#FireJimCrews

[moytoy12]

What are you basing this on? To me, he seems like an old-school coach with a surly character who can't connect with his players on any level. He can't develop them from a basketball standpoint, let alone a character standpoint. He comes across as cold and distant from a media standpoint. And he was fired from West Point for being too abusive. Nothing about him comes across as either "classy" or able to develop character in anyone.

Off-the-court, he seems to be a different person based on the NY Times article about Crews and his son that came about during one of the NCAA tourneys. I agree with you vis-a-vis his basketball persona.

[willie]

Last year I got Crews to speak to an organization I belong to. He was charming. Everyone loved him. That said he needs to retire.

[Quality Is Job 1]

What are you basing this on? To me, he seems like an old-school coach with a surly character who can't connect with his players on any level. He can't develop them from a basketball standpoint, let alone a character standpoint. He comes across as cold and distant from a media standpoint. And he was fired from West Point for being too abusive. Nothing about him comes across as either "classy" or able to develop character in anyone.

This. Crews is just an old bastard, through and through. Majerus' was crude and developed exceptional character, because he only recruited those who had already displayed it. And he could coach. That's the difference.

What I remember reading about Crews during the interim year -- around Tournament time -- was that he demonstrated concern about his players from Evansville and West Point. I agree that he's not a great basketball mind, but I don't think there's anything to besmirch his character. As for the dismissal from Army, I think may have made a mistake but don't think it's indicative of abusive tendencies. As for Majerus recruiting "only" those with exceptional character, you seem to be forgetting Jon Smif, Willie Reed, and Kwamain Mitchell. Some of their actions didn't attest to "exceptional character" coming in.

[bonwich]

Last year I got Crews to speak to an organization I belong to. He was charming. Everyone loved him. That said he needs to retire.

Wait...that sounds way too familiar. Were you actually behind getting me to "retire" from the P-D?

[bonwich]

But I suspect SLU will spin the whole situation to appear gracious. That is, Coach Crews will "retire."

Hmmm. Seems like I've read that on this board somewhere before.

[Quality Is Job 1]

Hmmm. Seems like I've read that on this board somewhere before.

Well, motion made and seconded. Can I get a third?

[bonwich]

I wouldn't read anything into that letter. It's classic AD talk not all that differently then him saying he wants to strengthen the A-10 while trying to get us into the Big East behind the scenes. Unlike that situation, SLU controls it's fate here and I have little doubt the right decision will be made at the end of the season.

The most important thing to read into the letter is that such a letter exists. This is a good sign all around.

[Pistol]

What I remember reading about Crews during the interim year -- around Tournament time -- was that he demonstrated concern about his players from Evansville and West Point. I agree that he's not a great basketball mind, but I don't think there's anything to besmirch his character. As for the dismissal from Army, I think may have made a mistake but don't think it's indicative of abusive tendencies. As for Majerus recruiting "only" those with exceptional character, you seem to be forgetting Jon Smif, Willie Reed, and Kwamain Mitchell. Some of their actions didn't attest to "exceptional character" coming in.

I would hope he cares about guys who used to play for him. I also think it's easier with the benefit of time and distance to remember someone more fondly than you might in the immediate aftermath of playing for or coaching that person.

I won't speak to the character of players our current or former coaches recruited except those I knew personally or those who put it on display for all to see, like McBroom. I think it's a weak, all too common move for fans of a given team to pretend their players are all high-character class acts while opposing players are all illiterate thugs. I have minimal interest in such a conversation.

Back to Crews - I don't think there's a super compelling argument that he's either a great guy or a bad guy, classy or classless, smart or clueless. I think what's clear is that he's lost this current team and I have doubts he ever had these guys on his side to begin with (or the leftover Majerus players, for that matter). He seems very much like a guy who has seen the game pass him by, and who in no way can relate to players of this generation.

I don't think that's an indictment on this generation, either; many call them soft or self-centered or whatever but I seriously doubt current players are much better or worse as people on a macro level than they were in the past. They've just come up in a different culture, both inside and outside of basketball. Good veteran coaches adapt; those who don't probably should be retired.

[milwaukeebill]

^^^^^

What he said

[bonwich]

While looking for articles about how Chaifetz's capacity was determined, I stumbled on this one from Strauss around the time of Crews' elevation to permanent coach. Among other things, note the words "supposed to be a layup."

http://bit.ly/1O8EHTi

[Quality Is Job 1]

While looking for articles about how Chaifetz's capacity was determined, I stumbled on this one from Strauss around the time of Crews' elevation to permanent coach. Among other things, note the words "supposed to be a layup."

http://bit.ly/1O8EHTi

10:45 a.m. Friday update: It's finally official. St. Louis University will name Jim Crews as its head basketball coach at 2 p.m. today.

* * *

Here is Joe Strauss' column on the Crews situation, published Thursday night:

Rumors spread Thursday afternoon that white smoke might soon appear from DuBourg Hall on St. Louis University’s midtown campus.

Rumors replaced whispers from Wednesday that SLU would convene a Thursday news conference to remove the “interim” from Jim Crews’ title as the Billikens’ basketball coach.

But because no smoke had been seen, any proclamation of “habemus coach” again teased as premature.

Word leaked late Thursday night that university president Father Lawrence Biondi finally had approved necessary “paperwork” to finalize Crews’ hiring with a formal announcement expected today at Chaifetz Arena. Then again, against the night sky who could tell if the smoke was white or black?

First question, regardless: What took so long?

Arriving 19 days after the Bills’ NCAA Tournament loss to Oregon in San Jose, an announcement will save SLU potential further embarrassment as Crews is to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Cardinals-Brewers tilt Saturday at Busch Stadium.

Imagine the awkwardness of proclaiming Crews “national collegiate coach of the year and still interim?”

Or would the breathless intro have gone something like, “And here he is — walking to the mound on pins and needles, maybe the Billikens’ head basketball coach for 2013-14 — Jim Crews!”

In the aftermath of a 28-7 season that included Atlantic 10 Conference regular season and tournament titles, SLU has accomplished the seemingly impossible: becoming bogged down in the announcement of Crews as Rick Majerus’ successor.

The school committed the public relations felony by making the process a bigger story than the outcome.

Crews promised March 24 that he quickly would inform athletics director Chris May and Biondi of his desire to stay or leave. By all accounts, Crews delivered on that promise within several days.

May was very transparent in his desire to retain a coaching personality who blended well with the student body while building upon the tenets of Majerus’ system.

A compensation package was agreed upon. Crews is set to make less than the $1 million per season Majerus received, but apparently more than Biondi’s initial position.

One can only surmise issues that posed additional obstacles: better pay for assistants, the hiring of a full-time video coordinator, perhaps adding another recruiter/coach.

Crews made clear his most pressing question involved whether his blueprint for the program meshed with the school’s vision. He remained too classy to refer to historically tight finances or Biondi’s micro-management of the athletics department.

Crews didn’t have to. Others gladly fill in the blanks.

Majerus had no problem detailing how he personally paid a portion of at least one assistant’s salary. Coach Rick also noted his purchase of a moveable third basket for Chaifetz Arena’s main court when it was not included in construction costs. He forever railed against his team’s travel arrangements — handled on-campus but outside the athletics department.

Crews’s blue-collar team twice toppled Virginia Commonwealth, three times tamed Butler and for a second straight season won a game in the NCAA Tournament. So keeping him should touch off celebration within a fan base long sensitive to second-class treatment from local media and an identity crisis nationally.

The university president dismissed coach Brad Soderberg on April 17, 2007 without input from then-athletics director Cheryl Levick, who resigned two months later. That was shortly after Majerus was hired.

Horror stories persist of administrative vacancies that persist for months following the interview process. Requisitioning funds for basic needs is subject to whim. A number of major boosters recently became estranged from the university.

The Crews announcement was supposed to be a lay-up.

It became a vigil.

A conspiracy of events has stretched an announcement some anticipated within days of SLU’s tournament exit.

Biondi had to return from fund-raising abroad. There was Holy Week, then the Final Four. Biondi suffered the unexpected loss of a brother.

SLU remains a proudly “private” institution that does not have to disclose salaries or respond to Freedom of Information inquiries. It is also an institution increasingly engaged in civil war with a president who has positioned himself as the Indispensable Man.

Crews’ return as coach became a poorly kept secret as he and his staff continued recruiting while his status technically remained unresolved. Scheduling for next season is under way. Yet almost three weeks after its Top 20 team’s last dribble, the school allowed an image of chronic indecisiveness to persist.

It is fair to argue, as some do, whether this year’s success should outweigh the need for a younger alternative to Crews, 59, a person who might be more closely aligned with the program’s future. But that’s really not the issue because little internal debate existed about Crews being fit for the job.

Moving quickly would have allowed Crews and his coaching staff greater momentum as it tried to compensate for lost time recruiting. As is, an announcement today falls within a week of next Wednesday’s national signing day.

SLU has instead taken more than twice as long to extend Crews than UCLA needed to offer its post to three outsiders. (Coincidentally, three coaches whom Crews’ team beat in six of six games.)

Rather than cultivate it as an issue, Crews declined to discuss his future during the season.

He didn’t create an additional distraction for a team that already had dealt with Majerus’ death and early injuries that influenced the season’s first six weeks. Crews handled the situation with dignity, class and occasional humor.

Somehow the program elevated itself within arguably the nation’s most stringent mid-major conference. The administration’s response was to wait… and wait some more.

The Catholic Church installed Pope Francis. Scandal arose at Rutgers and rightly claimed its head coach, athletic director and legal counsel. The Cardinals concluded spring training and played nine games. One wondered which would occur first, completion of Ballpark Village or Crews’ formal installation?

Crews’ hire should be the easy part. Now SLU confronts a move to another, larger conference. It needs to explain how it will expand its footprint within a city and a region apparently tougher to recruit than Australia.

How far does Crews dare look into the future? Does the past two seasons’ success represent a blip or a springboard for a program long sensitive to treatment as second class?

If SLU takes this long on the easy questions, what about the tough ones?

[Quality Is Job 1]

Lot's to respond to here -- in retrospect.

10:45 a.m. Friday update: It's finally official. St. Louis University will name Jim Crews as its head basketball coach at 2 p.m. today.

* * *

Here is Joe Strauss' column on the Crews situation, published Thursday night:

Rumors spread Thursday afternoon that white smoke might soon appear from DuBourg Hall on St. Louis University’s midtown campus.

Rumors replaced whispers from Wednesday that SLU would convene a Thursday news conference to remove the “interim” from Jim Crews’ title as the Billikens’ basketball coach.

But because no smoke had been seen, any proclamation of “habemus coach” again teased as premature.

Word leaked late Thursday night that university president Father Lawrence Biondi finally had approved necessary “paperwork” to finalize Crews’ hiring with a formal announcement expected today at Chaifetz Arena. Then again, against the night sky who could tell if the smoke was white or black?

First question, regardless: What took so long? Maybe it didn't take long enough. In fairness, the debacle when Brad Soderberg was fired was even worse.

Arriving 19 days after the Bills’ NCAA Tournament loss to Oregon in San Jose, an announcement will save SLU potential further embarrassment as Crews is to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Cardinals-Brewers tilt Saturday at Busch Stadium.

Imagine the awkwardness of proclaiming Crews “national collegiate coach of the year and still interim?”

Or would the breathless intro have gone something like, “And here he is — walking to the mound on pins and needles, maybe the Billikens’ head basketball coach for 2013-14 — Jim Crews!”

In the aftermath of a 28-7 season that included Atlantic 10 Conference regular season and tournament titles, SLU has accomplished the seemingly impossible: becoming bogged down in the announcement of Crews as Rick Majerus’ successor. Was there some doubt? Did the powers-that-be look at anyone else and get turned down?

The school committed the public relations felony by making the process a bigger story than the outcome.

Crews promised March 24 that he quickly would inform athletics director Chris May and Biondi of his desire to stay or leave. By all accounts, Crews delivered on that promise within several days.

May was very transparent in his desire to retain a coaching personality who blended well with the student body while building upon the tenets of Majerus’ system. He should have stuck with that system, it seems.

A compensation package was agreed upon. Crews is set to make less than the $1 million per season Majerus received, but apparently more than Biondi’s initial position. No. Need to be willing to spend more in order to be more assured of sustained success -- provided the coach has a proven track record. But also there's the need for making assistant positions more attractive, as Strauss gets into in the following paragraph.

One can only surmise issues that posed additional obstacles: better pay for assistants, the hiring of a full-time video coordinator, perhaps adding another recruiter/coach.

Crews made clear his most pressing question involved whether his blueprint for the program meshed with the school’s vision. He remained too classy to refer to historically tight finances or Biondi’s micro-management of the athletics department. Did/does the school have a vision? It seems muddy whether the blueprint meshes with sustained success.

Crews didn’t have to. Others gladly fill in the blanks.

Majerus had no problem detailing how he personally paid a portion of at least one assistant’s salary. Coach Rick also noted his purchase of a moveable third basket for Chaifetz Arena’s main court when it was not included in construction costs. He forever railed against his team’s travel arrangements — handled on-campus but outside the athletics department.

Crews’s blue-collar team twice toppled Virginia Commonwealth, three times tamed Butler and for a second straight season won a game in the NCAA Tournament. So keeping him should touch off celebration within a fan base long sensitive to second-class treatment from local media and an identity crisis nationally. Except it was really Majerus's team still.

The university president dismissed coach Brad Soderberg on April 17, 2007 without input from then-athletics director Cheryl Levick, who resigned two months later. That was shortly after Majerus was hired. There's a new president now; will his stamp be better? I hope so, but he needs to not be hands-off.

Horror stories persist of administrative vacancies that persist for months following the interview process. Requisitioning funds for basic needs is subject to whim. A number of major boosters recently became estranged from the university. I beg of you all, PLEASE COME BACK AND FIX THE MESS!

The Crews announcement was supposed to be a lay-up. Sure, like a Yacoubou missed one.

It became a vigil.

A conspiracy of events has stretched an announcement some anticipated within days of SLU’s tournament exit.

Biondi had to return from fund-raising abroad. There was Holy Week, then the Final Four. Biondi suffered the unexpected loss of a brother.

SLU remains a proudly “private” institution that does not have to disclose salaries or respond to Freedom of Information inquiries. It is also an institution increasingly engaged in civil war with a president who has positioned himself as the Indispensable Man.

Crews’ return as coach became a poorly kept secret as he and his staff continued recruiting while his status technically remained unresolved. Scheduling for next season is under way. Yet almost three weeks after its Top 20 team’s last dribble, the school allowed an image of chronic indecisiveness to persist.

It is fair to argue, as some do, whether this year’s success should outweigh the need for a younger alternative to Crews, 59, a person who might be more closely aligned with the program’s future. But that’s really not the issue because little internal debate existed about Crews being fit for the job. WOW. Where to start?

Moving quickly would have allowed Crews and his coaching staff greater momentum as it tried to compensate for lost time recruiting. As is, an announcement today falls within a week of next Wednesday’s national signing day.

SLU has instead taken more than twice as long to extend Crews than UCLA needed to offer its post to three outsiders. (Coincidentally, three coaches whom Crews’ team beat in six of six games.)

Rather than cultivate it as an issue, Crews declined to discuss his future during the season.

He didn’t create an additional distraction for a team that already had dealt with Majerus’ death and early injuries that influenced the season’s first six weeks. Crews handled the situation with dignity, class and occasional humor. Which he continues to do. He's captain of the Titanic. "What iceberg?"

Somehow the program elevated itself within arguably the nation’s most stringent mid-major conference. The administration’s response was to wait… and wait some more. And the plummet from there has been in a blink and devastating.

The Catholic Church installed Pope Francis. Scandal arose at Rutgers and rightly claimed its head coach, athletic director and legal counsel. The Cardinals concluded spring training and played nine games. One wondered which would occur first, completion of Ballpark Village or Crews’ formal installation?

Crews’ hire should be the easy part. Now SLU confronts a move to another, larger conference. It needs to explain how it will expand its footprint within a city and a region apparently tougher to recruit than Australia.

How far does Crews dare look into the future? Does the past two seasons’ success represent a blip or a springboard for a program long sensitive to treatment as second class? Clearly a blip without the right head coach.

If SLU takes this long on the easy questions, what about the tough ones? Just when we think we know the answers, they change the questions!

[billikenfan05]

It's morbid, I guess, but I wish Strauss was still around to answer your questions AbsurdBillsFan

[moytoy12]

I'm not so sure about this thread. I guess y'all need reminding:

[Quality Is Job 1]

I'm not so sure about this thread. I guess y'all need reminding:

He may be passing something (I hope not gas!), but the players must be fumbling it out of bounds or into opponents' hands like Reggie Agbeko tends to.

[BACKHANDtheRICAN]

#ingfirejimcrews

[FireCrews]

Just fire Crews already. Numbers speak for themselves. Do we want a winning program or below mediocre???

[JMM28]

Dave Rice got fired at UNLV tonight. Just for losing.

[Soderball]

Dave Rice got fired at UNLV tonight. Just for losing.

A program that actually gives a damn when they are bad.

[billikenfan05]

A program that actually gives a damn when they are bad.

Dan Wolken on Twitter seemed to indicate that they'd probably go cheap per usual

[Soderball]

Dan Wolken on Twitter seemed to indicate that they'd probably go cheap per usual

Id rather go cheap than go Jim Crews. I was implying more to the principle that we should fire Crews right now.

[brianstl]

Dan Wolken on Twitter seemed to indicate that they'd probably go cheap per usual

Kruger was the coach before Rice. He wasn't a cheap hire.

[Cowboy]

-here's my prediction/prognostication on which I hope I am 100% wrong....the powers that be will be swayed by the team being impacted by Rick's illness that lead to his death, this caused recruiting to be stagnant for too long to capitalize on the 3 year Tourney run so the roster is not as talented or as well constructed as it should be but Crews will get the benefit of the doubt with this and his caretaker status for two seasons over all the other reasons that have been posted in various threads here to make a change and he will be brought back next season

[BigMouthBilliken]

-here's my prediction/prognostication on which I hope I am 100% wrong....the powers that be will be swayed by the team being impacted by Rick's illness that lead to his death, this caused recruiting to be stagnant for too long to capitalize on the 3 year Tourney run so the roster is not as talented or as well constructed as it should be but Crews will get the benefit of the doubt with this and his caretaker status for two seasons over all the other reasons that have been posted in various threads here to make a change and he will be brought back next season

RM's death has nothing to do with this roster or season. It should not be used as an excuse for mediocrity. We all appreciate what he did for the program but people die everyday and the world keeps spinning. That is in the past and Crews needs to be held responsible for the current monstrosity. I would be shocked if the AD or Pestello, who never met RM if I'm correct, is in alignment with your prediction.

[JMM28]

-here's my prediction/prognostication on which I hope I am 100% wrong....the powers that be will be swayed by the team being impacted by Rick's illness that lead to his death, this caused recruiting to be stagnant for too long to capitalize on the 3 year Tourney run so the roster is not as talented or as well constructed as it should be but Crews will get the benefit of the doubt with this and his caretaker status for two seasons over all the other reasons that have been posted in various threads here to make a change and he will be brought back next season

Eh nah.

The problem with Crews is this. The recruiting has been an absolute failure from talent level to roster construction. But where many coaches would make up for in x and os, Crews has also been an absolute failure. There is no redeeming quality about this regime. It's like those fat girls that have small breasts. They are really hard to look at. But then you top it off that she also has a terrible personality. That is this team. Poor construction and not even fun to watch.