Well said. I sent my kid to a PGC camp this summer, which included classroom breakdowns and so many drills for guards. It was an investment for sure, but he’s made massive strides.
I deleted that post but we had a good flow completely going on both sides of the ball and I would have liked to see it for a bit longer. It felt like we were going to completely close the deficit.
I'm with you. I just mentioned better team play...but I'm totally totally totally into individual SKILL development.
Your point regarding ISU athletics is accurate but I believe over-exaggerated on the financial situation as ISU athletics is primarily funded via student fees and a university contributions. Basically 1/3 student fees, 1/3 university contributions and 1/3 all other (tickets sales, licensing, donations ..etc). Student enrollment is near all time highs so positive numbers there. I reviewed the most recent 5 year (2018-2022) ncaa athletic department financial data and here is the 5 year totals on athletic department recenue:
Not saying to buy him out. I agree due to horrendous previous contract ISU in a hole before we even pass go. We are stuck until the end of the current contract. Unless massive improvement in wins versus losses happens in the next 10 games ISU needs to be thinking about the future. I am really worried we go on a 10 game winning streak against a weak schedule, athletic department gets in a tizzy and bam we get an extension. While I believe ISU should be looking for that very successful coach from a lower conference or division that knows how to win. We have several years to be looking. Don’t hire the homer and do not hire the legend, you can never get rid of them if they are not successful. They always have their supporters and defenders that make removal difficult. I would also look for a coach that has a basketball style that is very entertaining and will get attendance back. ISU is going on 30 years of not being asked to go dancing. Thirty years. Other schools have changed it up in two years. We are living in the past and we have to look forward to the future. Where we are today is not a very bright future.
The point I am making is that we are not focused on winning where it matters most (football, men’s basketball) to fans/alums, students, revenue generation, name recognition…etc. believe it or not some view winning the MVC trophy as a sign that ISU athletics are a success. To each their own
I think without COVID and firing Muller a year earlier then things look very different. COVID coming at the intersection of bad basketball seemed to zap the program of any momentum or energy. They've never recovered from people taking 18 months off of ISU basketball and not wanting to come back to a last place team. Combine that with Brennan's efforts to run off staff, raise prices, increase donations, charge for parking, charge for hospitality and you see the recipe for what we are dealing with now. I have been involved with campus efforts in the past and after COVID the fundraising took an intense downswing for athletics largely due to the new administration and their work.
@Humdinger I went to the Dick Baumgartner's basketball shooting camp in Indiana for a week as well. Great camp! I remember bringing home one of the basketballs with hand prints on the ball of where to place hands. Great camp experience, probably went around 1990. Great time and memory!
I probably should have added that I hope he figures it out. I personally like how interacts with the community.
I don't think this team really likes each other. We thought we might have depth and competition at the beginning of the year, but I think instead of improving, the entire team has just hoped that the competition would just get exposed and then they would get their turn. We look very selfish, one reason we don't get many assists, in addition to being poor shooters and finishers inside. I don't see any real leaders on this team. I eliminate the Freshman, because they are supposed to be learning. Our returnees were supposed to be those guys. Lewis is the key to a lot of things. When he plays well, the team plays well. He has the most talent, but he gets frustrated too easily. All of our guards have severe limitations and I don't think they want the other guards to do well. Burford needs the ball and only really scores in transition. Banks looks lost and only seems aggressive late in the clock. Mal has been a non-factor and seems to be checking out more and more each game. Luke is just not very skilled. Davis doesn't seem to have any drive or desire. JK has the skills, but still lacks the physical tools. Pence is having a hard time adjusting and I am worried he may only be as good as a Matt Chastain (another player that dominated small school HS basketball).
The 3's we are missing are what an average D1 team calls "good" shots. We have missed many wide open looks and some of them haven't been close. We also started passing up good looks about 2 weeks ago, our confidence was down then, and now we look afraid to shoot at all.
It will be interesting to see what the roster looks like next year. I would say one of the biggest knocks on Muller was that he didn't get good basketball players into the program, which I think is overblown slightly but the sentiment is a common one. So far from the portal we've pulled Burford, Knight, Sandage, Poindexter, Petrakis, Kasubke, Lieb, Banks, Foster, Davis. The overall return on that investment is less than average. I'm wondering if we don't see a revamped recruiting effort focusing on JC, D2, D3, NAIA. St. Thomas is having success with several D3 players. Maybe our thinking that P5 scraps will accelerate things at our level is one that needs tweaking. So far the P5 guys we've thought would benefit from a change of level has failed.
This 100%
Doug...that printed hand on the ball was absolute genius. Made some very good shooters! I loved the camp because they broke you up immediately so your 'team' was guys from other schools and states. Man I loved that. I attended 2 years in late 80's.
Man you always bring good info to the table, no matter where the reader stands.
A lot of good insight here. I will say I am liking how Davis has been playing...even though he didn't score yesterday. I think he has a knack for the ball. I feel like once he believed that Pedon bought into him, it released him to play much more free.
Unless we have some guys opt to move on, the next year’s roster will look pretty much the same. We lose Lewis and Schmitt. We have two HS recruits, a 4 and a 2.
