Cluess

There are some who want him and I respect that. But if it happened I better not hear complaints about recruiting fringe guys and never playing defense.
 
[quote="Moose" post=339011]There are some who want him and I respect that. But if it happened I better not hear complaints about recruiting fringe guys and never playing defense.[/quote]

Are you talking about fringe character or fringe talents?
 
[quote="Moose" post=339011]There are some who want him and I respect that. But if it happened I better not hear complaints about recruiting fringe guys and never playing defense.[/quote]

Good luck with that!
 
Obviously I prefer BH to Tim Cluess. And, frankly, Pitino is pure fantasy.
That said, we have to move fast if BH declines our offer, or risk losing more guys on the roster and any chance to snare a couple Grad Transfers, or a late-deciding HS kid.
Soooo, Cluess is a legitimate HC, works hard, and has achieved consistent success at the mid-major level.
Yes, we have no bananas.
I’ve got no clue if Tim can succeed at the Big East level.
But one thing that’s highly likely, is that he’ll work 24/7 to try to succeed.
St. John’s is ‘personal’ to him and I must say, I love that.
Also, I bet maybe Jared Grasso may rejoin Tim as AC here and maybe Mike Cragg weighs in to bring in Andy Borman and Mark Hsu.
Again, it may not work but what are our other choices that can be acted on ‘fast’?
IF we have others, then we best pursue them very fast.
If Hurley demurs and there’s no other ‘Plan B’, then the ‘Plan B’ we have is our best option.
Okay, kill me.
 
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Cluess wouldn't be my first choice, but to his credit winning 3-5 games in a row to get an auto bid is definitely tough. I don't care what level the competition is. He has done that 4 years in a row. Just look at how many at-large teams in mediocre conferences lost their conference tournaments this year. Gonzaga (a #1 seed!), VCU, Belmont, Washington, Arizona St, Nevada, etc.

Would his style translate to the Big East? Could he recruit? I don't know. But what he has done at Iona is extremely impressive. I actually think being in a one bid league and consistently making the NCAAT is MUCH tougher than getting at-large bids in a major conference.
 
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[quote="Adam" post=339024]Cluess wouldn't be my first choice, but to his credit winning 3-5 games in a row to get an auto bid is definitely tough. I don't care what level the competition is. He has done that 4 years in a row. Just look at how many at-large teams in mediocre conferences lost their conference tournaments this year. Gonzaga (a #1 seed!), VCU, Belmont, Washington, Arizona St, Nevada, etc.

Would his style translate to the Big East? Could he recruit? I don't know. But what he has done at Iona is extremely impressive. I actually think being in a one bid league and consistently making the NCAAT is MUCH tougher than getting at-large bids in a major conference.[/quote]

I agree Adam. Cluess isn’t my first choice either, but man we’ve gotta face reality.
Time is running short.
IF we have no other realistic choice that can be inked fast, then guess what?
Tim becomes our ‘best’ choice.
And Cragg might have leverage with adding Borman and/ or Hsu to the Staff to go with Grasso who may want to rejoin his mentor.
Who knows?
But that’d be a very good and hard working Staff imo.
 
If he is left alone, LOL he will have this thing in right direction by year four and not only in year 4 but going forward.
 
So a guy who has.....
1. Won everywhere he's been including high school, JUCO, DII, DI.
2. Whose resume makes John Beilein look like he took a shortcut.
3. Built a program from nothing (see St. Mary's, Suffolk CC, and CW Post)
4. Taken a good mid-major program and turned it into a conference juggernaut.
5. Can prepare his team for tournaments since he's won THREE games in THREE days for the last FOUR years in March - a skill even the great Louie was terrible at.

This guy is not good enough for a program that's been on various stages of life support for 25 years?

Sure, his teams aren't exactly defensive minded, BUT HE WINS.
Sure, you may not like how he composes himself on the sidelines, BUT HE WINS.
Sure, he had that awful, almost-historic loss to BYU in the NCAAs, BUT HE'S BEEN IN THE DANCE 6 OF 9 YEARS.
 
I think TC is our sole ‘Plan B’ option ready to go ‘in case’, sooo, if BH demurs, I say go for Cluess...and Norman and Hsu and maybe Grasso.
 
[quote="MainMan" post=339031]So a guy who has.....
1. Won everywhere he's been including high school, JUCO, DII, DI.
2. Whose resume makes John Beilein look like he took a shortcut.
3. Built a program from nothing (see St. Mary's, Suffolk CC, and CW Post)
4. Taken a good mid-major program and turned it into a conference juggernaut.
5. Can prepare his team for tournaments since he's won THREE games in THREE days for the last FOUR years in March - a skill even the great Louie was terrible at.

This guy is not good enough for a program that's been on various stages of life support for 25 years?

Sure, his teams aren't exactly defensive minded, BUT HE WINS.
Sure, you may not like how he composes himself on the sidelines, BUT HE WINS.
Sure, he had that awful, almost-historic loss to BYU in the NCAAs, BUT HE'S BEEN IN THE DANCE 6 OF 9 YEARS.[/quote]

Do you understand how low level the MAAC is? It can be argued that it’s the weakest conference many years. Beilein proved himself in the A-10 before getting shot in the Big East. Cluess knows how to get better players at lower levels and he takes chances on kids that don’t tend to work at higher levels.

Let him prove it at a CAA or A-10 school first. Then we can talk.

You don’t fire the face of you program and eat 4 mill to hire a coach that hasn’t coached above the MAAC level.
 
[quote="Marillac" post=339040][quote="MainMan" post=339031]So a guy who has.....
1. Won everywhere he's been including high school, JUCO, DII, DI.
2. Whose resume makes John Beilein look like he took a shortcut.
3. Built a program from nothing (see St. Mary's, Suffolk CC, and CW Post)
4. Taken a good mid-major program and turned it into a conference juggernaut.
5. Can prepare his team for tournaments since he's won THREE games in THREE days for the last FOUR years in March - a skill even the great Louie was terrible at.

This guy is not good enough for a program that's been on various stages of life support for 25 years?

Sure, his teams aren't exactly defensive minded, BUT HE WINS.
Sure, you may not like how he composes himself on the sidelines, BUT HE WINS.
Sure, he had that awful, almost-historic loss to BYU in the NCAAs, BUT HE'S BEEN IN THE DANCE 6 OF 9 YEARS.[/quote]

Do you understand how low level the MAAC is? It can be argued that it’s the weakest conference many years. Beilein proved himself in the A-10 before getting shot in the Big East. Cluess knows how to get better players at lower levels and he takes chances on kids that don’t tend to work at higher levels.

Let him prove it at a CAA or A-10 school first. Then we can talk.

You don’t fire the face of you program and eat 4 mill to hire a coach that hasn’t coached above the MAAC level.[/quote]

Great points, Marillac.
Here’s my question: IF Hurley says ‘nyet’, how long do we wait for a better ‘Plan B’ than Cluess?
1 month, 2 months, longer?
Say g’bye to the roster and any late-signing recruits.
You’ve written off all of next year and likely the following year, so you’re 2 years in the hole and repeating the Mullin era.
By that time, Cluess—the hard worker that he is, with a great staff filled by Cragg—will have righted the ship by about a year.
Hey, I’m not advocating this as Plan A, but I am saying that the sole ‘Plan B’ we have ready to go (Cluess), is our best option for success.
 
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Tim Cluess is 60 years old and has 0 NCAA tournament wins. If we bought out Mullin and fired Lavin for Cluess than this program should just fold up shop.

Cluess should not even be in the discussion. If Bobby Hurley and Slick Rick are plan A , Cluess should be plan ZZZ right after 'no coach' and right before Tommy Amaker.
 
[quote="RedStormRising2" post=339051]Tim Cluess is 60 years old and has 0 NCAA tournament wins. If we bought out Mullin and fired Lavin for Cluess than this program should just fold up shop.

Cluess should not even be in the discussion. If Bobby Hurley and Slick Rick are plan A , Cluess should be plan ZZZ right after 'no coach' and right before Tommy Amaker.[/quote]

He lost to UNC by 15 with a depleted roster after winning, I forget, 3 games in 3 days to win the MAAC with his two best players gone and ‘coaching’ his team to critical wins.
I don’t care if it’s CYO.
That says ‘something’.
How many points did we lose by to Butler, Providence, DePaul, Xavier, G*town, Marquette with the ‘best starting 5 I. The cointry’?
Thank you.
I rest my case for the best ‘Plan B’ IF we have nada else.
Judge bring on the jury.
 
I'd take Amaker way before Cluess. He proved himself at Harvard...a much better program than Iona IMO. Played tougher comp.
 
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=339056]I'd take Amaker way before Cluess. He proved himself at Harvard...a much better program than Iona IMO. Played tougher comp.[/quote]

Betch-ya Cluess beats Amaker 2 games outta 3 any day of the week IF Cluess has 90% of the talent Amaker has.
No question in my mind.
Cluess can coach.
 
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