If Crews is retained I am done

[almaman]

jeez boys had i been on here at this time, this thread would of chased me out of the room. when i got on board it still was way - about JC but not this bad. some of you guys might want to re read some of this before pontificating on this season's issue once it starts.I felt the same way i felt when i started posting and the way i felt about RM and hiring of JC and how foolish it would be to not want him to coach at least through this season at this 8-3 point pre conference and look how it all turned out. some of these inane negative comments remind me of some early Crawford comments making me even more inclined to think he's going to be the real deal.

CW4C Can't wait for Cancun!

[Quality Is Job 1]

Keep in mind, with your hindsight, that the bulk of the rancor was because Keith Carter, a promising freshman point guard whom Coach Majerus had compared favorably to Kwamain Mitchell, announced his mid-season departure. Some put the blame for that squarely on Jim Crews's head.

It is funny, however, that even supposed insiders were saying Crews wouldn't be back. That sure turned around! Even I changed my tune by January or February.

[Billikenswin]

Keep in mind, with your hindsight, that the bulk of the rancor was because Keith Carter, a promising freshman point guard whom Coach Majerus had compared favorably to Kwamain Mitchell, announced his mid-season departure. Some put the blame for that squarely on Jim Crews's head.

It is funny, however, that even supposed insiders were saying Crews wouldn't be back. That sure turned around! Even I changed my tune by January or February.

Why in the heck do we have this stupid string of ignorant posts put up again when we have just completed a great season and added some wonderful new recruits? the only guy who was spot on was Billikan and he quit posting a long time ago. Can't we close this an move on?

[Archy McNally]

Why in the heck do we have this stupid string of ignorant posts put up again when we have just completed a great season and added some wonderful new recruits? the only guy who was spot on was Billikan and he quit posting a long time ago. Can't we close this an move on?

To rub it in a little bit. To hold people accountable for their posts. If it is ok to post knee-jerk reactions, it is okay to repost those, when in hindsight, it was totally foolish.

I like it, it is all in good fun.

[cheeseman]

Cheese randy bennett getting the head coaching job at st mary's was the reason romar hired brad as an asst. So you are wrong on that fact. If i remember correctly, slu asked bruce weber first he turned us down to stay at siu. It then came down to soderberg or brian gregory.

Ok I understand that I was wrong about Bennett but we could have had Gregory - now I know he is not a favorite here but would we have not taken Dayton's overall performance over what we got from BS?

[Quality Is Job 1]

Why in the heck do we have this stupid string of ignorant posts put up again when we have just completed a great season and added some wonderful new recruits? the only guy who was spot on was Billikan and he quit posting a long time ago. Can't we close this an move on?

Ever hear of a literary device called irony? That's what we have.

[AlumniFan]

This is great. I hope many of the initial posters (aka chicken littles) in this thread reread their comments.

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt." Mark Twain

[slufanskip]

I think the thread is silly. This is a message board where people give their opinions, rant when things are going bad, and drink the kool aid when things are going good.

At the time of that thread how many people could say they'd have been happy with JC being given the job at that time?

On a message board, I'd say Mark Twain is wrong. Without people's opinions right and wrong, we have nothing to discuss or debate.

And regardless of how it turned out ... with what was known at that time, was it really wrong to hope JC did not get the job?

It turned out that JC proved the doubters wrong (and I was one of them though I didn't comment in this thread) and proved he was the right guy for and deserved the job. However, as a Head Coach in D1 basketball he'll have to continue to prove himself every year and he'll continue to get scrutinized, criticized, and praised ... some of it rightly and some wrongly

I for one am glad we have people who will state their opinion popular and/or unpopular. Bringing up and old thread like this serves nothing as I'm sure the large majority of the people who did not want JC are glad that he's accomplished what he has and hope he continues.

[cheeseman]

I do not remember posting on this particular thread about Crews but I was one who was skeptical of his hiring. It was primarily based on his recruiting track record or lack there of. I said I would with hold judgment until the end of the upcoming recruiting periods. The problem with the giddiness some are claiming regarding his signings is that we do not know if they will pan out. Of course that is true of any recruiting class regardless of the coach. I am staying true to my word and not making any judgments so far - I will agree that some of his signings on paper look good - but as I said, lets see the kids play first before we actually give it a grade. After this Saturday, we will have a chance to see the last spring and last fall kids and I am as anxious and hopeful as anyone to see them. I hope Crews proves my initial concerns to be wrong and we are in the NCAA tourney for many years to come.

[AlumniFan]

I am all for opinions, but when numerous people suggest that "if Crews is retained, they are done" it does indeed look foolish, especially in retrospect. (Entertaining nonetheless...)

[JettFlight5]

The good news in all of it is that at least people care one way or the other.

Apathy is worse than reactions.

[bbtds]

It all has to be taken with a grain of salt.

Every board has their drama queens and those that never panic. And their fans of other teams==

[ACE]

It is certainly appropriate to serve up crow on message boards. It can be fun to dip into the archives and see how opinions regarding players and coaches change over time. I didn't really see anybody in late December going out ona limb and saying they wanted Crews to be retained on a permanent basis. The most extreme position was roy saying he didn't even want Crews as an assistant. That was way off. We were very fortunate to have him as an assistant. Fair to say the most accomplished assistant the program has ever had and we were lucky that RM was able to attract him to take the job. He also seemed like the obvious choice as the interim head coach, but like a lot of people, I had questions about him getting the job on a permanent basis. At the time a lot of the "insiders" were telling us that Crews was not going to be the guy and that Doc Chaifetz was going to roll out the dough and we were going to make another splash hire. I was intrigued by that idea. After being treated to RM, I liked the idea of finding another big time coach. As it played out, the idea of Crews retaining the RM staff and keeping many of the same systems in place seemed like a solid plan. How Crews could recuit was a legit question, but I think Bronson and the rest of the staff are off to a very promising start. I wonder if SLUDrew is really done? Also, some of the "insiders" in this thread have provided good info in the past, so I wonder if they were either given bad info or the plan for the future simply changed as Crews and the team had more success? Unless we were ready to hire another legendary coach, getting rid of Crews for some unproven assistant didn't make a lot of sense.

[Clock_Tower]

It is certainly appropriate to serve up crow on message boards. It can be fun to dip into the archives and see how opinions regarding players and coaches change over time. I didn't really see anybody in late December going out ona limb and saying they wanted Crews to be retained on a permanent basis. The most extreme position was roy saying he didn't even want Crews as an assistant. That was way off. We were very fortunate to have him as an assistant. Fair to say the most accomplished assistant the program has ever had and we were lucky that RM was able to attract him to take the job. He also seemed like the obvious choice as the interim head coach, but like a lot of people, I had questions about him getting the job on a permanent basis. At the time a lot of the "insiders" were telling us that Crews was not going to be the guy and that Doc Chaifetz was going to roll out the dough and we were going to make another splash hire. I was intrigued by that idea. After being treated to RM, I liked the idea of finding another big time coach. As it played out, the idea of Crews retaining the RM staff and keeping many of the same systems in place seemed like a solid plan. How Crews could recuit was a legit question, but I think Bronson and the rest of the staff are off to a very promising start. I wonder if SLUDrew is really done? Also, some of the "insiders" in this thread have provided good info in the past, so I wonder if they were either given bad info or the plan for the future simply changed as Crews and the team had more success? Unless we were ready to hire another legendary coach, getting rid of Crews for some unproven assistant didn't make a lot of sense.

An unproven assistant?? That was the not the choice. Again, my preference was another splash hire - not an unproven assistant.

In hindsight, I admit that Crews has done a better job than I thought he would have done at this point. Keep in mind, though, that we have not won (or lost) any games yet, all recruits are still unproven (good or bad) and we will know a lot more soon. Getting a coach to keep the nucleus in take -- our 4 returning starters plus McBroom was certainly done by Crews (good job Jim!!), getting new recruits this past Spring for the upcoming season and this Fall (to replace our Seniors) appears great (good job Jim!!) but both of these could also have been done with another big splash hire. How our team will be next year and if the RM momentum can be sustained is/will be the real measure for Jim Crews. Thankfully, though, so far so good.

Frankly, I don't where knock on Jim Crews became that he can't recruit. That has always been less my concern than is he the right guy for the job?? to follow-up the momentum of RM?? Recruiting at Army is completely different than other places. Instead, whether or not Crews was the right man for the job depended upon the review of his entire body of work over his entire coaching career along with an evaluation of how he now (at age 59) can lead the team forward. Further, even critics of Jim Crews would admit that SLU (Fr. Biondi) certainly could have done worse. Finally, only Dr. Chaifetz, Chris May and a short list of other high rollers really knew how much money was available and what kind of interest there was among the coaching ranks to see if a true splash hire was even realistic here at SLU. None of this was available to us fans last year. And even today, I will not second guess SLU's decision. Jim Crews is our coach, I am a Billiken fan and I support SLU's choice/Jim Crews.

[ACE]

An unproven assistant?? That was the not the choice. Again, my preference was another splash hire - not an unproven assistant.

In hindsight, I admit that Crews has done a better job than I thought he would have done at this point. Keep in mind, though, that we have not won (or lost) any games yet, all recruits are still unproven (good or bad) and we will know a lot more soon. Getting a coach to keep the nucleus in take -- our 4 returning starters plus McBroom was certainly done by Crews (good job Jim!!), getting new recruits this past Spring for the upcoming season and this Fall (to replace our Seniors) appears great (good job Jim!!) but both of these could also have been done with another big splash hire. How our team will be next year and if the RM momentum can be sustained is/will be the real measure for Jim Crews. Thankfully, though, so far so good.

Frankly, I don't where knock on Jim Crews became that he can't recruit. That has always been less my concern than is he the right guy for the job?? to follow-up the momentum of RM?? Recruiting at Army is completely different than other places. Instead, whether or not Crews was the right man for the job depended upon the review of his entire body of work over his entire coaching career along with an evaluation of how he now (at age 59) can lead the team forward. Further, even critics of Jim Crews would admit that SLU (Fr. Biondi) certainly could have done worse. Finally, only Dr. Chaifetz, Chris May and a short list of other high rollers really knew how much money was available and what kind of interest there was among the coaching ranks to see if a true splash hire was even realistic here at SLU. None of this was available to us fans last year. And even today, I will not second guess SLU's decision. Jim Crews is our coach, I am a Billiken fan and I support SLU's choice/Jim Crews.

Not sure what you are disagreeing with. My first preference clearly was also for a splash hire instead of Crews, especially back in December of 2012, but despite what a few "insiders" suggested we don't know for certain that was ever going to happen. Even when last season ended, I was still open to the idea of trying to land another legendary coach to replace RM, but again, not sure who realistically we could have lined up. So if that option wasn't viable, our other options most likely would have been an assistant from a big time program or a head coach at a lower level (OVC, Mid American, etc.) If that is the choice we were faced with, than I'm glad we stuck with Crews & staff to keep the continuity.

[Tonka]

It is fun to reread this stuff.

[bbtds]

Hired a new head coach yet?

Roger Powell Jr., played at Illinois and now asst at youknowwhere. You just have to let him lead a prayer after the game.

He's called "The Rev" for a reason.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/staff/4823/roger-powell-jr/

Of course, he is used to praying in this chapel:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/valparaiso_university/10676137343/in/set-72157637314481724

[Billikenboy]

Everytime I see this thread come up I think I am gonna read someone's case on why Crews should go. Let's close this one out pls.

[thetorch]

Hired a new head coach yet?

Roger Powell Jr., played at Illinois and now asst at youknowwhere. You just have to let him lead a prayer after the game.

He's called "The Rev" for a reason.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/staff/4823/roger-powell-jr/

Of course, he is used to praying in this chapel:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/valparaiso_university/10676137343/in/set-72157637314481724

Thanks we'll stick with our All American Big Ten POY coach thank you.

[Billikenswin]

Everytime I see this thread come up I think I am gonna read someone's case on why Crews should go. Let's close this one out pls.

I agree. Why can't this be closed? It is ancient history and makes it appear that it is current to outsiders or recruits

[WestCoastBilliken]

i just hope that crews doesnt screw up much more finishing out the season. imo, he was not a good hire as an asst let alone put in charge. cant we just let him wrap ankles or sell 50/50 tickets the rest of the year and let mitchell coach the rest of the season. first player coach in ncaa history. another first for the billikens.

LOL. Well I did have to laugh at this....

[HoyaBilliken]

Everytime I see this thread come up I think I am gonna read someone's case on why Crews should go. Let's close this one out pls.

I agree. Why can't this be closed? It is ancient history and makes it appear that it is current to outsiders or recruits

+1+1+1+1