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Post by JG Panthers on Mar 28, 2022 7:16:13 GMT -6
I appreciate his authenticity above all else. He's saying the right things, but he's not speaking in cliches, which was a trademark of our last coach. His answers are honest, realistic, and optimistic, and I love it. I'm just trying not to get too excited about him at this point because it's still going to be a long road to get back to where we want to be.
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Post by steveisback on Mar 28, 2022 8:28:14 GMT -6
Maybe inconsistent and overall underwhelming more apt as there was also some horrible between 9/10 and 15/16 tool like the 8 -24 season and the academic ban. Overall grade = mediocre or however on wants to parse words. That being said Fox 6 crew was HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!! Stupid asking about PBJ and then not even knowing Gholston is gone.
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 28, 2022 9:30:24 GMT -6
I appreciate his authenticity above all else. He's saying the right things, but he's not speaking in cliches, which was a trademark of our last coach. His answers are honest, realistic, and optimistic, and I love it. I'm just trying not to get too excited about him at this point because it's still going to be a long road to get back to where we want to be. We should put this on the masthead, guys. This is a tough job and there's a lot of hard work to be done. Don't expect Coach Lundy to do this alone.
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 28, 2022 9:32:02 GMT -6
Maybe inconsistent and overall underwhelming more apt as there was also some horrible between 9/10 and 15/16 tool like the 8 -24 season and the academic ban. Overall grade = mediocre or however on wants to parse words. That being said Fox 6 crew was HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!! Stupid asking about PBJ and then not even knowing Gholston is gone. This was one of the worst interviews I've watched, Steve. There was no preparation.
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Post by Cactus Panther on Mar 28, 2022 10:21:08 GMT -6
This is a pretty good interview. I heard some new things here. He stated being in the Horizon League was one of the key reasons to take the job because it is a winnable conference and the Panthers program has "no gaps" unlike some other programs in the league. I did pick up on his first gaffe. When asked what he missed most about his time in Milwaukee as an MU assistant he first said being in such a good conference like the Big East. Translation - he views Milwaukee as a stepping stone job. That is OK, that would mean success around the corner. Many of us have been willing to accept that.
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Post by Cactus Panther on Mar 28, 2022 12:43:42 GMT -6
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Post by Cactus Panther on Mar 28, 2022 13:34:13 GMT -6
Here is Rosiak's pre-press conference story for those who cannot get it behind the paywall:
'I just want...to build good things': New coach Bart Lundy brings a wealth of experience to UWM Todd Rosiak Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Nine seasons into his second stint as men's basketball coach at Division II Queens University in Charlotte, Bart Lundy was at the helm of a talented team beginning the transition to Division I with the offer of a lifetime contract having been discussed.
Then came the inquiry.
Might Lundy be interested in the newly vacant job at UW-Milwaukee?
He had every reason to go with the safe play, choose the status quo and remain at Queens. But the more Lundy mulled the offer, the more he saw the potential in a program that has fallen on hard times but also has key pieces in place for a turnaround.
So, literally hours after his Queens team fell in an NCAA Tournament heartbreaker to end the season, Lundy was on a flight to Milwaukee for an in-person interview.
And on Monday, in a 10 a.m. news conference at the UWM Student Union, the 50-year-old Lundy will officially be announced as the school's eighth coach in the Division I era (since 1990) and the 23rd overall since the program was born all the way back in 1896.
"It was a tough, tough decision," said Lundy, whose five-year deal will pay him a base salary of $350,000 annually.
"I just knew what Milwaukee, the bones of what the Milwaukee job was – the practice facility, the Arena, that the city will get behind a winner. All that was more interesting to me than staying at Queens. Part of me wanted a new challenge, too. I wanted to go and build something again.
"I’m proud of what we did at Queens and I wouldn’t change it for anything. It’s a huge part of my life – I’ve been here twice – and it was really difficult for me to leave knowing that they’re going through this transition and I was a big part of their plans.
"But, I think the challenge and the opportunities presents are pretty unique. It’s such a good sports city. And if I hadn’t known that, I don’t know that I would have pulled the trigger on it."
Lundy is a native of Galax, Virginia, who began his coaching career at Winthrop University in 1993. He was hired as an assistant to Dale Layer at Queens in 1995 and three years later, at age 25, Lundy ascended to head coach.
He remained at Queens until 2003, when he landed his first Division I head-coaching job at High Point (North Carolina) University. In his first year there Lundy went on to be named NCAA Division I National Rookie Coach of the Year after guiding his team to a 19-11 record, the largest turnaround from the previous year.
He posted winning records in four of his first five seasons there before a 9-21 campaign in 2008-09 ended his tenure. He posted an overall mark of 96-87.
"I was 31 years old, the second-youngest Division I coach in the country," he said. "Other than my very first job when I was basically still a kid (at Winthrop), I’d never been Division I. There were a lot of pitfalls. We had success early – I took some transfers early and won and then my last year I got a new AD and took some very young kids and had nine freshmen on my last team there.
"So, I learned a ton about scheduling, political pressure, not worrying about the outside voices and making the decisions that you think are best for the program. Discipline. A litany of lessons; I could go on and on. I look back at that coach and I look at myself now and we’re two completely different people and coaches.
"I’ve been around the world since then kind of, and I think I’ve learned a lot of lessons at each stop."
In search of a job after departing High Point, Lundy's ties to Layer led to a connection to Buzz Williams, who'd worked for Layer at Colorado State and was entering his second season as coach at Marquette University.
Williams had an opening for a director of basketball operations, and Lundy readily accepted the opportunity to come to Milwaukee.
"Maybe met twice," Lundy said. "He wanted somebody to come in that was really a basketball guy. I really needed a job at the time and he needed something that I had, and I’m forever grateful.
"I tell people, ‘As you go up, you better plant flowers because when you come down you’ve got to pick them.’ And somewhere, I planted a seed with Buzz that he thought enough of me to give me an opportunity."
When Marquette assistant Tony Benford was named head coach at North Texas in 2012, Lundy joined his staff as an assistant for a season.
Then, the head-coaching job at Queens became available, leading to Lundy going full-circle and returning to Charlotte.
He posted a winning record in all nine seasons in his second stint and racked up a 222-61 mark overall.
In 14 total seasons at Queens, Lundy went 337-102 with nine NCAA Tournament appearances. In 20 overall seasons as a head coach, his record is 433-189 (.696 winning percentage).
Lundy acknowledged fans might not be familiar with his body of work but his experience running programs for two decades should be a major plus for the Panthers, who haven't gone to the NCAA Tournament since the 2013-14 season or posted a winning record since
"They look and go, ‘OK, since Bruce Pearl it’s always been a person in that job who’s never been a head coach before.’ I’ve heard a lot of that – ‘Hey, he’s got a lot of experience. He’s a head coach, and that may help us.’ I hope that they really believe that because ball is ball, whether it’s Division II or Division I," Lundy said.
"I’ve got to go get really good players, we’ve got to deal with scheduling and get a good staff and those things. But when you get to being between those lines, teaching the game is teaching the game.
"Bruce Pearl did it at Southern Indiana and came and tore it up at Milwaukee. Bo Ryan did it before him, and I hope I can represent that kind of lineage and hopefully we get it really rolling."
Lundy has already done all sorts of UWM business since his hiring last week while also trying to wrap things up in North Carolina with his wife, Suzanne, and five children –Grace, Ian, Kellen, Alec and Liam.
It's a lot, and in a short period of time. But that, as they say, is the business.
"The path I’ve been on – even this Milwaukee job, two weeks ago if you’d have told me that you and I would be having this conversation, I’d have said you’re crazy," said Lundy. "At this point, I have faith that things are happening the way they should. My family and I make the best decisions we can.
"It’s a crazy profession, but I just want to be around good people and a good program and build good things. Significance, for me, is more important than anything – being a part of those kids’ lives, building something that the university’s proud of."
Following is what Lundy had to say about several other topics:
Initial take on last season's 10-22, 8-14 team "When you look at the team itself, I think the chemistry issues they had were big. I don’t think that’s a secret to anybody. They didn’t play together; they didn’t seem to be a cohesive unit. So, we’ve got to establish that, ‘Hey, we’re going to be in this together,’ and we’re going to share the ball and we’re all going to guard hard.
"There’s going to be standards that we live up to. But they’ve got to play together and take pride in who they’re representing. I thought if you just changed the chemistry piece, their talent wasn’t bad."
How many players will return? "I Zoomed with the entire team and I’ve talked to each of them at this point individually. I’m pleasantly surprised – I think we’re going to keep the guys that we wanted to keep, and there’s a couple that were in the (transfer) portal that I’m OK with them staying in the portal. I like what we have. We have a couple scholarships. The two kids that they signed early are on board.
"It’s not like I’ve got to go out and recruit a whole team. And, I think the young guys that were there, they’re workers and they really like each other and I don’t think the issues that were on the team were amongst that group. So, I’m very comfortable with trying to develop those guys and those guys want to be there and they want to win."
What's your style of play? "Hard-nosed man-to-man. Really fast-paced. We’re going to run on makes and misses. We will guard a little more full court than Buzz did at Marquette. We’re going to guard every board so when the other team gets the ball, they’re going to be guarded. And I don’t mean pressing like running around trapping all the time. We may trap occasionally. But more just gritty, hard man-to-man, guarding the ball and making them earn everything.
"Then we’ll be way, way, way more faster paced than what they were playing before. I don’t over-complicate the offense; it’s going to be really good spacing, really modern. I’m an analytics guy, so we want to take the right shots. Make the guys as efficient as they can be. Put them in the spots where they can be successful. I don’t have an offense where, ‘This is my system and you’re going to play my system.’
"We have an offensive philosophy of pacing and space and I’ve got to figure out what they’re good at and put them in the right spots."
Impression of the Horizon League? "I’m not going to predict how many games we’re going to win and I don’t know where they finished this year but I don’t want to finish there. We’re going to do better. I want to win the league. I want to win it next year. I’m not used to losing and I don’t want to be in that space. I don’t know where it’s going to land, but we want to move up. Way up."
Who were your biggest coaching influences? "When I was growing up, I was a diehard North Carolina fan. An ACC fan and a diehard North Carolina fan. So, I loved Dean Smith and watched everything he did and knew from a really young age that I wanted to be a coach. Even wrote him a letter when I was nine years old, and he wrote me back. I still have that letter.
"Then I would say my uncle (Ralph Lundy), who was a soccer coach at the College of Charleston for 30 years. I didn’t know anything about soccer but I’d spend a lot of time with him – especially in the summers – and see how he interacted with his players and watched what he did as a coach in the college setting.
"I think the combination of those things really kind of set my path."
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Mar 28, 2022 13:47:10 GMT -6
Not sure if this press conference report by Ben Steele of JS is behind a paywall, but here it is just in case. It expands beyond what was said in the press conference: It is not. I know it matters to some. I think Jimmy years ago. Maybe you should delete post to get hits on Ben Steele's piece.
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Post by Cactus Panther on Mar 28, 2022 14:01:11 GMT -6
Not sure if this press conference report by Ben Steele of JS is behind a paywall, but here it is just in case. It expands beyond what was said in the press conference: It is not. I know it matters to some. I think Jimmy years ago. Maybe you should delete post to get hits on Ben Steele's piece. OK. Done. But if there is someone like me who cannot access the article because they do not have a twitter account, let me know and I will either re-post or send privately. It is a well written article with a few more bits of information than has been reported previously.
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 28, 2022 14:04:18 GMT -6
"If there's someone who has some ideas or has a good-out-of-bounds play, just let me know."
Me! Me! Me!
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 28, 2022 14:06:51 GMT -6
And for crying out loud, play guys in the first half with TWO FOULS!!!!
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Post by ghostofdylan on Mar 28, 2022 14:09:40 GMT -6
I'm also a HUGE fan of fouling when up by 3 with under five seconds remaining!
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Post by Duct_Tape_Pounce on Mar 28, 2022 14:49:47 GMT -6
Again, you can't say that we've been "mediocre" for the last 16 years. We had some real high points from '09-10 to '15-16 and we've had only very low points since. I thought to myself, "Ted Perry is being really kind to us by saying that we've been 'mediocre' for the last six seasons!" I agree that everything from ‘15-‘16 has been miserable. From ‘09-‘15, I think it’s fair to say mediocre isn’t that far off. One first place finish, one last place finish, nowhere higher than 4th or lower than 6th otherwise, with one great tournament run with a sub-.500 (in conference) team is not far off from mediocre.
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