Ok Board let’s have some fun ...

[WichitaSooner]

I think there's a misunderstanding on this board that people want some sort of yeller and screamer. I think people want to win. And with all major due respect to Lon some(many) got tired/frustrated of OU doing well in a game for a stretch, then giving up a 26-0 run, no time outs and just smiling and clapping. And many times this included a schizophrenic first half/second half in which OU would look like crap, battle back valiantly only to come up short many times. One might think, what if he'd gotten into them quicker instead of just maybe at halftime, where would we be?

I mean no one in their right mind wants a loser coach who just yells and screams. If it wins games and the players respond, well then maybe (some) of that might not be a bad formula. Anyone who has actually played sports knows a well placed ass chewing can get some good results when it's needed. But just wanting a coach that "yells and screams" without substance seems silly, and I really don't think that's what most on here want. At least I hope.. That wouldn't seem to make much sense.

Lots of posts over the years from people praising “fiery and passionate” coaches while mocking Lon for clapping on the sideline, and also claiming with zero evidence whatsoever that he was coasting and no longer motivated. Other than outward demeanor, there is no explanation for why people would conclude that.

 

[pawneesooner]

Gonzaga assistant coach! Tommy Lloyd is in his 20th season as an assistant coach, joining head coach Mark Few's staff prior to the 2001-02 season after serving as an administrative assistant the previous season.

 

[Maverick008]

We want to win. We want the fans to show up and Pack the house. It’s not an either or situation. We want both.

My criticism of him is we have been fighting in the bottom of the conference for the last 5 years. My criticism is late season collapses and not winning when we should. So, my criticism is all about winning. Nothing else.

And you and other posters think that hiring a coach with no experience on the sideline in a top conference is going to produce that against the likes of the Head Coaches in the Big XII? The AAC conference is in NO comparison to the Big XII no matter how you slice it. The AAC had TWO teams in the NCAA compared to seven for the Big XII. Yes Memphis won the NIT but I doubt anyone on this board would give props to a team from the Big XII for winning the NIT (see Texas a few years ago when everyone was poking and laughing at them). A guy that’s never competed daily/weekly against Bill Self, Bob Huggins, Scott Drew, Etc is going to come in and just start racking up wins? And if the argument is “well no, it might take a few years” then how do you recruit with losing records? It’s been pointed out that no one wants to play in the LNC compared to other venues and if the new coach is losing right away how do you attract fans to that?

When Capel was brought in, he had that excitement all you guys are talking about and when he left, Kruger was brought in to FIX the disaster that was left behind. I for one don’t want to have to see OU go through that again. I assume we can all agree on that NO COACH is really a sure thing but I would put less of a chance to succeed on a guy that’s never done it anywhere and would be thrown to the wolves in the Big XII.

 

[pawneesooner]

Frank Martin did pretty well in the Bix XII at Kansas State.

 

[pawneesooner]

Gonzaga assistant coach! Tommy Lloyd is in his 20th season as an assistant coach.

 

[Big Old Booger]

And you and other posters think that hiring a coach with no experience on the sideline in a top conference is going to produce that against the likes of the Head Coaches in the Big XII? The AAC conference is in NO comparison to the Big XII no matter how you slice it. The AAC had TWO teams in the NCAA compared to seven for the Big XII. Yes Memphis won the NIT but I doubt anyone on this board would give props to a team from the Big XII for winning the NIT (see Texas a few years ago when everyone was poking and laughing at them). A guy that’s never competed daily/weekly against Bill Self, Bob Huggins, Scott Drew, Etc is going to come in and just start racking up wins? And if the argument is “well no, it might take a few years” then how do you recruit with losing records? It’s been pointed out that no one wants to play in the LNC compared to other venues and if the new coach is losing right away how do you attract fans to that?

When Capel was brought in, he had that excitement all you guys are talking about and when he left, Kruger was brought in to FIX the disaster that was left behind. I for one don’t want to have to see OU go through that again. I assume we can all agree on that NO COACH is really a sure thing but I would put less of a chance to succeed on a guy that’s never done it anywhere and would be thrown to the wolves in the Big XII.

Your memory is way off. I'm not going into it but it's way off.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Gonzaga assistant coach! Tommy Lloyd is in his 20th season as an assistant coach.

Head coach in waiting at arguably the best program in the country. Not saying it isn’t worth asking, but man that would be tough to pull off since I’m sure he has plenty of programs that want him and he has turned down all suitors to this point.

 

[WTSooner]

Saw Billy Donovan's name mentioned elsewhere.

Don't think it's likely, but it's interesting.

 

[mict085]

And you and other posters think that hiring a coach with no experience on the sideline in a top conference is going to produce that against the likes of the Head Coaches in the Big XII? The AAC conference is in NO comparison to the Big XII no matter how you slice it. The AAC had TWO teams in the NCAA compared to seven for the Big XII. Yes Memphis won the NIT but I doubt anyone on this board would give props to a team from the Big XII for winning the NIT (see Texas a few years ago when everyone was poking and laughing at them). A guy that’s never competed daily/weekly against Bill Self, Bob Huggins, Scott Drew, Etc is going to come in and just start racking up wins? And if the argument is “well no, it might take a few years” then how do you recruit with losing records? It’s been pointed out that no one wants to play in the LNC compared to other venues and if the new coach is losing right away how do you attract fans to that?

When Capel was brought in, he had that excitement all you guys are talking about and when he left, Kruger was brought in to FIX the disaster that was left behind. I for one don’t want to have to see OU go through that again. I assume we can all agree on that NO COACH is really a sure thing but I would put less of a chance to succeed on a guy that’s never done it anywhere and would be thrown to the wolves in the Big XII.

You think Dana Altman is going to come in and beat bill self? We’d be in the exact same position we are in now. Fighting for 5-10th place.

You are basically comparing every young coach to capel which is disingenuous. Capel was a disaster. Just because a coach has been around, doesn’t guarantee success any more than a new coach would mean failure.

Identifying and hiring the right people leads to success whether they have experience or not. There is risk in every potential coaching hire. We could just as easily fail with an old used up coach close to retirement as we could with a new young coach. The key is finding the right person, regardless of age.

 

[WichitaSooner]

You think Dana Altman is going to come in and beat bill self? We’d be in the exact same position we are in now. Fighting for 5-10th place.

You are basically comparing every young coach to capel which is disingenuous. Capel was a disaster. Just because a coach has been around, doesn’t guarantee success any more than a new coach would mean failure.

Identifying and hiring the right people leads to success whether they have experience or not. There is risk in every potential coaching hire. We could just as easily fail with an old used up coach close to retirement as we could with a new young coach. The key is finding the right person, regardless of age.

Dude has made five Sweet 16s in 11 seasons at Oregon. I’m not sure why people seem to think he can’t coach. Not saying he should be the guy or is my top choice, but I’d take him over many of the names people are pining for.

 

[Big Old Booger]

Dude has made five Sweet 16s in 11 seasons at Oregon. I’m not sure why people seem to think he can’t coach. Not saying he should be the guy or is my top choice, but I’d take him over many of the names people are pining for.

He's not saying he can't coach he's saying he's not going to beat KU with any more regularity than any other coach except BT or KS. However, in the Big 12, not many programs have beaten KU with any regularity since Self took over.

 

[sheepdogs1]

And you and other posters think that hiring a coach with no experience on the sideline in a top conference is going to produce that against the likes of the Head Coaches in the Big XII? The AAC conference is in NO comparison to the Big XII no matter how you slice it. The AAC had TWO teams in the NCAA compared to seven for the Big XII. Yes Memphis won the NIT but I doubt anyone on this board would give props to a team from the Big XII for winning the NIT (see Texas a few years ago when everyone was poking and laughing at them). A guy that’s never competed daily/weekly against Bill Self, Bob Huggins, Scott Drew, Etc is going to come in and just start racking up wins? And if the argument is “well no, it might take a few years” then how do you recruit with losing records? It’s been pointed out that no one wants to play in the LNC compared to other venues and if the new coach is losing right away how do you attract fans to that?

When Capel was brought in, he had that excitement all you guys are talking about and when he left, Kruger was brought in to FIX the disaster that was left behind. I for one don’t want to have to see OU go through that again. I assume we can all agree on that NO COACH is really a sure thing but I would put less of a chance to succeed on a guy that’s never done it anywhere and would be thrown to the wolves in the Big XII.

Regardless of who a program brings in it is a crap shoot not some of the time, but more like all of the time and this applies to players as well.

 

[MJSooner]

Saw Billy Donovan's name mentioned elsewhere.

Don't think it's likely, but it's interesting.

I don't know who mentioned it but it is quite a facetious choice.

Billy Donovan is making $6MM a year at the Bulls. They just made several trades to improve their roster and try to make a run for the playoffs.

He is not leaving for a $3-4MM college job.

 

[ouboomer]

I don't know who mentioned it but it is quite a facetious choice.

Billy Donovan is making $6MM a year at the Bulls. They just made several trades to improve their roster and try to make a run for the playoffs.

He is not leaving for a $3-4MM college job.

not to mention word is he is not a big fan of recruiting players.

 

[pawneesooner]

Head coach in waiting at arguably the best program in the country. Not saying it isn’t worth asking, but man that would be tough to pull off since I’m sure he has plenty of programs that want him and he has turned down all suitors to this point.

Just the type of thing Joe C. would pull off!

 

[Soonerinkc]

Lots of posts over the years from people praising “fiery and passionate” coaches while mocking Lon for clapping on the sideline, and also claiming with zero evidence whatsoever that he was coasting and no longer motivated. Other than outward demeanor, there is no explanation for why people would conclude that.

There were MANY games we’d give up a nice run...8/10/12 points... with no TO. Many times we’d lose a lead.

That was my frustration with his clapping and no TO... he got better the last couple yrs.

 

[WichitaSooner]

There were MANY games we’d give up a nice run...8/10/12 points... with no TO. Many times we’d lose a lead.

That was my frustration with his clapping and no TO... he got better the last couple yrs.

There’s a reason I didn’t mention anyone complaining about timeouts. And my comment wasn’t directed at you. There are many posters on the board who falsely claim that Lon’s calm demeanor shows he wasn’t engaged and was just cashing checks, and those same people lobby for a demonstrative coach. But as for the TO issue, Kelvin let his team piss away almost all of their 17-point lead Monday before using a single timeout, and the lunatic Gregg Marshall calls the fewest timeouts of any coach around. So even that isn’t reflective of personality or overall coaching style.

 

[WaymanFan]

There’s a reason I didn’t mention anyone complaining about timeouts. And my comment wasn’t directed at you. There are many posters on the board who falsely claim that Lon’s calm demeanor shows he wasn’t engaged and was just cashing checks, and those same people lobby for a demonstrative coach. But as for the TO issue, Kelvin let his team piss away almost all of their 17-point lead Monday before using a single timeout, and the lunatic Gregg Marshall calls the fewest timeouts of any coach around. So even that isn’t reflective of personality or overall coaching style.

Some coaches simply want their players to play through slumps. I don't pretend to understand that way of thinking because there is way too much evidence to show that calling a TO to stop a run works far more times than it doesn't.

The best example came in the single biggest game in OU BB history. Larry Brown of Kansas decided in the first half of the 1988 title game that his Jayhawks were going to run with the Sooners. Billy Packer said over and over again that if they didn't slow things down, they had no chance of winning. The result was the most exciting first half of college basketball I have ever seen - 50th Final Four with a 50-50 halftime score. Brown took the air out of the ball in the second half, but with KU leading, OU went on a run. After a Mookie Blaylock steal and layup, OU took a 5 point lead in the middle of the second half. Larry Brown called a TO, scored 8 straight points (at least) and OU never got the lead back. That TO at such a critical juncture will forever be in my mind.

 

[pawneesooner]

I think people would love for a coach to bring back Billy Tubb's brand of basketball. I'm not sure if there's a coach out there that runs Billy's style of basketball.