The difference between Blaine and shaka

[T-Mac]

RamFan, I know you probably don't follow ODU's "other sports," but I personally don't think our AD can take, nor accept, a two year "down cycle." He is a very much what-have-you-done-for-me-lately type guy.

Unless our down cycle is 4th place finishes.

[Mountainman Monarch]

What coaches in the CAA have been more successful than BT...past or present?

Bruiser, Present

[N2theBLUE]

RamFan, I know you probably don't follow ODU's "other sports," but I personally don't think our AD can take, nor accept, a two year "down cycle." He is a very much what-have-you-done-for-me-lately type guy.

Nonsense. As long as we are competitive each year, Selig's not replacing Blaine.

[officeguy]

What schools in the CAA have been more successful than BT...past or present?

Just to be clear, this is a more appropriate question, if you actually fully understand what has been written.

I understand success is different to different people, but in regards to how that is measured nationally, and in many coaches contracts, that would be NCAA tournament wins. So with that said, please explain why Blaine Taylor's post season record should not be compared to the post season records of VCU or George Mason or any other school in the CAA in the past 5 years? Just answer that, without an excuse (apology) as you usually provide. I think that's a very legitimate and fair question.

[officeguy]

Nonsense. As long as we are competitive each year, Selig's not replacing Blaine.

He got rid of selective excellence, and yes, it is the expectation for all sports to finish near the top of the conference every year. My critique is that when is just doing enough to get by acceptable as a long term strategy. I believe that will be the perspective taken when time for retention comes.

But as a coach, why can't he ever raise the expectations of our fans? To get back to the main topic of this thread, I believe that is the biggest difference between Blaine and Shaka. I understand to keep his job it's smart to under promise and over deliver. But where is the over delivery? The resources are there for national success. The fans are there. This is all I have to say on this, I've been clear in where I'm coming from, I just think as an entire fan base, expectations should rise in men's basketball because I feel like we could be getting a better ROI.

[CAA Flagship]

RamFan, I know you probably don't follow ODU's "other sports," but I personally don't think our AD can take, nor accept, a two year "down cycle." He is a very much what-have-you-done-for-me-lately type guy.

One of the main factors an AD uses in deciding whether or not to fire a coach is how the upcoming classes (freshmen and incoming recruits) are rated. This is a standard move. You can look at our history to see this as well. Young and Capel are the most recent examples. Capel led us to the first back-to-back losing seasons in ODU D-I history. That, and the fact that he didn't mesh with the donors, was not the nail in his coffin. It was the fact that there was not much hope for the near future. BT came in and followed that up with another 2 losing seasons before turning it around. Young had a similar situation. When Oliver took over, he managed a 12-14 regular season but was an upset winner of the CAAT.
The same goes with other sports like baseball (Guzzo and Meyers), women's basketball (Larry), etc.

But looking into the crystal ball can be difficult. It's possible that Taylor does not have an extension because Selig wanted to see what BT was able to recruit. If we don't hear of an extension this off-season, he may be putting the pressure on for the next recruiting class as well. This will also reduce the remaining number of years on his current contract in case a dismissal is warranted. (Remember that Wendy was only offered a 1 year deal) This is pure speculation so please don't think I am passing on factual information. I'm just trying to come up with possible answers.

[CAA Flagship]

Just to be clear, this is a more appropriate question, if you actually fully understand what has been written.

I understand success is different to different people, but in regards to how that is measured nationally, and in many coaches contracts, that would be NCAA tournament wins. So with that said, please explain why Blaine Taylor's post season record should not be compared to the post season records of VCU or George Mason or any other school in the CAA in the past 5 years? Just answer that, without an excuse (apology) as you usually provide. I think that's a very legitimate and fair question.

I don't believe that (NCAA wins) is the measurement that is used by many AD's outside the power conferences. Once you get to the NCAA tourney, you are going up against schools with much higher budgets. Any AD is very tuned in to this statistic. You want to beat your peer programs first. After that, it comes down to luck as to whether you can out perform your budget.

[T-Mac]

Bruiser, Present

Just last season he finished 5th. Nope. Try again. If he were the coach at ODU, he wouldn't have survived any of the last eight seasons as his best finish up to this year was 4th.

[T-Mac]

He got rid of selective excellence, and yes, it is the expectation for all sports to finish near the top of the conference every year. My critique is that when is just doing enough to get by acceptable as a long term strategy. I believe that will be the perspective taken when time for retention comes.

But as a coach, why can't he ever raise the expectations of our fans? To get back to the main topic of this thread, I believe that is the biggest difference between Blaine and Shaka. I understand to keep his job it's smart to under promise and over deliver. But where is the over delivery? The resources are there for national success. The fans are there. This is all I have to say on this, I've been clear in where I'm coming from, I just think as an entire fan base, expectations should rise in men's basketball because I feel like we could be getting a better ROI.

So you don't think that despite having the 100th best funded program, that BT has over delivered by finishing the last seven seasons ranked in the low 70s? That's approximately a +25% ROI.

[CAA Flagship]

It is important to look at other non power-conference schools for comparisons. I'm probably cherry picking here but:
What is your opinion of St. Joseph's. Would it surprise you that they have been to the NCAAT only once since 2004 (in 2008)? Would it surprise you that they have had the same coach for 17 years and only won 11 games last year? My guess is he saved his job with a 20 win season this year.

How about Creighton? They will return to the NCAAT this year but the last time they were there was 2007.

Southern Illinois have not been the the NCAAT since 2007 either. They haven't had a winning season since 2008. This after averaging around 26 wins from 02-07.

Wichita St went to the NCAAT only once since 1988 (in 2006). They did not have winning seasons in 08 and 09.

Bradley made two trips since 1988 (the last in 2006).

Utah St, with a tremendous following, has been the the NCAAT 11 times (9 times since 1997). But only won 1 game.


I guess what I am trying to point out here is that it is difficult to consistently perform above your budget. Even schools that you may consider having solid programs fall on their face some years, and for some stretches of years.