|
Post by uwmpanther on Apr 16, 2021 9:38:26 GMT -6
Just tell us hopefully it is not the nuclear option, ie, dropping from D 1 Amanda Brown was just named to the NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball Committee. So that certainly would not jibe with a move away from Division 1.
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Apr 16, 2021 9:40:18 GMT -6
Yeah that's what a bunch of people were texting/calling me about this morning. They seemed to think Marquette was gonna pull a PBS/PBJ swing.
At least four of them were D-I coaches/assistants who were excited about the possibility of Milwaukee coming open, and I would say all four would be EXCELLENT hires, so I'm not so sure we shouldn't have wanted it to happen.
So that's the GREAT news. We're looking at a FAR better pool of potential coaches now than we were when Pat Baldwin Sr was hired. So we might be out of the woods from Amanda's mess.
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Apr 16, 2021 9:41:51 GMT -6
Just tell us hopefully it is not the nuclear option, ie, dropping from D 1 Amanda Brown was just named to the NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball Committee. So that certainly would not jibe with a move away from Division 1. That's not going to happen any time soon. Even the academics at UWM who hate money going to athletics know it's important for us to be in Division I. Also the cost of a D-III athletic department is surprisingly high, so the benefit of dropping down isn't there.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Apr 16, 2021 10:02:20 GMT -6
So that's the GREAT news. We're looking at a FAR better pool of potential coaches now than we were when Pat Baldwin Sr was hired. So we might be out of the woods from Amanda's mess. Unless Amanda Braun is suddenly demonstrating competence which she has not hitherto displayed, we're not out of those woods. I get that you would have been happy if she had been allowed to hire TJ Otzelberger, whose career path has been consistently upward. And we may attract better applicants for the head coach's position whenever it next is open. But weigh that against all the harm she's done in driving away dedicated long-term employees, driving away people who were long-term, deep (by UWM's scale) pocketed boosters of the program, and her trying to deflect blame for the APR fiasco to the people who weren't responsible for it. I'm not surprised she's not been hired away, if her shortcomings as an administrator are generally known. You want paradise? You need to get a better leader for the department than Amanda is.
|
|
|
Post by BBFran on Apr 16, 2021 10:37:59 GMT -6
Marquette obviously isn’t hiring PBS, but the fact PB Jr still hasn’t announced his intentions is interesting. At this point it’s far too late in the recruiting cycle for a commitment to have any significant halo effect at Milwaukee. The high school players who haven’t chosen yet are either blue chips who won’t come here or guys that are not going to change the trajectory of the team. And the transfer market is rapidly winnowing the wheat from the chaff. (That’s not to say that PBJ, Gholston, Thomas, Lucas and the other holdovers wouldn’t be able to make a push to win the HL, but they also wouldn’t necessarily be a clear favorite.)
Hard to know what’s going on behind the scenes. The only safe assumption under this administration is that they’ll find a way to keep digging the hole deeper. It’s what they do.
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Apr 16, 2021 12:15:24 GMT -6
At this point it’s far too late in the recruiting cycle for a commitment to have any significant halo effect at Milwaukee. Normally I would say yes, but this year is unlike any other year. There are well over 1,000 transfers who will be eligible next year to play, and a lot of them would make the team better. There are still a lot of impact JUCO's available too. If you're PBS, that's who you're gunning for at this point - the only high school players who would make the team demonstrably better in 2021-22 with PBJ are highly sought after and those guys, like you say, aren't coming here anyways. They've gotta load up every empty spot with guys who are ready to make an impact right away - those will be JUCO's and transfers. The one thing I know is I am more "okay" with PBS leaving and PBJ playing elsewhere now than I was when I went to bed last night, mainly because of the crop of coaches who reached out to me. And unlike the guys who got in contact with me when LaVall Jordan left, none of the ones I spoke with today had any concerns regarding working for Amanda Braun. Practically no one on this board wants Amanda Braun as our AD, but you argued against giving PBS a contract extension to get PBJ and she hasn't done that yet, so at the very least you couldn't give her a failing grade for this offseason.
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Apr 16, 2021 12:31:05 GMT -6
You want paradise? You need to get a better leader for the department than Amanda is. This is absolutely fair. I just want to remind you that we technically can't do anything about Braun right now.
|
|
|
Post by BBFran on Apr 16, 2021 13:07:39 GMT -6
I'm a lot more skeptical than you are about infusing transfers and jucos "ready to make an impact." That's a hit or miss proposition to say the least, especially once the high D1 schools and good mid-major leagues pick them over. There are always issues with learning the system (side note: can anyone explain to me what system we use?), team chemistry issues, elevated risk of academic issues, etc. We all know this is a one year project. The recruiting pitch would be strictly "you'll get to play with PBJ." (Side note 2: better concentrate the recruiting on guys who hate to shoot and love to pass.) Then what? Whatever happens next year on the court, the following year the roster would be without PBJ, Lucas, Gholston and Thomas. All you'd have left are those fill-in guys recruited to play with PBJ. If they stay. It's not a sustainable program building strategy.
People here think getting PBJ's commitment is definitive for PBS. It's not. What PBS needed to show was that he could recruit really good high school players that he was NOT related to. The recruiting cycle for his fifth year is essentially over and he hasn't done it yet. If he's the coach next season, from a retention standpoint I'll be far less interested in what happens on the court than what happens with recruiting. If really good HS players who will never be able to play with PBJ show us no interest -- again -- that's all you need to know.
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Apr 16, 2021 13:42:48 GMT -6
The recruiting cycle can't be "essentially over" when over 1,000 Division I players haven't decided where they're going. When I said "impact JUCO's and transfers," I simply mean that you're looking for guys who you think will be quicker to have an impact on the game. It's hit or miss, yes, but you generally expect JUCO's and transfers to have a bigger impact on the game right away than high school players who might be projects, especially at this point in the calendar when there aren't a lot of them left.
I also think something we should remember is that Pat Baldwin Sr. is essentially auditioning for his own job as well as other ones next season. So he's going to want to win as much as possible this year. A HS player would have to be one PBS expects will be a strong player right away.
|
|
|
Post by BBFran on Apr 16, 2021 15:24:00 GMT -6
Jimmy, that’s the point. You have to assume PBS is looking for an exit strategy. It’s too late for him to program build with you g players. He’s had four years and that hasn't happened by any stretch of the imagination. So we’re left with the possibility of a one year transfer-heavy upward blip at best — and then back to a complete rebuild the following year. It’s pathetic.
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Apr 16, 2021 15:51:10 GMT -6
Jimmy, that’s the point. You have to assume PBS is looking for an exit strategy. It’s too late for him to program build with you g players. He’s had four years and that hasn't happened by any stretch of the imagination. So we’re left with the possibility of a one year transfer-heavy upward blip at best — and then back to a complete rebuild the following year. It’s pathetic. Yes. It's not great. But I can't change the past, and if our goal is for the program to get better in the future, then I have to look at all eventualities. If we load up on transfers to complement Pat Jr and the team succeeds, PBS will move to a job that gives him multiple years and we start over. If we we load up on transfers to complement Pat Jr and the team fails, PBS will be gone and we'll have to start over. If we fill remaining spots with other projects and the team succeeds, PBS will move to a job that gives him multiple years and we start over, losing all or most of those projects to transfer. If we bring in some high schoolers and the team fails, PBS will be gone and we'll start over - and the new coach will want all those scholarships to bring in their own guys. If PBJ doesn't come to Milwaukee, PBS is gone and we start over. There's no situation here that ends with PBS sticking around unless the team succeeds enough that Amanda will feel obligated to give him an extension, no one gives him any job offer and the team will suck as soon as PBJ declares. The team will most likely be bad in 2022-23. Pat Baldwin Junior is, by the most conservative estimates, a lottery pick. His skill level is considered to be a possible top 5 pick. So the team will be bad. With PBJ on the team, there's a fairly decent chance the team will not be bad in 2021-22, and the son will declare for the NBA Draft, we'll have an NBA alum and an opportunity to start over. This isn't, like, the empty cupboard of 2006-07. This is more like the empty cupboard of 2017-18. And that's okay, because it gives a new coach an opportunity to come in and completely make over the program from the ground up. I guess what I'm confused about is, what does it matter to you how PBS builds the rest of his roster for what's most likely his last year in Milwaukee? If you've checked out until he's gone (and Amanda and Mone), why argue against filling up with JUCO's and transfers? Might as well go for broke and give it one last shot to do anything of note. If it works, great, hopefully he'll use the bump up to move on to a head job at a low-major or maybe an assistant job at a mid-major or high-major if they'll have him. If it doesn't work, no big deal! We're able to move on. I'm not under the assumption that Pat Baldwin Sr. is still going to magically turn into a great coach. Literally no one here expects him to get his kid and all of a sudden we're a perennial tournament team. What most of us are hoping is we get a once-in-program-history-talent shot at one big year, then we hit the reset button on the whole program.
|
|
|
Post by Duct_Tape_Pounce on Apr 16, 2021 16:21:17 GMT -6
I’m hoping Patrick Baldwin Jr. joins the Panthers next year and gives the Panthers a strong season and a chance to make the NCAA Tournament... but if he doesn’t join, there is a consolation in knowing that we may have a chance to hire a good coach either this year or next year. Obviously, there’s no guarantee of success under a new coach, but there’s very little chance of sustained success under this coach.
|
|
|
Post by tonyt on Apr 21, 2021 16:42:26 GMT -6
Guys I hope everyone is ok? Still nothing trying to stay positive on here so I won’t say anything but almost want to write on the the paradise but will remain quiet for the time being.
|
|
|
Post by 73withharoldlee on Apr 21, 2021 20:21:42 GMT -6
I have always tried to be positive and think we will be fine next year with or without Jr in program. We need size and shooting. That is what Jr will bring. If not we need size and shooting. Let get it Coach.
|
|
|
Post by 73withharoldlee on Apr 21, 2021 20:22:53 GMT -6
I have always tried to be positive and think we will be fine next year with or without Jr in program. We need size and shooting. That is what Jr will bring. If not we need size and shooting. Let’s get it Coach.
|
|