The bar is low and just being competent would be an improvement.

Should be doable if the guy is worth a shit.
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So may I ask why Cleveland State, a local Cleveland school - couldn't get dick with these guys on staff?

I mean I get not bringing in top 100 guys to Cleveland State and the Horizon league, but if this guy has strong ties in the local area and that would presumably apply to Ohio writ large, what's the deal with that roster 3 years after he came on board?

That's not a great sign. It's a whole lot of the same stuff we heard about Cuonzo at Cal. All we got when that hire was made - and I mean ALL we got - were justifications as to why he failed. We got plenty of reasons why he couldn't succeed there but man, we got very little tangible evidence indicating that he COULD succeed somewhere else.

It's just a lot of the same things I heard w/ the Martin hire, that's all.
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To be fair Cal should be much easier to recruit at than Cleveland St.

The best recruit ever at Cleveland St according to 247 is a 3 star ranked 194. Green recruited the 2nd best recruit at Cleveland St.

Cal has had 4 5 star recruits.

The pedigree of schools is completely different and he had no chance at getting anyone. Martin had plenty of opportunity to get good classes at Cal.
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Blue hair's gonna blue hair, man...

“Things come full circle. I listened. And those conversations that I had with Norm Stewart were definitely, definitely brought back up in my spirit and my heart when I spoke with our leadership."

— Power Mizzou (@PowerMizzoucom) March 22, 2022

So sick of this shit with these guys trying to recapture the 'good ol days' of Norm Stewart.
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Mizzou insider was on the radio the other day and thinks this ruins any chance of ever hiring Kim English.

Basically, this guy will get 3 years. By then, English will have either sucked and not be considered. Or he will excel and get a better job than Mizzou.

He thought that they should’ve hired English if they believe he’ll be a great coach someday. They shouldn’t wait for him to be “ready” and a more “defensible” hire. If you want him someday, hire him now.

Thought that was an interesting take.
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Are you saying you consider Gates' time at Cleveland State a failure?

They were absolute garbage in that league when he took over. He was hired in the middle of July, so his first season was a total wash/non-starter.

Since he had a chance to change the roster, he has won that league 2x, made an NCAA tournament, and gone 39-19(31-11). He took them to their third NCAA tournament (first in 12 years) and is the coach of 33% of their conference titles in their 50-year basketball history. The program was, on average, 12-21 in the five years leading up to his hire.

I'd be hard-pressed to call that anything but a rousing success.

He made over a bad roster with transfers and JUCOs, once he got a chance. And of the 9 guys who saw double-digit minutes for him this year, 5 are from Ohio, including the second-leading scorer Torey Patton. Considering he has won/dominated that league since he got his own guys in there, I'd say he's recruiting really succcessfully for the level he is at.

Looks to me like he worked the local angles for talent, as well as any available avenue. He would be working JUCOs/transfer market again this year for kids if he was staying, though it does look like he had a Cleveland kid (PG) committed, too.
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Hey, as long as this guy can beat UMKC.... we're golden!
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His brother Armon is a terrific assistant coach if you get him you'll have a solid staff
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I mean it's better than getting your ass kicked in the Horizon league, I guess. But I mean that's not a heck of a lot higher level play than DII.

And the Kenpom figures sure look like a guy who loaded his schedule with rummies to pad the record while he was trying to get a team put together.

Again - it's not to say that he can't do the job. It's just that I don't see that Cleveland State does anything to demonstrate it. And I just can't help but feel like we're gonna get another ground and pounder here that's just not up to speed on space and pace basketball.

I can't handle anymore teams that can't throw a ball in the ocean, man. It's college ball. The 3-point line is like 12 feet away and nobody has the footspeed to play defense. These 35% shooting nights are just completely unacceptable.

And they were a direct result of Martin's philosophy. I'm sure not hearing/seeing much that says we're likely to be significantly different under Gates.
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Would if help to know Cleveland State played at a faster pace than the schools of all but San Francisco, among the serious candidates for the job (0.8 fewer possession/game than SFU Dons).

Or that they were top 50 in effective FG%, or that they were 21st in the country in raw shooting percentage?

This was not some slow-it-down, rockball people to death team. It was a quick-paced style that featured effective and efficient offense.
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Well the Whitten money is gonna go to a guy who can find a way to bring Norms spirit out of the grave. When you read quotes like that you can picture him being handed the words to say
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Don’t count on it.
And I say this as a Mizzou fan.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Oh no, our Final Four runs are at risk if this doesn't pan out.
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I don't see how you can find much to be upset about with this hire. It may not work, but there aren't a lot of indicators that this is a bad choice.

Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson were both busts, but one was far less defensible than the other.
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Haaaaa! Sigh. Truth.
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