Thoughts for this week and going into 2019-2020--HCDM centric

[Red Rocker]

No matter what our record so far this year, we have to win this Tournament to dance. At this point, there is nothing to be nervous about and no high rank to blow. Aside from playing an extra game, mentally this is about the best place this team could be. This is the most winnable tournament in years.

If Key and Zach just play solid and we keep the stupid fouls to a minimum, ISU can win it. The guards don’t have be spectacular just play within their game and we have a bonafide chance.

Hopefully they feel they have something to prove and just take the business like approach. Block out any emotion and just roll.

 

[BallwinBird2012]

I don't mind Dan promoting Yak, honestly. If you're a good assistant, P6 teams are going to find you anyway, and, as several others have mentioned, turnover with assistants is just part of the beast in ALL collegiate athletics. Not too many lifelong assistants, especially at mid-majors.

I see it more as a recruiting tool for getting that next quality assistant coach. You want your current players to make it to the league to sell your next recruit that they can make it too. I see assistant coaches moving on to bigger jobs similarly. It sucks because you're losing good coaches, but it may help you get the next great assistant, and I'd personally take that over an inferior coach who sticks around forever (much like some view Dan). Obviously, it doesn't always work out that way, but I think that's the idea behind it anyway...

 

[redbirdron1]

Friends,

I sent the below to HCDM about 2 weeks ago. Thought I'd share and I'd suggest if you really care about the program and in my case, I truly
want Dan to remain as our head coach. Have a look.....

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

Coach Dan Muller,

Good morning to you sir. My name is (deleted for the purpose of this Redbird posting), a passionate ISU grad and supporter of Men’s Basketball. Above all Coach, I want nothing more than consistent success for you as I’ve always felt you were a perfect person to represent our University and lead Men’s B-Ball.
Some fans are very disgruntled and of course the 2 losses to BU hasn’t helped. My take is we came out of the blocks very slow this year with the poorest defensive skills I had witnessed from a Muller coached team. 4 returning starters and other experienced squad members……thought we’d improve in short order but that hasn’t been the case. Our team was marketed as a contender for the MVC but from Day 1, it just hasn’t materialized into a quality product. Good kids, great staff but the outputs just don’t match what all Bird fans had dreamed.
Coach – I’m not an experienced basketball guy like you but my experience, some at least in Management and my 62 years of life give me the comfort to suggest input to performance improvement. These points are an assessment of your 7 years and not just a knee jerk reaction to the current group.

1. Please, stop settling for the undisciplined 3-point shot. The kids that come to ISU are not gifted enough to shoot anything other than a squared up, step in shot to the hoop. That takes ball movement and crisp passing to attain the correct shot. All too often we settle for the undisciplined shot behind the arc. It’s been an aggravation for your 7 years.
2. Your offense is generic – we need 5 kids on the half court moving and constantly screening for one another. The perimeter weave is easy to guard and you’re settling by running that offense. I see no back-door cuts, nor do I see an offense that requires touches in the paint. Find something different than our present half court game plan. Make it difficult and exhausting for the opponent. You’ll need a fresh set of substitutes coming off the bench to run this effectively and with energy/focus. Yes, this is a disciplined offense with smart kids knowing what type of shot to take. Kids with basketball IQ and they must be tireless.
3. To run a savvy, tough to guard offense……. you need the smart PG. Enough said – you know that and other than Paris we have NOT had that player and it took PL 2.5 years to truly understand and succeed at his role. We must focus on the 4-year player Coach.
We all tire of the late game mishaps and poor on court decision making.
4. Defense – many say they wish our kids played hard nosed D like their Coach played in his days. Well, that may where we need to start in recruiting the young man who is coachable, tough minded and prioritizes his D over all parts of the game. Coach, I’d like to see you/staff go to each AAU program across the land and have them give you the top, tough minded kids who play the 100% D. I state we must have the player who buys into his man not beating him to the hoop and takes it personally when he gives up baseline or fails to block out on rebounds. These players are not top priority on P5 lists as they’re not sexy nor do they have the need to shoot the ever so popular NBA style deep shot. I ask you get away from those players. This will take a major modification of your pride/beliefs Coach, but you must focus on the kids who are still very athletic but likely not the high-profile talent the many D1’s compete for and recruit. Give me 11 kids on the roster who prioritize the D and a couple of Bruninga’s as your weapon from deep – just a couple of kids who are specialists to shoot from deep. That type roster will pay dividends for you Coach.
Now having said all this – some fans, even yourself may say……”How we going to score”? Those type kids will be just fine as they too are athletic but don’t require X number of jacks/game to be content. Yes, you’ll be transitioning to a Bo Ryan type team and your fan base will be very pleased scoring 62 with hard nosed D and wins. You’re in the business to fill the arena and I promise you, tough minded smart kids who play the D and take high percentage shots will truly be a key to making an impression on the B/N region. I’m confident the home base no longer supports fast-paced ball with poor shot selection and silly turnovers – it’s outdated and boring to watch. Court savvy kids will sell tickets!
Implementing the offense and the Defense I dream of will completely fatigue your opponent on both ends of the floor. When BU, MSU, Valpo and the rest come to ISU I want them to feel physically and mentally exhausted – this is your niche Coach Muller as you are the GUY to take us there.
Yes Coach, I’m asking you to consider the change to find your niche in this environment of D1 ball. You must specialize Coach or it’s not going to be the happy tenure you deserve. You’re a very intuitive, smart man and again, I want you to succeed. The MVC should be your conference to own 3 out of every 5 years – you should be the man to lead us to this level of excellence.
Thank you and best wishes Coach. God Bless and appreciate your efforts today and moving forward.

 

[PK88]

Friends,

I sent the below to HCDM about 2 weeks ago. Thought I'd share and I'd suggest if you really care about the program and in my case, I truly
want Dan to remain as our head coach. Have a look.....

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

Coach Dan Muller,

Good morning to you sir. My name is (deleted for the purpose of this Redbird posting), a passionate ISU grad and supporter of Men’s Basketball. Above all Coach, I want nothing more than consistent success for you as I’ve always felt you were a perfect person to represent our University and lead Men’s B-Ball.
Some fans are very disgruntled and of course the 2 losses to BU hasn’t helped. My take is we came out of the blocks very slow this year with the poorest defensive skills I had witnessed from a Muller coached team. 4 returning starters and other experienced squad members……thought we’d improve in short order but that hasn’t been the case. Our team was marketed as a contender for the MVC but from Day 1, it just hasn’t materialized into a quality product. Good kids, great staff but the outputs just don’t match what all Bird fans had dreamed.
Coach – I’m not an experienced basketball guy like you but my experience, some at least in Management and my 62 years of life give me the comfort to suggest input to performance improvement. These points are an assessment of your 7 years and not just a knee jerk reaction to the current group.

1. Please, stop settling for the undisciplined 3-point shot. The kids that come to ISU are not gifted enough to shoot anything other than a squared up, step in shot to the hoop. That takes ball movement and crisp passing to attain the correct shot. All too often we settle for the undisciplined shot behind the arc. It’s been an aggravation for your 7 years.
2. Your offense is generic – we need 5 kids on the half court moving and constantly screening for one another. The perimeter weave is easy to guard and you’re settling by running that offense. I see no back-door cuts, nor do I see an offense that requires touches in the paint. Find something different than our present half court game plan. Make it difficult and exhausting for the opponent. You’ll need a fresh set of substitutes coming off the bench to run this effectively and with energy/focus. Yes, this is a disciplined offense with smart kids knowing what type of shot to take. Kids with basketball IQ and they must be tireless.
3. To run a savvy, tough to guard offense……. you need the smart PG. Enough said – you know that and other than Paris we have NOT had that player and it took PL 2.5 years to truly understand and succeed at his role. We must focus on the 4-year player Coach.
We all tire of the late game mishaps and poor on court decision making.
4. Defense – many say they wish our kids played hard nosed D like their Coach played in his days. Well, that may where we need to start in recruiting the young man who is coachable, tough minded and prioritizes his D over all parts of the game. Coach, I’d like to see you/staff go to each AAU program across the land and have them give you the top, tough minded kids who play the 100% D. I state we must have the player who buys into his man not beating him to the hoop and takes it personally when he gives up baseline or fails to block out on rebounds. These players are not top priority on P5 lists as they’re not sexy nor do they have the need to shoot the ever so popular NBA style deep shot. I ask you get away from those players. This will take a major modification of your pride/beliefs Coach, but you must focus on the kids who are still very athletic but likely not the high-profile talent the many D1’s compete for and recruit. Give me 11 kids on the roster who prioritize the D and a couple of Bruninga’s as your weapon from deep – just a couple of kids who are specialists to shoot from deep. That type roster will pay dividends for you Coach.
Now having said all this – some fans, even yourself may say……”How we going to score”? Those type kids will be just fine as they too are athletic but don’t require X number of jacks/game to be content. Yes, you’ll be transitioning to a Bo Ryan type team and your fan base will be very pleased scoring 62 with hard nosed D and wins. You’re in the business to fill the arena and I promise you, tough minded smart kids who play the D and take high percentage shots will truly be a key to making an impression on the B/N region. I’m confident the home base no longer supports fast-paced ball with poor shot selection and silly turnovers – it’s outdated and boring to watch. Court savvy kids will sell tickets!
Implementing the offense and the Defense I dream of will completely fatigue your opponent on both ends of the floor. When BU, MSU, Valpo and the rest come to ISU I want them to feel physically and mentally exhausted – this is your niche Coach Muller as you are the GUY to take us there.
Yes Coach, I’m asking you to consider the change to find your niche in this environment of D1 ball. You must specialize Coach or it’s not going to be the happy tenure you deserve. You’re a very intuitive, smart man and again, I want you to succeed. The MVC should be your conference to own 3 out of every 5 years – you should be the man to lead us to this level of excellence.
Thank you and best wishes Coach. God Bless and appreciate your efforts today and moving forward.

"I'm not an experienced basketball guy"
*Immediately sends detailed bullet points about basketball on how to fix a Division 1 basketball program*

 

[Reggie Redbird]

Maybe if Chastain shot the ball more than .5 times per game, I'd be somewhat enthusiastic about his offensive upside next season. Until he starts scoring more, color me unimpressed....

Per Mike Matthews in a recent pregame, Chastain told him his role this year was not a scorer on offense. I was disappointed to hear this because we were mired in a 5-game losing streak at the time.

In regards to DC's post, I had to set post #1 aside in order to get to the rest. First of all, winning several games in StL would get more excitement from the fanbase going into the offseason. It's a chance to build support for the entire university, and perhaps, just maybe, we shock the world and make the NCAA tournament. Then you get millions and millions in "free advertising" for ISU. That is worth a few extra days, especially if it's more practice for the whole kit and caboodle of guys we have coming in next year.

I completely agree with #2 and #3. #4, I would like a medical expert's view of the training program. We have a lot of guys, moreso it seems than other programs, with these types of injuries.

#5, I can see a change. I just don't see us doing very well recruiting Illinois/Midwest guys right out of the gate. I have no problem getting guys from other states, but you'd think getting a scholarship freshman from Illinois wouldn't be such a rarity. We had Paris in 2013-2014, Roland Griffin for a fleeting moment, and then Bruninga joined last year. All our other IL guys throughout that time period were walk-ons (Litwiller, Gassman, Javaka, Stawarz, Stacho) or transfers: Chastain, Milik, Romine, Tinsley.

#8 - agree. We just need to find a way to win those games.
#9 - agree.
#10 - agree. Or, maybe take a few less personality/effort risks and get some guys in who will be here for 4-5 years and will develop.

 

[ricohill]

Friends,

I sent the below to HCDM about 2 weeks ago. Thought I'd share and I'd suggest if you really care about the program and in my case, I truly
want Dan to remain as our head coach. Have a look.....

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

Coach Dan Muller,

Good morning to you sir. My name is (deleted for the purpose of this Redbird posting), a passionate ISU grad and supporter of Men’s Basketball. Above all Coach, I want nothing more than consistent success for you as I’ve always felt you were a perfect person to represent our University and lead Men’s B-Ball.
Some fans are very disgruntled and of course the 2 losses to BU hasn’t helped. My take is we came out of the blocks very slow this year with the poorest defensive skills I had witnessed from a Muller coached team. 4 returning starters and other experienced squad members……thought we’d improve in short order but that hasn’t been the case. Our team was marketed as a contender for the MVC but from Day 1, it just hasn’t materialized into a quality product. Good kids, great staff but the outputs just don’t match what all Bird fans had dreamed.
Coach – I’m not an experienced basketball guy like you but my experience, some at least in Management and my 62 years of life give me the comfort to suggest input to performance improvement. These points are an assessment of your 7 years and not just a knee jerk reaction to the current group.

1. Please, stop settling for the undisciplined 3-point shot. The kids that come to ISU are not gifted enough to shoot anything other than a squared up, step in shot to the hoop. That takes ball movement and crisp passing to attain the correct shot. All too often we settle for the undisciplined shot behind the arc. It’s been an aggravation for your 7 years.
2. Your offense is generic – we need 5 kids on the half court moving and constantly screening for one another. The perimeter weave is easy to guard and you’re settling by running that offense. I see no back-door cuts, nor do I see an offense that requires touches in the paint. Find something different than our present half court game plan. Make it difficult and exhausting for the opponent. You’ll need a fresh set of substitutes coming off the bench to run this effectively and with energy/focus. Yes, this is a disciplined offense with smart kids knowing what type of shot to take. Kids with basketball IQ and they must be tireless.
3. To run a savvy, tough to guard offense……. you need the smart PG. Enough said – you know that and other than Paris we have NOT had that player and it took PL 2.5 years to truly understand and succeed at his role. We must focus on the 4-year player Coach.
We all tire of the late game mishaps and poor on court decision making.
4. Defense – many say they wish our kids played hard nosed D like their Coach played in his days. Well, that may where we need to start in recruiting the young man who is coachable, tough minded and prioritizes his D over all parts of the game. Coach, I’d like to see you/staff go to each AAU program across the land and have them give you the top, tough minded kids who play the 100% D. I state we must have the player who buys into his man not beating him to the hoop and takes it personally when he gives up baseline or fails to block out on rebounds. These players are not top priority on P5 lists as they’re not sexy nor do they have the need to shoot the ever so popular NBA style deep shot. I ask you get away from those players. This will take a major modification of your pride/beliefs Coach, but you must focus on the kids who are still very athletic but likely not the high-profile talent the many D1’s compete for and recruit. Give me 11 kids on the roster who prioritize the D and a couple of Bruninga’s as your weapon from deep – just a couple of kids who are specialists to shoot from deep. That type roster will pay dividends for you Coach.
Now having said all this – some fans, even yourself may say……”How we going to score”? Those type kids will be just fine as they too are athletic but don’t require X number of jacks/game to be content. Yes, you’ll be transitioning to a Bo Ryan type team and your fan base will be very pleased scoring 62 with hard nosed D and wins. You’re in the business to fill the arena and I promise you, tough minded smart kids who play the D and take high percentage shots will truly be a key to making an impression on the B/N region. I’m confident the home base no longer supports fast-paced ball with poor shot selection and silly turnovers – it’s outdated and boring to watch. Court savvy kids will sell tickets!
Implementing the offense and the Defense I dream of will completely fatigue your opponent on both ends of the floor. When BU, MSU, Valpo and the rest come to ISU I want them to feel physically and mentally exhausted – this is your niche Coach Muller as you are the GUY to take us there.
Yes Coach, I’m asking you to consider the change to find your niche in this environment of D1 ball. You must specialize Coach or it’s not going to be the happy tenure you deserve. You’re a very intuitive, smart man and again, I want you to succeed. The MVC should be your conference to own 3 out of every 5 years – you should be the man to lead us to this level of excellence.
Thank you and best wishes Coach. God Bless and appreciate your efforts today and moving forward.

A really good e-mail. Glad you sent that to him. Well done!

 

[cpacmel]

"I'm not an experienced basketball guy"
*Immediately sends detailed bullet points about basketball on how to fix a Division 1 basketball program*

It’s called being modest. Redbirdron knows his stuff. I’ve had a few conversations with him over the years. He’s seen a ton of college and high school basketball over the last few decades.

Did Coach respond to your email?

 

[redbirdron1]

Thanks Mel, u know me.....half the stuff I say probably does NOT play well in today's game but it's what I personally believe.

PK 88 - try to realize I'm a half glass full guy and I want Dan to succeed. If you choose to take shots at me, ok, I'm good with it.
I don't understand 90% of the things Dan goes through in his day-day. Get that but I do watch the final product I see on the floor.
Maybe I didn't word that right about not being a b-ball expert but I am a fan/grad/passionate guy to our dear Birds. Thank you for
your feedback and I'll try to improve.

 

[redbirdron1]

Thanks Mel, u know me.....half the stuff I say probably does NOT play well in today's game but it's what I personally believe.

PK 88 - try to realize I'm a half glass full guy and I want Dan to succeed. If you choose to take shots at me, ok, I'm good with it.
I don't understand 90% of the things Dan goes through in his day-day. Get that but I do watch the final product I see on the floor.
Maybe I didn't word that right about not being a b-ball expert but I am a fan/grad/passionate guy to our dear Birds. Thank you for
your feedback and I'll try to improve.

 

[redbirdron1]

Mel - no, he did not respond and I don't expect anything. Just trying to put
my interest and passion into a heartfelt note ........I want the guy to succeed.

 

[redbirdron1]

Mel - no, he did not respond and I don't expect anything. Just trying to put
my interest and passion into a heartfelt note ........I want the guy to succeed.

 

[Redbird28]

Does anyone know why things keep double posting like Ron's posts above? I've noticed this a couple times recently.

 

[isuquinndog]

Usually when you accidentally double click the submit button

 

[cpacmel]

Mel - no, he did not respond and I don't expect anything. Just trying to put
my interest and passion into a heartfelt note ........I want the guy to succeed.

I think most want him to succeed.

Not surprised he didn’t respond. A bit disappointed. He’s active on twitter but he doesn’t respond there either. I hear the coaches shows are a good way to communicate to him.

Not hear nor there but Moser always responded. Usually within an hour or 2. I once emailed him 4am and to my shock he responded at 4:15am. It was after a loss on missed free throws.

Again not here nor there but Elgin isn’t responding these days either. Which isn’t a good look for a commish imo.

 

[SgtHulka]

Usually when you accidentally double click the submit button

I think we all know who's to blame

 

[Bird Friend]

If anybody values Yak, I can nearly guarantee him still being here if not for Dan’s promotion and marketing of him. State Farm never marketed their best people assets to Allstate. You need to keep a vested interest in your own success. Dan is a great friend for going this, but it’s at the expense of his coaching success.

I don't agree with that analogy. ISU (State Farm in your anology) didn't market Yak, Muller (a leader at State Farm) did. And, yes that happens all the time. A good leader wants their employees to succeed and move on to bigger and better things.....

.....at the same company!! (finishing your last sentence)
I don't know what company you work for but how about you take your best employees over to your competitor and suggest they hire them. Managers and leaders are suppose to hire and develop talent for their own business/team and not someone else's. Yes Muller can want what is best for employees but to help and encourage employees to leave ISU is wrong and crosses a line. Muller is paid by ISU and has a fiduciary obligation to always represent ISU's interest first.

As someone involved in training/development industry for nearly 30 years, I can tell you there's been a shift in what is expected by employees. While the company may expect to develop the employee for future internal positions, the employee expects the company to develop him/her for his/her next position regardless of where that position is located. Employees will work their tails off for you if they know you'll help them prepare and be competitive for their next positions. Loyalty to the company was lost when loyalty to the employee was usurped by loyalty to the shareholder.

 

[ISU FAN 1]

"I'm not an experienced basketball guy"
*Immediately sends detailed bullet points about basketball on how to fix a Division 1 basketball program*

It’s called being modest. Redbirdron knows his stuff. I’ve had a few conversations with him over the years. He’s seen a ton of college and high school basketball over the last few decades.

Did Coach respond to your email?

It’s sitting in Dan’s spam folder.

 

[CaliRdBrd]

"I'm not an experienced basketball guy"
*Immediately sends detailed bullet points about basketball on how to fix a Division 1 basketball program*

It’s called being modest. Redbirdron knows his stuff. I’ve had a few conversations with him over the years. He’s seen a ton of college and high school basketball over the last few decades.

Did Coach respond to your email?

It’s sitting in Dan’s spam folder.

Along with the email from the PG we desperately need...

 

[BallwinBird2012]

I don't agree with that analogy. ISU (State Farm in your anology) didn't market Yak, Muller (a leader at State Farm) did. And, yes that happens all the time. A good leader wants their employees to succeed and move on to bigger and better things.....

.....at the same company!! (finishing your last sentence)
I don't know what company you work for but how about you take your best employees over to your competitor and suggest they hire them. Managers and leaders are suppose to hire and develop talent for their own business/team and not someone else's. Yes Muller can want what is best for employees but to help and encourage employees to leave ISU is wrong and crosses a line. Muller is paid by ISU and has a fiduciary obligation to always represent ISU's interest first.

As someone involved in training/development industry for nearly 30 years, I can tell you there's been a shift in what is expected by employees. While the company may expect to develop the employee for future internal positions, the employee expects the company to develop him/her for his/her next position regardless of where that position is located. Employees will work their tails off for you if they know you'll help them prepare and be competitive for their next positions. Loyalty to the company was lost when loyalty to the employee was usurped by loyalty to the shareholder.

The business/company analogy just really doesn't apply to collegiate athletics IMO. There's no upward mobility for an assistant coach other than to become a head coach. So we'd literally be suggesting that Dan should be raising up his employees (assistant coaches) to take his own position from him.

If your assistant coaches have an ounce of competitiveness within them, they want to be head coaches. There's the rare, really great assistant that just doesn't want to put up with the politics/bs of being an HC, but for the most part, assistants are going to do whatever they feel will best set them up to be a HC while supporting the head guy they are currently under. Only coach HS fball, but every HC that I've worked under has always said they want all of their assistants to be head coaches.

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

Yak has outgrown ISU at this point anyway. If he leaves his head coach in waiting position at Michigan it will definitely be for a P6 job. He's not messing with mid-majors anymore.

Jsnhbe1Birds If Yak is the head coach in waiting at Michigan how come when Beilein got ejected at halftime at Penn State it was Saddi Washington that took the reins?

Also this past summer Michigan did a foreign trip but Beilein couldn’t travel because of a recent heart procedure. Who was named interim head coach for the trip? Yak? Nope. Saddi Washington.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mlive.com/wolverines/2019/02/john-beilein-ejected-from-michigans-game-at-penn-state.html%3foutputType=amp

Because ISU fans pound their chests for those who were ever Redbirds. Clarance is on a trajectory to be Jason Kidd.

hahaha..a lot of truth despite the humor. Someone had Clarance being a lottery pick (or at least a first rounder) in the 2020 draft