GP1

You are correct. He does bring in good recruits. That isn't the problem. The problem becomes the glacier like way the recruits develop over four years. I can't think of a single player under his term that took a big jump from year one to year two, the most critical year for development. If there is one, good for you for thinking of that person. Thinking bigger is, in my mind, perfectly fits what this program needs to do. DiG made a good point the other night. KD is about defensive basketball. If that is who you are, then be who you are and be really good at it. Surround yourself with people who can fit within what you want to do, but bring in a few fresh ideas to compliment your style. Changing the people can change how players hear the same message. Specifically, the coaching staff is stale. Too many guys who have been around too long. I know this sounds harsh, but that has to get cleaned up. It might be good for us AND them. UofA isn't a place for an assistant to linger. Guys who linger too long, IMO, tend to be on the lazy side in terms of their career. If they are lazy about their career, there is a good chance they might be lazy in other areas. There are some more things he can do, but there isn't enough time. The arena, Joe Akron, etc., that is out of KD's control. He needs to get back to who he is and surround himself with different voices and ideas.

Everyone has been saying this is the most wide open tournament ever. They may be right.

Assuming they do, my guess is we will look just as irrelevant as we do right now.

You shouldn't make fun of this great tournament. These last two days of practice, bus ride to Indiana and humiliating loss will do wonders for this team next season. It's a building process...remember?

Before becoming this, they need to become that.

Think he'll throw in a "When I was coaching Lebron..." story?

Specifically, he needs to develop what players he has coming back better than he has in the past. Big leap forward for the returning players, not baby steps. The answer isn't finding the savior JUCO player. It's player development, player development, player development.

Some guy on ESPN just made fun of something I made fun of last year. Why do all of the NCAA Tournament courts have to look the same?

Just got back from Key West. I go there at least once a year. Good time on St. Patrick's Day this year. Anyhow, I've eaten at these three places before, but I'll recommend them to anyone who goes there. Louie's Back Yard - Great fresh food and well prepared. Sits right on the ocean. Just opened up an upstairs part of the restaurant that serves small plates and is first come, first served. Need reservations well in advance if you want to eat downstairs. Blue Heaven - Eat breakfast here almost ever day I can. Breakfast is actually my favorite meal of the day. El Meson de Pepe - Next to Mallory Square where they have the sunset party each day. Watch the sun go down and then eat some Cuban food while listening to Cuban music outside. Lots of good places to eat in Key West that the locals eat in. Didn't eat there this trip, but Michael's is well known by the locals and has very good steaks.

West Lafayette can be a really fun place. If you are thinking of going, you should go.

Are you as drunk as I am?

Sloppy Joe's. Key West. Sloppy Joe. I'm drunk. It's good.

I didn't know that a team as experienced asnours was still getting to know each other. Seems strange to take a quote about one thing and apply it to another. But then again, you struggle with statistical analysis as well so this shouldn't be a surprise.

@balsy, it is true that those things take place. None of us know how much that contributes to graduation rates increasing. Its sort of a 1950s view of the world I find strange. Should the goal of the NCAA be to inact even more rules restricting entry or try to help people succeed in the classroom. I don't believe schools are spending millions on tutoring just to do work for kids.

They haven't been able to turn NCAA Tournament experience into NCAA tournament success. Why should we believe these Micky Mouse tournaments would be anything else? I'm totally down with playing in these tournaments as a way to let the kids have a few more games, but I don't see any other benefit.

He can't play at Akron forever. At some point he would be replaced. Four points shouldn't be hard to find.

Fantastic job Zips! Where is Z.I.P. to tell us JK was being too hard on the girls a few years ago?

They are weak, but not in the point you are making. They are weak because they are bad tournaments. Regardless, if the Zips get in one of them, they should try to win it all.

Get six points per game out of the point guards next year and find 4-8 somewhere else. More points off of turnovers, better offensive sets, offset scoring with better defense, get better at offensive rebounds, get better at defensive rebounds, better foul shooting, use different players to bring the ball up, get better offensive production out of the remainder of the team, etc. It really isn't that hard.

I think there is this underlying notion that KD couldn't find someone to replace him. I'm of the opinion it wouldn't be hard to do. I'd much rather see KD take a shot at bringing in a better player than trying to recycle a guy who has been away from the game for a year. "What got us here won't get us there." We need to think about these words when we look at the AA issue. I think KD needs to look at the entire program, and that means assistant coaches as well, and think about those words.

The thing about confidence and momentum is you can lose it just as fast as you get it. I had no idea it was this bad.

Normally, I don't care a lot about this kind of thing. In this case, I think after the Zips losing yesterday it is time to turn the page on some things within the program. AA is someone they need to turn the page with and look for fresh blood. KD needs to get him away from the program. NE Ohio fans tend to believe it only takes one person to turn things around. It's a very bizarre savior complex. Many people in NE Ohio believed the economy of Cleveland hinged upon the return of Lebron James. An approaching 25 year old, chubby point guard with a drug violation followed by a probation violation isn't the savior I'm looking for. The team doesn't need a saint, but they don't need that either. Bringing AA back tells me there could be problems with the program beyond the point guard position.

For a lot of reasons, graduation rates are going up for athletes. That means the people at the bottom are being served better, at least in athletics. There will never be 100% graduation rate with any population.

Where isn't this happening? Athletes aren't just required to meet admissions requirement, they are graduating at a higher rate than non athletes. Source Believing otherwise is believing violent crime is up in the US because of the stories on the evening news. In fact, violent crime is on a steady decline.

Hats off to Coach Kest. She basically took a Division III team and turned it into a MAC contender. I don't think it would be a stretch to say when she took over the WBB program, it was the worst program in the country. It may have been the worst program of any WBB or MBB program out there. The WBB program was way worse off than the football program when either Ianello or Faust were fired. It was a disaster. She ruffled a lot of feathers early on, but it isn't easy to turn a program with a long history of accepting losing into a winning program. Recruiting players and coaching them is part of the job and a coach being good at that should be expected. The culture change had to have been the most difficult job because a coach is never really training to do that. She demanded more and got more. Funny how that work.