Well, you gotta consider the source. Drisdom saw his minutes eaten away by both Marc Jackson and Johnnie Bryant, two clearly superior players.Originally Posted by GarthUte
Drisdom was built to succeed under Majerus and not so much under Giacoletti. The opposite held true for Chaney and Markson.
According to Johnnie Bryant, Giac got the job. Good for him. I wish him well in the Valley,save for against the Shox.
My sincere apologies to Drake.
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I am glad Giac is getting another shot and wish him the best. However, I would not expect this to end well for him and Drake. I am just not sure he is cut out to be a great head coach from a personality standpoint. He recruited much better at Utah than we gave him credit for at the time, but failed to effectively manage his personnel (failed might be an understatement). Also, Drake is a bottom feeder program in a pretty tough conference, so they have an uphill battle just to get in the top half of the MVC. At least he won't be saddled with big expectations.
Bite your tongue. Willie Wise came from Drake.
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I'm not some Giackyll with an endless pool of hate for the guy, but I DO wonder how much his recruiting success came because of an innate talent and ability to connect with kids, or rather Utah's (then) national reputation and/or the ghost of Majerus that may have preceded him into the living room of kids' homes. Do you think any blue-chipper from Australia would follow him to Drake these days? When he stepped into the head job, Utah's stock was about as high as it's ever been. I tend to believe he was cashing in on that more than anything else (with maybe a dash of Mark Few's residual pixie dust).
Anyway, good luck to Coach Giac. I never had anything against the guy, but hated to see Utah hoops look so mortal during his reign. If I had only known the horrors that were still to come....
Last edited by FountainOfUte; 04-01-2013 at 01:43 PM.
I wasn't aware of this either. While I feel for the guy and think he is a decent person, I have to ask myself what may have triggered a severe depressive episode? Was it something personal or the pressures from the job at Utah? After Bogut's season, he may have realized he was in way over his head. Maybe the stress and realization that he couldn't handle things may have sent him over the ledge and into the funk you describe? That said, I don't think if he was otherwise a solid HC and knew his X's & O's, things would have gone down hill as fast and turned out as badly as they did.
Frankly, I am surprised Drake made this hire. Not only did he last last only three years at Utah, if he is prone to depression and has difficulty handling the day to day stress of recruiting, running a program, and winning enough to keep his job, he may be better off remaining an assistant. I don't know that Giac has the ability and acumen to be an effective head coach at the D1 level. Has his time back with Few changed that? For his and Drake's sake, I hope so.
There is nothing wrong with pulling in 200-250K a year and remaining an assistant under a successful coach where things are stable and the stresses minimized. Not sure why Giac himself would want to venture back into headcoaching given the potential impact on his health and his families quality of life. I wish him the best and hope he has learned a lot since his time at Utah. He will need it.
Last edited by #1 Utefan; 04-01-2013 at 04:29 PM.
It's hard to tell with depression. For example, it may have flared up and he had a tough time getting a medication regimen that would work. He may not have recognized it at first. It's such a quirky, individualized disorder. (I have close friends and family members who suffer from it.) I don't have enough information about Giac to have an opinion. I just think it's a factor that makes me want to give him the benefit of the doubt.
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This is a step in the right direction, as far as the fanbase as a whole is concerned. People should just stop commenting on Ray's fortunes elsewhere solely because of what happened at Utah.
He was respected enough to land two other Division I jobs, both before and after Utah. He was trusted enough by a previous colleague to be brought back on to a perenially ranked team.
To me, Ray is this generation's Tom Lovat. Possessors of a higher knowledge of their respective sports, yet thrust into a role that was possibly a step above their ability grade for the time. After failing at Utah, both went on to a long, prosperous career in their respective sports. Since Lovat won a Super Bowl with Green Bay, it would be silly to assume Giac is incapble of at least duplicating his success at Eastern Washington, or maybe even improving on it.
With what transpired here at Utah, you don't really expect most of us to think of him with fond memories , do you? I hope he does find success but like I've said earlier, I have some serious doubts. I do think he is probably a decent assistant coach, I just don't know that he is cut out to be anything more than an average HC. I also don't put much weight on Few hiring him after getting fired since they were basically best friends before he came to Utah.
Calling his tenure at Eastern Washington a success may be a bit of a stretch as well. While he did okay, I remember looking at his record and questioning the hire even at the time. I'm not sure he did much better in North (or South, can't remember) Dakota before that either.
I'm not trying to pile on but just pointing out that there are legitimate reasons to question that Giac can be a truly successful HC. I hope he proves me wrong.
Things ended badly.
At Drake, Giacoletti's teams got worse each season, just as at Utah (based on won-loss records). He resigned after 3+ seasons at Drake with a 32–69 record.
Yeah, two years ago? What prompted this?
Ray actually broadcast games for some regional networks and ESPN3 last year. I'd be curious to listen to his commentary. He also says he's retired from coaching.
http://www.pjstar.com/sports/2018010...roadcast-booth
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