TheTastyGreek

Cross is in the NIT. This rules out a lot of the names people were kicking around last week.

Are you straight freelance now, or was this just a convenient weekend opportunity?

Signed. Not going anywhere unless we let him or he sits out a year. http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/111016aaa.html

...and, sadly, it turns out Kaspar sucks at coaching. Troy wins. 17 turnovers, 6-17 from long distance for Texas State. Frankly, I think Kaspar needs to quit coaching streetball and letting his team just jack up 3s. Maybe next year, he can instill some discipline and actually coach defense. Too late, though. They'll always have lost this game, and he'll always suck. It's a damn shame.

Not surprising that Texas State would come out with an effective plan and good execution. Kaspar is a very good coach. Unless the Bobcats lose tomorrow, in which case Kaspar sucks.

Again, I don't make the rules. They lost, so he's a lousy coach. That's how it works. It's a shame, but that's the law. He sucks now. Or, again. Or, even more. Depending on your interpretation. l will give you a +1, though. Because I do feel bad about the situation.

Man, that's too bad. I thought Scott Cross was a really good coach, but I guess it turns out he sucks. Can't deliver in the clutch, can't get his team up for the games that matter, can't win even with superior talent. Lost by 20+ points to a "lesser" team! Bummer. But, those are the rules. He sucks, and he sucks forever. Congrats, Danny Kaspar! I hope you don't lose a Sun Belt tournament final. I'd hate to find out that you actually suck, too.

I'd feel more comfortable with the fern as a well paid assistant. No disrespect to your gardening. Here's another idea I had: The Instruction Manual from my old copy of NBA Jam Tournament Edition for Super Nintendo. Positives: It literally breaks down in specific detail how to play successful basketball in a way that young kids can easily understand and incorporate. And it has been as close to "the game" as anyone can possibly be for over two decades. Negatives: Can today's players relate to the used instruction manual for a video game made in 1994, when incoming recruits weren't born until 1998 or 1999? Will NBA video game coaching philosophies from the early 90s still work in the modern college game? What sort of assistants will it bring along? Am I sure which box it's in over in my mom and dad's attic? What do you guys think: used video game instructions for our next head coach... Thumbs up or down? I should probably add that compliance would need to be vigilant to make sure (potential) Coach Used Video Game Instructions didn't rely on cheat codes to bring in high profile recruits like P-Funk or Air Dog. And we'd need to stop our sharpshooters from hitting 3 straight baskets, or they might spontaneously combust and die in flames on the court. Other than that, any red flags?

I love you guys. If we could hire the concept of friendship as our next basketball coach, even I would get behind it, 100%.

Good points, good points. Some great serious sports talk here. I feel like this is a really worthwhile use of our time and attention. Just spitballing here, but an outside-the-box name to consider... What about Big Bird? + He's good with kids. + As the cliche goes... You can't teach height, and he's definitely got it. - Fictional. - No thumbs. Can he teach fundamentals? What do we think? Big Bird: yea or nay?

Johnny Oates. Let's discuss. Pros? Texas ties. Known name. Proven winner. Lots of head coach experience. Cons? No college experience. Never coached basketball. Died of cancer over 12 years ago. Thoughts?

Guys, enough with this twitter account. Andy Katz, Jeff Goodman, Vito? Rumor away. This other crap is meaningless.

A site that shut down a few years back (MidMajority?) actually divided teams by what they called the "red line", specifically a certain level of basketball funding average for a conference. For schools that were above the red line when not lumped in with their conference (like Memphis in CUSA days or Gonzaga), they were considered separate from their below-the-red-line conference mates. Every year, they would reevaluate where that financial line belonged, give you a pretty solid metric to weigh conference strength relative to spending, and then call out potential or in-progress "red line upsets" on a nightly basis. But... They shut down.

And we started the SBC tournament in the 80s, watching our rpi drop after every win except possibly Troy (not 100% sure about them).

Johnny is not coming back. There's no way that Wren Baker will make his first hire the same one that was Rick's first hire. Whether or not anyone thinks it makes sense, whether or not anyone happens to think we can "do better"... I can't imagine it even being a consideration. Peering into the crystal ball, here's what I suspect happens with JJ. I think he probably takes a year away from coaching, unless someone in the CUSA/Sun Belt/Southland footprint (ideally, somewhere in Louisiana or east/central/south Texas) loses a coach up the ladder and he gets a chance to take over a program that isn't in a rebuilding phase. I think next year, he may go after an opening in his geographic footprint, either a rebuild or a replacement, depending on who gets fired or poached (Southern Miss? USA? Texas State?). And if he wants to stay in coaching but doesn't find the right fit by the end of the 2018 coaching carousel, he probably goes to Lamar and helps out Tic Price the same way Tic Price worked here before getting back into the head coach world.

I think if there's one thing we learned from football, where current head coach Doug Meacham beat out interviewee Mark Mangino to get our job.... It's that randos on twitter are never wrong. There's no way a coach live in the tournament has a "done" deal for a mid major rebuild. None. Because even if one side thinks so (and I doubt it) right now, watch how fast it gets undone with an NCAA upset or a strong showing. Even if Baker is after Harper, and even if Harper is interested, and even if the search firm has contacted his agent... There's no way this is "done" at this point. So... Take some deep breaths before we litigate the pros and cons of the guy.

Nope.

Bummer. Mostly for the players, who are now certain to end up getting strung out on heroin and dropping out of school by the end of the week.

Dearest Benford, you must leave us. Why, I cannot say. Where, you cannot know. How you will get there, we haven't decided yet. But one thing I can tell you, any time I hear the wind blow it will whisper the name "Benford". And so let us part with a love that will echo through the ages. ---Woodrow (a.k.a.: Wren) P.S.: I am gay.

A trench is just a grave, but with an open top. Like a convertible to hold a dead program.

I just assumed this whole thing was a front so he could sponsor a Denton little league squad and try to claim he got a baseball team going before Wren Baker could.

Ricky V's Sushi Shack: Mixing the delicious taste of Jimmy Johns with the leadership and vision of UNT athletics. How could this possibly go wrong? Hey, if he wants this fan base to love him, the answer is simple: Allow customers to cook their own food and hang out in the parking lot. If that happens, a lot of folks here will consider him the greatest restaurateur in Denton history.

I think we need to respect our fans and their deliberate, thorough evaluation process. It may take a year, or two, or five for some fans to fully evaluate the state of things and make a decision on whether or not to support UNT basketball. And that's the right way to handle things. We're all UNT grads, and the correct way to handle this basketball program is the same way the school has taught us is best.