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Smart to Texas

Started by WizardofhOgZ, April 02, 2015, 02:20:34 pm

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WizardofhOgZ

April 02, 2015, 02:20:34 pm Last Edit: April 04, 2015, 11:56:41 am by WizardofhOgZ
I know they shouldn't matter to us any more . . . yada, yada . . . but (a) they DO, to may of us; and (b) regardless, I think Smart coaching with UT's resources may mark a major shift in the power structure of BIG 12 basketball.  He's the guy I wanted us to get (if we couldn't get Mike) a few years ago.  And what concerns me the most is that his style is almost identical to Mike's.  So, that takes that "differentiator" away from us in recruiting battles we might have with UT under Smart.

I'll make this prediction - if Smart lands there, UT will be in a Final Four in 4 years or less.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12602595/texas-longhorns-steve-patterson-meet-shaka-smart-make-offer

latrops

April 02, 2015, 02:34:56 pm #1 Last Edit: April 02, 2015, 02:57:28 pm by latrops
I'm increasingly of the mind that Smart is merely a solid coach that happened to go on one improbable NCAAT run a few years ago.  With more highly regarded teams since then, he hasn't gotten out of the first weekend.

I'm not saying he is a bad coach by any means.  He has been making the NCAAT and keeping his team in or around the top 25 most of the time.  However, it is smart of him to move on now after 4 straight seasons of early NCAAT exits.  Extending that trend might have resulted in fewer good offers coming along.
 

PorkRinds

April 02, 2015, 03:09:42 pm #2
Texas athletes may not be smart and strong, but their coaches sure will be!

WizardofhOgZ

April 02, 2015, 03:34:27 pm #3
Quote from: PorkRinds on April 02, 2015, 03:09:42 pm
Texas athletes may not be smart and strong, but their coaches sure will be!

+1

And in answer to the poster above you, while that might be correct at Virginia Commonwealth, Smart will be able to get the caliber of athletes in Austin he needs to get that program going.

jgphillips3

April 02, 2015, 06:53:35 pm #4
In Virginia, he is competing for athletes against ACC teams all around which is the equivalent of recruiting against SEC schools in football.  That his teams are as good as they are says a lot to me.  Let him get settled at UT with those resources and they will likely be entrenched in the sweet 16 soon and often.

pigture perfect

April 02, 2015, 08:21:37 pm #5
He needs to know before he goes, and I'm sure he does, that basketball will always be behind football and baseball when it comes to Longhorn athletics.
The 2 biggest fools in the world: He who has an answer for everything and he who argues with him.  - original.<br /> <br />The first thing I'm going to ask a lawyer (when I might need one) is, "You don't post on Hogville do you?"

WizardofhOgZ

April 03, 2015, 10:38:51 am #6
Quote from: pigture perfect on April 02, 2015, 08:21:37 pm
He needs to know before he goes, and I'm sure he does, that basketball will always be behind football and baseball when it comes to Longhorn athletics.

I'm sure I could learn to live with that for $3 million a year . . .

Plus, with the resources he now has behind him, and his style of play, I expect him to win BIG in Austin . . . unfortunately.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/columnists/chuck-carlton/20150402-carlton-havoc-has-a-new-home-shaka-smart-agrees-to-become-texas-longhorns-head-coach.ece



Pork Twain

April 03, 2015, 10:44:43 am #7
Quote from: latrops on April 02, 2015, 02:34:56 pm
I'm increasingly of the mind that Smart is merely a solid coach that happened to go on one improbable NCAAT run a few years ago.  With more highly regarded teams since then, he hasn't gotten out of the first weekend.
Even if you ignore the fact that VCU is stuck in the middle of ACC country, they are also well down the list when it comes to Virginia schools.  That will not be the case when he recruits to Texass.
"It is better to be an optimist and proven wrong, than a pessimist and proven right." ~Pork Twain

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sweetmemes/

WorfHog

April 03, 2015, 11:20:07 am #8 Last Edit: April 03, 2015, 01:29:37 pm by WorfHog
Quote from: WizardofhOgZ on April 03, 2015, 10:38:51 am
I'm sure I could learn to live with that for $3 million a year . . .

Plus, with the resources he now has behind him, and his style of play, I expect him to win BIG in Austin . . . unfortunately.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/columnists/chuck-carlton/20150402-carlton-havoc-has-a-new-home-shaka-smart-agrees-to-become-texas-longhorns-head-coach.ece

What resources, I'm not trying to be smart  ;), but what are the actual resource differences between UT and VCU? Other than name recognition? We always hear this, but no one ever elaborates on what it means. Better practice facility and a bigger recruiting budget?

onebadrubi

April 03, 2015, 11:36:14 am #9
Quote from: WorfHog on April 03, 2015, 11:20:07 am
What resources, I'm not trying to be smart  ;), but what are the actual resource differences between UT and VCU? Other than name recognition? We always hear this, but no one ever elaborates one what it means. Better practice facility and a bigger recruiting budget?

The handshakes get heavier and more frequent

Pork Twain

April 03, 2015, 11:59:04 am #10
Quote from: WorfHog on April 03, 2015, 11:20:07 am
What resources, I'm not trying to be smart  ;), but what are the actual resource differences between UT and VCU? Other than name recognition? We always hear this, but no one ever elaborates one what it means. Better practice facility and a bigger recruiting budget?
Well VCU was one of the places I visited with my daughter this year and it is a craphole.  It is a crappy campus in a dirty town.  It is hard to imagine any university being harder to recruit players to.
"It is better to be an optimist and proven wrong, than a pessimist and proven right." ~Pork Twain

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sweetmemes/

WizardofhOgZ

April 04, 2015, 11:55:57 am #11
Quote from: WorfHog on April 03, 2015, 11:20:07 am
What resources, I'm not trying to be smart  ;), but what are the actual resource differences between UT and VCU? Other than name recognition? We always hear this, but no one ever elaborates on what it means. Better practice facility and a bigger recruiting budget?

Not sure where you life, Worf.  But as a person who has lived in Texas virtually my whole life, I can tell you that there is a UT culture that permeates every part of this state.  No, they aren't the only University with a following in Texas, but they cast by far the biggest shadow.  Everywhere you go, there are Longhorn signs and people wearing UT shirts, caps, etc.   And the state produces large numbers of talented athletes in ALL sports.

Beyond that, Austin is a MAJOR draw for most young people.  There is so much to do there.  I know many of us "hate" their teams - me included.  But trying to be even halfway objective. UT has a national brand that is particularly strong in their home state, which happens to be a place they can easily recruit top-notch talent.  And their brand reaches far enough to get some folks around all corners of the country as well.

I'm not sure their facilities - especially, for basketball - are any better than ours any more (used to be, back in the day, they were WAAAAY ahead of us there).  But they have a natural, home-grown advantage over virtually any Texas kid they go after hard.

ErieHog

April 04, 2015, 01:54:24 pm #12
Smart is an excellent coach, and is going to be a boon to Texas basketball's fortunes.  I am not looking forward to them being a high quality team.

No cause, ever, in the history of all mankind, has produced more cold-blooded tyrants, more slaughtered innocents, and more orphans than socialism with power. It surpassed, exponentially, all other systems of production in turning out the dead. The bodies are all around us. And here is the problem: No one talks about them. No one honors them. No one does penance for them. No one has committed suicide for having been an apologist for those who did this to them. No one pays for them. No one is hunted down to account for them. It is exactly what Solzhenitsyn foresaw in The Gulag Archipelago: "No, no one would have to answer. No one would be looked into." Until that happens, there is no "after socialism."
 

BDSCT51

April 04, 2015, 03:41:27 pm #13
Quote from: ErieHog on April 04, 2015, 01:54:24 pm
Smart is an excellent coach, and is going to be a boon to Texas basketball's fortunes.  I am not looking forward to them being a high quality team.


This! Plus 1! Watch out KU..........................
Bleeding Razorback Red

jackflash

April 04, 2015, 05:06:53 pm #14
I am going to say this is a good hire. Lets see how he recruits Texas. If he out recruits Baylor they will be good.

ChicoHog

April 04, 2015, 10:29:40 pm #15
Quote from: latrops on April 02, 2015, 02:34:56 pm
I'm increasingly of the mind that Smart is merely a solid coach that happened to go on one improbable NCAAT run a few years ago.  With more highly regarded teams since then, he hasn't gotten out of the first weekend.

I'm not saying he is a bad coach by any means.  He has been making the NCAAT and keeping his team in or around the top 25 most of the time.  However, it is smart of him to move on now after 4 straight seasons of early NCAAT exits.  Extending that trend might have resulted in fewer good offers coming along.
Totally agree.  I'm sure he will do fine but I think just because of that great final four run everyone thinks he is the second coming.  Laranagga did the same thing at George Mason and you don't hear people saying the same thing about him.  Plus I am not fond of Smart's style of play.  Works great against inferior teams but KU and OU and many of the other teams in the Big 12 will eat up that press.  It will be interesting to see how well the Loinghorns do. 
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