EtomicB
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Post by EtomicB on Jul 21, 2017 15:28:54 GMT -5
I have heard of ZERO reports of players hating Big John. As for coaches- there may be some level of tension at times, but they seem to like and respect him as well for the most part. And if they do not...[INSERT DOOR OUT BEING OPENED EMOJI] Again, none of that really has any bearing on the hiring of an administrative staff member. FlHoya didn't say players hated Big John, he said they hated how he interrupts practices.. |
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Post by johnnysnowplow on Jul 21, 2017 15:35:17 GMT -5
Consider me squarely in the group that thinks this whole offseason has been pretty blah to say the least. We had an opportunity to start fresh and we did (sort of, but not totally). We needed to surround this coach with people that would help him succeed and while the jury is still out on the hires, it's hard to feel confident that the people surrounding him are the strong foundation he needs. Personally, I find myself feeling like not a whole lot has changed to be honest. Maybe I'll feel differently once they start playing some games, but right now it just feels like more of the same.
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Jul 21, 2017 15:43:36 GMT -5
Again, none of that really has any bearing on the hiring of an administrative staff member. If Ron is being brought on as a "Chief of Staff"--and I've heard that term used by multiple sources I've known to have reliable information--then he's more than an administrative staff member. He'd basically be the guy in charge of the administrative staff. Agree with FlHoya ... just don't see how this staff helps support a first-time college coach. What's frustrating to me is that, on paper, the concept of a Chief of Staff for the men's basketball admin folks makes a lot of sense for a first time head coach like Pat with limited experience on the administrative side. I don't personally think Ron Thompson is the right choice--from an optics standpoint or qualifications--but what do I know. Same thing for what Louis Orr's position represents conceptually--a veteran coach with a personal connection to Pat who can serve as a knowledge base--the Gene Keady at St. John's role. Makes sense for a new coach to have some extra experience and a trusted advisor type. I don't think Louis Orr is right at all for a recruiting and bench coach role we gave him in 2017 though. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not encouraged so far. |
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bostonfan
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Post by bostonfan on Jul 21, 2017 15:51:55 GMT -5
Consider me squarely in the group that thinks this whole offseason has been pretty blah to say the least. We had an opportunity to start fresh and we did (sort of, but not totally). We needed to surround this coach with people that would help him succeed and while the jury is still out on the hires, it's hard to feel confident that the people surrounding him are the strong foundation he needs. Personally, I find myself feeling like not a whole lot has changed to be honest. Maybe I'll feel differently once they start playing some games, but right now it just feels like more of the same. I am not sure what the off season is supposed to feel like. I am encouraged by the recruiting activity, at least the number of offers going out, and am hopeful that some of those offers will turn into commitments in the next few months. The staff seems to be working really hard and Kirby is a proven high level recruiter so I am willing to give them a chance. Personally I am fine waiting to see how the team comes together and how they play. I am not overly optimistic about what the record will be this season, but I am looking forward to a change in the style of play. Lets wait and see if Coach Ewing can energize these players and turn them into a scrappy group that plays smart and with passion. If he can do that then I will consider the season a success, no matter what the record is, and view the program as moving in the right direction. |
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AltoSaxa
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Post by AltoSaxa on Jul 21, 2017 15:56:00 GMT -5
Whatever title a staff member is given they still interact with the players. The question I have is do these kids really discern the difference in each of the staff members' roles or do they look at each of them as "coaches" regardless of the position or title they hold? Why not fill the position with someone who can handle the administrative responsibilities but also can function as a role model both in a basketball and personal sense for these kids? RT failed the former and even if he provides the latter why not find someone who may provide both? This is the major issue for me.
The other issue is how people outside the program view it. When they see Patrick Ewing and Ronnie Thompson it is not difficult to conclude some may say "more of the same."
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s4hoyas
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Post by s4hoyas on Jul 21, 2017 16:02:19 GMT -5
Ron's a smart guy, a loyal alumnus and he knows bball...people also forget that he essentially transformed
Roy Hibbert from a total stiff into a mid first round draft pick...if Patrick knows and trusts him to be capable
and reliable, that's good enough for me, "optics" be damned...
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Jul 21, 2017 17:31:26 GMT -5
Ron's a smart guy, a loyal alumnus and he knows bball...people also forget that he essentially transformed Roy Hibbert from a total stiff into a mid first round draft pick... Ronny left Georgetown in 2003, Hibbert's junior season at Prep. Three years at Arkansas (2003-06) and a year at Ball State (2006-07) returns him to Washington circa the summer of 2007, or the beginning of Hibbert's senior season. I'm not sure he qualifies for the credit for Hibbert's four years of progress. |
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jul 21, 2017 18:45:56 GMT -5
Consider me squarely in the group that thinks this whole offseason has been pretty blah to say the least. We had an opportunity to start fresh and we did (sort of, but not totally). We needed to surround this coach with people that would help him succeed and while the jury is still out on the hires, it's hard to feel confident that the people surrounding him are the strong foundation he needs. Personally, I find myself feeling like not a whole lot has changed to be honest. Maybe I'll feel differently once they start playing some games, but right now it just feels like more of the same. The only thing "fresh" about the situation is that Patrick Ewing is the coach, and not JT3. There is no doubt that the program is still very much under the thumb of John Thompson Jr. Now, some may say he deserves that role given that he built the program - and I certainly respect him for doing that. But, it's important to remember that John Thompson Jr. left the program in awful condition when he left in 1999. He was not an effective coach or recruiter when he left in 1999, and I highly doubt he'd be an effective coach now - yet, it seems that he stays intensely involved in the program - attending practices, etc. If he wanted that role, he should have never given up the coaching job to begin with. Whether Ron Thompson is qualified for the role I don't know because we don't know what the role is! But, even if he is qualified, the optics of this look absolutely terrible. So in the span of a few months, you fire JT3, hire John Thompson Jr.'s most beloved player - in part, at the behest of John Thompson Jr. - and then hire his other son to work in the program. If I were JT3, I would be a little ticked off at this. As any regular reader knows, I did not want to fire JT3, however, once it happened, I thought a clean break would the best course of action. Instead, there was not much of a break at all, with a sham of a coaching search that didn't even reach out to some of the logical candidates out there. This is not Ewing's fault - it's not his fault that things happened this way. I am certainly going to give Ewing a chance, and I hope he does great things. But the process and optics of all this stinks. (And if I were Patrick Ewing Jr., I'd be annoyed at having to leave my post, too. The nepotism rules are a joke.) |
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Jul 21, 2017 18:59:08 GMT -5
How about we hold off the RT discussion until Pickett makes his decision?
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Jul 21, 2017 19:14:48 GMT -5
So, Patrick a first time head coach has ONE proven recruiter on his entire staff...and that guy specializes in the South. His "wise old head" is a guy who was at the very best a mediocre head coach, much of it with mid majors, who was completely out of college bball, stud DMV recruiter has very little proven success, and now Ronny T who isn't half the coach III was. Wow...really felt PE needed a strong staff to help him with all the recruiting and other non basketball stuff. I am rooting for him so much...feel like he is flying a plane for the first time without a copilot.
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the_way
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Post by the_way on Jul 21, 2017 20:05:05 GMT -5
Ron's a smart guy, a loyal alumnus and he knows bball...people also forget that he essentially transformed Roy Hibbert from a total stiff into a mid first round draft pick... Ronny left Georgetown in 2003, Hibbert's junior season at Prep. Three years at Arkansas (2003-06) and a year at Ball State (2006-07) returns him to Washington circa the summer of 2007, or the beginning of Hibbert's senior season. I'm not sure he qualifies for the credit for Hibbert's four years of progress. Yeah, Ron was a big influence on Sweetney's success at G-town. He was Mike's personal coach/motivator/drill sergeant, etc. He kept Mike in shape and helped him a lot with his weight issues while at G-town. |
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s4hoyas
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Post by s4hoyas on Jul 21, 2017 21:32:22 GMT -5
It was pretty widely acknowledged that the grueling long distance runs and other conditioning drills done by Ron with Hibbert were very instrumental in his
development during his time on the Hilltop, mostly during the summers but I don't recall the exact dates/years...
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SaxaCD
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Post by SaxaCD on Jul 21, 2017 22:24:10 GMT -5
I have heard of ZERO reports of players hating Big John. As for coaches- there may be some level of tension at times, but they seem to like and respect him as well for the most part. And if they do not...[INSERT DOOR OUT BEING OPENED EMOJI] Again, none of that really has any bearing on the hiring of an administrative staff member. FlHoya didn't say players hated Big John, he said they hated how he interrupts practices.. If he was interrupting practice to yell at guys about lack of defensive intensity, I'd have to conclude he didn't interrupt enough. |
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Jul 21, 2017 22:27:07 GMT -5
At this point I have no doubt that if PE succeeds and returns to the NBA or fails and simply resigns, the plan is to have RT groomed and ready to take over the reigns .
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EtomicB
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Post by EtomicB on Jul 22, 2017 0:12:35 GMT -5
It's the optics DC, that's the problem with bringing RT in.. The rumors about him being on the staff have been around for months, why didn't they announce him along with the other assistants? Instead the news drops during one of the most important recruiting weeks on the calendar, which immediately puts a negative tone around a program desperate for some momentum..Etomic you know I respect your opinion but this is a MAJOR exaggeration to say the least. No one outside of DIE HARD fans and alums of the program who follow the daily activities of the program even know that Ron Thompson was added in some capacity to Ewing's staff. Most if not all recruits that the staff is involved with or recruits who are interested in Hoyas Basketball more than likely don't have a clue of his addition to the staff nor do they care. It's not being discussed on ESPN or FS1. Stephen A Smith, or Colin Cowherd are taking time during their shows to rant about this. It won't be a topic by Wilbon on PTI and he lives and works in DC. It won't be mentioned on the local TV news sports broadcast. I doubt it even makes the DC newspapers and if it does it will be a tiny blurb in the back of the sports page. Ronny Thompson's not on the coaching/recruiting staff. I personally could careless who Ewing adds to his administrative or coaching staff. I care about the growth of the program and results. So please please explain what negative tone is Ronny Thompson's hire to a non coaching role disrupting the program and in what way could it affect momentum??? Is his hire going to hurt recruiting, style of play, game preparation? Is his hire going to have an adverse effect on wins and losses? Absolutely not! It only bothers some of the posters on here for whatever their personal reasons are. The negative tone I was referring to was from the fans perspective of the program 4ever, I don't think it's a stretch to say that this hire hasn't gone over well.. You're right about Stephen A. or Wilbon not talking about RT but I wouldn't be shocked to hear that programs competing with Gtown for kids talking about it or more to the point the Hoya fans reaction to it.. As I posted in the Approach thread, I don't mind the hire.. It is what it is but imho the program should have gotten the news out months ago.. |
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McBricks
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Post by McBricks on Jul 25, 2017 15:36:18 GMT -5
At this point I have no doubt that if PE succeeds and returns to the NBA or fails and simply resigns, the plan is to have RT groomed and ready to take over the reigns . If this is actually the case and it happens, say in 3 years, I would be absolutely done with this program. |
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Post by whatrocks33 on Jul 26, 2017 12:42:11 GMT -5
In the first scenario, we are succeeding enough that our HC goes to the NBA and we want to keep things on schedule by promoting an assistant with HC experience and you're getting off the train?
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Post by practice on Jul 27, 2017 9:20:23 GMT -5
In the first scenario, we are succeeding enough that our HC goes to the NBA and we want to keep things on schedule by promoting an assistant with HC experience and you're getting off the train? I have to agree with whatrocks here ... if Coach Ewing gets a HC job in the NBA that likely means his run at G-Town was pretty damn good. The more damning scenario is 4 or 5 years from now if Ewing is terminated or retired after a less than stellar run and then RT is promoted. |
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hoyaboya
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Post by hoyaboya on Mar 22, 2023 9:48:04 GMT -5
Bump
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Post by professorhoya on Mar 22, 2023 9:51:01 GMT -5
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