Official Announcement of TJ as the New Iowa State Mens BBall Coach

CYphyllis

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Jun 22, 2010
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In my 30ish years with Iowa State, I can't think of a single hire that was this lazy and underwhelming.

I've been a heavy defender of Pollard until today. I could look past tucking windbreakers into black jeans and being overly preachy to the fanbase because he got results, but this is just too damn much.
 

marothisu

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Jun 15, 2009
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I wish him the best just like any coach. I really hope he succeeds. With that being said, I'm not very happy with JP and how he did this. Cronyism/nepotism/whatever you want to call it at its finest. But let's see what kind of staff is put together.
 

HFCS

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Expectations are way outta wack around here. Dana Altman was NEVER a possibility. Thad Matta hasn't coached in 5 years. Hoiberg wasn't a reality. Belien is what, 67 or 68? The other options were going to be mid and low major coaches with nothing to prove they could win at this level, just like TJ.

I don't know.

When you look at KU's dominance of the Big 12 historically...and see where they got a challenge from the few times they had a challenge. It's been ISU as much or more than any other program.

As a coach I look at ISU as a place you can win in a major conference. That's really only about 40-50 destinations...5-10 of those being blue bloods. Ames might not be a nationally desirable city for coaches, but our program is in the top 20% of college basketball very easily in terms of a place you can win and get a ton of support.
 

Cyclonepride

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Who knows how this will turn out (hopefully like when Creighton hired McDermott) but when one side is very “meh” on the hire and one side is thrilled - but the thrilled side is the program LOSING the coach - ISU can’t be upset this hire isn’t going to be widely celebrated.

The one way TJ will win over all ofhis skeptics? Just win baby.

According to message board posters? There is a significant percentage of posters on any team's message board that will absolutely dive off the deep end at the first (and every) sign of adversity.
 
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Shawker

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Yaz

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Not excited regarding the hire, but didnt spend the last 2 to 3 days slamming our new coach either like many CF children. Time will tell and good assistant coaches will be important. I hope he is very successful. When CW said a few days ago that he might have to step away from covering MBB if TJ was hired, I figured TJ was probably the guy. CF doesn't do any hard hitting coverage anyway, regardless of school or media channel, fwiw.

Go Cyclones!
 
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allfourcy

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Kudos to Coach Doc Sadler for his tweet congratulating TJ and family.
 

joefrog

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I only did this for perspective. T rank only goes back 14 seasons. I didn't look at too many that we didn't hire because it seems irrelevant. I did look at Craig Smith and I can tell you his T Rank numbers scream up and comer. He took South Dakota from 229 in his first year to 79 in his 4th season. At Utah State he has been 42, 38, 39. He has Utah State ranked 9 in adjusted defense this year. If our AD was serious about the basketball program, this is someone that appears to have the chops to both turn a program around and compete with the coaches in the Big XII. View attachment 82957
Thank you! As for great assistant coaches making a difference, check out Miles and his record without Smith. Or Romar WITH TJ. Oops.
 

ribsnwhiskey

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I only did this for perspective. T rank only goes back 14 seasons. I didn't look at too many that we didn't hire because it seems irrelevant. I did look at Craig Smith and I can tell you his T Rank numbers scream up and comer. He took South Dakota from 229 in his first year to 79 in his 4th season. At Utah State he has been 42, 38, 39. He has Utah State ranked 9 in adjusted defense this year. If our AD was serious about the basketball program, this is someone that appears to have the chops to both turn a program around and compete with the coaches in the Big XII. View attachment 82957

I think he would have been a great get too.
 

ISUChippewa

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I don't get the hatred for TJ.....it's pretty obvious in JP's sales pitch of a video that TJ has the credentials to lead this program. Is all the hate stemming from his time at UNLV....a dumpster fire of a program? And don't tell me he only won at South Dakota State bc of Daum... NEWS FLASH....it takes good players to WIN! Excited to start crawling out of the whole we've unfortunately fallen in. Go Cyclones!

C'mon now; nobody (at least that I've seen/read so far) "hates" TJ. However, fans have a right to have some concerns about the hire and express that. Other fans also have the right to be excited and happy about the same hire.

Count me in the first group there, but now that it's official I'm looking forward to the next chapter of ISU men's basketball, even if the first couple of pages might start out rough and uneven. I'll be fine with something like 10 overall wins next season, and if is season two we make the NIT or even the NCAA's then I think we'll definitely be on the right path moving forward. I'm willing to be patient.
 

HFCS

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TJ wouldn't have been my first choice. But I am going to trust Jamie and very excited that ISU hoops is headed in a new direction. I look forward to supporting TJ and ISU basketball. And can't wait to step inside Hilton Coliseum for ISU's first basketball game in the TJ Otzelberger era!!

I think we might know immediately how this is going to work out.

We brought him in to secure talent. Does he secure the best recruits? Does he bring in any of his former recruits? Does he sign a great class right away. Does he fill in the missing gaps in the lineups with great transfers every year like we did during that long stretch of being ranked in the top 25?

If we fail to do that for a year or so I think we already know. If it all happens relatively quickly at least he's doing the things that got him the job.
 

brett108

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In my 30ish years with Iowa State, I can't think of a single hire that was this lazy and underwhelming.

I've been a heavy defender of Pollard until today. I could look past tucking windbreakers into black jeans and being overly preachy to the fanbase because he got results, but this is just too damn much.
This is not lazier than the Wayne Morgan hire. So you appear to have a very short memory even if you've been here 30 years.