Good Posting Judge
Footballguy
I don't know anything about tennis, she's ranked #500-something in the WTA, how many players are sponsored in some fashion?Regardless, that Times article yesterday was pretty damning.
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****Official**** Knitting Thread (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Kendall
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When she turned pro, nobody knew about her brother. He was a late bloomer.A quick Google search on his sister turns up articles from four and five years ago that make no mention of her brother and talk about how great she is and how she's the next Venus or Serena.How many young super star tennis players simply don't pan out? I'm guessing almost all of them.
TLEF316
Footballguy
That's fair. So is Adidas still sponsoring her 5 unsuccessful years later? I'm honestly asking, because I don't know. Its pointless for us to argue about this, because neither one of us is going to bend. Barring slam dunk proof, you won't believe that UCLA bought Muhammad (and if it was my team, I wouldn't either). And I'm always going to have my suspicion. So lets just agree to disagree and enjoy the season. I don't feel like getting into a pissing match.
Good Posting Judge
Footballguy
The lower levels of sponsorship basically consist of giving someone free gear and a little money in exchange for them wearing your stuff. And, of course, the benefit of having that person in your camp if they get huge.
There's really no way to tell anything without knowing how much his sister is getting from Adidas.
There's really no way to tell anything without knowing how much his sister is getting from Adidas.
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
This thread is NOT about knitting?
Good Posting Judge
Footballguy
It was all a ruse to keep one poster (Ripleys) from gumming it up. He eventually found out. But now he's banned.
Good Posting Judge
Footballguy
My daughter has cut her list of possible preschools down to 5, and is expected to announce in Early February. Her parents are said to be playing a large role in the recruitment, and are weighing all factors carefully.
Good Posting Judge
Footballguy
Jabari Parker is announcing today. 
He picked Duke.Jabari Parker is announcing today.
It sounds like the candidates at this point are Brad Stevens, Rick Pitino, Billy Donovan and Shaka Smart. I'd be very happy with any of them. I'm not sure if they can get any of them, but UCLA is willing to pay whatever it takes to get them, so money will not be the issue. It will just come down to whether they want to coach at UCLA.
Good Posting Judge
Footballguy
Do you think they have a real chance at Pitino or Donovan, or are they just going to use this to get a raise/extension?Stevens' price tag probably goes up a bit now that he's in the "Big East."It sounds like the candidates at this point are Brad Stevens, Rick Pitino, Billy Donovan and Shaka Smart. I'd be very happy with any of them. I'm not sure if they can get any of them, but UCLA is willing to pay whatever it takes to get them, so money will not be the issue. It will just come down to whether they want to coach at UCLA.
Tau837
Footballguy
They will pay whatever it takes to get them, to include their buyouts, on top of Howland's buyout? That could be a lot of money.Kind of surprised they would want Pitino. He turns 61 before next season. How many years would they expect him to coach?It sounds like the candidates at this point are Brad Stevens, Rick Pitino, Billy Donovan and Shaka Smart. I'd be very happy with any of them. I'm not sure if they can get any of them, but UCLA is willing to pay whatever it takes to get them, so money will not be the issue. It will just come down to whether they want to coach at UCLA.
Seems like Smart would definitely take it if offered. Does anyone else see that as a big risk for UCLA? He's never even won his conference before. He isn't a big time recruiter, though obviously VCU limits him there. I'm not convinced his "Havoc" system will work consistently against higher quality competition than VCU typically faces. But I realize there is a high ceiling there if it does work, and he could be there for decades. Boom/bust hire IMO.
I'd be a little surprised if any of the other guys took the job. I wouldn't be surprised if Stevens holds out for IU or Duke. Donovan seems like an East Coast guy. And what does Pitino really gain by moving to UCLA? Louisville is a better program right now, he makes a ton of money already, and he's comfortable there.
Pitino and Donovan have both expressed to UCLA that they are interested. But, it's very easy to be "interested" when you are playing for a national title and don't have a contract to sign in front of you. So, until their schools are eliminated from the tournament, I think everyone's going to be in the dark as to how much interest they have. That being said, I think there's good reason for either of them to come to UCLA. Of the "blue blood" basketball programs, UCLA (despite what is written by people at CBS, ESPN and SI) has easily the least amount of pressure of any of these schools. The UCLA head coach is not under a microscope and people won't be calling for his head after a down year here and there. If you win, Pauley will be packed. If you don't, people will simply ignore you.Do you think they have a real chance at Pitino or Donovan, or are they just going to use this to get a raise/extension?Stevens' price tag probably goes up a bit now that he's in the "Big East."It sounds like the candidates at this point are Brad Stevens, Rick Pitino, Billy Donovan and Shaka Smart. I'd be very happy with any of them. I'm not sure if they can get any of them, but UCLA is willing to pay whatever it takes to get them, so money will not be the issue. It will just come down to whether they want to coach at UCLA.
It's the only traditional basketball power on the west coast. As such, it should theoretically be easier to build a juggernaut for guys like Pitino, Donovan, Smart and Stevens. UCLA sits on a huge talent base and simply needs to fight off schools 1500+ miles away or so to put together a top 5 talented program year in and year out. Howland alienated his recruiting base and had to go national and it's what ultimately killed him at UCLA.
Pitino infamously almost got the job when Steve Lavin was the coach (2000 or 2001?). Former AD Peter Dalis stupidly allowed Pitino's presence on campus to get out to the L.A. Times and it effectively ended Pitino as an option. So, he's shown a great deal of interest in the past.
But, UCLA is in LA. It's not for everyone and I get that. However, it's not as if Pitino or Donovan are from Kentucky or Florida and have some underlying hometown draw to stay there. Neither have west coast ties, though.
So yeah, the risk is there that they are simply going to take UCLA's best offer and ask Louisville and Florida to come close and they'll remain at their current positions. If so, UCLA better hope they've kept Shaka Smart warm because while I have no inside information on Stevens, I just don't see him coming to UCLA when the Duke and UNC jobs are probably going to open up in the next few years and those areas seem a lot more like Indiana than Los Angeles does.
Good Posting Judge
Footballguy
The particulars and schemes are different, but Louisville's done OK by defending the entire court. Arkansas won a title with it. You're facing better players, but UCLA can also recruit better players. The tough part would be Smart inheriting guys that may not necessarily suited to that style.
Yes, it is. But, UCLA is flush with cash right now due to the Pac-12's new TV contract and because they are finally allowing donors, such as Casey Wasserman, to pay coaching salaries (which they did not do prior to Jim Mora coming on as football coach). From what I have been told, money is truly no object.
If he sticks around 5-10 years, I think it's fine. I think you hire the best coach you possibly can whenever you can. If he leaves in 5 years, you have to do the same thing all over again, but presumably you are doing the hiring coming off some very successful years with a program fully stocked with talent.
I see it as a big risk. I brought it up in this thread a year ago. I like the style and I like the results he's gotten, but the fact of the matter is that Smart has not been able to finish in first place in a lower rung conference like the Colonial. I wouldn't worry about him as a recruiter. UCLA (for west coast kids) recruits itself. It's a very nice campus in a wealthy, beautiful area. It also has a ton of people in the immediate Southern California area. If UCLA isn't doing well with west coast kids, it's because the head coach is actually turning them off from the program as both Lavin and Howland did at the end of their tenure.I agree completely with you on everything except recruiting. Any good coach that is not a jerk will recruit well. He's just a risk.
I agree on Stevens. The Duke job will open up soon enough and you've got to figure he'll be at, or near the top of the list. I could see Donovan jumping because it would be easier to win at UCLA than Florida. Who knows, though? Like I said above, he has no ties to the west coast (but he has none to Florida, save the last 17 years, either), so whether he'd be amenable to the move is debatable.Pitino's never stayed in one place super long and seems to relish new challenges. While Louisville is the better program (team?) today, that's due more to Pitino than it is due to Louisville. Pitino combined with UCLA's built in advantages in basketball should have a much higher ceiling than Pitino + Louisville. Nothing is guaranteed, but Pitino at UCLA would probably have UCLA in contention for championships on a yearly basis, similar to Kentucky, Kansas, UNC and Duke, etc., but again, he'd have far less competition with regard to recruiting. I don't think he comes to UCLA for the money. He can name his price at Louisville from what I gather. If he comes to UCLA, it's because he wants a new challenge and wants to coach at UCLA.
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Exactly. He's inheriting one guy (who was extremely unhappy playing for Howland) in Norman Powell that has the athleticism suited to that style. That's it. And, the three incoming guys, assuming they still come, are not suited to that style, either.Luckily, you can completely overhaul a basketball roster (for the most part) in one or two years as Calipari has shown at Kentucky. But, yeah, Smart would have to either make some adjustments his first year or live with the bad.
TLEF316
Footballguy
The problem with Smart's system at an elite program is the playing time issue. Its easy to run 9-10 guys 20 minutes a night when they're relatively low-reputation guys. If you're recruiting elite players, they want to play 30-35 minutes a night and be stars. Smart's system might work in a big time conference (in terms of the actual X's and O's) but I'm not sure the elite players UCLA wants to land will buy in.
You think the Shabazz Muhammad's of the world are going to want to buy in and sacrifice like that? I say NO CHANCE.
Just my opinion though. I like Smart a lot and I think his enthusiasm is infectious. But he'll have to adjust the style of play to consistently build a national contender and land elite prospects.
You think the Shabazz Muhammad's of the world are going to want to buy in and sacrifice like that? I say NO CHANCE.
Just my opinion though. I like Smart a lot and I think his enthusiasm is infectious. But he'll have to adjust the style of play to consistently build a national contender and land elite prospects.
Not at this point. It's a top tier of Pitino, Donovan and Stevens with Smart coming in behind them. If they can't land any of those guys, then other names will pop up, but right now that's the entire list.
Good Posting Judge
Footballguy
I think this is a hurdle that can be overcome somewhat. VCU's top players play 27-28 mins., most typical programs have their top guys at 30-31 min. So 10-15% more. Add in that they're playing up-tempo (which everyone loves), getting a lot of easy baskets/fast-breaks/dunks, and, most importantly putting up 78 points a game. There are a lot of numbers to go around. You could also sell the insane tempo and practices as conditioning for the NBA, I dunno.I don't know if young kids are savvy enough to realize that NBA scouts are going to be looking at ratios more than raw counting stats.
Tau837
Footballguy
And therein lies the risk. Everything he has done is based on havoc. So if you expect he'll have to adjust his style of play away from havoc, you are hiring an unknown.
Tau837
Footballguy
Plus, basketball is king at Louisville. I know UCLA is an elite all-time program, and people would care if the team wins, but I doubt the UCLA basketball program enjoys the local prominence that Louisville does in its region.Could be. He had an NBA job and then reneged on the agreement. I don't pretend to have any insights from close to Donovan's camp, but he's apparently expressed the most interest in the UCLA job of the top 3 + 1 candidates.
I'm not calling him a vagabond, but, regardless of the reasons, in my lifetime, this is his 5th head coaching job. That's a lot of movement for one of the elite coaches in the game.
I'm not selling it short. It's a good job and I'm well aware of their revenues (this has been a topic of discussion among UCLA fans, too). Coincidentally, much of Louisville's reputation was built on the back of a UCLA guy who many of the Wooden UCLA fans still can't believe never returned to Westwood.Still, with all due respect to Louisville, the ceiling of an elite basketball coach at UCLA is higher than at Louisville. Pitino, for all he's done at Louisville, has had double digit losses there 7 out of his 12 seasons, including each of the three seasons preceding this season. He's also only won his conference championship three times in 12 seasons. Obviously, they've been in the Big East the last eight seasons, but he only won the CUSA title once in four years. And, while they certainly were the better program in the 80s, I'm not sure they've been the better program overall during this time frame. They have had greater peaks (two NCAA titles in the 1980s and four additional Final Four appearances). But, they've had double digit losses in 20 of the last 34 seasons (since the 1979-80 season and UCLA's had 16). I guess it's a matter of perspective. In the same time frame, UCLA's had five Final Four appearances, which includes one national title and two championship game appearances. If they have been the better program, it's not by much.
Perhaps he doesn't want to continue in Kentucky's shadow. He's always liked the UCLA job. It's in a large market, with a ton of media attention and he's previously jumped to two large market NBA jobs. And, with the state of basketball as it is on the west coast, he would have a great opportunity to build a juggernaut. I'm not sure he'd take the job, either, though, but they're going to take their shot.
I'm not sure what relevance UCLA's awful line of head coaches since John Wooden have to do with Rick Pitino and the number of head coaching positions he's held. With all due respect, I'm fairly certain it has none. I'm not making the argument that UCLA's piss poor coaches stayed at UCLA for a long time. I'm saying that in comparison to other elite head coaches, none of which (save possibly Ben Howland early in his reign) coached at UCLA, Pitino has been at several places, which is unique.
I'm not holding anything at all against Pitino. I'm not trying to make a case against him. I love Pitino. I think he's an incredible coach and might be the best coach in college basketball. He's a better coach than UCLA has had since John Wooden. And, again, you keep comparing him against UCLA as if I'm saying that UCLA's had some line of wonderful coaches. They haven't and it's why the Bruins are in the position they are in today.
What I am saying is that UCLA + Pitino has a higher ceiling and the chance for more consistent elite success than Pitino + Louisville due to the inherent advantages that UCLA enjoys by being UCLA and because it is on the west coast with only Arizona as a true competitor. I could be wrong, though.
Louisville left after the 2005 season. Memphis may have been building up the program, but they were mediocre, at best, in this time frame. They hadn't made the NCAA tournament since 1996 prior to the 2003 season. They were a 7 seed in 2003 and 2004. They didn't make the tournament in 2005. And, it's not like Louisville finished right behind the conference champion. They finished 5th in their division, 2nd in their division and tied for 6th in their division in the three years that Louisville finished second.Yes, Marquette with Dwyane Wade was very good Pitino's first two years.
Fair enough. I'm not really pushing the angle. I just glanced at their yearly results and pointed it out. The point really is that since 1980 Louisville and UCLA are not far apart as programs. They've both had peaks (Louisville's were greater) and valleys.
UCLA has been pretty lazy in making coaching hires. You may disagree, but I thought Ben Howland was a tremendous hire at the time. Unlike the majority of the guys you listed, he looked like a tremendous coach that would do very well at UCLA. And, he did until his personality became unbearable, he got away from what made him successful, and then had his name become a pariah in west coast recruiting circles. But looking to UCLA's hiring history won't be terribly helpful this time around. As I said, UCLA prior to 15 months ago when they hired Jim Mora in football hadn't allowed donors to earmark money to pay head coaches. They were afraid that it would allow donors to think they could exert too much control and influence over the program. The Pac-10, as a whole, wasn't making much money in comparison to the other conferences. So, UCLA went after guys on the cheap and it resulted in them hiring unqualified coaches after they whiffed on the good coaches (or got left at the altar by Larry Brown in 1988).
UCLA can now pay as much as they want and are utilizing all of its resources. They are operating in a different manner than they have done in their history.
It may not work. All of their top choices might say no. But, it won't be for lack of money or making a strong pitch, which is what happened in the past.
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