Bear Down Wildcats

Postmaster wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:21 pm

gronk4heisman wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:07 pm Lets say there was a certain NBA coach who was tired of the NBA and wanted to coach closer to a parent who for arguments sake is a surgeon here in Tucson. If that was a reality I would be the first one packing Miller's bags, otherwise based on where we are today extend Miller with a University friendly buyout plan and call it a day.

Kerri Strug?

Brad Stevens dad is Dr. Mark Stevens, an orthopedic surgeon, now works part-time in orthopedics in Tucson

https://tucson.com/the-most-interesting ... 0cd64.html

gronk4heisman wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:07 pm Lets say there was a certain NBA coach who was tired of the NBA and wanted to coach closer to a parent who for arguments sake is a surgeon here in Tucson. If that was a reality I would be the first one packing Miller's bags, otherwise based on where we are today extend Miller with a University friendly buyout plan and call it a day.

Had no clue Brad Stevens pops was a surgeon here. Pretty sure we’d all help Miller packs his bags for BS.

But wouldn’t it be a hoot to see Kerri coaching the team?

You guys can't seriously think BS would come to AZ. That makes zero sense.

Postmaster wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:48 pm But wouldn’t it be a hoot to see Kerri coaching the team?

Heck yea, as an interim if Miller was fired. How fantastic that would be!

Although JeT and Murph are deserving to be interim.

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:55 pm You guys can't seriously think BS would come to AZ. That makes zero sense.

Brad Stevens? No way that happens

Dosia wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 5:15 pm

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:55 pm You guys can't seriously think BS would come to AZ. That makes zero sense.

Brad Stevens? No way that happens

If Miller is somehow not retained, I think we're all in for a rude awakening in terms of who we can realistically get at the moment. This is not like 2009.

I'm not sure why everyone is so concerned. They announced a meeting would occur soon and that they would have a good talk. That to me meant what does Miller need in order to succeed. Goodman is a joke so what he said was just to get clicks. I want Sean as a coach and I believe the boosters do too.

As mentioned earlier, the window to shitcan or leave Miller hanging out to dry has expired.

Only damage can come from making a move now. I don’t see it.

My guess is 3 year extension with a very university-friendly buyout plan after year 2. If we are back into national relevance keep him, if not, then bye.

Again, just a guess. But I’m a big Miller supporter and think we will be back to having a sweet 16 or better by the 2023 tourney.

I think they need t extend, but there has to be language that covers school, ie the Cole’s, if Miller gets proven to have really broken the rules.


Journalism is so bad. They write a tidbit about Dr. Stevens but include a photo of his son.
Plus the wrong spelling of “to”, or they left out “to”.
Seems like lazy editing.

Credit to Scheer for pointing this out, but I love how everyone is getting on Heeke's case in the replies about extending Miller.

Thamels take:

https://sports.yahoo.com/coaching-carou ... 46911.html

1. Has Sean Miller coached his last game at Arizona?
This is considered a 50-50 proposition. The confluence of looming NCAA sanctions, pedestrian performance (17-9, 11-9 Pac-12) and a looming decision on Miller’s future with just one year remaining on his contract have created a pressure point. Here are the options: the school is going to decide to fire him, there will be a mutual parting of ways or some type of toothless extension lacking significant guaranteed money that would enable the fifth season of this awkward tap dance. (Predictably, there’s no imminent clarity on the severity of NCAA sanctions in sight.)

Miller’s ability to navigate the self-inflicted mine-field of both the federal investigation and subsequent plodding NCAA investigation have been more impressive than anything the Wildcats have done on the court since 2017. Arizona hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since the federal investigation went public, although it was projected as a No. 5 seed before the 2020 tournament was canceled.

If there weren’t diminishing returns on the court, the argument for Arizona to muscle through another year with Miller may be more prominent. But Arizona’s middling program trajectory and the school’s decision to self-impose an NCAA ban this year are signs the Miller era is sputtering to an unsatisfying finish. We should know better in the next few weeks where that finish line is, as Arizona’s season is already over.

Miller, 52, looks exhausted by it all. Could he expedite his inevitable spin through the NBA — a la Kelvin Sampson — and return to college basketball as a rehabbed commodity? Or does he return and risk facing the NCAA comeuppance that’s long considered an inevitability?

The Athletic has reported five potential Level I NCAA violations in a case that’s currently amid the Independent Accountability Review Process. (That IARP process projects to somehow make NCAA investigations even slower, a nearly impossible feat achieved by the champions of bureaucracy.)

The outcome there is expected to be harsh when it does arrive. The variable will be if Miller is around when the NCAA finally decide

The outcome is expected to be harsh? That seems like stupid projection, but I guess that's what sportswriters do nowadays.

Saying Miller self inflicted these problems assumes he is guilty. He is guilty of failure to control his staff. Remember that this allegation of steering of athletes was not to enhance recruiting. We will see when the notice of allegations are published what exactly they are alleging for his involvement. I assume they will be less than what came out about Self.

I actually agree that these problems were self-inflicted. He knew who Book was, even if he didn't know the specifics of what Book was doing. Keeping him on staff long after his usefulness had waned was Miller's biggest mistake.

Book should have been fired when he was leaking information to Ace, instead of just being suspended. Wasn't that around 2014?

Postmaster wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:40 pm I think they need t extend, but there has to be language that covers school, ie the Cole’s, if Miller gets proven to have really broken the rules.


Journalism is so bad. They write a tidbit about Dr. Stevens but include a photo of his son.
Plus the wrong spelling of “to”, or they left out “to”.
Seems like lazy editing.

I don't see how Miller gets proven to have really broken rules is relevant. The school already knows everything about the allegations. It's not as though new evidence is presented. The investigation by the FBI was completed a long time ago -- and Arizona has all that. The university completed its own investigation a long time ago. There aren't new witnesses or testimony. There's no new information and the school has had it all for quite awhile. That's why Heeke & Robbins had the opportunity to decide on Miller's future years ago -- and they didn't act based on the weak case against Miller. The case hasn't changed. It's just someone else's opinion of whether to punish Arizona and Miller or not.


I can see adding some language in the contract extension should new evidence surface -- but that's always at play in any contract.

The longer the status quo exists, the greater the likelihood of Miller losing his patience on an extension and looking elsewhere to ensure his own job security. The longer the status quo exists, the greater the likelihood of current players getting nervous and exploring other options. The longer the status quo exists, the greater damage to recruiting. Heeke & Robbins have to know that the longer they wait, the greater damage they do to the program.

Dosia wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 5:15 pm

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:55 pm You guys can't seriously think BS would come to AZ. That makes zero sense.

Brad Stevens? No way that happens

GUERT!!!

Haha, Guert alert

dmjcat wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 9:20 am Thamels take:

https://sports.yahoo.com/coaching-carou ... 46911.html

1....Here are the options: the school is going to decide to fire him, there will be a mutual parting of ways or some type of toothless extension lacking significant guaranteed money that would enable the fifth season of this awkward tap dance.

Way to cover all the bases. Jeez. Really, only "extend him like normal" is missing.

The rest is silly. "Haven't won an NCAA game since 17" sounds ominous, but considering that only includes one season where we could have (2018), and only one more where we were able to potentially compete (2019), it's really silly. The bullshit of the ESPN report caused 2019...not a damn thing Miller could have done to make that team win, short of Mr. Miyagi-ing BW's faulty knee. There was no 2020, and with a 5 seed, we would have been high favorites to win a game and a coin flip to go to the 2nd weekend. So the whole "...since 2017" thing is a doom line that is less dark upon inspection. Prrtty sure this team would have been in the dance, as well, if able to play. We have had one season where it seemed shit was normal, at least for that year, and it ended with COVID, not a loss.

There are ways to spin this to sound so muvh more dire. I just think, up to Book/ESPN, so 2017, Miller averaged 20+ wins and a Sweet 16. Clear this bullshit, and there is no reason to think he has forgotten how to do that. He has done it here with top classes and in a total rebuild. Maybe judge him on what he can do, not what has happened in a totally bizarre 2018-now stretch which saw one team derailed by the FBI and ESPN thing, another team not allowed to become due to that, a 3rd derailed due to COVID, and a team this year held at home to make the NCAA happy after dragging this shit out for 3 years

Merkin wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 11:37 am

Dosia wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 5:15 pm

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:55 pm You guys can't seriously think BS would come to AZ. That makes zero sense.

Brad Stevens? No way that happens

GUERT!!!

It was a Large Pina Colada and Ranch Fries.

That’s it - a done deal. The Ranch Fries sealed it.

I think it’s pretty ridiculous for the press to call this a “middling” year. The man nearly won 20 games with an entirely new team, half of whom barely speak English (kidding), and with the prospect of postseason play snatched away from them halfway through.

17-9 with a winning conference record is way fucking better than a lot of coaches would have done under similar circumstances.

You know what's possibly going to be a weird experience, and a first for most of us? Following the career of a long-time AZ coach after he's no longer our coach. Is it possible things turn around and Sean ends up being our coach for the next 15 years? Sure. Is it probably more likely, though, that we could be looking at a coaching change before much longer? Think so.

I just want Miller to be extended long enough for TJ to take over after his NBA career is finished.

Would TJ want anything to do with us if we do Sean dirty?

I imagine TJ would say the same thing Kerr and Walton said, no thanks to an university coaching job due to all the NCAA rules and the grind of recruiting.

Chicat wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 3:51 pm I think it’s pretty ridiculous for the press to call this a “middling” year. The man nearly won 20 games with an entirely new team, half of whom barely speak English (kidding), and with the prospect of postseason play snatched away from them halfway through.

17-9 with a winning conference record is way fucking better than a lot of coaches would have done under similar circumstances.

Better year than Duke and Kentucky -- that's for damn sure.
And how about Hurley and ASU? What a fucking train wreck of a season in Tempe. A senior-laden team and media darling coach shit the bed this year -- lost at home to UTEP!
Ten wins so far this season, 4 of them against UW & Cal, with W's against Houston Baptist, Grand Canyon and a shitty Rhode Island team.

Merkin wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:02 pm I imagine TJ would say the same thing Kerr and Walton said, no thanks to an university coaching job due to all the NCAA rules and the grind of recruiting.

Just a hunch, but I suspect TJ may feel a stronger connection to the college game than Luke or Kerr.

Merkin wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:02 pm I imagine TJ would say the same thing Kerr and Walton said, no thanks to an university coaching job due to all the NCAA rules and the grind of recruiting.

A) Let’s not pretend NO ONE wants to coach college.
B) I bet Walton coaches in college at some point.

Chicat wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:17 pm

Merkin wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:02 pm I imagine TJ would say the same thing Kerr and Walton said, no thanks to an university coaching job due to all the NCAA rules and the grind of recruiting.

A) Let’s not pretend NO ONE wants to coach college.
B) I bet Walton coaches in college at some point.

I'm inclined to agree with (B) if for no other reason that Luke isn't exactly setting the world on fire with his NBA coaching. Sacramento is terrible, and I don't know how much longer he can keep that job without a pretty dramatic turnaround.

I imagine Luke would have numerous college coaching opportunities, if he decides to go that route. It's not hard to imagine him coaching in the Pac, actually.

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:32 pm

Chicat wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:17 pm

Merkin wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:02 pm I imagine TJ would say the same thing Kerr and Walton said, no thanks to an university coaching job due to all the NCAA rules and the grind of recruiting.

A) Let’s not pretend NO ONE wants to coach college.
B) I bet Walton coaches in college at some point.

I'm inclined to agree with (B) if for no other reason that Luke isn't exactly setting the world on fire with his NBA coaching. Sacramento is terrible, and I don't know how much longer he can keep that job without a pretty dramatic turnaround.

I imagine Luke would have numerous college coaching opportunities, if he decides to go that route. It's not hard to imagine him coaching in the Pac, actually.

I agree with you on all the points you make. I don’t think he will get another NBA head gig opportunity after getting fired twice so his options would be an NBA assistant role or a head role at a college. And the west coast seems like a natural fit.

If Miller was gone, Luke would be my first call.

NOA is out. Pretty much everything we already knew. No mention of Ayton. ESPN must be disappointed.

Nah, ESPN is ecstatic any time Arizona can be made the poster child for CBB corruption. Makes it easier to not talk about Duke paying Zion or Self begging Adidas to send bags of money to his recruits.

So there isn't one thing in the NOA that is directly tied to Miller. Just the very vague "not demonstrating he promoted compliance".

Heeke and Robbins fucked up not extending him before this came out. Now they will look like total fucking stooges no matter what they do.

If Miller is fired, all his former players will have nothing to do with the UofA. They need to extend his contract, even if the Cats are not allowed to compete in the postseason next year. I think the program would be in worse shape if Miller is fired.
Finally, I would rather have Pastner as the coach instead of Luke, and that's not saying much.

After reading the NOA, I’m shocked Miller hasn’t been extended.

Chicat wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:05 pm Heeke and Robbins fucked up not extending him before this came out. Now they will look like total fucking stooges no matter what they do.

Even if they had extended Miller, they still look like total fucking stooges for all the other idiotic decisions they've made.

Frybry02 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:52 pm After reading the NOA, I’m shocked Miller hasn’t been extended.

Yeah, this needs to happen now.

If there's anything Arizona athletics is good at this century, it's making ourselves look like idiots.

Could really use some news on this front. Feels like the program is in limbo.

Beachcat97 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 07, 2021 1:14 pm Could really use some news on this front. Feels like the program is in limbo.

That's because the school has shitty leadership.

This Guert video is pretty amazing. Thanks to whoever posted his eegee's tweet above.

WTF did I just watch?

Rocking the UA! Gumby sighting too.

Seems like the contract situation is going to drag on...

So Robbins has decided to go with the stupidest option. I wish we could fire this moron.

Certainly the most cowardly.

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice

Merkin wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 11:46 am Certainly the most cowardly.

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice