OT link: Shaka Smart agrees to Texas job
I think he hung on a bit too long at VCU. Should have taken the UCLA job when offered.
He's not an LA guy and neither is his wife...Austin suits him, Chapel Hill suits him, Ann Arbor suits, Stanford suits him. He's not a big city guy, he's a college town guy with a very liberal family.
This was very important to him and he made that known...he was never going to LA.
I'm a little surprised he didn't go to NC St., but if you know their AD, you wouldn't be surprised any longer.
This is a great fit for him (as would those other schools/cities I mentioned above).
People act like he cooled off, he has more wins in his first 6 seasons as a head coach than anyone in HISTORY except Brad Stevens.
He didn't cool off, there are just some other names that are hotter for this season. But Smart's name would come up in almost any conversation outside of probably Duke.
He's not an LA guy, but he's not an Austin guy either. And LA isn't liberal? He's living in Texas for gods sake (Austin, but still).
Debbie Yow is a psychopathic wackjob but Steve Patterson is Brandoning the Texas AD in a big way to horrible, horrible reviews.
UCLA is a much more stable situation all around. That being said, he can still win at UT and I hope he does.
Texas just hired an AD...he's not going anywhere for awhile. Texas is no less stable than UCLA is...and if he prefers to life in a college town type atmosphere rather than a fast-paced big city, who are you to judge?
So you can take my comment about liberal out of context, and that's my fault...but my point is still 100% accurate. Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill, Austin and Stanford are all A LOT different than LA. Shaka is not an LA type guy and neither is his wife or his family.
I've asked the man point blank this question and his response was "LA just wasn't for me..." Also, if you know his wife and her personality it makes complete sense as well.
But go ahead and continue telling me I don't know what I'm talking about.
it's not as liberal as middle America sees it. See this study, whose takeaway is:
". . . even in Los Angeles County, California is more conservative and less consistently defined by geography than conventional wisdom would sometimes suggest."
http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_quick.asp?i=1007
I'd wager that Austin is more on par with SF than LA.
My point was that he nor his family is into anything about the LA lifestyle.
The liberal part was not saying LA is not liberal, it was saying that he and his family prefer a college town style atmosphere. One that Stanford, Austin, Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill all provide.
LA is like that opposite of that.
I agree to an extent that his national cache dropped for the casual fan, but it seems that within the coaching and AD circles he's regarded as a top-notch coach. I don't think the political elements mattered much (Austin is liberal, but so is LA), but I think the UCLA job is kinda poisoned for lots of people. Everyone compares you to the dynastic UCLA had under Wooden, and no matter how good you are people people will complain. And UCLA is never going to be "UCLA" again, most likely, just because basketball is so much different than it was 40 years ago and I'm guessing the UCLA administration won't ever let them get as dirty as you need to consistently compete with the UK's of the world. I might be naive, and I know UCLA had issues with Shabazz Muhammad, but that feels like the exception more than the rule.
This is a pet peeve of mine.
You mean cachet, not cache. A cache is a hiding place for things (and it's pronounced like "cash").
getting that out there. We feel for ya.
If his username is any indication he probably has a lot of pet peeves/kidney stones, or both.
Anyone else's first thought is that this smells like another Rich Rod? A younger, innovative coach that runs a quirky system he designed so he could compete with the lower quality of players that are recruited to smaller schools? One that after you see a few times, you've got figured out. Throw in the comparisons between David Brandon and their power hungry AD (yes, I know that Martin hired RR), and it just seems like Texas is begging to repeat our mistakes. Thoughts?
But Rich Rod could've worked at Michigan...he just didn't. I think Smart can work at Texas.
It depends on more than the system. The system wasn't the only thing that let Rich Rod down and if Smart fails, it won't just be his system.
I look at OSU/Oregon football and Louisville basketball. Not direct comparisons, but all 3 compete at a high level running a unique system.
Rich Rod's performance at Michigan was the outlier. typically, I like those kinds of hires. See: Beilein.
Is his system really that unique? It's different press defenses. Sure he may deploy them a little differently or whatever, but the concept still isn't that new or even that unique. Plus, in general, I don't think there really is a "system" that allows teams with lesser talent to compete with greater talent in basketball that wouldn't translate to better talent. Maybe you could argue that some of the extreme plodding offensive systems that try and limit possessions to keep games close shouldn't translate, but Tony Bennett is doing a pretty good job of making that system work at the highest levels.
I wouldn't be too worried about Smart's system translating with a year or two to make sure his roster fits his system. After all, is it really all that different than Nolan Richardson's "40 minutes of hell" defense? He seemed to do all right.
Damn it Bernard. MGoBlog Rule #7: Never bring up Rich Rod unless absolutely necessary.
I mean, on the surface sure I can see the comparisons, but (a) nobody else has really ever figured out RR's offense once he has time to implement it and recruit the players he needs, and VCU's defense is still very difficult to prepare for unless you have 3-4 above-average ball handlers, (b) VCU has had a couple of down years in the tournament but those were usually close losses; a bit more luck and they could have made deeper runs.
The biggest difference is that Smart is going to be welcomed with open arms and (I'm guessing) Barnes doesn't have the type of ingrained loyalty in the program that people in the AD will work against him and undermine him in the way RR was when he started.
conquered much of college football, and Smart's--neat character that he is--involves something pretty old school for hoop, yeah. I mean no.
I'd love to see the guy succeed.
good, young, fiery coach. He'll do just as good, probably better than Rick Barnes...
Richmond tried to keep him. Local Richmond strip clubs offered him free lap dances for life if he stayed. True story.
As a Texas fan, I am torn. Barnes was definitely in the "constant under achieving with middling success" phase of his tenure and probably needed to go if UT wanted to really compete at a high level. But I'm not sure how well Smart is going to do in a major conference. The shine has really come off him in the past couple of years.
I think he's good, but I'm not he's ultimately the guy to give UT the push it needs to really start competing.
But I think like Mack Brown, he just got stale. Like Lloyd Carr did.
Sometimes you do need a new voice, something different, some change. I think Barnes will do some good things at Tennessee and I think Smart will also take Texas up a notch.
He's been a "system" guy. When people figured out his system, he did not seem to have an answer.
I guess we'll see if that was just him being really smart with the limited talent he had at VCU, or if that's all he's got.
If he just tries to plug Texas into the VCU system, I don't think that will get the level of success that TX wants.
*26 wins in all 6 years.
Texas will expect to do much better than VCU has done in the NCAAs. If you are Texas, you want to see some ongoing Final Fours, nothing less.
Texas has been to one Final Four in the last 65 years. They just fired the coach who took them there. Texas has been to the Elite Eight four times in the last 65 years. Three of those times the coach was the guy they just fired.
Smart is a good hire, but the idea that Texas wasn't meeting expectations under Barnes is kind of ridiculous. Without him there were no expectations at all.
The question I have is how much of his success at VCU is due to him and how much is due to VCU's institutional strength. He's won 74% of his games there but his predecessor, Anthony Grant, won 75%. In fact, Grant actually was more successful during the regular season, winning three consecutive conference titles while Smart has never won one. Smart of course has the Final Four run, though.
Before Grant there was also Jeff Capel, who parlayed the job into Oklahoma. So Smart is now the third consecutive VCU coach to get a high-profile job. The first two didn't work out. We'll see if he can buck the trend.
in 2013. One of the few teams that thrived in an open-court press situation. But what was a coach with a lot of bricklayers to do? Hey, let's try to outshoot them. That'll work.
In 2014, VCU had a comfortable ~10 point lead late in the game before the free throw bug struck. Up four points w/ 3 seconds left in regulation, a freshman VCU player fouled a three-point shooter. Who completed the four-point play to send the game into overtime.
I don't think you can blame either of those on the coach.
"figured out" his system?
His 6 seasoms at VCU:
| VCU Rams (Colonial Athletic Association) (2009–2012) | ||||||||
| 2009–10 | VCU | 27–9 | 11–7 | T–5th | CBI Champions | |||
| 2010–11 | VCU | 28–12 | 12–6 | 4th | NCAA Final Four | |||
| 2011–12 | VCU | 29–7 | 15–3 | 2nd | NCAA Round of 32 | |||
| VCU Rams (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2012–2015) | ||||||||
| 2012–13 | VCU | 27–9 | 12–4 | 2nd | NCAA Round of 32 | |||
| 2013–14 | VCU | 26–9 | 12–4 | 2nd | NCAA Round of 64 | |||
| 2014–15 | VCU | 26–10 | 12–6 | T–4th | NCAA Round of 64 | |||
| Texas Longhorns (Big 12 Conference) (2015–present) | ||||||||
That is amazing consistency--between 26 and 29 wins every year.
for one game--with an enormous skill advantage.
[now you made me indirectly minimize Beilein's genius--I don't like that]
and total lack of tradition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCU_Rams_men%27s_basketball#NCAA_Tournamen…
VCU made the Tourney in the "Aughts" prior to Smart's arrival in 2004, 2007, and 2009. In the 90s, VCU made the Tourney in '96. In the early eighties, VCU had a run of five appearances in six years.
Other than that, NEVER.
His "system" is press defense. Pitino ran a not-disimilar style of defense for years at UK and Louisville. Every coach in the world has his preferred formations and style of play; that's the definition of a "system".
With elite athletes and time, I absolutely can see a world where Smart's teams are a terror defensively and competent+ offensively.
Strong & Smart
Sorry if already covered. Does this open the door for Michigan with Eric Davis?
that led to a discussion of whether we would want Davis , whether he is over-rated etc.
I think Shaka is a better fit for Davis than Barnes. I bet he stays at UT.
Man, I guess it's been a while since I've been on ESPN.com...the site looks completely different. To be honest, it looks kinda tacky.
Anyways, I was really thinking Shaka would've gone to a basketball first school. Not that I don't think he won't have success at Texas especially with the resources they have, but a Big 12 school as a landing spot is not what I ever envisioned for him.
But I think Smart is one of the most overrated coaches in college basketball. He took one magical Final Four run 2011 to boost himself as such a great coach, but he hasn't made the 2nd weekend since (and got bounced in the first round the last two years). He has also never won a conference championship at VCU. He runs a system that won't succeed at Texas, so he's actually going to have to fully coach. Let's see how good he really is.
Before he got there, the farthest VCU had ever made it in the tournament was the round of 32, and they had gotten there 5 times EVER. He made it to the round of 32 or farther in 3 of his 6 seasons.
His system won't work at Texas? Pitino runs an awfully similar system at Louisville and he seems to be doing just fine.
Are Smart's halfcourt offenses/defenses comparable to Pitino's though? From what I've seen of VCU, they seem pretty dependent on their press to get stops and easy buckets. If you turn it into a halfcourt game they seem to struggle. Pitino's teams OTOH can generally win either way.
Isn't that where a talent disparity would hurt you more? Transition buckets are easier shots. Tougher to get good looks in the half court, no matter the coach. If you're not as talented, it's going to show in the half court.
People seem to hold Smart to a higher standard because he's had consistent success for the last five years at VCU. Meanwhile they ignore the fact that he's had that success with a grand total of two guys in that time period to see time in the NBA.