Column about Hoiberg in the Lincoln Journal Star

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Pat

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Oct 20, 2011
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My take on Hoiberg is neither infallibility nor hatred:

-Central Iowa legendary HS player that I loved watching even as he beat my HS teams
-One of the best (and one of my favorite) ISU players in history
-Represented ISU well as a solid, long-term NBA player
-Great coach at ISU first time around employing an innovative approach that was ahead of its time, but had a ceiling (admittedly one that is very high and likely acceptable to the vast majority of our fanbase) due to NBA-style defense/rebounding schemes that aren't as effective in the NCAA
-He saw the ISU gig as an opportunity to build his resume for his true dream job of coaching in the NBA
-Disappointed ISU wasn't his true dream job and that he couldn't commit to us long term as it hurt his recruiting and therefore the long term sustainability of success at ISU after he left (he left Prohm with a great upperclass roster, but very little talent for development)
-Appreciate that he encouraged his returners to stay at ISU (different than some past coaches)
-Made a poor choice in which NBA opportunity / dream job to pursue
-Was not innovative enough to succeed at a bad NBA opportunity
-Has brought in some great talent to Nebraska the last two years, and I think his teams will be better in the future as a result (in particular when both McGowens are on the court)
-Has struggled to win in a very tough conference and his teams seem to lack the toughness and grit necessary to win when you don't have as good of talent as your opponents
-Is seeing that NE will be a hard place to sustainably win
-Would find it harder to replicate his past success at ISU than it was to create it in the first place
-Is a good enough x's and o's coach and recruiter that he could be very successful a second time around at ISU, but it likely would require two key things:
(1) Consistently getting elite talent to ISU (doing it pretty well at NE, and I think it'll be even easier at ISU if he treats this more like his end game rather than another stepping stone); and
(2) Hiring a defensive/rebounding minded / disciplinarian top assistant to be the bad cop so he can remain the good cop to the players (not sure if he'd do this).

His problem in the NBA was that he was hired to coach Hoiball then handed a Thibs roster. Almost none of the free agent signings made any sense, and they were still arguably a Rondo injury away from an8-1 upset of the Celtics in 2017. As Zach Lowe wrote when he was fired, there is no way to tell for sure if he’s a good NBA coach.

Defensive coach is Doc Sadler.

I’m not an anti-Fred guy, I just think it would be much tougher sledding if he were to come back.
 

jsb

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His problem in the NBA was that he was hired to coach Hoiball then handed a Thibs roster. Almost none of the free agent signings made any sense, and they were still arguably a Rondo injury away from an8-1 upset of the Celtics in 2017. As Zach Lowe wrote when he was fired, there is no way to tell for sure if he’s a good NBA coach.

Defensive coach is Doc Sadler.

I’m not an anti-Fred guy, I just think it would be much tougher sledding if he were to come back.

I agree with the first paragraph, but it really makes you wonder about his judgement because even a person who knows nothing about the NBA knew that Chicago was run by idiots who do idiot things.

And I've seen plenty of comments about how Chicago was the only team that would hire him (we know he interviewed for GS and I'm pretty sure he sniffed around Cleveland right before Lebron came back), but if he would have stuck around Ames for a few more years, more NBA teams would have come calling. Which is why I have always said that it was less about the NBA and more about wanting out of Ames as soon as possible.
 

jsb

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My take on Hoiberg is neither infallibility nor hatred:

-Central Iowa legendary HS player that I loved watching even as he beat my HS teams
-One of the best (and one of my favorite) ISU players in history
-Represented ISU well as a solid, long-term NBA player
-Great coach at ISU first time around employing an innovative approach that was ahead of its time, but had a ceiling (admittedly one that is very high and likely acceptable to the vast majority of our fanbase) due to NBA-style defense/rebounding schemes that aren't as effective in the NCAA
-He saw the ISU gig as an opportunity to build his resume for his true dream job of coaching in the NBA
-Disappointed ISU wasn't his true dream job and that he couldn't commit to us long term as it hurt his recruiting and therefore the long term sustainability of success at ISU after he left (he left Prohm with a great upperclass roster, but very little talent for development)
-Appreciate that he encouraged his returners to stay at ISU (different than some past coaches)
-Made a poor choice in which NBA opportunity / dream job to pursue
-Was not innovative enough to succeed at a bad NBA opportunity
-Has brought in some great talent to Nebraska the last two years, and I think his teams will be better in the future as a result (in particular when both McGowens are on the court)
-Has struggled to win in a very tough conference and his teams seem to lack the toughness and grit necessary to win when you don't have as good of talent as your opponents
-Is seeing that NE will be a hard place to sustainably win
-Would find it harder to replicate his past success at ISU than it was to create it in the first place
-Is a good enough x's and o's coach and recruiter that he could be very successful a second time around at ISU, but it likely would require two key things:
(1) Consistently getting elite talent to ISU (doing it pretty well at NE, and I think it'll be even easier at ISU if he treats this more like his end game rather than another stepping stone); and
(2) Hiring a defensive/rebounding minded / disciplinarian top assistant to be the bad cop so he can remain the good cop to the players (not sure if he'd do this).


My god, I didn't know this was possible---a entire well- reasoned, well-thought out post about Hoiberg. You are probably too good for this website.

I'll add one thing, which I think you have mentioned before, is that if he really is interested in coming back, not having a HUGE NBA buyout would have to be a dealbreaker. If getting back to the NBA and his one true dream in life is the ultimate goal, he'd have to be committed to be so ******* good at Iowa State that the NBA teams would want to pay us $8 million to get him. None of this $500k ******** that he still has at Nebraska.

And I'll add another thing, I don't really believe this Hoiberg wants to come back ********. But I will say that it has more legs than a normal bad rumor. HOWEVER, all of this discussion does show that the Hoiberg ghost is going to follow the next coach as well. I used to think that it would die with Prohm, but I think it will follow TJ as well.
 

Tornado man

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Sep 16, 2007
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My take on Hoiberg is neither infallibility nor hatred:


-Made a poor choice in which NBA opportunity / dream job to pursue

-Was not innovative enough to succeed at a bad NBA opportunity

-Is seeing that NE will be a hard place to sustainably win
What I saw with Hoiberg's Bulls - and now his Huskers - are a startling lack of energy, spirit and passion. Total lack of commitment on defense. As if they don't/didn't care. The Bulls went from being a very good defensive team under Thibs to a disaster under Hoiberg.
Watched both ISU and Neb games yesterday - Cyclones played harder than Huskers did. That's on Fred.
 

Cycl1

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Mar 14, 2012
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I agree with the first paragraph, but it really makes you wonder about his judgement because even a person who knows nothing about the NBA knew that Chicago was run by idiots who do idiot things.

And I've seen plenty of comments about how Chicago was the only team that would hire him (we know he interviewed for GS and I'm pretty sure he sniffed around Cleveland right before Lebron came back), but if he would have stuck around Ames for a few more years, more NBA teams would have come calling. Which is why I have always said that it was less about the NBA and more about wanting out of Ames as soon as possible.
Chicago gave him almost double what we were paying him, and while he may have known Chicago was a **** show, he knew the people from his own time there. The type of competitor it takes to play 10 years of NBA ball is going to want to test himself against the best. Its obvious he was always on focused on going to the nba, seeing as his entire contract was set up as such. It may surprise you to learn that many players go to college so they can make it to the NBA and only go to college for that reason. Jumping at the first opportunity may have been a mistake, but he got paid obscene amounts of money to do so. I would strongly consider many ****** jobs for double the pay, let alone one that pays over $13k per day
 
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cyatheart

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Thing that really killed Prohm, other than the fact he’s an awful coach and doesn’t understand basketball, was he had so many busts in recruiting, so when the guys that could play left, he had nothing. Guys were either really good or completely awful. When half your incoming freshmen class has to leave before the season starts cause they can’t compete, it’s just not good. And his transfer recruiting outside of shayok has been awful.
 

SolarGarlic

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Jan 18, 2016
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My take on Hoiberg is neither infallibility nor hatred:

-Central Iowa legendary HS player that I loved watching even as he beat my HS teams
-One of the best (and one of my favorite) ISU players in history
-Represented ISU well as a solid, long-term NBA player
-Great coach at ISU first time around employing an innovative approach that was ahead of its time, but had a ceiling (admittedly one that is very high and likely acceptable to the vast majority of our fanbase) due to NBA-style defense/rebounding schemes that aren't as effective in the NCAA
-He saw the ISU gig as an opportunity to build his resume for his true dream job of coaching in the NBA
-Disappointed ISU wasn't his true dream job and that he couldn't commit to us long term as it hurt his recruiting and therefore the long term sustainability of success at ISU after he left (he left Prohm with a great upperclass roster, but very little talent for development)
-Appreciate that he encouraged his returners to stay at ISU (different than some past coaches)
-Made a poor choice in which NBA opportunity / dream job to pursue
-Was not innovative enough to succeed at a bad NBA opportunity
-Has brought in some great talent to Nebraska the last two years, and I think his teams will be better in the future as a result (in particular when both McGowens are on the court)
-Has struggled to win in a very tough conference and his teams seem to lack the toughness and grit necessary to win when you don't have as good of talent as your opponents
-Is seeing that NE will be a hard place to sustainably win
-Would find it harder to replicate his past success at ISU than it was to create it in the first place
-Is a good enough x's and o's coach and recruiter that he could be very successful a second time around at ISU, but it likely would require two key things:
(1) Consistently getting elite talent to ISU (doing it pretty well at NE, and I think it'll be even easier at ISU if he treats this more like his end game rather than another stepping stone); and
(2) Hiring a defensive/rebounding minded / disciplinarian top assistant to be the bad cop so he can remain the good cop to the players (not sure if he'd do this).


The good far outweighs the bad (by a lot), and the bad is uh......leaving ISU for the Chicago Bulls? I love Hoiberg, but I'm also skeptical of him returning. I would be excited if he were to return, but I don't know if he could recreate the success he had previously.

It's funny that Hoiboys like myself are being told that we need to move on....but we're not the ones that hold it against Hoiberg that he left for Chicago. A lot of fans need a history lesson.
 
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Hayes30

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Right, but people are still arguing about things from 6 or 7 years ago. Minds aren't going to be changed.

The end of the season can't get here soon enough.
I changed my mind in the middle of the season.
 

Die4Cy

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Jan 2, 2010
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The good far outweighs the bad (by a lot), and the bad is uh......leaving ISU for the Chicago Bulls? I love Hoiberg, but I'm also skeptical of him returning. I would be excited if he were to return, but I don't know if he could recreate the success he had previously.

It's funny that Hoiboys like myself are being told that we need to move on....but we're not the ones that hold it against Hoiberg that he left for Chicago. A lot of fans need a history lesson.

I so far have only seen a couple you could say hold it against Fred for leaving. Most just recognize that it means he isn't coming back as anything but an alum and personally I don't understand why his time here can't be discussed in that context.
 
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Drew0311

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I always wonder what would have happened if we retained Nick Nurse as the head coach. Would he have stuck around if successful or would he jump to the NBA as well. Btw I was against hiring him as head coach. Boy was I wrong
 
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Bigman38

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(ignoring the ridiculous amount of butt hurt a lot of you have)

He was the right coach at the right time for ISU but I'm incredibly skeptical of his chances to resurrect the program for the 2nd time in 2021. He'd be an instant upgrade over Prohm obviously but ISU chasing Hoiberg would be like you chasing your high school crush.
 
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