Coaching Search 2023 Edition

[ukbro00]

15 hours ago, UBinMD said:

I have from a credible source that this will be done this week.

Which would likely mean McCollum and will be announced today? (One day after campus visit)

[Tee4three]

 

 

[BasketBull]

Love it. Let's get it done and start hitting the transfer market hard.

[ukbro00]

8 minutes ago, BasketBull said:

Love it. Let's get it done and start hitting the transfer market hard.

Let's hit our own portal players first. Hopefully he can get a few to stay. 

[Dabulls]

23 minutes ago, Erie County said:

I did not have a great time with Foster. I hope he can get D1 level players

I’m fairly certain he would be able too. Most head coaches don’t do lead recruiting. They are just the ones who give a sales pitch or act as a closer. He’d need to hire someone with experience for that role. From what I hear he and his staff were incredibly efficient at recruiting at the d2 level. Would sometimes get commits from guys with d1 offers. Now at the mid major level it’s all about playing time, team scheme and the school itself. If you play an attractive style of ball, offer recruits/transfers the ability to showcase their talent and lastly have resources for them to succeed. You can build a pretty strong recruiting class

[MuchMany]

This is exciting. I was team Cohen and still like the idea, but a hungry, intense tactician who has dominated D2 for a decade and a half is just as appealing. McCollum is a program-builder and with an .825 winning percentage, I'm comfortable believing he's just a winner plain and simple.

I think he'd be able to balance putting a competitive team on the floor early while building a foundation for the program and not taking shortcuts. There will always be the worry that three good years means he'll jet to a MVC job or higher, but that's just the game we're playing unfortunately. Let's hope we have that problem.

I don't think anyone ever visited Alumni to crib stuff from JW and co. This would be a 180° in terms of play style and pure coaching chops. 

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by MuchMany
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[trueblue32]

For those concerned about free throw shooting in the past few years you’ll love McCollum’s teams full of shooters. Where his team from last year would have ranked in D1:

FT%: 77.6% 18th/363

3P%: 39.5% 3rd/363

Edited March 23, 2023 by trueblue32

[rma]

14 minutes ago, trueblue32 said:

For those concerned about free throw shooting in the past few years you’ll love McCollum’s teams full of shooters. Where his team from last year would have ranked in D1:

FT%: 77.6% 18th/363

3P%: 39.5% 3rd/363

Where would pace rank or is that beyond the scope of their stats software?

[Tee4three]

59 minutes ago, MuchMany said:

This is exciting. I was team Cohen and still like the idea, but a hungry, intense tactician who has dominated D2 for a decade and a half is just as appealing. McCollum is a program-builder and with an .825 winning percentage, I'm comfortable believing he's just a winner plain and simple.

I think he'd be able to balance putting a competitive team on the floor early while building a foundation for the program and not taking shortcuts. There will always be the worry that three good years means he'll jet to a MVC job or higher, but that's just the game we're playing unfortunately. Let's hope we have that problem.

I don't think anyone ever visited Alumni to crib stuff from JW and co. This would be a 180° in terms of play style and pure coaching chops. 

 

Division 1 coaches were sending their assistants to his practices?

How was this guy still in d2? 

[Tee4three]

2 minutes ago, rma said:

Where would pace rank or is that beyond the scope of their stats software?

Interested in his pace of play as well

Edited March 23, 2023 by Tee4three

[trueblue32]

1 minute ago, Tee4three said:

Division 1 coaches were sending their assistants to his practices?

How was this guy still in d2? 

It seems he played there and did the oats “I’m never leaving” thing for a while but things change

[rma]

4 minutes ago, Tee4three said:

Division 1 coaches were sending their assistants to his practices?

How was this guy still in d2? 

There’s a contingent of UMass fans on Twitter that want(ed) him for their program. We will right the two wrongs of their athletics administration and bring him into the MAC. 

[clodney]

1 minute ago, Tee4three said:

Division 1 coaches were sending their assistants to his practices?

How was this guy still in d2? 

That's sort of my question. If he is this good why hasn't anyone come calling? Or has he turned down offers? 

[trueblue32]

17 minutes ago, rma said:

Where would pace rank or is that beyond the scope of their stats software?

I don’t see it included but you can estimate from box score stats (you need PBP data for an exact answer due to the variance in FTs you can shoot, 3 vs 2 vs 1 depending on the situation). I have them at 61.9 possessions per game which would be tied for 358/363. So, very slow, I don’t know if he’s bound to that though if he can land higher caliber athletes here. Either way I value winning above all else and I will embrace the (lack of) pace if that’s what he brings

Edited March 23, 2023 by trueblue32

[Tee4three]

1 minute ago, clodney said:

That's sort of my question. If he is this good why hasn't anyone come calling? Or has he turned down offers? 

That's a good question, maybe wasn't getting head coaching offers or high enough head coach offers. I can't imagine him not having opportunities 

[rma]

Just now, trueblue32 said:

I don’t see it included but you can estimate from box score stats (you need PBP data due to the variance in FTs you can shoot, 3 vs 2 vs 1 depending on the situation). I have them at 61.9 possessions per game which would be tied for 358/363

My displeasure with this number would be alleviated with winning. Run whatever pace you want if it gets us in the win column. 

[John]

4 minutes ago, clodney said:

That's sort of my question. If he is this good why hasn't anyone come calling? Or has he turned down offers? 

I think I read some information on their college website where D1 colleges came calling and he said he was happy where he was with the culture and winning and was not ready to move yet.His resume certainly has a lot of positive vibes. So whoever we get it should provide an upgrade in energy and enthusiasm.

[Tee4three]

6 minutes ago, trueblue32 said:

I don’t see it included but you can estimate from box score stats (you need PBP data for an exact answer due to the variance in FTs you can shoot, 3 vs 2 vs 1 depending on the situation). I have them at 61.9 possessions per game which would be tied for 358/363

That's a slow pace, but I guess I'd have to watch a game to see what offense he actually runs

Big difference in fast and slow, is it just a methodical offense that looks for the best shot with a lot of ball movement and player movement or is it an offense that just holds the ball, turns down open shots/lanes and just waits ie Virginia or north Texas 

[bullsbball]

Here is highlights from the championship game from last year. No fast break points for NWMSU in the highlights and not a lot of height either:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=K_sTgD6bmvQ&feature=shares

Listen to the announcers about D1 comments.

Edited March 23, 2023 by bullsbball

[BasketBull]

22 minutes ago, rma said:

My displeasure with this number would be alleviated with winning. Run whatever pace you want if it gets us in the win column. 

This. We've seen what good a fast pace is when you don't have the personnel capable of carrying it out for a full 40 minutes or a coaching staff incapable of keeping a team disciplined in that system. By all means if Nate Oats comes walking back through the door let's keep doing it but i've soured on the idea of keeping that the identity regardless of the HC.

[rma]

3 minutes ago, BasketBull said:

This. We've seen what good a fast pace is when you don't have the personnel capable of carrying it out for a full 40 minutes or a coaching staff incapable of keeping a team disciplined in that system. By all means if Nate Oats comes walking back through the door let's keep doing it but i've soured on the idea of keeping that the identity regardless of the HC.

Agreed. I like winning above anything else game-related.

I like a fast pace and would rather lose with it than lose with a slow pace

Fast also gets a slight bump for the “Can you run with the bulls?” phrase

[UBinMD]

16 minutes ago, bullsbball said:

Here is highlights from the championship game from last year. No fast break points for NWMSU in the highlights and not a lot of height either:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=K_sTgD6bmvQ&feature=shares

Listen to the announcers about D1 comments.

I would be good with that, maybe not a lot of fast breaks, but the ball movement was good and it didn't feel like they were bleeding the clock to under 10 every possession either.

[Jeseph]

Didn't somebody share a snippet that he played a slower, defensive-minded pace because that's what was possible with DII athleticism?

I agree that winning is all that matters to me regarding style of play but felt it was worth bringing that up again...

[C1ubP1fanaticM7]

Ultimately, there seems to be very little correlation between tempo and winning.

7 out of 16 teams remaining in the tourney are at the bottom half of tempo nationally. While offensive efficiency, something McCollum’s teams excelled at, is highly correlated. 

I’d definitely enjoy watching uptempo teams but as others stated above, I’d prefer to win above all else.

[MuchMany]

24 minutes ago, trueblue32 said:

I don’t see it included but you can estimate from box score stats (you need PBP data for an exact answer due to the variance in FTs you can shoot, 3 vs 2 vs 1 depending on the situation). I have them at 61.9 possessions per game which would be tied for 358/363. So, very slow, I don’t know if he’s bound to that though if he can land higher caliber athletes here. Either way I value winning above all else and I will embrace the (lack of) pace if that’s what he brings

14 minutes ago, Tee4three said:

That's a slow pace, but I guess I'd have to watch a game to see what offense he actually runs

Big difference in fast and slow, is it just a methodical offense that looks for the best shot with a lot of ball movement and player movement or is it an offense that just holds the ball, turns down open shots/lanes and just waits ie Virginia or north Texas 

The podcasts linked to yesterday were an good dive into his philosophy. Some inside baseball bullet points from it:

• One of the slowest paces in D2. His logic being when they play the best teams fast break points aren't as available and bailing out the D with wasted possessions is a great way to lose. Style built to beat the best teams.
• A lot of the pace stems from their elite defense making the opponent use a lot of clock to get a shot.
• Efficient motion offense. Wants to play fast, but in the half-court. Incorporates the Jay Wright-style drive-and-stop philosophy.  Wants to get the D in rotation. Shot selection is imperative. "Layups/dunks, free throws, or paint touch 3s." Matchup hunting. Cutting creates space, 5-out doesn't. Pick and pop more than pick and roll, ghost screens, varied screen angles. All based on individual reads. Randomness is hard to scout. Concepts/understandings more than a "playbook." "Anything on offense, the defense will tell you what to do"
• Not an analytics person "unless I'm trying to prove a point" 😂
• Practice is a lot of 5v5, competitive. Finishing at the rim is one of the few individual skills they work on regularly.
• Player development focuses on a player embracing his natural strengths. Wants his guys to be "great at more, good at less."
• He says these strategies are responses to roster constraints, practice time, and opponent quality/style. So I imagine he'd be adaptable once he gets D1 talent.