The end of Greg's contract will speak volumes about Pollard...

[Al_4_State]

It is obvious at this point that Greg McDermott is not going to be succesful as the ISU coach. There is a 10% chance I'm wrong about this, but in 3 years there has been no improvement at all. I'm not being a negative nancy or debbie downer, I'm just being onjective. There is nothing wrong with the blind optimists around here that still think the program is going in the right because we need the blind optimists out there.

That said, if you think the Greg is the answer, you need to realize that you are being blindly optimistic (as I said there is nothing wrong with that, and I respect it, just be honest about what you're doing). There is no improvement, this team CONTINUES to blow games. There isn't an ounce of clutch out there. I know JP isn't going to fire Greg, because we can't afford it financially, but unless a miracle happens down the stretch this year, or next year, I don't think he can afford to renew his contract. Assuming this year continues like it has gone, we will miss the NCAA for the 4th straight season. I'm not sure, but I think thats the longest ISU has gone without a tourney appearance in my lifetime (born in 1985). It seems highly unlikely we will go next season, and every terrible, awful, crappy loss will likely push HB farther and farther from considering being a Cyclone.

I think JP has made some brilliant moves on paper that unpredictably blew up in his face, but at the same time I'm worried that his pride might override what is best for ISU. If he extends Greg's contract, then it proves my worst fears. If he lets him go, then it shows he can learn from his mistakes. I don't intend this as a meltdown thread, just an observation about where this ship is sailing to...

 

[keepngoal]

paragraphs would help volumes.

 

[keepngoal]

It is obvious at this point that Greg McDermott is not going to be succesful as the ISU coach. There is a 10% chance I'm wrong about this, but in 3 years there has been no improvement at all. I think you are wrong, Craig is much better, Adam is much better... I like the recruits that are coming in.

I'm not being a negative nancy or debbie downer, I'm just being onjective. There is nothing wrong with the blind optimists around here that still think the program is going in the right because we need the blind optimists out there. That said, if you think the Greg is the answer, you need to realize that you are being blindly optimistic (as I said there is nothing wrong with that, and I respect it, just be honest about what you're doing). I am not blind as I am upset, disappointed and embarressed for this team. I have said it again and again, Coach needs a break, mainly from someone on the team to make a shot or play.

There is no improvement, this team CONTINUES to blow games. I think we have talent on the court to win games and make it to the NIT. But I am seeing weak minded players on the court. Even from WJ bolting on us, to Craig looking down at the start to DG now. I don't think we have a mentally tough team on the court.


There isn't an ounce of clutch out there. I know JP isn't going to fire Greg, because we can't afford it financially, but unless a miracle happens down the stretch this year, or next year, I don't think he can afford to renew his contract. Assuming this year continues like it has gone, we will miss the NCAA for the 4th straight season. I'm not sure, but I think thats the longest ISU has gone without a tourney appearance in my lifetime (born in 1985). It seems highly unlikely we will go next season, and every terrible, awful, crappy loss will likely push HB farther and farther from considering being a Cyclone.

I think JP has made some brilliant moves on paper that unpredictably blew up in his face, but at the same time I'm worried that his pride might override what is best for ISU.

If he extends Greg's contract, then it proves my worst fears. If he lets him go, then it shows he can learn from his mistakes. I don't intend this as a meltdown thread, just an observation about where this ship is sailing to...

I think JP extends it next year.. not this year. And rightfully so.

 

[jtdoyle1]

Here's a fun drinking game anytime someone writes any form of the word blind or optimist take a shot. Believe me it helps.

Has everyone forgotten of the attrition that happened when Morgan was fired. I believe pretty much everyone everyone left except for R. Clark. That in itself takes years to recover from.

Then, whether it can be blamed on MCD or not, we've lost our top players Taylor and W. Johnson the last couple years. Plus throw in the players who only stayed a short time for odd reasons and the whole Lucca thing last year.

There has been a string of really bad luck that can not all be attributed to McD. We have a young team with basicly all freshman and sophmores. If they stick around this team is going to be good. The losing gets old but with the way the Moragn thing went down it was liking being under NCAA Sanctions. It takes time to recover.

I guess I'm just a "BLIND OPTIMIST" (2 shots for everyone)

 

[Wesley]

JP might want to put the greg on incentives for winning contract extension: $300k base salary and $20k for every win.

 

[BryceC]

This has been said many times but Greg will get at least through next year. We're not firing him after three even if we lose every game the rest of the way. There are two things I think could save Greg's job after next season - make the NCAA tournament or sign Harrison Barnes. Obviously we'd love to have both. If neither happen I will be the first calling for his head but I think he at least deserves next year.

 

[iowast8fan]

I was not a excited about the McDermott hire, however, I am a supporter of ISU athletics. When he was announced, I was worried about recruiting. He has gotten a few nice recruits, and some good ones coming, so I was wrong. I would like to see them develop faster, but I also realize we are starting 1 freshman and 3 sophomores, and we don't have the 5-star talent that a team like Kansas has. So, freshmen and sophomores are still underclassmen.

Tell me I am making excuses all you want. I don't care. As long as McDermott is the coach of ISU basketball, I will support him. I don't get paid to make the decisions, but I do pay money to watch the team play. No matter who the coach is or how bad the team is, I will continue to buy season tickets to MBB at ISU.

So, whether I am a blind optimist as you put it or just a very loyal fan, it doesn't matter. This is still my team, my coach, my university.

 

[Al_4_State]

Here's a fun drinking game anytime someone writes any form of the word blind or optimist take a shot. Believe me it helps.

Has everyone forgotten of the attrition that happened when Morgan was fired I believe pretty much everyone everyone left except for R. Clark. That in itself takes years to recover from.

Then, whether it can be blamed, on MCD or not we've lost our top players Taylor and W. Johnson the last couple years. Plus throw in the players who only stayed a short time for odd reasons and the whole Lucca thing last year.

There has been a string of really bad luck that can not all be attributed to McD. We have a young team with basicly all freshman and sophmores. If they stick around this team is going to be good. The losing gets old but with the way the Moragn thing went down it was liking being under NCAA Sanctions. It takes time to recover.

I'm not calling for Morgan back by any means. Just saying that if Jamie renews Greg's contract, it sure better be because he pulled off some kind of miracle next year. There has been NO IMPROVEMENT WHATSOEVER IN 3 YEARS. Give all the excuses you want, but that comes back to McD. Period. He is turning out to be a mistake, and it will tell alot about Pollard if he learns from it and moves on (unless a miracle happens, which I'm not ruling out).

 

[CycloneErik]

Here's a fun drinking game anytime someone writes any form of the word blind or optimist take a shot. Believe me it helps.

Has everyone forgotten of the attrition that happened when Morgan was fired. I believe pretty much everyone everyone left except for R. Clark. That in itself takes years to recover from.

Then, whether it can be blamed, on MCD or not we've lost our top players Taylor and W. Johnson the last couple years. Plus throw in the players who only stayed a short time for odd reasons and the whole Lucca thing last year.

There has been a string of really bad luck that can not all be attributed to McD. We have a young team with basicly all freshman and sophmores. If they stick around this team is going to be good. The losing gets old but with the way the Moragn thing went down it was liking being under NCAA Sanctions. It takes time to recover.

I guess I'm just a "BLIND OPTIMIST" (2 shots for everyone)

That's right. He's trying to rebuild from a virtual death penalty. It's gonna be OK, just not today. This was a rough one.

I do see a lot of guys without much mental toughness. I work with a lot of people that age, and I see it there, too. It's been that way for years, now. (I know. I sound old.) Young people have to develop mental toughness the same way everything else has to develop. In the case of our team, it's a lot of young guys learning this together. That makes things tough.

They probably need some adversity to have a chance to develop that toughness. You would think they've had enough opportunity by now with everything that's happened, but somehow it isn't enough yet.

One thing that's left out is that McD has had an NBA-level player here each year. It just hasn't been a point guard. When the point guard struggles, the team will struggle. That's probably the best explanation of where we are right now.

 

[Al_4_State]

I was not a excited about the McDermott hire, however, I am a supporter of ISU athletics. When he was announced, I was worried about recruiting. He has gotten a few nice recruits, and some good ones coming, so I was wrong. I would like to see them develop faster, but I also realize we are starting 1 freshman and 3 sophomores, and we don't have the 5-star talent that a team like Kansas has. So, freshmen and sophomores are still underclassmen.

Tell me I am making excuses all you want. I don't care. As long as McDermott is the coach of ISU basketball, I will support him. I don't get paid to make the decisions, but I do pay money to watch the team play. No matter who the coach is or how bad the team is, I will continue to buy season tickets to MBB at ISU.

So, I whether I am a blind optimist as you put it or just a very loyal fan, it doesn't matter. This is still my team, my coach, my university.

Ahh, the old "I'm a better fan than you because I'm not objective" line. Love it. I'm still an ISU fan too, and always will be no matter how much they suck (and we suck right now). I'm no less of a fan because I don't think the current coach is going in the right direction or doing a good job.

 

[CycloneYoda]

I don't intend this as a meltdown thread, just an observation about where this ship is sailing to...
-----------------------------

I'm on a different boat.

 

[jtdoyle1]

I'm not calling for Morgan back by any means. Just saying that if Jamie renews Greg's contract, it sure better be because he pulled off some kind of miracle next year. There has been NO IMPROVEMENT WHATSOEVER IN 3 YEARS. Give all the excuses you want, but that comes back to McD. Period. He is turning out to be a mistake, and it will tell alot about Pollard if he learns from it and moves on (unless a miracle happens, which I'm not ruling out).

You can't blame McD for everyone leaving when Morgan was fired- he was a victim of circumstance. You can't fully blame McD for Taylor being kicked of the team for doing stupid stuff.

How can players show improvement over 3 years when very few of them have been around that long. They are mainly first and second year players?

 

[Al_4_State]

You can't blame McD for everyone leaving when Morgan was fired- he was a victim of circumstance. You can't fully blame McD for Taylor being kicked of the team for doing stupid stuff.

How can players show improvement over 3 years when very few of them have been around that long. They are mainly first and second year players?

It's NCAA basketball. There are ALOT of teams just as inexperienced as us that are doing better than we are. You can't blame him for Morgan's players leaving, but he's had plenty of his own players leave as well. The original point of this thread was that if things don't dramatically change in the next 1.5 years, that Jamie doesn't sink the ship further out of pride.

 

[goclonz80]

It is obvious at this point that Greg McDermott is not going to be succesful as the ISU coach. There is a 10% chance I'm wrong about this, but in 3 years there has been no improvement at all. I'm not being a negative nancy or debbie downer, I'm just being onjective. There is nothing wrong with the blind optimists around here that still think the program is going in the right because we need the blind optimists out there.

That said, if you think the Greg is the answer, you need to realize that you are being blindly optimistic (as I said there is nothing wrong with that, and I respect it, just be honest about what you're doing). There is no improvement, this team CONTINUES to blow games. There isn't an ounce of clutch out there. I know JP isn't going to fire Greg, because we can't afford it financially, but unless a miracle happens down the stretch this year, or next year, I don't think he can afford to renew his contract. Assuming this year continues like it has gone, we will miss the NCAA for the 4th straight season. I'm not sure, but I think thats the longest ISU has gone without a tourney appearance in my lifetime (born in 1985). It seems highly unlikely we will go next season, and every terrible, awful, crappy loss will likely push HB farther and farther from considering being a Cyclone.

I think JP has made some brilliant moves on paper that unpredictably blew up in his face, but at the same time I'm worried that his pride might override what is best for ISU. If he extends Greg's contract, then it proves my worst fears. If he lets him go, then it shows he can learn from his mistakes. I don't intend this as a meltdown thread, just an observation about where this ship is sailing to...

I dont feel like some of us are blind optimists... This was posted by DMCYFAN over in the What do you do thread... It is exactly how I feel about our team right now. Here it is.

"This is exactly right!!! We weren't a very good team the year before tinsley with Fizer as a talented Soph. but Tinsley came and made everyone else about 10x better (nurse, stevie johnson, fizer, etc.)...

I'm not expecting Colvin or anyone to come in and be Tinsley right away but I think we're really a lot closer than we think. We just don't have any difference makers on the perimeter right now. It's not like all of our guys are horrible players who should never see minutes but I think we need a difference maker gaurd for everyone else's role to get a lot easier!!!

I still support GMAC and think he is the right guy for the job...

With the trainwreck he took over and all the misfortune he's had I'm willing to give him his full 5 year contract time before I start to give up on the job he's doing.

I just see so many positive signs for the future (player improvement is great, we appear to be well aligned in future recruiting, our guys have a ton of class and aren't getting into trouble, and we appear to be more of a "team" than we have for a long time)
GO CYCLONES!!! "
-DMCYFAN

 

[Clonehomer]

Wow, the people complaining about no improvements need to go back and watch some games from last year. Look at where Craig, Diante, and Charles B have come. Add in Hamilton's improvement throughout the year and this team is head and shoulders above where they were supposed to be after Wes left. Granted this team is struggling right now but how many teams do you see winning with no contributions from upperclassmen? Keep supporting this team and we should be in post season play next year.

 

[jtdoyle1]

It's NCAA basketball. There are ALOT of teams just as inexperienced as us that are doing better than we are. You can't blame him for Morgan's players leaving, but he's had plenty of his own players leave as well. The original point of this thread was that if things don't dramatically change in the next 1.5 years, that Jamie doesn't sink the ship further out of pride.

I agree I would like to see this team show more improvement and be more competitive and if that doesn't happen and they still are a bad team at the end of next year the coaching seat will be very hot. A lot will have to do with if Brackins stays and how the players coming contribute.

 

[cybsball20]

You can't blame McD for everyone leaving when Morgan was fired- he was a victim of circumstance. You can't fully blame McD for Taylor being kicked of the team for doing stupid stuff.

How can you not blame McDermott a little? Most of the time, when a new coach comes in, his first job is to totally re recruit the existing players. McDermott never left Ames to visit families and made little to no effort to retain any of the players despite every one of them (except Stinson) saying they would give them a chance....

How many times has ISU ever kicked their best player off the team???

Back to the original topic, the biggest mistake Pollard ever made was not returning a call to Lon Kruger's agent...

 

[CloneIce]

Mcdermott's problem is he hasn't recruited any Big 12 caliber guards since Mike Taylor and Dodie Dunson. Even with a dominant big man, we cannot win in the Big 12 without our guard play improving significantly.

Basketball is not football, you can turn a team around pretty quickly. But you can't do it without at least adequate point guard play.

 

[BryceC]

Add in Hamilton's improvement throughout the year and this team is head and shoulders above where they were supposed to be after Wes left.

Really? I was abused in the offseason for being a pessimist and I didn't think it would be anywhere close to this bad.

 

[Wesley]

You can't blame McD for everyone leaving when Morgan was fired- he was a victim of circumstance. You can't fully blame McD for Taylor being kicked of the team for doing stupid stuff.

How can players show improvement over 3 years when very few of them have been around that long. They are mainly first and second year players?

Who would we blame? The fans?