MW seems like a really decent man. I’ve definitely been pulling for him to have success here. But, 7 years into his tenure, can you really say the program is better? Can we even say they’re showing legit signs of improvement? I don’t think anyone can honestly reply “yes” to either question. 7 years!??! Isn’t that a large enough sample size to make a reasonable determination of expected performance moving forward? Is there an NCAA basketball team that has less movement than the UF offense? It’s getting old watching talented players, if not regress, do nothing more than tread water in Gainesville, then move on to the pros, or transfer out, and suddenly become a better player. 7 years!??! I’m a fan of Mike White (the person). However, UF isn’t paying him to be a decent human being. As a basketball coach at Florida he’s been a failure.
Yes, he's had some bad luck. In some respects, I feel bad that he's been put in a no win situation, following a legend, who's accomplishments will never be duplicated. There is no way he would have ever measured up. Throw in the arms race in recruiting that we refuse to engage in and it has led to this. I think he'll land on his feet with a program that he can take to the tourney and have some good results. He's made a good living, I guess that's some consolation.
Given the results, it’s difficult for me to wrap my mind around the idea that there isn’t a better option than MW.
There is a better option. They have to be willing to go and get that coach though. There are also quite a few who could be worse.
I'm not sure which coach is the answer, but there is no reason to settle just because you don't think we can do better. The funny thing is if we beat ODU last year, White is definitely getting another year regardless if we get in the tournament or not this year, but we lost a gift to the Sweet 16. That game really is a microcosm of White's tenure. Get a big win in round 1 only to get beat by the 15 seed in round 2. The inconsistencies year after year is a common theme and shows that something is off and a change is needed.
Other than the mediocrity in the W/L department, the thing that continuously irks me is how bad our offensive fundamentals seem to be. We play very few “clean” games. Not many assists, and often too many turnovers and forced shots. It always comes back to excessive dribbling and not good ball movement. If we had some elite dribblers with blow by skills it might sort of work. Mann kind of brought that last year. But for it to work you need to ALWAYS have that elite guard play. When your guards are pretty average, it’s tough to win big in the NCAA. Im no coach. but just seems like something is “off” with spacing quite frequently. Not filling the lanes on fast breaks. Guys throwing lazy passes from the wing back to the top of the key (we tend to have a few of these turnover, but many more where I “cringe” when the pass is let go). Strange entry passes into the post, etc. Makes you appreciate how much of well oiled machine we had. Even when we didn’t have the personnel, the basic fundamentals were there, it was just a matter of sliding in the guy who could get it done.
We might not do better but I doubt if we can do worst. If SS makes a mistake, the new coach will probably produce the same record as White. Not to do-nothing because we are afraid of doing worst than mediocre, isn't the Gator way.
Assuming that Richard Andrew Pitino is "Rick" Pitino, this illustrates the obvious problem. Although this thread is now three pages long, Pitino is the only name that has been floated as being a better option than White, and while Pitino has won championships, he is obviously dirty as can be. Hasn't that been established? UF isn't hiring him. Meanwhile, the "search committee" has no other candidates. Something to ponder.
Nope. He thinks our program is trash and we have the best we can get. He thinks programs stay where they are and never change. Not sure how we won a baseball title or have a great coach though. We're no USC, LSU,Texas etc
The pool appears to be very difficult to navigate currently. I'll throw out some names, but not sure any of these would happen....or that we'd even want some of them. Could we lure Musselman from Arky (currently at $4 million/yr)? Oats from Bama ($3.225 million)? Drew from Baylor ($2.8 million)? Doubtful on all fronts, but worth trying. Drew is interesting as we could offer him substantially more, though I expect Baylor would make a counter offer. How about McDermott from Creighton? He makes under $1.4 million. Lots of experience, but probably wouldn't excite the fan base. Wes Miller was a hot name last year. Not sure he'd leave Cincy after only one year. Makes $1.25 million. Probably wouldn't excite the fan base. IMO, if we're willing to take a shot on one of the tainted guys (Pitino, Wade, Pearl), I'd go for Pearl. In fact, he's the only one of the three I'd take, but with some MAJOR morality clauses in his contract. Not sure if he'd want to come to UF, but I've always wondered what a guy with his personality, recruiting ability and coaching ability could do at UF. Pearl makes about $4 million a year at Auburn. Still don't really want Pearl to be our coach, but intrigued to see what he could do. Anthony Grant makes just north of $1.6 million at Dayton. Had one amazing year, unfortunately when COVID shut the tournament down. A couple of down years after that. Many in the fan base would likely welcome him back, but not a splash of a hire.
Is that the requirement for being able to know if someone is a good coach or not? I’m not answering anymore of your questions. I refuse to get in a battle of wits with an unarmed person.
