Grade The Mccasland Hire - End of 1st Non-Conf. Sch.

BillySee58 · December 24, 2017

Inspired by Cerebus' periodic polls of Littrell. Where do you stand with things on Mccasland as of now?

Edited December 24, 2017 by BillySee58

Mean Green 93-98 · December 24, 2017

C+. I firmly believe he will be at least an A- coach before all is said and done, but I need more of a body of work to give him a higher grade than I did.

greenminer · December 24, 2017

Could be Wren’s best hire.

southsideguy · December 24, 2017

Gave him an A because I like that he coaches his players and we look 100% better than last year. Might take two years for him to get this team up and running but I dont think it will because lack of coaching. Maybe watching the previous coaches had set a low bar for him. My final answer is A.

GrandGreen · December 25, 2017

The poll is obviously about were NT is right now. I can't imagine anybody doing any better at this point.

Cooley · December 25, 2017

C+, which can be upgraded (or downgraded) with more games. 7-6 currently on the year.

Won all expected games (Eureka College, Bethune Cookman, Rogers State, Grambling State, Indiana State and McNeese State). I had San Diego as a toss up from what I knew of them.

Lost all expected games (Nebraska, Georgia Tech, OU, UTA, Georgetown) Lost to a below .500 UTRGV team at home (which I projected as a Win)

Unlike many, I refuse to give McClasland extra credit because Tony Benford was bad and he doesn't appear to be. Instead, my expectation is to see similar results enjoyed at Arkansas State in his lone season there. Still early

I really like the addition of Roosevelt Smart and Duffy. Gibson will contribute in the future. Don't like what I have seen in bringing in Arikawe and Michael Miller as Juco guys. Juco's should be impact guys or major contributors. The Russian's situation was somewhat of a gamble and hasn't paid off this year. Not sure why we have a transfer (J. Simmons) using up a valuable scholarship this year to play next year. (Looked like a modest contributor while at ArkSt)

Inherited a nice PG in Woolridge, Lawson and a nice prospect in Zach Simmons. Lawson played better last year but Shane Temara is playing much better. Maybe its just the adjustment to a new system at this point.

I think we missed a golden opportunity to add to the mix with 7 scholarships for this team and not getting production out of 4 of them (for various reasons). Coaching is better but recruiting is equally important.

I'm sure he will end up being a good hire. Just depends on what we look like 3-5 years down the road. I was a student during 3 consecutive 20+ seasons under Bill Blakely; with the top talent the state had to offer and having the best program in Texas. Attendance was at an all-time high and the Pit was electric. It's on my bucket list to see those times again. Hopefully this coach can help move the needle.

BillySee58 · December 25, 2017

6 hours ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

C+. I firmly believe he will be at least an A- coach before all is said and done, but I need more of a body of work to give him a higher grade than I did.

So does this mean an A- or better is not possible at this point, for you? Piggy-backing off of GrandGreen's point, this is more of a progress report grade than a conclusive grade.

I think A- or A because he brought in a player who is having the best scoring season of any underclassman we've had since our all-time leading scorer over 15 years ago, plus 3 other underclassman starters, has 3 key players sitting out the year and has our team playing close against good teams on the road while being young and undermanned, even beating a top 60 rpi team on the road.

All those factors show us on the trajectory to being a top CUSA team and being able to knock off power conference teams. If the wheels fall off or we go backwards, then the grade here can change. Not trying to argue your grade. Just trying to be more clear on the question.

Mean Green 93-98 · December 25, 2017

2 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

The poll is obviously about were NT is right now. I can't imagine anybody doing any better at this point.

9 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

So does this mean an A- or better is not possible at this point, for you? Piggy-backing off of GrandGreen's point, this is more of a progress report grade than a conclusive grade.

I wouldn't go that far. But an A- requires a decent amount of "wow"-ing, and we haven't had that yet.

Having just read Cooley's post, he pretty much sums up everything I'm thinking (plus a couple things that I hadn't thought of before) better than I could. McCasland is 7-6 right now. Under the circumstances, I'm not displeased with that; but I can't give him an A for it. If we were 10-3, I would give him a solid A even at this early stage.

GrandGreen · December 26, 2017

22 hours ago, Cooley said:

C+, which can be upgraded (or downgraded) with more games. 7-6 currently on the year.

Won all expected games (Eureka College, Bethune Cookman, Rogers State, Grambling State, Indiana State and McNeese State). I had San Diego as a toss up from what I knew of them.

Lost all expected games (Nebraska, Georgia Tech, OU, UTA, Georgetown) Lost to a below .500 UTRGV team at home (which I projected as a Win)

Unlike many, I refuse to give McClasland extra credit because Tony Benford was bad and he doesn't appear to be. Instead, my expectation is to see similar results enjoyed at Arkansas State in his lone season there. Still early

I really like the addition of Roosevelt Smart and Duffy. Gibson will contribute in the future. Don't like what I have seen in bringing in Arikawe and Michael Miller as Juco guys. Juco's should be impact guys or major contributors. The Russian's situation was somewhat of a gamble and hasn't paid off this year. Not sure why we have a transfer (J. Simmons) using up a valuable scholarship this year to play next year. (Looked like a modest contributor while at ArkSt)

Inherited a nice PG in Woolridge, Lawson and a nice prospect in Zach Simmons. Lawson played better last year but Shane Temara is playing much better. Maybe its just the adjustment to a new system at this point.

I think we missed a golden opportunity to add to the mix with 7 scholarships for this team and not getting production out of 4 of them (for various reasons). Coaching is better but recruiting is equally important.

I'm sure he will end up being a good hire. Just depends on what we look like 3-5 years down the road. I was a student during 3 consecutive 20+ seasons under Bill Blakely; with the top talent the state had to offer and having the best program in Texas. Attendance was at an all-time high and the Pit was electric. It's on my bucket list to see those times again. Hopefully this coach can help move the needle.

I don't know how you have been a fan for as long as you have, because no coaches are going to come close to your standards. Blakeley wouldn't come close to your standards. Blakeley's success was mostly based on inherited players and he had a ton of misses on his own recruits.

Jones was a good coach for NT, but his recruiting was mediocre at best until the end of his NT career. He also lost almost all the big oc games and was a little over .500 in conference. He did have a talent of peaking the team at conference tourney time.

Benford is a great recruiter who can't coach. However this is all in the past.

I am very happy with the progress that NT has shown under McCasland. NT's rpi has moved from 335 to a current 193 which is sixth best in CUSA. Not many quality wins, however San Diego rpi is 104 with an 8-3 record qualifies. Getting beat away by OU 10-1, UTA 8-4, Georgetown 10-1, Nebraska 9-5 and Georgia Tech 5-6 are definitely losses but none as in the past were uncontested losses. The one loss at home was also to a team that was favored at the time.

Records can always be better, but I think McCaslands' start has been exceptional. That ASU team he coached last year is now 3-8 without him.

This first conference road trip against two teams currently rated below NT will tell a lot. My forecast for this team was to move up to about to the middle of the conference. but now I expect more.

Edited December 26, 2017 by GrandGreen

Cooley · December 26, 2017

Expecting the same results (no more, no less) as what he did last year is not high expectations. My point is to not judge this coach on what Tony Benford did or not do. Instead, judge him on what he did at Ark. St.

Blakeley did not miss on many recruits when he took over. In fact, with the nucleus he inherited he brought in Weasel Johnson to run the point and as we know, Weasel became the best point guard during my time. Blakeley never had 4 guys come into a class and not be productive.

Blakeley in subsequent years brought in Charles McMillian, Waymond Lister, Jon Manning and others. The framework was in place and he built on it. Again, I’m not beating up on this coach but we have missed a golden opportunity to really upgrade this roster to compete this year.

I never said anything about Johnny Jones and I lead the attack about his recruiting when he first took over. I also didn’t give him credit for improving a bad record from the previous coach.

GrandGreen · December 26, 2017

12 minutes ago, Cooley said:

Expecting the same results (no more, no less) as what he did last year is not high expectations. My point is to not judge this coach on what Tony Benford did or not do. Instead, judge him on what he did at Ark. St.

Blakeley did not miss on many recruits when he took over. In fact, with the nucleus he inherited he brought in Weasel Johnson to run the point and as we know, Weasel became the best point guard during my time. Blakeley never had 4 guys come into a class and not be productive.

Blakeley in subsequent years brought in Charles McMillian, Waymond Lister, Jon Manning and others. The framework was in place and he built on it. Again, I’m not beating up on this coach but we have missed a golden opportunity to really upgrade this roster to compete this year.

I never said anything about Johnny Jones and I lead the attack about his recruiting when he first took over. I also didn’t give him credit for improving a bad record from the previous coach.

Yeah that framework was the best class probably ever recruited by NT that included 3 of the top 5 recruits in Texas high schools plus a juco all american and Carl Jones one of the best off guards in NT history. Yes, he added Johnson and won twenty games with the nucleus he inherited for 3 straight years and didn't do much after that.

Blakeley missed on a lot of recruits, go over the old lists I know you have them.

drycreek · December 26, 2017

good hire---just give him a little time

flyonthewall · December 26, 2017

I have to say that this is far and away Bakers best hire in the three major sports at North Texas. He has the most lifetime wins in the three major sports of any hire that Baker has made here, therefore he must be the best hire.

Harry · December 26, 2017

Conference performance needs to be in this evaluation. I remain cautiously optimistic.

flyonthewall · December 26, 2017

1 hour ago, Harry said:

Conference performance needs to be in this evaluation. I remain cautiously optimistic.

He still has the least losses of any Baker hire in conference, therefore, he must be the best hire in the Baker era.

Matt from A700 · December 26, 2017

UNT had a very tough road schedule and could had won against Oklahoma, UTA, and Georgetown. These are road games that I think we will be able to pull out in our weaker C-USA schedule. Was not holding my breath to win a single road game before the season but here we are with a winning record before conference play. I think Benford only did that in 2013. In two months we have to grade considering all of the circumstances, especially playing with a mostly new team, I give Mac 2.0 a solid A.

jdennis82 · December 27, 2017

During the off-season and non-conference slate, I wanted to see evidence of a program culture change - both on and off the court. I think we've seen evidences of exactly that.

To get an A, there would have needed to be a noteworthy upset win (Neb, GaTech, Geogetown, UTA)

Gets a B+ from me and I remain excited that he'll have the squad as a dangerous out in the CUSA tourney come March

TIgreen01 · December 29, 2017

All good points brought up in this thread. However, I give the hire an ‘A’ at this point simply due the fact that the team is now watchable for the first time since JJ left. We clearly have some talent gaps that need addressing, but this team is scrappy and playing better fundamentally than any UNT team in a while.

Maybe I’m an easy grader, but after where we’ve been I’m easy to please at this point.

Wag Tag · December 29, 2017

Nice to be able to look at the schedule and predict winnable games. Haven’t been able to do that in the last few years! B+

AustinFromUNT · December 29, 2017

We were 8-22 last year. We’re now 8-6. That seems like a pretty nice improvement so far.

southsideguy · December 29, 2017

35 minutes ago, Wag Tag said:

Nice to be able to look at the schedule and predict winnable games. Haven’t been able to do that in the last few years! B+

We were a winnable game for everyone else so predicting was not that hard.

Mean Green Matt · December 29, 2017

Maybe no huge upset wins, but this team is leaps and bounds above last year based on the eye test. Have a hard time giving anything less than a B+ at this point.

jredallas · December 29, 2017

On 12/24/2017 at 2:59 PM, Mean Green 93-98 said:

C+. I firmly believe he will be at least an A- coach before all is said and done, but I need more of a body of work to give him a higher grade than I did.

Venson · December 29, 2017

I do not know very much about basketball and will not pretend to know. What I do know is we have already equaled our record from all of last year and we are only halfway through the season. I know that Freshman from Waco has been hurt since the Nebraska game. I know the Russian was just cleared and he is being redshirted this year. I watched them play last night and it seems they may need a little more time in the weight room because down in the paint, it seems they were being out muscled. So, with all that, I give him a solid B+. I am sure when it is all said and done, he will be an A.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Venson
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