn700sports.com/sponsored/...championships/
Be warned - Harlan's phone kept cutting out...hard to tell if that was Larry's fault or not, but probably.
“It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”
Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
Listening to that interview & the fact that Harlan agreed to add a new position for Daniels seems to mean that you might need to change the name of this thread. Don’t think Larry K is going anywhere in the near future. He is not stupid, so if he was on the hot seat no way he recruits another freshman as the shooter.
Interesting to see if they have moved on from the Headband. Rumor is that the new assistant is bringing a player with him. Larry K seems like Kyle in that it is you are all in or move on.
I think he always has and always will simply recruit the best players he can get. I don't see how that has much to do with his job security. It's not like he could have grabbed a better player had he known his job depended on it.
I think if he looks short term he brings in 1 or 2 grad transfers; long term freshmen. I prefer long term, although with this many new players some will not get what they think is enough time & leave, but in 1 or 2 years & beyond they should be very good.
He tried, but they didn't come.
I think there's much to be settled on that front.
Justice Sueing leaving Cal, but has to sit out.
Charlie Moore who left Cal for Kansas is on the move again, also has to sit out.
Last edited by Old Standing ute; 04-23-2019 at 02:37 PM. Reason: typo
ThIs is a horrible take. We’re in the late signing period and we will take who we can get. By this logic, Larry would view his own job security more precariously by bringing in Justin Bibbins 2.0 than he would by bringing in a true. And that makes zero sense.
He’s taking players he think will make us better now. There’s an expectation that they’ll make us better later in their careers than at the start, but we went 17-14 last year. With so many newcomers coming in, several of them will have to contribute in a big way next year for Larry to be on solid ground entering the final three years of his deal.
Could be, but even though fans may think Larry is on the hot seat, not sure that is same for the people who could replace him.
Harlan would not agree to pay Donnie Daniels to be Larry’s assistant, which is in addition to all the other coaches, if he thought this would be for 1 year, & doubt Daniels would come here thinking it is a 1 year spot.
He obviously wants to win next year, he would bring in Bibbins 2.0–over another freshman. That would mean more wins in the short term; Wentzel is skinner than Both, so hope he makes us better now rather than down the road, but he won’t be a starter day 1, like a grad transfer should be. So if he is desperate hang onto that scholarship.
I guess we will see who gets the Headband’s scholarship.
And the elephant in the room is that there are no big donors who are hard core BB fans who would fund the buyout. Waiting for someone to name that person, since I haven’t seen him/her at every game.?
Like him or not, Larry is not going anywhere until his contract runs out.
This is not true. Larry is not going anywhere right now, but he certainly won't be given time until his contract runs out. If we flop next season, he's gone. If we are just okay but not promising, he may be gone. If he has us in the tournament, he probably gets an extension.
I think we will be OK & promising, but not in the tournament.
I think that will be enough for Larry, but I'm not as confident as you in that.
Mendacity
https://youtu.be/GiiE-h9ZYag
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
Nice.
Always wanted to be compared to Paul Newman.
Can you sing Ghost Riders in the Sky like Burl?
Last edited by Old Standing ute; 04-26-2019 at 10:01 PM.
I have seen Lahat in scrimmages.
I always wanted to be Paul Newman.
1-2-3 Go!
Hes not referring to Paul Newman as being mendacious.
One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
--Albert Einstein
The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved out of literally nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.
--Richard Dawkins
Be kind to all, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
--Philo
Isn't Uteopia Paul Newman?
He's Tom Selleck.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I was always more of a fan of Tennessee Tuxedo, rather than Tennessee Williams.
Tennessee Ernie Ford for me.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Donnie is an assistant that would be retained by 100 percent of all HCs in the country. The idea that his hiring is some sort of signal that Larry's on solid ground here is silly.
Harlan can follow Larry out the door if he lets him coach as a lame duck in the final year of his contract. Good luck recruiting under that scenario.
You're not privy to any list of donors any more than I am, so your .02 here really doesn't mean anything. But I do know we fired Ray Giacoletti with four years left on his deal and the athletic department isn't saddled with debt. Firing Larry with 3 years to go on his deal and swallowing $9M while hardly ideal, is hardly an insurmountable expense.
Short of a Final Four berth, he gets nothing. Harlan ain't gonna make the mistake Hill did and add years/dollars to a contract we can't get out of.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote