TJ should have never taken the UNLV job. He was just trying to keep moving up the ladder but he didn't fit there. You aren't going to be accepted there trying to run a real basketball program.
The TJ Offalburger! mmmm...offal....The Otzlebergerburger
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.
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.
If you're in Texas, it's the TJ Whataburger.The TJ Offalburger! mmmm...offal....
We could be firing up the grill again.I wonder how Caleb Grill feels RN.
Thank you! As for great assistant coaches making a difference, check out Miles and his record without Smith. Or Romar WITH TJ. Oops.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 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
Probably mentally preparing for Iowa winters againI wonder how Caleb Grill feels RN.
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!
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!!
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.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.