MBB: Northwest Conference

Started by The Show, March 06, 2005, 08:40:16 PM

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Gregory Sager

I don't know how Pat or Dave view Aurora, but I don't see it as a low-profile hire. The Spartans reach the D3 tourney fairly regularly -- and, as Wash U fans will sadly attest, the Spartans aren't always one-and-done patsies in the dance, either.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Greek Tragedy

Yes, Aurora has made the tournament the last two years and had a big upset win vs Wash U last year. Still hardly a high profile team. The NACC is also not high profile. Prior to their back to back tournament appearances, they had a barren spell of once in the previous 7 years.  And, no disrespect, but Airy is an assistant. It's not like Bridgeland is headed to the Chicago area. It's been a good 10 years since Aurora has been a regular participant in the tournament and even at that time, they were a one-and -done team. I don't know the complete tournament history of Aurora, I believe the NACC has been known for being a one bid, one and done NCAA tournament league. In fact, until Benedictine's recent success, the NACC may only have one or two tournament wins. Again, it's an assistant coach going to a low profile team in a low profile conference, in my opinion.
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Pat Coleman

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on April 13, 2019, 06:59:24 AM
Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on April 12, 2019, 08:25:36 PM
Surprised  no one mentioned it. Matt Airy has left Whitman to take over the reigns at Aurora.

I don't think anyone outside Whitman or "in the know" would know that. I didn't see anything on the basketball home page or on their Twitter and certainly not on this site. He's also "just" an assistant. May not be newsworthy? And what did you say in the SLIAC board? You can't write a release on every job change, "especially low-profile ones."

This was on the site as of April 9:
https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2018-19/contrib/201904095sndlh
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

Gregory Sager

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on April 13, 2019, 11:41:24 AM
Yes, Aurora has made the tournament the last two years and had a big upset win vs Wash U last year. Still hardly a high profile team. The NACC is also not high profile. Prior to their back to back tournament appearances, they had a barren spell of once in the previous 7 years.  And, no disrespect, but Airy is an assistant. It's not like Bridgeland is headed to the Chicago area. It's been a good 10 years since Aurora has been a regular participant in the tournament and even at that time, they were a one-and -done team. I don't know the complete tournament history of Aurora, I believe the NACC has been known for being a one bid, one and done NCAA tournament league. In fact, until Benedictine's recent success, the NACC may only have one or two tournament wins. Again, it's an assistant coach going to a low profile team in a low profile conference, in my opinion.

I didn't say that Aurora was a high-profile team. I just said that it wasn't a low-profile team like Blackburn. I'd say mid-profile. ;)

The NACC hasn't been around all that long, but if you also consider the two predecessor leagues that merged to form it (the NIIC and the LMC), NACC teams have had a lot more tourney success than just one or two victories aside from Benedictine's title-game run in '16. Benedictine made the Elite Eight back in '91. That was a very good team that I remember well, although it got stomped in the Elite Eight by the first of Bo Ryan's national championship teams at UW-Platteville.

Here's the tourney records of NACC members (aside from St. Norbert, of course):


school  apps  W-L (.pct)
Aurora  11  2-11 (.154)
Benedictine    8  6-8   (.429)
Concordia WI    3  0-3   (.000)
Edgewood    3  1-3   (.250)
Lakeland    1  0-1   (.000)
Marian    2  0-2   (.000)
MSOE    1  0-1   (.000)
Rockford    1  0-1   (.000)
Wisconsin Lutheran    1  0-1   (.000)
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

(509)Rat

I couldn't even have told you who Matt Airy was.

Yawn.

Greek Tragedy

Quote from: Pat Coleman on April 13, 2019, 11:46:15 AM
Quote from: Greek Tragedy on April 13, 2019, 06:59:24 AM
Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on April 12, 2019, 08:25:36 PM
Surprised  no one mentioned it. Matt Airy has left Whitman to take over the reigns at Aurora.

I don't think anyone outside Whitman or "in the know" would know that. I didn't see anything on the basketball home page or on their Twitter and certainly not on this site. He's also "just" an assistant. May not be newsworthy? And what did you say in the SLIAC board? You can't write a release on every job change, "especially low-profile ones."

This was on the site as of April 9:
https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2018-19/contrib/201904095sndlh

Sorry Pat. I didn't see this on the front page. Was it on the front page or possibly in the Coaching Carousel link?
Pointers
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TGHIJGSTO!!!

Pat Coleman

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on April 15, 2019, 09:31:28 AM
Quote from: Pat Coleman on April 13, 2019, 11:46:15 AM
Quote from: Greek Tragedy on April 13, 2019, 06:59:24 AM
Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on April 12, 2019, 08:25:36 PM
Surprised  no one mentioned it. Matt Airy has left Whitman to take over the reigns at Aurora.

I don't think anyone outside Whitman or "in the know" would know that. I didn't see anything on the basketball home page or on their Twitter and certainly not on this site. He's also "just" an assistant. May not be newsworthy? And what did you say in the SLIAC board? You can't write a release on every job change, "especially low-profile ones."

This was on the site as of April 9:
https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2018-19/contrib/201904095sndlh

Sorry Pat. I didn't see this on the front page. Was it on the front page or possibly in the Coaching Carousel link?

It's in the Coaching Carousel and since Aurora posted it as a news release, it's in the News Releases section on the home page.
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

If people asked Bridgeland how important Airy has been to the program ... you may get an eye-opening response. Airy has been integral with Whitman and how good they have been. I know Bridgeland thinks highly of Airy.

And from what I've seen, what I've been told, and the changing landscape of the midwest ... Aurora could be a program to watch. I am not expecting anything major the next year or two (who knows), but I would doubt they aren't in the conversation in at least that region soon enough.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

(509)Rat

Whitworth gets complacent and names assistant coach Jablonski new head coach. I am not impressed...

Greek Tragedy

Quote from: (509)Rat on April 26, 2019, 12:18:35 AM
Whitworth gets complacent and names assistant coach Jablonski new head coach. I am not impressed...

Sounds a little harsh. Admittedly, I don't know anything about the program, but based on the article, it doesn't seem like Jablonski just held a clipboard and handed out water. Maybe it's a safe pick. It's a winning program and this hire is a smooth transition assuring continuity. Jablonski has been there as long as Logie as well. Why start anew?
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TGHIJGSTO!!!

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Quote from: (509)Rat on April 26, 2019, 12:18:35 AM
Whitworth gets complacent and names assistant coach Jablonski new head coach. I am not impressed...

This might be the biggest miss you have had in a while. First off, he was the associate head coach and while titles may not mean a lot to some, I know that it means he had more responsibilities and was basically a secondary head coach. I have also been told he was named "coach in waiting" last year when he was a finalist for the L&C job. Furthermore, look at his resume and you will see he has plenty of experience.

I think it is a smart hire. You keep a man in the program who has been there for some of Whitworth's best years, who is respected and listened to by the players (from what I have seen), knows the program inside and out - along with recruiting, and probably has deserved some good head coaching jobs over the years (if he was interested).

They aren't complacent. They are being smart. Keep the program moving forward without missing a beat. As Greek Tragedy explained, Jablonski is not a "hold the clipboard and pass out water" (nor create unique handshakes) kind of associate head coach. This is a smart move by the Pirates.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

(509)Rat

Whitworth is slowly losing ground on Whitman in terms of recruiting. Ever since Hayford left, the talent has steadily dwindled. They either haven't gotten out of the first round or haven't even made the playoffs in the past 3 years. They have been in a steady decline. Why would I be impressed with the very real possibility of more of the same on the recruiting front and recent tourney results?

It's a safe pick. It's not a "we want to win a national championship" pick

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Quote from: (509)Rat on April 27, 2019, 12:08:00 AM
Whitworth is slowly losing ground on Whitman in terms of recruiting. Ever since Hayford left, the talent has steadily dwindled. They either haven't gotten out of the first round or haven't even made the playoffs in the past 3 years. They have been in a steady decline. Why would I be impressed with the very real possibility of more of the same on the recruiting front and recent tourney results?

It's a safe pick. It's not a "we want to win a national championship" pick

To be fair ... they went outside the circle to bring in Logie. Hayford somewhat knew that region from his previous coaching life. Logie jumped from the east coach (and D1) to Whitworth. That said and to be fair, Logie has set some impressive records in terms of coaching success. I understand your point about the last three years, but it wasn't like Logie failed in his eight seasons at the helm. No. They didn't have the same success in the end as Whitman has shown of late, but they only recently seemed to have slipped.

And from everything I've heard, Logie was very involved in recruiting - sometimes coaches let their assistants handle a lot and come in at the end.

Now you have a coach who at least has been involved in the recruiting. To your point, that slip in the last few years could be accurate  and if it is recruiting based there will probably be some pressure on Jablonski to figure that out.

However, I don't necessarily think it was recruiting in general. I think you can point to other things like the team seemed to always peak in early to mid-January, coast through February, and then get exposed in late February and in the NCAA Tournament. You also had some players who seemed to be excelling early in their careers and then just plateau later on. They seemed to take the conference for granted that they always would win and didn't seem to think the Whitman arrival was "real." And I think scheduling hurt them. I would love to see better non-conference scheduling (other than a couple of games in Vegas) to get them ready for the grind and later the NCAA Tournament.

I don't think that is all on recruiting. Sure, Jablonski is going to have maybe some challenges to face. I think they found a good person to run the program, though I can understand frustration for not opening the search. You never know who may be interested (look at what George Fox women did; that surprised me). But again, I think Jablonski may surprise some people.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)

Quote from: (509)Rat on April 27, 2019, 12:08:00 AM
Whitworth is slowly losing ground on Whitman in terms of recruiting. Ever since Hayford left, the talent has steadily dwindled. They either haven't gotten out of the first round or haven't even made the playoffs in the past 3 years. They have been in a steady decline. Why would I be impressed with the very real possibility of more of the same on the recruiting front and recent tourney results?

It's a safe pick. It's not a "we want to win a national championship" pick

I'm not sure the recruiting gap is true.  The players Whitworth had last year were just as good, if not better, talent-wise.  They didn't have as many of them, but Whitman didn't plan on all those guys either.  It's not like Bridgeland planned to have a 15 man rotation and recruited to it.

Whitworth is a great school with a stellar reputation well beyond athletics.  I don't think they're really losing ground.  Isaiah Hernandez might be the best player in the conference next year.  Not the end of the world - at least give the guy a chance, at least.
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