I view ‘98 as a rare pinnacle, but the consistent level of good performance of the 90s is what I miss.
This year I got tired of the, “What the Hell was he thinking there?” reaction I had too often for both players and coaching decisions. Too many simply reckless turn overs, picked up dribbles with no plan, bad switches in D, wondering why Lohner and Dawes weren’t getting more minutes, the Ausar black hole, it all wore me out.
I remember when Pimm left, and in Archibald’s first year I suddenly gained a greater appreciation for how fundamentally sound the Pimm years were. We’ve had little of that, there are some exceptions primarily under LK, but for the most part I don’t see the team play that made me love college basketball any more. And I miss that.
The system has changed dramatically, but for a school like Utah to challenge KU, Houston and U of Pay it will take more than money.
The previous discussion about finding a recipe that works well for Utah will be critical. The Wild West portal and $$$ arms race factors need to be balanced with establishing a culture, an identity, similar to what Whitt has done in FB. We’re a long way from being a super program where fans forget the first rounders that have blown through, so we need to find grinders to mix in with difference making talent.
We’re not going to have the raw athletic talent somebody like Kelvin Sampson has in Houston. AZ has a long established history, with money behind it. (Ayton, cough) KU is having a rare off year.
I’m with you on this @Ma-ake in that we’ll never compete with the blue-bloods in NIL dollars anyway. So the formula is to find the diamonds in the rough, so to speak, who aren’t getting the huge NIL offers and through solid coaching build them into something better.
This is also why I mentioned the two-pronged approach, of a coaching staff who can say, “I can get you into the NBA…” and also, “I can see what you are… someone who isn’t getting recognized, and I’m going to make you that player, but you’ve got to buy into the culture and what I’m teaching you.”
And that is also why it becomes more important than ever to start building NIL deals for students that are backfilled and reward sticking with the program. It’s honestly a matter of time that that happens. BYU can go after the one-and-dones, I think what I’ve described above is how you build a program at the U (and really how football has largely done it).
While I don’t really like the non-stop noise that is currently in fashion at the Huntsman Center I completely disagree about goal horns in the NHL! A good goal horn is one you can feel in your chest! It is only for a few seconds after a goal and there are usually not that many goals in hockey. That is one tradition I really like. I remember playoff games in the old Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton and the goal horn there would reverberate off the concrete walls and roof and just energize the crowd even more!.
The Wichita State game at the Huntsman was a perfect example of just the right level of music to get the crowd amped up without being overpowering. They need to bring that back.
The only issue I had with Pimm (coaching wise) was the “Gentleman Jerry” thing. I remember a game against Colorado St (I think) where we were up about 10 with 4-5 minutes remaining and Pimm emptied the bench, so as to not look like he was running up the score. We ended up losing that game. There were other games that we won where is was closer than it needed to be due to his calling off the dogs too early
It’s all about the $$$. You can develop 3* in FB because of the positions that just play a role—like O line. But in hoops you need 4-5* talent. If Utes had a $2M budget that does not cut it. The AD & his staff need to be raising the funds. Now that Manny is retired, Soto is gone & Josh Grant raising $$ for the engineering department—who is bringing in the big $$ for mens BB? And your budget for buyouts can’t be more than for players.
The problem with that approach in this brave new world is that once you coach up diamonds in the rough, they will leave for more NIL. Doubt you can sustain it.
I think the small things are a lost art not just in basketball, but in football as well. I know it more from football, but you get WR’s who don’t know how to run crisp routes because their speed and athleticism allowed them to just run past defenders. You have QB’s who cannot pre-snap read a zone vs man because they had a WR who could just out run everyone. They then get to a level where they do not have that advantage and they are lost. I’m sure it is the same in basketball. I mean look at the Williams kid from CU drafted No. 10 by the Jazz. The kid has no clue. The sad thing is a large % of the kids aren’t willing to do the work necessary to learn the simple things.
Agreed… and all the more reason for backfilled contracts, and contracts like we do with coaches - you can jump early but you are paying a buyout.
And I also get that doesn’t work if nobody else is writing that kind of agreement, but the schools better get together on standardizing some of the basics around NIL deals.
With an NBA/NFL/MLB/NHL (and others) contract, players are only free agents after a number of years, but in college, every single year they are free to look for more lucrative contract$$$$.
I admired him and always will. I actually knew him. A wonderful, generous, and very complex guy. Still, this is one thing about him that I could never understand. It almost seemed compulsive. Whatever it was, it certainly was not helpful.
I guess I was being kind. I couldn’t understand why a coach who loves his players and is devoted to success would engage in such self-destructive behavior. It did seem compulsive.