jjray

Oh, it would be no fun if it wasn't offensive in some way.

And 'yes', I know Mitchell is injured. There were only so many story lines one can plum in 5 minutes.

Just being on an NBA preseason roster pretty much guarantees you of a gig at some level playing in Europe if Willie can stick it out. I think he will have his choice between NBA D league or Europe. I'd consider it an accomplishment if he played a full season with a professional team at almost any level. Willie has always had the talent, discipline ... not so much.

This is a blue font post, right? John Manning played hardly at all his freshman year.

"why would the Spring period be any better?" ... going to the tourney again certainly won't hurt if we can pull it off. We'll still be stacked at guard and SF even after this season if we don't lose anybody. I'll be disappointed if we don't land at least a project big for the next class. Much will depend on how this season plays out.

I agree with you that no one should sleep on LaSalle; however, 7th in the preseason ranking seem about right. The middle level teams in the A10 look stronger than in years past.

I had a hunch you were a boss.

TheA_Bomb, on 01 October 2012 - 12:48 PM, said: Many schools and ADs are ran by a$$es. Think about it, a$$es are in charge of everything. Are you not in charge of something?

This is a piece of deep wisdom.

Now that you mention it, I remember receiving "1818" credits from SLU for classes taken at DeSmet in 70's. Oh but I wanted to know Biondi could alter time or, at least, our perception of it.

Powerful men not only make history, they change it retroactively!

I was thinking a 'Downfall' parody. http://videxplorer.c...134843286026544 Hitler reacts to Biondi ... .

I think your friend speaks truth Cheese. It's what I was saying in the other thread but was not aware it was already common knowledge in the national coaching community. I had assumed that a coaching candidate would have to do a little detective work to figure it out. Apparently wrong assumption.

I hear you NextYear but the situation is more nuanced. Any candidate we try to woo needs to understand that dealing with Father B comes with the territory. If those candidates talk to RM about it, what do you think he is going to say? Apparently he said very negative things about Father B to Bernie M. Secondly, The good doctor will, of course, be on the search committee and expected to buck up for any high profile coach but remember Rick complaining about money for all the other things he wanted? Biondi is a micro manager to the extreme. He removes money from department budgets throughout the university system for line items he decides are not necessary. The law school dust up and the athletic department deal with the charter flights are but two examples. These issues are beyond the control of even Dr. C. Father B is uncontrollable. He's a true dictator of our university answerable to no one. He's literally an elephant in the room.

I was thinking the same thing. The safe, easy hire (read save $$$'s).

That's a good point. No up and coming, young and hungry asst is 1) out there looking for a job right now and 2) would sign on with an interim coach knowing there are no guarantees. This is an experienced guy who will mesh with Crews. I guess we can worry about next year when all the bridges get crossed. Many unknowns between now and then.

If we go to the NCAA tourney, it will be hard for them not to give it to Crews IMHO. Father B isn't going to buck up for a big name coach. Salaries for coaches have gone skyward since we hired Rick M.

The hiring is meaningless unless Crews gets the gig on a permanent basis after the season. No other HC will retain Platt. If Crews does get the job on a permanent basis, the Platt hiring is not something I am enthused about. This is one of Crews' coaching buddies. He is not going to fire the guy after the season. Now we have a coaching staff dripping with coaching retreads. How do you sell that to young kids? I think one of Whitesell or Platt has to go if Crews gets the gig after the season. This can't be our coaching staff for other than a one-year basis.

+1 Preemptive strike by ND. They see the rotten core of the BE and jumped. The A10 addition of Butler and VCU looks even smarter now (pun intended). The BE is going to be trolling for new members.

I hope Cody averages 30 mpg. He's the one guy we really don't have a ready replacement for, a stretch 4 who has turned himself into a solid rebounder. Grandy Mama is probably not ready to log more than 10 MPG. I don't know if Jared Drew will have enough meat on his bones this year to log minutes @ 4 but that 7' wingspan will come in handy. Dwayne causes other teams match up problems when he's at the 3 so I hope he plays the bulk of his minutes there.

My problem with Manning #1 on the breakout players list is that he won't start for us. In fact, I'm not sure he will be the backup center. Cody essentially was the primary backup center last season but with Conk gone, you would think Cody has to play the 4 almost exclusively. But Cory showed flashes at the end of last season and I expect Rob to be demonstrably better in his junior year. Cory is a senior. How are the minutes going to break down @ 5? Rob 20 / Cory 10 / John 10? That very well could be how it shakes out. Manning will be on my list for break out players in 2013. He'll play big boy minutes next year.

Harriman did a phenomenal job for us. Not sure why anyone would gripe that he was an AC at SLU. The proof is in the pudding. Harriman got hired away by a BCS school. If Harriman was still here and we were looking at Crews with Harriman the top asst., I'd be rather pleased about the situation. Agree with Roy's point about Whitesell and Crews being redundant but Crews was supposed to just be a last minute / one year fill in for Al Jensen after left for the NBAD like a week before practice started. I won't put that one on Majerus because the circumstances forced his hand.

Bernie Miklasz was very adamant in his column last week that Majerus told him Father Biondi refused to give Rick a new contract at the conclusion of the 2012 season. Yet our program is now waiting on the possible medical recovery of Majerus, whose prognosis is so severe that he doesn't want anyone to know what is wrong. I understand the impulse to wait until the season is over to name a new permanent coach and comfort to be taken from Jim Crews as our interim. We're lucky to have Crews but the cloud of doubt can be debilitating the longer it lasts. I think the athletic department has to set out a time table for action. How long do they wait until a decision is made that there will in fact be a new coach? End of season? Xmas? The best course of action is to publish a timetable. I think, at the very least, the university should be willing to say by Jan 1 whether or not Coach Majerus will be back for the 2013-2014 season. That's four months. I also suggest Jim Crews be allowed to fill the vacant AC position ASAP. The program needs to present the public picture that they are carrying on business as usual. Finally, the press release should specifically spell out the steps to be taken should Majerus be unable to return. Suggestion-- "A decision on the return of Coach Rick Majerus shall be announced no later than January 1, 2013. Should it be determined by January 1 that Coach Majerus is unable to return to Saint Louis University due to health concerns, Athletic Director Chris May will lead a search committee for a new head coach that shall commence work immediately at the conclusion of the current season. Interim head coach Jim Crews will be a candidate for the permanent head coach position should the position become vacant."

+1

I think one is delusional to believe SLU is going to hire a coach come March 2013 that will come to the table with his pockets full of valuable recruits. It doesn't generally work that way. Huggins to Kansas State, Calipari to Kentucky are the exception not the rule. We will not be offering the $$$'s to land a celebrity coach who carries recruits in hip pocket. Almost all talented 2013 players will have already signed LOI before we have even hired our new coach (if we go the committee route after the season). I didn't think I needed to give examples to make this rather obvious point. It speaks for itself.