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Bye Bye Pat Kennedy...

Well, two years ago I was disappointed in Holst's firing, but when Hogan hired Kennedy, I honestly thought it was a genius hire. I did think Hogan was a little crazy for thinking the Griz could become a Sweet 16 program, but I suppose there's was nothing wrong with aiming high and getting the best coach you can. It's hard to say why the Kennedy experiment went so wrong. Of the four D-1 schools where Kennedy has been a head coach, Montana is the only one he didn't take to the NCAA Tournament. It's just obvious now that it was a poor fit.

You have wonder just how bad Kennedy wanted out of here. Towson is hardly a move up the ladder. Their losing tradition now is well-established, and they play in a conference that gets barely more media attention than the Big Sky.
 
'68griz said:
The notion that UM is a "football school" and thus is unable to recruit good basketball players is nuts. But, then, as he can tell you, Ronbo and I have probably never agreed on any topic. That aside, Kennedy's departure can be seen only as a positive. I was not pleased when he was hired two years ago, so surely am not sorry to see him go (to a team with even a worse record than he had here!).
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We don't agree at all because you're a "glass half empty" thinker 68. In 80% of your posts you find a way to get in a remark that downgrades the football coaches.

We'll get very few top prospects here till we are in a premiere basketball conference. Oh, we'll get a dandy now and then. And on exceptional years maybe two. But we will seldom if ever get past the first round with the program we have now in the Big Sky.

I hope and aspire for greater things for Griz Basketball. Things like Gonzaga and Nevada are doing. We'll never get there from here. Even the Girls are at a disadvantage. If we were WAC this year they would have been a 5th or 6th seed. But from the Big Sky they get a 12th seed with a 25-4 record.
 
Seriously, ronbo. Tell me you didn't just throw Nevada in as a comparison. Since they left the Big Sky, they have done exactly nothing until their great run in the tourney this year. I would term that a "dandy now and then..." Gonzaga, great. I think every small school, especially those here in the Northwest, want to emulate what they have done with their program. The fact that no one else has, though, shows just how difficult that is. I don't disagree with your hoping and aspiring for greater things, I wish the same for the Bobcat program. In fact, it makes me mad that the coaches in Bozeman don't seem to aspire for anything other than keeping their jobs. BUT, it is a monumental task. Remember, Gonzaga is a school with no football program, so basketball is all they have there, and they go nuts for it. The noise in the Kennel made it tough for anyone to even play them close there. Still, without those first two miracle runs in the tourney, they would be right where they had been. They had the benefit of a great group of coaches and a once-in-a-lifetime group of kids that turned their program into what it is today. The Big Sky may not be a great basketball conference, but it is still possible to field competitive teams at the national level. Personally, I don't think any of our schools (with the exception of Weber) invest enough resources to give our teams a chance.
 
Jimus said:
Well, two years ago I was disappointed in Holst's firing, but when Hogan hired Kennedy, I honestly thought it was a genius hire. I did think Hogan was a little crazy for thinking the Griz could become a Sweet 16 program, but I suppose there's was nothing wrong with aiming high and getting the best coach you can. It's hard to say why the Kennedy experiment went so wrong. Of the four D-1 schools where Kennedy has been a head coach, Montana is the only one he didn't take to the NCAA Tournament. It's just obvious now that it was a poor fit.

You have wonder just how bad Kennedy wanted out of here. Towson is hardly a move up the ladder. Their losing tradition now is well-established, and they play in a conference that gets barely more media attention than the Big Sky.
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Jimus, thank you for the honesty.
 
Northern Griz said:
There's some pretty good posts here, but my question is why it hasn't been moved to the Basketball section?
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I was going to ask the same question, but it seems GoodGodGriz thinks it unworthy to enter into the basketball forum.
 
grizpack said:
Truegriz - Krysko also placed an "out" in his new contract for this job.

I think it is hard to compete for the fans in basketball v. football, but not for the players. Kelvin Sampson doesn't seem to have that trouble at Oklahoma, nor do they at Texas, Maryland, etc.
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Now, Grizpack, please explain the "out" in his contract. Coaching contracts are for one year only, so if he wants out, he just resigns after the season. Is the "out" for the case if he wants out before the season starts or during the season?

Anyway, his lack of staying in a college position for very long makes me leary of him.
 
I'm sad to see Kennedy go. Not because I think he's a great coach, or because he could take the Griz to the next level. But, because of the way he was treated by many people here. He came in under difficult circumstances with the Holst firing and he wasn't a "good ol' boy" from Montana. These two things made people despise him. Why?? It wasn't his fault Holst was fired. He wasn't my first choice for head coach (the assistant from Gonzaga was), but he was basically ousted before he ever got to Montana.

I've seen a lot of people throw there support to Tinkle and Krysko. Both are deserving and may or may not be good for Montana. But, because of their names being thrown around already, if anyone is hired outside the Montana family (i.e. other than Tinkle or Krysko) I think it's sad to say the support they'll receive will be luke-warm at best. My point: I wouldn't hire someone just because they are an alumni, only if they are the most qualified. Being an alumni should only be used as a tie-breaker IMHO.
 
Bozone......


I respectfully disagree about Nevada. They are on a tremendous upswing right now. They made the sweet 16 and should have a very good team again next year. And they are starting to land recruits. Two 7 foot blue chippers coming aboard next year.

They play in a beautiful arena that seats 11,200 and they average 8,000 for basketball. They are a program on the move up. They play in a very good basketball conference that sends 4-5 teams to post season play every year in the NCAA and NIT. How do we take a recruit from them? It's rare.

lawlor-inside.jpg
 
True - his contract with the Boise minor league team was up for renewal. He called a few people here, and inquired about whether this job may be opening up in the next few months. He got some positive feedback, and so apparently negotiated a clause where he could leave his current job with no buy-out if this job opened up.
 
ronbo, although I agree that Nevada is a program on the up and up, I dont think they should be placed in the same category as a Gonzaga - even if they did thump the Zags in Seattle a few months ago.

If I am not mistaken, Nevada's 2 victories in the NCAA tourney were the first ever Ws in the tourney for that school. Doesnt exactly sound like a team that has built a succesful program over the years.

Now, with those facilities - outstanding photo by the way, looks a lot like Weber, and I'd kill for an arena like that in Bozeman - and the run they had last year, the transfers they've aquired, Nevada is poised to repeat this years tourney success. But until they do, and do so numerous times, the Wolfpack hardly qualifies as a big time program in a mid-major conference.

I'd go so far as to say the hated Wildcats of Weber St. are more of a powerhouse than Nevada. Weber has more tourney wins than Nevada, and has been to the Sweet 16 as many times as Nevada since the Wolfpack left the Big Sky.
 
I think the only way to get basketball back to decent attendence is to use our football program as an all-sports invite to the WAC. The reason basketball is down is because the BSC traded Idaho, Nevada, and BSU for Portland State and Sac State. As for using football as an invite to a better all-sports conference, what do you think Miami did to start the current conference shuffle?
 
TrueGriz said:
Northern Griz said:
There's some pretty good posts here, but my question is why it hasn't been moved to the Basketball section?
Click to expand...

I was going to ask the same question, but it seems GoodGodGriz thinks it unworthy to enter into the basketball forum.
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TrueGriz... bite my ass! I put the initial link here since more people visit this page than the basketball. The plan was to move it today. But seeing as I don't have time to baby sit this thing 24/7 it didn't get moved till today. Your Jab towards me was stupid.

Its moved.. hope your happy.
 
Cat Pride said:
ronbo, although I agree that Nevada is a program on the up and up, I dont think they should be placed in the same category as a Gonzaga - even if they did thump the Zags in Seattle a few months ago.

If I am not mistaken, Nevada's 2 victories in the NCAA tourney were the first ever Ws in the tourney for that school. Doesnt exactly sound like a team that has built a succesful program over the years.

Now, with those facilities - outstanding photo by the way, looks a lot like Weber, and I'd kill for an arena like that in Bozeman - and the run they had last year, the transfers they've aquired, Nevada is poised to repeat this years tourney success. But until they do, and do so numerous times, the Wolfpack hardly qualifies as a big time program in a mid-major conference.

I'd go so far as to say the hated Wildcats of Weber St. are more of a powerhouse than Nevada. Weber has more tourney wins than Nevada, and has been to the Sweet 16 as many times as Nevada since the Wolfpack left the Big Sky.
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My original point was how we do recruiting against schools in our size class and recruiting areas. I would put Gonzaga, Washington State, Eastern Washington, UOP, Nevada, and the Idaho schools in the catagory. There are others, but you see my point. We don't recruit against Kansas and Kentucky, but we do recruit against Wyoming, Nevada, and UOP. We lose a lot of good players to them. It's puts any coach that comes to Montana, no matter how good he is at a disadvantage to excel here.
 
GoodGodGriz said:
TrueGriz said:
Northern Griz said:
There's some pretty good posts here, but my question is why it hasn't been moved to the Basketball section?
Click to expand...

I was going to ask the same question, but it seems GoodGodGriz thinks it unworthy to enter into the basketball forum.
Click to expand...

TrueGriz... bite my ass! I put the initial link here since more people visit this page than the basketball. The plan was to move it today. But seeing as I don't have time to baby sit this thing 24/7 it didn't get moved till today. Your Jab towards me was stupid.

Its moved.. hope your happy.
Click to expand...

Sorry, didn't think you would get uptight about it. Maybe I should have put a smiley on it. :D
 
Ronbo I too have to disagree about nevada. They did great this year but crowd support did not come till after the Kansas win. Funny thing is everyone came to see kansas play and when nevada won the fans went damn we should come back these guys are ok.I went to that game and kansas did not even show up! I will give credit to nevada for hustling but KU was comatose(sp.) Nevada has a great coach and some good recruits but they lose too much this year to repeat next year. They also showed me that Hogans comment about the griz making it to the sweet 16 is really not that far fetched. Everybody here is wolfpack crazy however it is the first time in 8 years I have heard anything about the pack.I wish I could wish the best for them but I don't like the fans. They do have a great arena much more enjoyable for b-ball than dragon tales or barney but that is just a dads opinion.

aka nevada griz
 
Hey, we always used to be a basketball school, from Heathcote to Holst. We have been at the top of the Big Sky through most of the 80s and 90s. It's great that football has done so well, but getting Krysko, a real Griz guy in as head coach will bring the basketball team back to where it was in the good old days.
 
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