Author: Coach Z (Page 7 of 38)

The search for a new coach at Providence continues. With Travis Ford (UMass) pulling out a couple of names have come to the forefront. Kevin Willard (Iona) and Larry Shyatt (Florida). Willard is a former Pitino assistant, but has not proven himself as a head coach yet. There are two better candidates in his own league. Both Jimmy Patsos, who took a dead in the water Loyola to 3 straight winning seasons. The first timke that has happened since the early 80’s. Also, Fran McCaffrey who led Siena to the NCAA tournament this year.

The stumbling block for these two candidates is their agent, Rob Ades. Ades was also Tim Welsh’s agent and from what I hear it didn’t end well. Seems like the Providence brass don’t want to deal with Ades again. That’s too bad for both Patsos and McCaffrey as they both would do a great job.

All that being said, look for Karl Hobbs to sneak in. The head man at George Washington has experience in the Big East at UConn and is from Boston. Write it down.

Brown Update:

The Ivy League school is looking hard at Tim O’Shea from Ohio U. The former Rhode Island and BC assistant would be a steal.

Bill Self said no to Oklahoma State and all of T Boone Pickens millions. The rumor on the deal wnet from a $6 million signing bonus to $40 million worth of hedge fund stock. He answered the question of winning over money. Forgetting for the moment that Kansas will soon make him the highest paid coach in the country (roughly $3.6 million), he knows that winning a title at OSU is next to impossible. At Kansas he can win one every year. That is how high the passion and interest is there.

Besides, if he wants to coach for pure money, he can always wait a year or two and then take the Oklahoma City NBA job. No doubt it will be his for the taking.

Now OSU turns it’s attention to Billy Gillespie of Kentucky. That’s not going to happen either. In the end they will end up with a new coach without the type of splash the AD hoped for when he fired Sean Sutton. A possible candidate is Chris Lowery of Southern Illinois. He would be a great choice.

Speaking of Sutton, what a great deal he got. A head coach for only 2 years and he walks away with a settlement of $400,000 plus $20,000 a month for the next ten years regardless if he takes another job or not. Unbelievable!! I guess it pays to be Eddie Sutton’s son!!!

At the other OSU (Oregon State University) AD Bob DeCarrolis hired Craig Robinson from Brown. Are you kidding me? First, the AD pays a search firm $75,000 to give him names. How about doing your own job Bob. Then Billy Grier turns it down, Randy Bennett pulls out and Ron Hunter (IUPUI) pulls out of negotiations after he is told he has to give an answer without seeing the campus.

With this type of incompetence, how can DeCarolis keep his job. Finally, they choose Robinson over Ken Bone (Portland State) and Dean Demopoulos (Portland Trailblazers). Makes perfect sense if you live on Mars. Robinson is finishing his second year at Brown and has never been to an NCAA tournament as a head coach, assistant or player. He has no connections to the West coast, but oh yeah, he is Barack Obama’s brother in law. Makes perfect sense!!!

Providence Update: Travis Ford has turned down the job to stay at UMass. Next in line is Fran McCaffrey (Siena) and Tim O’Shea (Ohio), but don’t be surpirsed if there is a wild card in the deck. Possibly, Fran Frachilla from ESPN and a former Friar assistant.

Western Illinois offered their opening to Ray Harper from Oklahoma City, but he turned it down to go to Western Kentucky as an assistant. Look for former Bradley coach Jim Molinari to land the job.

Mario Chalmers delivered the biggest shot of his career. His three pointer with 2 seconds left in regulation helped Kansas come from 9 down with just over 2 minutes.

Credit this win to three things. First, Bill Self tried everything he could to take Memphis out of their offensive game plan. He even tried a box and one. When that didn’t work he resulted to fouling. By starting to foul and continuing to foul they found Memphis’ achillis heel. Memphis missed 4 of 5 free throws in the last minute.

Third with a three point lead why didn’t Calipari have his team foul. He lost a chance for his first national championship when he didn’t elect to foul. Poor decision making by Calipari and his team cost them this championship more than anything that Kansas did.

This Kansas team was deeper than any team in the tourney, but it was the mental toughness that Bill Self developed in his team that gave them the ability to come from behind.

Darrell Arthur proved he was the best post player in the game. Derrick Rose showed why he is the best point in the game. However, he will always be remembered for missing the free throw that would have clinched it.

Finally, could this be the last game Bill Self coaches at Kansas. Oklahoma State has offered him a $6 million signing bonus, plus a salary of $4 million per year. That is a lot of money, but I think he will pass on it.

Tonight it is good to be a Jayhawk. If you are from Memphis, look for a mass exodus to the NBA. Rose, Douglas Roberts and Coach Cal will all be heading to the pros. Look for Cal te take the Bulls opening.

Bringing all four top seed together was supposed to mean that you would have close games, instead you had a couple of double digit victories.

The jig is up for John Calipari and his Memphis Tigers. He can’t keep saying his team is the underdog when they clearly have the most talent of any team in the tournament. Derrick Rose showed why he is the best point guard in the country. He controlled the game by scoring 25 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. No doubt that he would have been in the NBA if not for the new rule.

Joey Dorsey had 15 rebounds and made up for his poor performance in the Final Four last year. He was a monster inside on both ends of the floor. Once again they shot well from the line and I don’t see any weakness in this team.

Kansas played the best 15 minutes out of the gate by any team I have ever seen in a Final Four. (I have been to 25 Final Fours in row.) Brandon Rush scored 25 and grabbed 6 rebounds and showed why he is a lottery pick. It was an outstanding performance after a disappointing one against Davidson.

Kansas jumped out to a 40-12 lead. At that point the game was all but over. Credit Roy Williams with too much ego and poor coaching. He watched as his team fall behind by almost 30 points without calling a timeout. He froze like a deer in headlights. Hard to believe a Hall of Fame coach could screw up his team’s chances to win a national title.

Bill Self was outstanding in his first Final Four. Even when North Carolina made a run, he maintained his composure and that carried over to his team. Also, give him credit to have the confidence to keep Cole Aldrich in the game instead of going to a smaller lineup when Jackson and Kaun picked up 2 quick fouls. Aldrich rewarded his confidence with 8 points and 7 rebounds. That is what great coaches do!! They make their role players better and get out of the way of their stars. Self did it and Williams didn’t.

If you are a Kansas fan I don’t ever want to hear about wanting Roy Williams back. Now you just need to keep Bill Self a Jayhawk forever.

Mike Montgomery is back coaching in the Bay Area. He was hired today as the coach at Cal. What a great fit. After a tremendous run at Stanford and an ill advised (money was good) move to the NBA he is back in college where he is at his best. Also, Bill Bayno has left the Portland Trailblazers to become the head coach a Loyola Marymount. It was foregone conclusion that Bayno would be the top choice due to his relationship with the Pump Brothers and their association with Loyola. Bayno was the head coach at UNLV before moving to the NBA.

Rumors: Tim O’Shea interviewed for the vacant Providence job. The Ohio head coach was an assistant at Boston College and Rhode Island prior to leading the Bobcats to the NCAA tournament.

Brett Gunning, Villanova assistant, is the leading candidate at Marist. Also, Jim Engles from Columbia will be named the head coach at NJIT. Talk about a tough job.

LSU appears to waiting for Travis Ford to make up his mind.

Now that Billy Grier has turned down the Oregon State job, look for them to go after Randy Bennett. I don’t think he will take the job and look for them to possibly turn to Dean Demopoulos of the Portland Trailblazers. Demopoulos would be a great choice due to his NBA experience and his familiarity with the Northwest.