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re: Texas Aggy Basketball - 2013/2014 edition
Posted on 4/12/14 at 10:20 am to Zaphod Beeblebrox
Posted on 4/12/14 at 10:20 am to Zaphod Beeblebrox
Clearly we have very differing views on average
and as point of fact, you have done nothing but again listed the faults of Billy Kennedy rather than point to any merit of Glenn Cyprien. There are literally billions of people that aren't Billy Kennedy. We can't employ them all.
and as point of fact, you have done nothing but again listed the faults of Billy Kennedy rather than point to any merit of Glenn Cyprien. There are literally billions of people that aren't Billy Kennedy. We can't employ them all.
This post was edited on 4/12/14 at 10:33 am
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Posted on 4/12/14 at 1:31 pm to tmc94
LINK
quote:
Aggies coach Billy Kennedy said this afternoon, “I evaluate my program every year and I’ve decided to make some changes within my staff. It’s currently an ongoing process. Nobody has forced me to do anything, but I’ve done what I thought would give this program the best chance at success.”
Posted on 4/12/14 at 2:12 pm to tmc94
Posted on 4/12/14 at 2:14 pm to Dr RC
And we picked up a 1 guard today
Posted on 4/12/14 at 2:44 pm to Zaphod Beeblebrox
He was essentially a travel agent selling people tickets on the Titanic while it was sinking. That's a pretty amazing feat. That none of them were first-class isn't something I can hold against him. I'm astonished anyone will sign up to play for Kennedy at all, so if Cyp was able to get even mediocre players, that's miraculous. I'd rather play at SFA than A&M. They're a tournament team, whereas we have a moribund program and coach, LITERALLY.
Posted on 4/12/14 at 3:23 pm to Dr RC
quote:
Tonny Trocha
Posted on 4/12/14 at 7:15 pm to Zaphod Beeblebrox
quote:
I'm not hating on the guy. I agree he's had a tough job. But tough or no, he hasn't done anything. Everyone wants to crown him yet can't point to a single accomplishment in 3 fricking years.
Based on what y'all have posted, it seems his best (and only) accomplishment during that 3 years is not being Billy Kennedy. I just fail to see that as any kind of loss.
I think he was involved with recruiting Fabyon (good player until he completely fricked up his shot), Robinson, Jamal Jones, Trocha, and Peyton Allen. In addition, he's gotten a lot of big name kids to at least visit (which, even though we never had a real shot at them, at least legitimizes us a real program... to some extent, anyway).
Again, Cyp didn't kill it, but he's held his own and brought in a mix of 3 & 4 star players and attracted attention from some of the elite blue chippers. Let's put it another way: if we had fired Kennedy and brought in a decent coach, our roster is good enough that it would give this hypothetical coach a legit shot at making the NCAA tournament. That's mostly due to Cyprian.
Considering the absolutely awful hand he was dealt (i.e. working under a buck-passing, objectively awful Xs & Os coach who has the personality of a piece of plywood to go along with a severe neurological disease), that's actually a pretty good job. Believe me, it can get a lot worse and if Hyman turns out to be the Aggie basketball Manchurian Candidate and gives Kennedy a 5th year, we are going to see it get a lot worse. Say goodbye to 3 & 4* recruits and say hello to 0 & 2* recruits.
That's why we should have fired his sorry arse. We actually have a solid roster, which would give the new guy a chance at success from day 1 and a chance to make a big splash. Instead, not content with merely driving our program into a ditch, it looks like Kennedy is going to hop out and pour gasoline on it and light the mother fricker on fire. So, the next coach will have to sell recruits on potential, and he gets to do so with the state of Texas being more competitive in bball than any other time in its history. Thanks Hyman you frick stain.
This post was edited on 4/12/14 at 7:25 pm
Posted on 4/13/14 at 12:33 am to Ash'sProstheticHand
quote:
Let's put it another way: if we had fired Kennedy and brought in a decent coach, our roster is good enough that it would give this hypothetical coach a legit shot at making the NCAA tournament.
I firmly believe this.
Posted on 4/13/14 at 1:42 am to betweenthebara
I think we make the NCAA tournament next year.
Posted on 4/13/14 at 2:29 am to Ash'sProstheticHand
dude, you're just flailing now 
Kennedy actually recruited Allen so you can scratch that one. He even publicly stated he wouldn't sign if BK is fired. So Robinson is the only one of those guys that is remotely a coup.
I won't go thru all of them but Fabyon is a really good example. He was a JUCO that had exactly 2 scholarship offers - A&M and UAB. Maybe you could say there are some good talent evaluations but they were also mixed in with Andrew Young, Tavario Miller, and Dylan Johns.
Coaching means a lot and so if you bring in a really good coach, I won't rule anything out, but you'd have to not be paying attention to think we have an NCAA roster.
Jordan Green is the 2nd highest ranked recruit on our roster. Only Caruso was ranked higher out of HS (Robinson will add a 2nd). And Green didn't have a single major conference offer besides us.
Avery Johnson will be about our 4th highest rated player out of HS on our 11-man squad next year. So despite being responsible for 3 of our last 4 classes, a guy that predates Cyprien (Green) and a guy that post-dates him (Johnson) will be in our top 4 along with a guy he really didn't recruit (Caruso) and Robinson. That's just how shitty our recruiting has been.
quote:
I think he was involved with recruiting Fabyon (good player until he completely fricked up his shot), Robinson, Jamal Jones, Trocha, and Peyton Allen.
Kennedy actually recruited Allen so you can scratch that one. He even publicly stated he wouldn't sign if BK is fired. So Robinson is the only one of those guys that is remotely a coup.
I won't go thru all of them but Fabyon is a really good example. He was a JUCO that had exactly 2 scholarship offers - A&M and UAB. Maybe you could say there are some good talent evaluations but they were also mixed in with Andrew Young, Tavario Miller, and Dylan Johns.
quote:
our roster is good enough that it would give this hypothetical coach a legit shot at making the NCAA tournament.
Coaching means a lot and so if you bring in a really good coach, I won't rule anything out, but you'd have to not be paying attention to think we have an NCAA roster.
Jordan Green is the 2nd highest ranked recruit on our roster. Only Caruso was ranked higher out of HS (Robinson will add a 2nd). And Green didn't have a single major conference offer besides us.
quote:
Say goodbye to 3 & 4* recruits and say hello to 0 & 2* recruits.
Avery Johnson will be about our 4th highest rated player out of HS on our 11-man squad next year. So despite being responsible for 3 of our last 4 classes, a guy that predates Cyprien (Green) and a guy that post-dates him (Johnson) will be in our top 4 along with a guy he really didn't recruit (Caruso) and Robinson. That's just how shitty our recruiting has been.
Posted on 4/13/14 at 2:35 am to Nguyening
quote:
I think we make the NCAA tournament next year.
We couldn't even have a winning record overall with Elston Turner, David Loubeau, and Khris Middleton. One constant hasn't changed between then and now.
Posted on 4/13/14 at 2:44 am to tmc94
tmc, you have absolutely no basis to defend Kennedy on this.
R.C. Slocum did this same shite after the 1996 season (fired all his coordinators). Fortunately for him, he had Dat Nguyen's class to grossly overachieve in 1997 and 1998 to cover his arse. When he did it again in 2002 (fired Babers and promoted Sumlin) it wasn't enough to save him, as Groff was no longer there to protect him.
Unless Eric Hyman is Billy Kennedy's Wally Groff, you're seeing the death throes of a failed regime.
Fact: Billy Kennedy NEVER takes blame for poor performance. He always throws players under the bus publicly.
Fact: Billy Kennedy's CAREER win pct is .543.
Fact: Billy Kennedy is 1 game over .500 against one of the weakest 3-year schedules in college basketball history.
Fact: Billy Kennedy is .352 in conference (even if you take out the 2011 season, he's 15-21 in SEC play, a .417 win pct)
R.C. Slocum did this same shite after the 1996 season (fired all his coordinators). Fortunately for him, he had Dat Nguyen's class to grossly overachieve in 1997 and 1998 to cover his arse. When he did it again in 2002 (fired Babers and promoted Sumlin) it wasn't enough to save him, as Groff was no longer there to protect him.
Unless Eric Hyman is Billy Kennedy's Wally Groff, you're seeing the death throes of a failed regime.
Fact: Billy Kennedy NEVER takes blame for poor performance. He always throws players under the bus publicly.
Fact: Billy Kennedy's CAREER win pct is .543.
Fact: Billy Kennedy is 1 game over .500 against one of the weakest 3-year schedules in college basketball history.
Fact: Billy Kennedy is .352 in conference (even if you take out the 2011 season, he's 15-21 in SEC play, a .417 win pct)
This post was edited on 4/13/14 at 2:48 am
Posted on 4/13/14 at 9:33 am to CGSC Lobotomy
quote:
tmc, you have absolutely no basis to defend Kennedy on this.
who said I"m defending Kennedy? Straw man much?
No matter how much y'all keep bringing it about, this discussion isn't about Kennedy. It's about Cyprien. And the way y'all talk, the only good quality Cyprien has is he's not Billy Kennedy. That's not enough to justify employment much less make this any sort of big deal.
This post was edited on 4/13/14 at 9:37 am
Posted on 4/13/14 at 11:15 am to tmc94
Cyprien was popular for the same reason backup QB's across America are popular, lots of fans with little understanding of whats going on.
Posted on 4/13/14 at 11:27 am to tmc94
Cyprien has turned down more lucrative jobs because of his loyalty to Kennedy. Kennedy then fired him to save his own arse.
Posted on 4/13/14 at 1:04 pm to CGSC Lobotomy
quote:
Kennedy then fired him to save his own arse.
Maybe part of the reason these teams haven't made the tourney is b/c it needs better assistants?
Maybe BK was being too loyal to a guy that was mostly smoke and mirrors. Maybe they had a falling out. Maybe Cyp was undermining BK. Maybe he had gotten lazy. Maybe he got handsy with a female student/employee in some way. Maybe he had some sort of personal demons that were interfering with his work in some way.
Or maybe it's as simple as BK decided that what they were doing wasn't working so a change was needed. Too bad so sad.
It isn't like we just lost some billy bad arse coach that wrecks shite on the recruiting trail or is a master of basketball tactics. If Cyp was so great this team would be better than it is. Pure and simple.
I really don't even see what it matters since you all are so sure BK is getting canned after next year anyway.
This post was edited on 4/13/14 at 1:57 pm
Posted on 4/14/14 at 3:04 am to tmc94
1) I seriously, seriously doubt Cyp had nothing to do with Allen's recruitment. Cyp was basically our head recruiter.
2) Nothing wrong with Tavario; he did fine for a true fish. Way too early to call him a bust.
3) Cyp was probably in on Fitzgerald too, who was a 3 star with a couple decent offers.
4) A&M wasn't Cyp's first rodeo. His credentials as a hot shot recruiter were extremely well established when he showed up at A&M. That's really not arguable; he killed it at several other schools.
So I guess if you want to look at A&M and say "Uhm where are all the bluechips? Cyp was supposed to bring bluechips!" I can't stop you. But again, he was paired with Kennedy, a crappy coach from a 1-bid league who had exactly 2 NCAA Tournament appearances and 1 NCAA win on his resume from the 13 years prior to his arrival at A&M. Throw in that Kennedy was immediately diagnosed with freaking Parkinson's and you'd be insane not to admit that this was the toughest recruiting gig Cyp had ever taken on.
I don't know what the hell happened or why Cyprian was fired or how much it's going to matter. That said, I do know that Kennedy has a well-established track record of shirking all responsibility for the failures of the team and instead throwing other people under the bus (that Cessna interview was laughably bad. He sounded like a presidential candidate who says that he still has a chance when he's down 100 electoral votes and his opponent needs 4 more to clinch it). Plus, Kennedy has also proven many times that he has no idea WTF he's doing. So, when he fires the guy that everybody feels is the most competent member of our coaching staff, I'm inclined to think that this wasn't a great firing. But again, I'm biased because I so strongly believe that Kennedy's a moron that I'm almost past redemption.
2) Nothing wrong with Tavario; he did fine for a true fish. Way too early to call him a bust.
3) Cyp was probably in on Fitzgerald too, who was a 3 star with a couple decent offers.
4) A&M wasn't Cyp's first rodeo. His credentials as a hot shot recruiter were extremely well established when he showed up at A&M. That's really not arguable; he killed it at several other schools.
So I guess if you want to look at A&M and say "Uhm where are all the bluechips? Cyp was supposed to bring bluechips!" I can't stop you. But again, he was paired with Kennedy, a crappy coach from a 1-bid league who had exactly 2 NCAA Tournament appearances and 1 NCAA win on his resume from the 13 years prior to his arrival at A&M. Throw in that Kennedy was immediately diagnosed with freaking Parkinson's and you'd be insane not to admit that this was the toughest recruiting gig Cyp had ever taken on.
I don't know what the hell happened or why Cyprian was fired or how much it's going to matter. That said, I do know that Kennedy has a well-established track record of shirking all responsibility for the failures of the team and instead throwing other people under the bus (that Cessna interview was laughably bad. He sounded like a presidential candidate who says that he still has a chance when he's down 100 electoral votes and his opponent needs 4 more to clinch it). Plus, Kennedy has also proven many times that he has no idea WTF he's doing. So, when he fires the guy that everybody feels is the most competent member of our coaching staff, I'm inclined to think that this wasn't a great firing. But again, I'm biased because I so strongly believe that Kennedy's a moron that I'm almost past redemption.
Posted on 4/14/14 at 8:00 am to Dr RC
quote:
I really don't even see what it matters since you all are so sure BK is getting canned after next year anyway.
I am not. Our AD has shown that we lack standards for our program. I don't know why a NIT or another pay-for tournament won't be seen as progress under the current regime.
The only way I will feel confident we will fire BK next year is if we have a disappointing year in football, as we obviously lack the resources/leadership to be good at both at the same time.
The point on Cy is fairly made- even if I think he did do well given the circumstances that doesn't matter. The circumstances were shite and are not getting better, and Cy would have been canned with BK anyway if we got all we want.
The only hope for Aggie basketball at this point is that our ad is keeping track of every little penny saved by keeping BK another year or two so we can hire the next Pearl that comes along. Because honestly we really need a splash hire to turn this thing around- something that shocks the nation.
If we just followed BK with some mid-major nobody all we do is trade one lottery ticket for another. I personally think A&M basketball is better than a lottery ticket program, but maybe I was fooled by a period where we were a top 25 program for a while.
Posted on 4/14/14 at 2:08 pm to cardboardboxer
All that shite up above me is the truth.
quote:
If we just followed BK with some mid-major nobody all we do is trade one lottery ticket for another. I personally think A&M basketball is better than a lottery ticket program, but maybe I was fooled by a period where we were a top 25 program for a while.
Posted on 4/14/14 at 3:32 pm to tmc94
quote:I'm curious as to which ratings website you are using to reach this conclusion. 247?
Avery Johnson will be about our 4th highest rated player out of HS on our 11-man squad next year.
How is Avery Johnson Jr. so highly rated when Texas A&M was the only Division 1 program to offer him a scholarship?
Also, I'm not sure how you arrive at that figure for our squad next year. By my count, there are 13 scholarship players:
1. Alex Caruso
2. Tavario Miller
3. Jordan Green
4. Kourtney Roberson
5. Davonte Fitzgerald
6. Jamal Jones
7. Antwan Space
8. Jalen Jones
9. Dylan Johns
10. Tonny Trocha
11. Alex Robinson
12. Peyton Allen
13. Avery Johnson Jr.
I am not aware of anyone other than Shawn Smith that intends to transfer.
Roberson was a question mark but I had read that he wanted to play his senior year.
This post was edited on 4/14/14 at 3:36 pm
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