re: Mack Rhoades Quote on Basketball

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1. That's fine. Last year was a sacrificial year in order to change the culture and build that foundation. But how much of that foundation has been built, if any? Moving into year 2, I'm just not seeing where they're going to be any better. So I'm not griping about last year. I'm talking about what makes one think that foundation has been built at all in the first place? Defections (and not from the problem kids) and a questionable at best recruiting class.

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I agree.

I'm not saying what happened last year, or what is going to happen next year is the best thing for the program.

A few different things happen in the final 10 seconds of a handful of games and there's a few big wins last year. Not really relevant, as we know the full body of work was atrocious.

Anyway -- they shouldn't be better next year. I don't know, but I don't think much foundation was able to be built last year. All kinds of back of the house problems. Fuller. Insubordinates. Recruiting restrictions. It was probably more of a clean house year.

The way the hand looks, I doubt if next year will be better. Idk. I think it's a truisms that they're gonna suck next year. It's kind of obvious. I just think we're missing something here in terms of understanding what's going on if we're saying it's a failure because next year will suck. There's a lot of moving parts. There's a lot to consider.

I'm with a lot of you, I'm not sure if kid's today, especially college basketball players, are going to be attracted to the kind of program KA wants to build.

But I think the comment from Mack about building something with foundation has major relevance and it's obviously strongly connected to the agenda KA undertook.

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2. Those foundations don't always last.

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Very true. But they have a lot greater chance of lasting, at least for an small era, than a program built without a sound ground floor.

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ight be a poor example but Vermeil did the same things with the Rams

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Pro sports can be different. It's a different beast.

But I'd look at what the Cardinals have done as an example of building something with a core set of values, with a clear and principled vision for sustained success.

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So if you're looking to build it from the foundation up, wouldn't it be wiser to have hired someone that's not already receiving AARP benefits and might be gone just as soon as he builds that foundation only to have that foundation crumble because of a new coach?

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Maybe so. I think all of us would have liked a great young coach.

This isn't necessarily about defending the KA hire as much as it is about understanding what is goin on.

What happened is probably similar to someone who has a couple bad relationships, as a reaction they revert to something comfortable, somebody they know will love them, be true, and won't leave.

KA was a comforting choice.

We knew he wanted to be here, he wasn't going to use us, and he's the kind of guy that wanted to take on the task of cleaning house to restore the character a program that he loves.

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Who put this team together? Not KA.

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Rosburg - Haith
Clark - Haith
Teki - KA
Gant - KA
Wright - KA
Allen - KA
Isabell - KA
VanLeer - KA
Phillips - KA
Puryear - KA

I'd say that KA has pretty much put his stamp on this team. His guys. He gets to own it from here on out. Hopefully that's a positive thing.

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2 upperclassmen that's scary when you don't have clear NBA types as underclassmen.

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Yepp. I took a shot at guessing minutes for these guys. Didn't post it because I figured it would seem like piling on. End of the day IMO...gonna be an extremely long season. I think I'm just gonna forget we have basketball until after the bowl game. After the bowl game, I'll take a peak and see if they're playing well. If so, I'll tune in for the conference play. If not, I'll tune in to wrestling or women's basketball.