it's not one-to-one, but enough about the two rhymes that I would be extremely skeptical. i would much, much rather have somebody who has coached and succeeded in the right now version of college basketball. i could maybe have made the exception for Stevens because of how he's had incredible success at every job he's held, but Donovan has just been spinning wheels in Chicago for this entire decade.
exactly this level of "smoke" has happened with every high-profile job opening in the sport since Roy retired. athletic departments deluding themselves into thinking theirs is the one that will get Stevens back to college - us in '21, Duke in '22, Kentucky in '24
Yeah. I hear ya for sure. I've just kind of had a longtime annoyance that so many people place so much weight- like, gospel truth type weight- on every word that those supposed #INSIDERS say on an anonymous message board. They've definitely been right often in the past, but they've also been wrong often, as well. And it's understandable- things are always fluid and can change. But almost always those #INSIDERS are getting a very UNC-tinted version of events from sources internal at UNC, and so oftentimes they aren't able to share the whole story since there are always two sides. So it leads to stuff like this, where we probably had a cursory conversation with Brad Stevens, he didn't immediately tell us to pound sand, and then that led people at UNC to believe we had a legit shot, which they then told the #INSIDERS who then started posting on IC that Brad Stevens to UNC might legitimately have legs.
the one thing I have said consistently for 20 years about "insiders": before you consider someone an insider, question their motivation. Most people with real knowledge have too much to lose by speaking freely so anyone dropping hints usually has a clear agenda or are seeking clout.
Never said that. I said they were talking.
It’s not apples to apples of course, considering Donovan has actually coached and won at the highest level in college, but yeah I also get Belichick vibes from that option. We really should just be focusing on guys that have experience building successful college programs under current NIL/transfer rules imo. Don’t overcomplicate it.
Maybe, but people will also say guys like Golden, Oates, and May are in secure little cocoons at schools where basketball will always play second fiddle to the football program so the pressure isn’t nearly as intense as at UNC, UK or KU. If potential coaches want to stay in their comfort zone they aren’t really potential UNC coaches anyway.
I tend to agree with you about preferring someone succeeding in the current version of CBB. I don't hold Donovan's results in Chicago against him too much, though, because it's one of the most poorly managed franchises in the NBA; they have done him zero favors with roster construction.
you're not wrong about the roster construction and management, but i'd also say that it taking 5+ years for Chicago to commit to a rebuild is at least a bit of an indictment on the coach's ability to clearly articulate a vision and path forward, which is part of what sunk Hubert. i'm also fairly put off by his record at OKC - after his first year he never got past the first round.
yep, always hilarious to me when people mention him.
He has built a program in his own image and is having great success. I'm guessing his agent is already in negotiations to extend his contract with a boost in salary and incentives.
Because he's not a coward and thinks he can do it at the school on the planet and the biggest stage?
