SFlaQuaker
Postdoc
Posts: 2427
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-16-07 02:02 AM - Post#34571
In response to Big R&B Truth
Why is Boston the worst city in the country for college basketball?
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Big R&B Truth
Masters Student
Posts: 427
Loc: Back Waters of New Englan...
Reg: 11-23-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-16-07 02:19 AM - Post#34572
In response to SFlaQuaker
There is absolutely no interest in college basketball in the Boston area outside of the students and alumni of BC. WEEI, which is the highest rated sports talk radio station in the country, spends more time making fun of BC sports then it does actually covering it. Pro sports totally dominate the area, and college basketball is mainly discussed in reference to who the Celtics are going to draft.
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AsiaSunset
Postdoc
Posts: 4358
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-16-07 10:15 AM - Post#34573
In response to Big R&B Truth
Quote:
This is the question that needs to be asked.
Why would Amaker take a job at one of the worst programs in a mediocre league in what has to be the worst city for college basketball in the entire country.
Was he that desperate?
Is he totally burned out?
Why not the Princeton job?
These are good questions. But - Perhaps he wasn't approached by Princeton. A lot of people think PU has had their coach in place for weeks and that the search is window dressing. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen.
Perhaps he wasn't in the strongest bargaining position to land a job that was the equivalent of the one he lost? He was fired afterall.
Perhaps this was a measured move that takes into account the career aspirations of his wife. Apparently she was an Asst Dean at Michigan.
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SFlaQuaker
Postdoc
Posts: 2427
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-16-07 12:14 PM - Post#34574
In response to AsiaSunset
Asia, any idea who said "coach in place" for Princeton would be?
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AsiaSunset
Postdoc
Posts: 4358
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-16-07 12:45 PM - Post#34575
In response to SFlaQuaker
The word was one of the GT assts, but this chatter is not even close to being in the hard news category.
I certainly think it's strange the search hasn't received more publicity. Usually names not only start to surface, but reports of actual interviews appear. Take the Harvard search for example.
But - I really don't want to give any impression I know what they are or are not doing. I don't.
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Howard Gensler
Postdoc
Posts: 4141
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-16-07 01:39 PM - Post#34576
In response to AsiaSunset
Since Princeton has already missed one live recruiting period (and I think another starts this week), if they have a coach in mind, it would be wise for them to announce who it is and get them out on the road.
I think the Princeton issue comes down to "Family or not." If Walters decides to go outside, that opens up a slew of new names but the pressure of knowing he HAS TO make the right choice. If Walters picks Johnson or Burke or Henderson and the Tigers stay with a modified version of the system and it fails, he won't get killed by the Princeton faithful. But if he goes outside the system and Princeton loses, his rep will be tarnished and there will be hell to pay. Additionally, if the Scott departure really caught him by surprise as some Princeton spin suggests, he probably didn't have too many coaches on his radar. When Bilsky hired Miller, the Dunphy rumors had been going on for awhile (possibly even years) so Bilsky would have been ill-prepared to not have thought of at least a handful of possible replacements.
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Big R&B Truth
Masters Student
Posts: 427
Loc: Back Waters of New Englan...
Reg: 11-23-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-16-07 03:41 PM - Post#34577
In response to Howard Gensler
On the surface, Scott’s acceptance of the Denver position seems to be a face saving move. It’s hard to believe that PU was caught off guard.
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ShankarD
newbie
Posts: 7
Reg: 12-04-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-17-07 05:15 PM - Post#34578
In response to AsiaSunset
Quote:
I think Amaker is a terrific hire.
I think all this over analysis is nothing more than mental masterbastion. Bottom line - he'll be very effective sitting in front of recruits parents marketing that brand. He's a very polished, classy Afro American who was schooled by the master. He has more credibility than any other guy they could get for 225K. No Ivy bound teenager is going to be analyzing Michigan's RPI over the past 6 years.
The big issue whether or not he will be supported by Harvard Admissions. I'm guessing he will be, but who knows.
Notably, there is nothing in your post related to actual coaching ability. And the entire second paragraph on potential recruiting prowess is compromised by the third.
Ask any knowledgeable Big Ten fan who the worst conference coach was in this decade, and I'd be highly surprised if they gave you anyone's name but Amaker's.
He was not an outstanding recruiter, but did get capable talent and managed to underachieve considerably. He had two reasonably strong classes in 2002 and 2003. In '02, he got Burger Boy Daniel Horton plus top 50 Lester Abram. In '03, he got Dion Harris, Courtney Sims, and Brett Petway. None of these guys went pro early, yet with five top 60 upperclassmen in 2006 (plus Ron Coleman and Jerret Smith from subsequent classes), he still couldn't get to the tourney. And worse, after being in the program for 3-4 years, these guys just don't look like they know what they're doing out on the court.
I am hopeful that Amaker will be able to recruit better than Sullivan, but that will also depend on institutional policies that go beyond him. And I do believe coaches can get better, especially with the aid of talented assistants. So I am going to remain hopeful. But Amaker's track record at Michigan simply isn't very good.
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AsiaSunset
Postdoc
Posts: 4358
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-17-07 07:58 PM - Post#34579
In response to ShankarD
Well I did hedge as everything is prospective, but I believe Amaker's hiring at 225K is in fact an absolute sign of Harvard's new commitment to support mens basketball. Had they gone in another direction I might have felt otherwise. So in the end I'm thinking 3 supports 2 and doesn't compromise the thought in the slightest.
As for game coaching - I don't know. Superior players seem to produce superior results. That league is very competitive and it seems many good young coaches have had problems grabbing the brass ring. I never thought Fran Dunphy was either a great game coach or a great recruiter. Yet for many reasons Penn attracted better players than Harvard and others.
Certainly it will be important for Amaker to bring in an excellent 2nd and 3rd to produce a winner. Dunphy had very good support at Penn. This is another unknown but I have more faith that he'll attract a good staff than some D3 wonderboy or a relatively low profile D1 asst.
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Big R&B Truth
Masters Student
Posts: 427
Loc: Back Waters of New Englan...
Reg: 11-23-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-18-07 01:02 AM - Post#34580
In response to AsiaSunset
Quote:
t I have more faith that he'll attract a good staff than some D3 wonderboy or a relatively low profile D1 asst.
The last D3 wonderboy didn't do so bad at Brown.
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AsiaSunset
Postdoc
Posts: 4358
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: Analysis of the hiring of Tommy Amaker
04-18-07 09:25 AM - Post#34581
In response to Big R&B Truth
Agreed - and I've been really impressed this year; however, he had a much lower AI bogey at brown than Amaker will at harvard, he never did win a championship in Providence and he caught a few breaks that benefited his best teams. Aluita (sp) was marginal academically. Brown took a gamble and they showed they were right - great kid and hard worker who proved he belonged both on the court and in the classroom. Hunt was a guy who wanted to come to Penn and we pushed him away. That was a freak recruiting year in the Ivies. There were an abundance of incoming kids at that 2/3 position. Hunt turned out to be the best of the lot but that was not our POV at the time.
Turning a program around in bb is a difficult assignment for any bb coach in the Ivies. And sustaining one at the highest level is no given (e.g. Scott). Miller is off to a terrific start, but as Jones says (see today's DP) the real test is not what one can do with Ibby, Mark and Steve; rather, the true test lies ahead. Still - I think this is an example of a D3 coach who got a bump up and has demonstrated some special qualities that have not gone unnoticed.
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