Despite the fact that many people do not even look at west coast college basketball seriously and it has been forgotten by the east coast media in many circles (not whining, just stating a fact), it will be a really interesting year coming up for teams out west in the 2011-12 season. Here are just a few thoughts.
1. Arizona---They have a real chance to challenge for the NCAA championship. There is no question that Sean Miller has established himself as a powerful force in the coaching ranks and he will have his most talented group yet in Tucson. Of course paper only looks good, when your writing on it, but look for Arizona to be in the final four.
2. Eastern Washington---Hiring new coach Jim Hayford from the D-3 ranks was iffy, chancy and anything else you want to call it, but a winner is a winner and Hayford has been highly successful at D-3 Whitworth. In case you have not been watching he is doing a good job of recruiting in his first stint as a head coach at D-1 and it will be good for the Big Sky if he can change the basketball culture in Cheney, Washington.
3. Painting The Line---In my efforts to follow this, I have heard nothing about Oregon showing us a center court line, that we can see. It had an impact on games last year, it will impact games in the future if it is not made more visible. Not to mention it is very hard to watch games on TV that are played at Oregon, with no visible center court line. The center court line is a huge part of the history of college basketball and as I have said, it is always fine to be edgy, but it is not fine to be disrespectful to the great game of basketball. Ducks, you have things going in basketball, just paint your darn center court line, so you don't have to stand two feet from it with a magnifying glass just to see it.
4. Johnny Dawkins----It will be time for Dawkins to show us something at Stanford. To the amazement of lots of people, Dawkins was just given a contract extension, despite a record of .500 in his three years with the Cardinal. Coming out of the Duke basketball program, it was the thought that Dawkins would make a big splash, so far not even a ripple. He might not be the coach we all thought he would be.
5. Oregon State----Are the Beavers going to move out of neutral and once again have an impact on college basketball as they did on a somewhat regular basis prior to 1990, or are we going to see the same old pathetic situation we have seen in Corvallis. Craig Robinson also needs to prove himself as a head coach, he really has done nothing to improve Beaver basketball and the pressure will mount for his teams to produce. With its history, the Pac-12 needs a strong presence in Corvallis.
6. UCLA---How will the Bruins do playing every game on the road. It will test them for sure, most teams who have played games out of their home court for year because of renovation (Pauley Pavilion is undergoing a complete renovation and not available in 2011-12) have not faired well. I would say look for the Bruins to have a down year this season, but bounce back strong next year with what is already a great looking recruiting class.
7. Max Good---My favorite name in coaching and one of my favorite coaches to watch with his sideline antics. It would be nice for his Loyola Marymount team to have some success on the floor this year after being a disaster last year. If Good is bad, then there is a good chance it will be no "good" when it comes to him returning to the Lions' sideline in 2012. At some point in the West Coast Conference, teams besides Gonzaga, St. Mary's and likely BYU, need to make an impact and get the league more spots in the NCAA tournament.
8. Seattle U.---The Redhawks have one of the best traditions in all of college basketball back a few years, well documented in past Craw's Corner columns. It is time though for them to start showing some improvement on the floor and win more games. It hard to move up from D-2 to D-1 as the Redhawks did three years past, but at some point the wins need to come, or else the varnish will wear off quickly and the move will not look good. It will help being in the WAC starting in 2012, a league they could potentially dominate, but so far it is all talk.
9. Steve Alford---Despite some chances to move, Alford has stayed as coach at New Mexico. He has been consistently good with the Lobos and you heard it here first, in the next five years, he will take his team to the final four one of those seasons. He is a great recruiter and now that he does not have to play BYU twice, that will help. The Lobos are one of basketball's sleeping giants. Great fans, great state and always excellent basketball. The next step is coming.
10. Hall of Fame----Will others like myself catch onto the fact that Danny Miles at Oregon Tech deserves and should be in the basketball hall of fame in Springfield, Mass. Going into his 41st season, it is time he got his just do and if I can do my little part to help, then so be it. Media in Oregon should be talking about it more and basketball fans worldwide need to hear his great story. This blog is gaining a huge following and part of my mission is to recognize and honor basketball people who deserve accolades like the hall of fame and have contributed so much. Miles is a perfect fit.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
FEW and Far Between
Gonzaga basketball fans are spoiled.
If you say anything in the slightest vein that they take as derogatory against their team, you get all kinds of criticism thrown back your way.
It gets even worse, if you ever say anything bad about head coach Mark Few.
But never fearing a little bit of challenge, here we go. After all it is sports, it is college basketball and no one ever takes those two things seriously, lol. (That is my last lol period, big opponent of the term).
Despite the fact that Mark Few's teams play very poor defense often, he is an outstanding coach. (Note to Gonzaga fans, I gave him a compliment.)
For the record, he after all as head coach of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, since the 1999-2000 season has some sterling stats. His teams have gone to the NCAA tournament every year he has been at Gonzaga. Coach Few's record at Gonzaga is 315-83, his league record in the WCC even more incredible at 149-19 wins to losses.
It gets better, as Few's teams have won 11 straight league championships and even more impressive nine WCC tournament championships and only once was during that time was the tournament held in Gonzaga's home city of Spokane, Washington. Very impressive.
Let's keep it going, in Few's 11 years and looking at all the 355 D-1 schools during that period, it is almost impossible to get one first team all-america, Few has had two, in Dan Dickau and Adam Morrison. Every game is sold out and has been for years and last but not least, Few has been coach of the year six times in the WCC and has had nine different players named WCC player of the year.
Actually over Few's 11 years at Gonzaga, not one D-1 school can even come close to matching the Zags record of league and WCC tournament play.
Here is where it gets a little sticky for both myself and maybe some others. Under Few, the Zags have made four sweet sixteen appearances, but never have made it to the elite 8. I wondered if anyone else looked at this as a flaw, so I did a little Craw's Corner investigative reporting.
I called three people who have season tickets to Gonzaga games that I knew, would tell it like it is. Not a scientific sample, but these three guys can bring it.
The results, two are not always happy that the Zags do not go further in NCCA play, one even going as far to say that he would not be crushed if Few left Spokane for a better job, he closed with, despite his record, he has warn out his welcome. His supporter, was equally vocal bringing out some good points in that Gonzaga is able to bring some top teams Spokane and when you watch them at home they always win and for him that was more than satisfactory.
But in sports, when is not enough, not enough. It does seem odd to myself that Gonzaga has never been to the elite 8, especially with some of their talent in recent years and players who have gone on to be drafted in the NBA. I would even go so far as to say the Zags are somewhat of a major disappointment in NCAA tournament play or maybe even at times a big failure.
With all that said, for now, I would call Mark Few an outstanding regular season coach, but a below average when it comes NCAA tournament play. I might even call him a little overrated as a coach.
Lots of people all over have been waiting for the Zags to step up come March and April and it has not happened. It gets even more challenging now with BYU joining the WCC, it will force pressure on Gonzaga as they have to keep winning the leagues, as history dictates, the WCC hardly ever being in contention for an at large berth.
Ok let's just say it, Mark Few is not as good a coach as he is made out to be.
One last thing, Gonzaga, if you always claim your as good for basketball as you are, then show us and play your northwest brothers, Oregon State, Oregon and Washington on a regular basis. You need to act like your the kings of the northwest and do the right thing, instead of at times acting like spoiled brats.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the great emails and wondering where I went. I am here, hopefully better than ever, I am just going to cut back during these summer months on my writing a little bit. Not to worry, you will still receive Craw's Corner on a fairly regular basis and I still appreciate your readership very much. I might also have a big announcement coming up soon regarding this column, keep reading.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com and comments always welcome below the column
If you say anything in the slightest vein that they take as derogatory against their team, you get all kinds of criticism thrown back your way.
It gets even worse, if you ever say anything bad about head coach Mark Few.
But never fearing a little bit of challenge, here we go. After all it is sports, it is college basketball and no one ever takes those two things seriously, lol. (That is my last lol period, big opponent of the term).
Despite the fact that Mark Few's teams play very poor defense often, he is an outstanding coach. (Note to Gonzaga fans, I gave him a compliment.)
For the record, he after all as head coach of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, since the 1999-2000 season has some sterling stats. His teams have gone to the NCAA tournament every year he has been at Gonzaga. Coach Few's record at Gonzaga is 315-83, his league record in the WCC even more incredible at 149-19 wins to losses.
It gets better, as Few's teams have won 11 straight league championships and even more impressive nine WCC tournament championships and only once was during that time was the tournament held in Gonzaga's home city of Spokane, Washington. Very impressive.
Let's keep it going, in Few's 11 years and looking at all the 355 D-1 schools during that period, it is almost impossible to get one first team all-america, Few has had two, in Dan Dickau and Adam Morrison. Every game is sold out and has been for years and last but not least, Few has been coach of the year six times in the WCC and has had nine different players named WCC player of the year.
Actually over Few's 11 years at Gonzaga, not one D-1 school can even come close to matching the Zags record of league and WCC tournament play.
Here is where it gets a little sticky for both myself and maybe some others. Under Few, the Zags have made four sweet sixteen appearances, but never have made it to the elite 8. I wondered if anyone else looked at this as a flaw, so I did a little Craw's Corner investigative reporting.
I called three people who have season tickets to Gonzaga games that I knew, would tell it like it is. Not a scientific sample, but these three guys can bring it.
The results, two are not always happy that the Zags do not go further in NCCA play, one even going as far to say that he would not be crushed if Few left Spokane for a better job, he closed with, despite his record, he has warn out his welcome. His supporter, was equally vocal bringing out some good points in that Gonzaga is able to bring some top teams Spokane and when you watch them at home they always win and for him that was more than satisfactory.
But in sports, when is not enough, not enough. It does seem odd to myself that Gonzaga has never been to the elite 8, especially with some of their talent in recent years and players who have gone on to be drafted in the NBA. I would even go so far as to say the Zags are somewhat of a major disappointment in NCAA tournament play or maybe even at times a big failure.
With all that said, for now, I would call Mark Few an outstanding regular season coach, but a below average when it comes NCAA tournament play. I might even call him a little overrated as a coach.
Lots of people all over have been waiting for the Zags to step up come March and April and it has not happened. It gets even more challenging now with BYU joining the WCC, it will force pressure on Gonzaga as they have to keep winning the leagues, as history dictates, the WCC hardly ever being in contention for an at large berth.
Ok let's just say it, Mark Few is not as good a coach as he is made out to be.
One last thing, Gonzaga, if you always claim your as good for basketball as you are, then show us and play your northwest brothers, Oregon State, Oregon and Washington on a regular basis. You need to act like your the kings of the northwest and do the right thing, instead of at times acting like spoiled brats.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the great emails and wondering where I went. I am here, hopefully better than ever, I am just going to cut back during these summer months on my writing a little bit. Not to worry, you will still receive Craw's Corner on a fairly regular basis and I still appreciate your readership very much. I might also have a big announcement coming up soon regarding this column, keep reading.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com and comments always welcome below the column
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The SKY Is Falling
I fully admit I am a basketball junkie.
I also fully admit that I enjoy the business side of basketball, equally to the games.
Attendance figures and basketball schedules, I look at each and every day during the season. If I am the only person in America, it is also an exciting time for myself right now as basketball schedules for the teams I follow closely start to trickle out.
One league I have followed closely for years, too many years to even count, is the Big Sky. The Big Sky teams play in states I have always been fascinated with, Washington, Idaho, California, Utah, Montana, Oregon and Colorado. Gorgeous states, that are populated by wonderful people.
If you watch and follow the Big Sky, it is easy to recognize that outside of Idaho State, it is a league for its size that has outstanding basketball coaches, a really quality group of assistant coaches who I am sure are woefully underpaid and the basketball is usually really exciting. Games are fun to watch, great to take the family too and you usually can get a pretty good seat.
It is the watch and follow part these days that is troublesome. Yes you could say the in the Big Sky the Sky is falling. Last year the average home attendance for all Big Sky men's games was 2,288. That figure stands out even more, when you consider out the 355 D-1 teams, Big Sky member Weber State ranked 93rd in attendance with average attendance of just under 6,000. Not bad.
Obviously if you throw out Weber State, attendance in the rest of the league borders on being pathetic. Granted, at least two places in the league have very small arenas, Sacramento State and Portland State, but even those schools fail each night to come even close to selling out.
Even a sadder fact is that six teams in the Big Sky averaged less than the D-3 leader in home attendance last year, Hope University, which had an average home attendance of just under 3,000 fans.
Is there "hope' for the Big Sky. I would like to think so, but it is not going to happen overnight, it will take some long hours and hard work and it will take some creativity, something the Big Sky office is noted for.
And speaking of scheduling, one thing that really damages the Big Sky attendance is the ability to attract quality teams to play in pre-season games. Of the three teams that have their schedules out for 2011-12, here is a sample of the schools that Big Sky teams will play in pre-season at home.
South Dakota, Cal State Davis, Pacific Lutheran, Colorado Christian, Cal State Bakersfield, Mayville State, Northern New Mexico, Willamette and Linfield (twice). As you can see all big time basketball powerhouses. (I have to add, in the heyday of Linfield basketball with the likes of Dan Beeson, Mike Smithey and John Melonas, Linfield might have beaten most of the Big Sky teams they played, but those days are long over.)
As more Big Sky basketball schedules trickle out, I am sure the you will see additional powerhouses on the home schedules like Wales and Johnson, Concordia and Minot State. The Big Sky teams actually play some great teams on the road in pre-season, home games, well there is nothing you can say about most of the teams they play, because half the time, nobody has ever heard of them as noted above.
Ok, ok, I might be the only person that cares, but I am going to offer some advice to the Big Sky office, a league I love and care about, as to how to get more people watching your basketball games and hopefully being able to attract great teams for home pre-season games. Here goes:
1. Re-brand the entire league. Even go as far to change the name. The Big Sky no longer fits, with expansion happening in both basketball and football, Big Sky is too Montana(ish) and it no longer fits.
2. Stop treating basketball as a second hand sport compared to football. Memo to Big Sky office, football in the Big Sky is FCS, basketball is D-1. Basketball should be your dominant sport.
3. The greatest sports marketer of all time, Jon Spoelstra lives in one of the Big Sky cities, Portland. Have him do a seminar to all Big Sky staff and marketing people in the respective schools. He would make a difference and get people thinking in the right direction. In basketball terms, Spoelstra is a made three point shot and getting fouled and making the free throw.
4. Have Mike Lund, from Portland State, do the same as Spoelstra, when it comes to media relations. Lund is great, he knows what he is doing and his advice should and needs to be made available to all schools.
5. A drastic measure, but maybe for a few years Big Sky teams quit playing home pre-season games. Sure it would affect everyone's record, but maybe not the RPI. No one wants to come and watch the above mentioned teams play, that is obvious.
Hey, no can ever question my love and loyalty to Big Sky basketball. It is a good product, watched and followed by far less people these days than should happen and rather than complain, I offered some great solutions. I just hope the right people are listening.
By the way, I do have some name changes for the league, but why should I do their work for them. As many readers as this blog has, writing about them should be enough, at least I hope it helps.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Saturday, July 9, 2011
CRAWFACTS/Edition 6
CRAWFACTS IS NEWS, NOTES, ITEMS AND AT TIME LAUGHS
Kerry Keating----Congratulations to coach Keating on his recent extension of his contract at Santa Clara, not the easiest place to win ball games and recruit. Of course it was Craw's Corner that selected Keating as its first ever west coast coach of the year last season. And you can repeat for that honor, so we will watch what the Broncos can do in the tough West Coast Conference and getting tougher with the addition of BYU.
MLB All-Star Game----We want to wish a great reader of this blog, a great umpire and an even greater person, Dale Scott, the best of luck as he was chosen to be the home plate umpire of this coming Tuesday's major league all-star game. Quite an honor and well deserved for a person who has been at the top of his game for 26 years. By the way, kind of puzzling why Dale Scott is not a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. He along with Terry Gierke and Terry Durham are people that have been overlooked as sports officials, giants at their craft and just flat deserve to be in the Oregon Sports HOF.
Johnny Dawkins----I along with many other people were kind of surprised that Dawkins got a contract extension recently. With an under .500 career record for the Cardinal, the Stanford administration must see something that other people do not. It is going to be even tougher for Stanford to move up in the Pac-12, with almost ever team this year being improved and new members Utah and Colorado coming onboard. Utah on paper appears to have at least an equal team to Stanford and Colorado appears to be much better. As noted in Craw's Corner last week that Rodney Tention is no longer an assistant at Stanford, moving to San Diego, it now is apparent that Dawkins was asked to shake up his staff, before the extension would be granted. It happens often in basketball coaching, change your staff or else no extension.
Sean Kemp Jr.----Nice signing by the Washington Huskies. The oldest of Sean Kemp's many children, by many different women, has the potential to be a nice player for the Huskies. Of course the big question in Seattle is if Romar will be coaching the Huskies this coming season. I have learned that he still is one of the top three choices of David Kahn to replace Kurt Rambis as the coach of the NBA Minnesota Timberwolves. Romar has denied any interest, says he wants to finish his career in Seattle. That may happen, but we have heard that from many basketball coaches and boom, the next thing we know is they are gone.
Five Years Past----I wrote this past week that often people and coaches in sports stay too long at the same place or do not know when to retire. I thought it would be fun to look at some west coast schools and see who was coaching the basketball team in the 2006-07 season and who is coaching at the school as we enter 2011
California-----2006- Ben Braun, 2011-Mike Montgomery
San Francisco----2006-Jessie Evans, 2011-Rex Walters
Washington St.----2006-Tony Bennett, 2011-Ken Bone
Oregon----2006-Ernie Kent, 2011-Dana Altman
UNLV----2006-Lon Kruger, 2011-David Rice
San Diego----2006-Brad Holland, 2011-Billy Grier
USC-----2006-Tim Floyd, 2011-Kevin O'Neill
Boise St.----2006-Greg Graham, 2011-Leon Rice
Arizona----2006-Lute Olson, 2011-Sean Miller
San Jose St.----2006-George Nessman, 2011-George Nessman
Congrats San Jose St. for sticking with a good coach. Seems like Lute Olson has been away from Arizona longer that five years and boy does time fly.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Kerry Keating----Congratulations to coach Keating on his recent extension of his contract at Santa Clara, not the easiest place to win ball games and recruit. Of course it was Craw's Corner that selected Keating as its first ever west coast coach of the year last season. And you can repeat for that honor, so we will watch what the Broncos can do in the tough West Coast Conference and getting tougher with the addition of BYU.
MLB All-Star Game----We want to wish a great reader of this blog, a great umpire and an even greater person, Dale Scott, the best of luck as he was chosen to be the home plate umpire of this coming Tuesday's major league all-star game. Quite an honor and well deserved for a person who has been at the top of his game for 26 years. By the way, kind of puzzling why Dale Scott is not a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. He along with Terry Gierke and Terry Durham are people that have been overlooked as sports officials, giants at their craft and just flat deserve to be in the Oregon Sports HOF.
Johnny Dawkins----I along with many other people were kind of surprised that Dawkins got a contract extension recently. With an under .500 career record for the Cardinal, the Stanford administration must see something that other people do not. It is going to be even tougher for Stanford to move up in the Pac-12, with almost ever team this year being improved and new members Utah and Colorado coming onboard. Utah on paper appears to have at least an equal team to Stanford and Colorado appears to be much better. As noted in Craw's Corner last week that Rodney Tention is no longer an assistant at Stanford, moving to San Diego, it now is apparent that Dawkins was asked to shake up his staff, before the extension would be granted. It happens often in basketball coaching, change your staff or else no extension.
Sean Kemp Jr.----Nice signing by the Washington Huskies. The oldest of Sean Kemp's many children, by many different women, has the potential to be a nice player for the Huskies. Of course the big question in Seattle is if Romar will be coaching the Huskies this coming season. I have learned that he still is one of the top three choices of David Kahn to replace Kurt Rambis as the coach of the NBA Minnesota Timberwolves. Romar has denied any interest, says he wants to finish his career in Seattle. That may happen, but we have heard that from many basketball coaches and boom, the next thing we know is they are gone.
Five Years Past----I wrote this past week that often people and coaches in sports stay too long at the same place or do not know when to retire. I thought it would be fun to look at some west coast schools and see who was coaching the basketball team in the 2006-07 season and who is coaching at the school as we enter 2011
California-----2006- Ben Braun, 2011-Mike Montgomery
San Francisco----2006-Jessie Evans, 2011-Rex Walters
Washington St.----2006-Tony Bennett, 2011-Ken Bone
Oregon----2006-Ernie Kent, 2011-Dana Altman
UNLV----2006-Lon Kruger, 2011-David Rice
San Diego----2006-Brad Holland, 2011-Billy Grier
USC-----2006-Tim Floyd, 2011-Kevin O'Neill
Boise St.----2006-Greg Graham, 2011-Leon Rice
Arizona----2006-Lute Olson, 2011-Sean Miller
San Jose St.----2006-George Nessman, 2011-George Nessman
Congrats San Jose St. for sticking with a good coach. Seems like Lute Olson has been away from Arizona longer that five years and boy does time fly.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Pilots Are No Longer Bluffing
About the only thing that is bad for Portland Pilots basketball coach Eric Reveno lately, is that some people still can't pronounce his last name and often he is confused in looks with Colorado head coach Tad Boyle.
Otherwise things are pretty darn good for Reveno as he enters his sixth season for the Pilot, a school which sits on "The BLUFF in north Portland with a beautiful campus and beautiful views of the Willamette river.
Reveno had a shaky start at University of Portland. His first team went 9-23 in the 2006-07 season and the next year was not much better. In fairness, Reveno inherited a mess from previous coach Michael Holton. In maybe the most gutsy move in the history of Pilot athletics, athletic director Larry Williams bought out Holton's contract at the end of the 2006 season.
As of right now the move looks brilliant. Although attendance is still not where it needs to be, it has risen in each year under Reveno, people are starting to talk about the Pilots for the first time in ages and more importantly, in the last three years the team has gone 60-36 and advanced to play in the CIT post season tournament each year.
Even with all the regular season success, the Pilots have struggled in the West Coast Conference tournament, I am sure something that weighs on the mind of Reveno. In the last 20 years prior to the the arrival of Reveno, the Pilots were most noted in athletics for having a great women's soccer team and every year winning their league championship in men's cross country. Under Reveno, Pilot basketball is changing that.
Lately I have often said that Reveno is the best head basketball coach in D-1 that no one knows about. The city of Portland is not a good college basketball town, the Pilots history in basketball for the most part is, there is little history and with its high academic standards and lack of a basketbal history, it makes recruiting athletes hard.
But somehow, each of the last three years Reveno has gotten the job done. He will be challenged once again this year with a young team that will have only two seniors, but one of those seniors Nemanga Mitrovic has the potential to be the best three point shooter in the country. The rest of his teammates will have to develop quickly if the team hopes to win 20 games again this season, but it is obvious now you never bet against Eric Reveno accomplishing anything.
If you ever make it to Portland during basketball season, it is worth the trip to watch the Pilots play. Their arena, The Chiles Center, does not have a bad seat in the house, it even offers some items in the concession stands that differ from the normal crap and most important, parking is always free.
I did think of a couple more bad things. You can't email Coach Reveno, he is the only staff member that does not list an email. This is a disturbing trend in college athletics, not being able to email the head coach. Bad customer service. Also, it is not good that the Pilots play their cross town buddies, Portland State only once during pre-season. In days of tight budgets and shortfalls it just seems so natural these teams should play twice, not once.
In college basketball often programs can sustain for years after their head coach moves on, many examples. But in the case of the Pilots, when Eric Reveno moves on, the program could easily suffer. It is obvious he is a coach that knows how to put a program together under not the best of circumstances and he knows how to win.
If the Pilots can keep him, great. If he leaves for a better job, not great.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Otherwise things are pretty darn good for Reveno as he enters his sixth season for the Pilot, a school which sits on "The BLUFF in north Portland with a beautiful campus and beautiful views of the Willamette river.
Reveno had a shaky start at University of Portland. His first team went 9-23 in the 2006-07 season and the next year was not much better. In fairness, Reveno inherited a mess from previous coach Michael Holton. In maybe the most gutsy move in the history of Pilot athletics, athletic director Larry Williams bought out Holton's contract at the end of the 2006 season.
As of right now the move looks brilliant. Although attendance is still not where it needs to be, it has risen in each year under Reveno, people are starting to talk about the Pilots for the first time in ages and more importantly, in the last three years the team has gone 60-36 and advanced to play in the CIT post season tournament each year.
Even with all the regular season success, the Pilots have struggled in the West Coast Conference tournament, I am sure something that weighs on the mind of Reveno. In the last 20 years prior to the the arrival of Reveno, the Pilots were most noted in athletics for having a great women's soccer team and every year winning their league championship in men's cross country. Under Reveno, Pilot basketball is changing that.
Lately I have often said that Reveno is the best head basketball coach in D-1 that no one knows about. The city of Portland is not a good college basketball town, the Pilots history in basketball for the most part is, there is little history and with its high academic standards and lack of a basketbal history, it makes recruiting athletes hard.
But somehow, each of the last three years Reveno has gotten the job done. He will be challenged once again this year with a young team that will have only two seniors, but one of those seniors Nemanga Mitrovic has the potential to be the best three point shooter in the country. The rest of his teammates will have to develop quickly if the team hopes to win 20 games again this season, but it is obvious now you never bet against Eric Reveno accomplishing anything.
If you ever make it to Portland during basketball season, it is worth the trip to watch the Pilots play. Their arena, The Chiles Center, does not have a bad seat in the house, it even offers some items in the concession stands that differ from the normal crap and most important, parking is always free.
I did think of a couple more bad things. You can't email Coach Reveno, he is the only staff member that does not list an email. This is a disturbing trend in college athletics, not being able to email the head coach. Bad customer service. Also, it is not good that the Pilots play their cross town buddies, Portland State only once during pre-season. In days of tight budgets and shortfalls it just seems so natural these teams should play twice, not once.
In college basketball often programs can sustain for years after their head coach moves on, many examples. But in the case of the Pilots, when Eric Reveno moves on, the program could easily suffer. It is obvious he is a coach that knows how to put a program together under not the best of circumstances and he knows how to win.
If the Pilots can keep him, great. If he leaves for a better job, not great.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Over Staying Your Welcome
When I recently watched the ESPN special featuring Joe Paterno and Mike Krzyzewski like everyone else I had some thoughts and opinions.
Of course per usual when he is involved in any ESPN production, the best part of the show was host Rece Davis. Is there anything that guy can't do? He is simply the best studio host in broadcasting right now and in my opinion the best of all time. If a young person wants to go into broadcasting just watch and copy Rece Davis and you will be a success.
Back to my thoughts. It is hard for myself to watch Coach K on anything. I have heard way too many negative things about him and have never been a big fan. It is hard to watch Joe Paterno period. I use to be a big fan, always rooted for Penn State, I do not anymore as Paterno has stayed too long. It is painful to watch him be interviewed, it is also painful to watch him on the sidelines. Of course we all know he has a great staff and they are running the program, Coach Paterno just stands there, literally.
When it comes to college basketball, I am a firm believer that coaches should move often, especially when they are riding the crest of success. Of course there are a few exceptions. Coach K when it comes to wins and losses is an example, but we often forget, he even took a year off to get healthy and recharge his batteries back in the early 90s.
Maybe it is because I am old, but I have seen too many coaches stay at the same place too long, only to not only wear out their welcome, but go from successful years, to poor years and lose their job. Staying is your profession for a long time is great, staying at the same place your asking for trouble.
Fans, boosters and administrations are fickle. In sports if your not successful, everyone will turn on you in a heartbeat.
Perfect example, ex-Oregon coach Ernie Kent. In the early 2000s Kent was the hottest coaching name in the country, he could have had lots of jobs that were waiting for him to accept. He chose to stay with the Ducks, in 2011, after being ousted by Oregon in 2010, he couldn't even get a decent interview for a basketball head coaching job. Sticking on the west coast, Mike Montgomery stayed too long at Stanford, now being at Cal, some people do not even know he is still in coaching. I even worry about Wayne Tinkle at Montana, a really good coach, is he going to stay too long with the Griz and not move when he should.
As mentioned above there are some exceptions to staying too long in the same place. I have written about two of them, Danny Miles and Brad Jackson. Both of these coaches have sustained the test of time and continue to be at the top of their games and their role in shaping young people's lives goes way beyond coaching basketball and obviously quality of life means just as much as making big bucks. I do have a feeling both of them will know when it is a good time to retire and I also have a strong feeling both of them will be real active doing lots of volunteer work and helping lots of people upon their retirement.
Speaking of retirement, in basketball it should also apply to referees. Because the money is so great, more and more we are seeing referees stay too long. Jim Burr and Tim Higgins, who were both involved in the debacle at the Big East tournament last year and literally were fired from working any more games in the tournament, have stayed too long. They can't cover the court and actually often embarrass themselves in games. It is time for them to be off the court and evaluating officials, not working games.
Retirement is always a touchy subject for everyone. What I don't want to see is someone else making the decision for you to retire or even worse be fired.
Sports even has its own set of unwritten rules. Move when your a success, do not wear out your welcome and retire before you become an embarrassment. And don't forget, even when you do retire, plenty of people are looking for your great skills in the volunteer field.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Of course per usual when he is involved in any ESPN production, the best part of the show was host Rece Davis. Is there anything that guy can't do? He is simply the best studio host in broadcasting right now and in my opinion the best of all time. If a young person wants to go into broadcasting just watch and copy Rece Davis and you will be a success.
Back to my thoughts. It is hard for myself to watch Coach K on anything. I have heard way too many negative things about him and have never been a big fan. It is hard to watch Joe Paterno period. I use to be a big fan, always rooted for Penn State, I do not anymore as Paterno has stayed too long. It is painful to watch him be interviewed, it is also painful to watch him on the sidelines. Of course we all know he has a great staff and they are running the program, Coach Paterno just stands there, literally.
When it comes to college basketball, I am a firm believer that coaches should move often, especially when they are riding the crest of success. Of course there are a few exceptions. Coach K when it comes to wins and losses is an example, but we often forget, he even took a year off to get healthy and recharge his batteries back in the early 90s.
Maybe it is because I am old, but I have seen too many coaches stay at the same place too long, only to not only wear out their welcome, but go from successful years, to poor years and lose their job. Staying is your profession for a long time is great, staying at the same place your asking for trouble.
Fans, boosters and administrations are fickle. In sports if your not successful, everyone will turn on you in a heartbeat.
Perfect example, ex-Oregon coach Ernie Kent. In the early 2000s Kent was the hottest coaching name in the country, he could have had lots of jobs that were waiting for him to accept. He chose to stay with the Ducks, in 2011, after being ousted by Oregon in 2010, he couldn't even get a decent interview for a basketball head coaching job. Sticking on the west coast, Mike Montgomery stayed too long at Stanford, now being at Cal, some people do not even know he is still in coaching. I even worry about Wayne Tinkle at Montana, a really good coach, is he going to stay too long with the Griz and not move when he should.
As mentioned above there are some exceptions to staying too long in the same place. I have written about two of them, Danny Miles and Brad Jackson. Both of these coaches have sustained the test of time and continue to be at the top of their games and their role in shaping young people's lives goes way beyond coaching basketball and obviously quality of life means just as much as making big bucks. I do have a feeling both of them will know when it is a good time to retire and I also have a strong feeling both of them will be real active doing lots of volunteer work and helping lots of people upon their retirement.
Speaking of retirement, in basketball it should also apply to referees. Because the money is so great, more and more we are seeing referees stay too long. Jim Burr and Tim Higgins, who were both involved in the debacle at the Big East tournament last year and literally were fired from working any more games in the tournament, have stayed too long. They can't cover the court and actually often embarrass themselves in games. It is time for them to be off the court and evaluating officials, not working games.
Retirement is always a touchy subject for everyone. What I don't want to see is someone else making the decision for you to retire or even worse be fired.
Sports even has its own set of unwritten rules. Move when your a success, do not wear out your welcome and retire before you become an embarrassment. And don't forget, even when you do retire, plenty of people are looking for your great skills in the volunteer field.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
With Tad It Will Not Be Sad
There are just some college basketball coaches that are made to rebuild programs and are made to WIN.
In my mind, Colorado Buffalo coach Tad Boyle fits that mold.
While Boyle is still young in his coaching career and even has a below .500 record overall as a head coach when you look at is his overall body of work, it is impressive.
Rob Closs was an outstanding player for Dick Harter with the Oregon Ducks and has carried on his relationship with the Ducks by being their TV analyst for Duck basketball games. Back in 1994 standing next to Closs in Mac Court during warm-ups it was Closs who told me to look at the Oregon bench. I did and he went on to tell me there are two guys sitting over there as Duck assistants that will be big time college head coaches in the future.
Closs per usual was so right on one of the people and is headed to be right on the other. Those two people he pointed out were Mark Turgeon and Tad Boyle, who were in their first year as being assistants for head coach Jerry Green. Turgeon who will coach Maryland this year after a great run at Texas A&M has turned into being one of the top young coaches in college basketball and Boyle is headed in that direction.
I would warn all Pac-12 fans, coaches and anyone else that will listen, do not ever take the Colorado Buffalos for granted as long as Tad Boyle is their head coach. It is a school with very little basketball tradition, but Boyle just might change that.
In Boyle's first year as head college basketball coach he went 4-24 at the Northern Colorado Bears. In his last year with the Bears he guided them to a 25-8 record and a trip to the College Insider Tournament. What a turnaround in four years, he changed the entire culture of Bears' basketball.
In his home state, that obviously caught the attention of many people, landing Boyle the head coaching job at Colorado last year. He didn't even take the normal three years to put the program on the map. In his first year he won 24 games and he team played great in a very tough basketball conference, the Big 12.
If you had one beef with a team that should have gotten into the NCAA tournament it was Boyle's Buffalos. All of basketball was shocked when the Buffs did not make the big dance, but in a tribute to Boyle's coaching he kept the team focused, taking them to the semifinals of the NIT.
Boyle did not rest after the season. He did something that has not happened for 21 years at Colorado, he was able to recruit not just one player out of the Los Angeles area, but three quality players. Point guards Askia Baker and Spencer Dinwiddie, along with power forward Damiene Cain will join the Buffs this coming season and the three have a chance to be impact players.
Of course the Buffs lost two high quality players in Alec Burks and Cory Higgins, not easy players to replace, but Boyle always finds a way to win.
As for Pac-12 play, the Buffs have not played Arizona State and Washington State since 1969. It has been almost as long since they have played USC and UCLA, the last time being 1975 and 1977 respectively. Those match-ups will also help the Buffs in recruiting, especially playing the LA schools in the rich California basketball talent area and giving his three recruits a chance to play in front of family and friends.
If Tad Boyle has one flaw, he keeps calling Colorado his "dream job". (Boyle is a native of Greeley, Colorado). In these days of high powered college basketball, big money and an ever abundance of players to recruit, there are no dream jobs. Boyle is the lowest paid basketball coach in the Pac-12 at around $590,000 per year, he was mentioned for a couple of openings this year and another year like he had last year with the Buffs, he will become even a hotter commodity.
The Buffs for sure are a program to watch as they join the Pac-12 and Tad Boyle is a coach to watch as well, being a graduate of Kansas where he captained the team in 1985, playing for Larry Brown, coaching under Jerry Green, being around Mark Turgeon, his total basketball culture has been about winning and he continues that as head coach.
At least I warned you early enough Pac-12.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
In my mind, Colorado Buffalo coach Tad Boyle fits that mold.
While Boyle is still young in his coaching career and even has a below .500 record overall as a head coach when you look at is his overall body of work, it is impressive.
Rob Closs was an outstanding player for Dick Harter with the Oregon Ducks and has carried on his relationship with the Ducks by being their TV analyst for Duck basketball games. Back in 1994 standing next to Closs in Mac Court during warm-ups it was Closs who told me to look at the Oregon bench. I did and he went on to tell me there are two guys sitting over there as Duck assistants that will be big time college head coaches in the future.
Closs per usual was so right on one of the people and is headed to be right on the other. Those two people he pointed out were Mark Turgeon and Tad Boyle, who were in their first year as being assistants for head coach Jerry Green. Turgeon who will coach Maryland this year after a great run at Texas A&M has turned into being one of the top young coaches in college basketball and Boyle is headed in that direction.
I would warn all Pac-12 fans, coaches and anyone else that will listen, do not ever take the Colorado Buffalos for granted as long as Tad Boyle is their head coach. It is a school with very little basketball tradition, but Boyle just might change that.
In Boyle's first year as head college basketball coach he went 4-24 at the Northern Colorado Bears. In his last year with the Bears he guided them to a 25-8 record and a trip to the College Insider Tournament. What a turnaround in four years, he changed the entire culture of Bears' basketball.
In his home state, that obviously caught the attention of many people, landing Boyle the head coaching job at Colorado last year. He didn't even take the normal three years to put the program on the map. In his first year he won 24 games and he team played great in a very tough basketball conference, the Big 12.
If you had one beef with a team that should have gotten into the NCAA tournament it was Boyle's Buffalos. All of basketball was shocked when the Buffs did not make the big dance, but in a tribute to Boyle's coaching he kept the team focused, taking them to the semifinals of the NIT.
Boyle did not rest after the season. He did something that has not happened for 21 years at Colorado, he was able to recruit not just one player out of the Los Angeles area, but three quality players. Point guards Askia Baker and Spencer Dinwiddie, along with power forward Damiene Cain will join the Buffs this coming season and the three have a chance to be impact players.
Of course the Buffs lost two high quality players in Alec Burks and Cory Higgins, not easy players to replace, but Boyle always finds a way to win.
As for Pac-12 play, the Buffs have not played Arizona State and Washington State since 1969. It has been almost as long since they have played USC and UCLA, the last time being 1975 and 1977 respectively. Those match-ups will also help the Buffs in recruiting, especially playing the LA schools in the rich California basketball talent area and giving his three recruits a chance to play in front of family and friends.
If Tad Boyle has one flaw, he keeps calling Colorado his "dream job". (Boyle is a native of Greeley, Colorado). In these days of high powered college basketball, big money and an ever abundance of players to recruit, there are no dream jobs. Boyle is the lowest paid basketball coach in the Pac-12 at around $590,000 per year, he was mentioned for a couple of openings this year and another year like he had last year with the Buffs, he will become even a hotter commodity.
The Buffs for sure are a program to watch as they join the Pac-12 and Tad Boyle is a coach to watch as well, being a graduate of Kansas where he captained the team in 1985, playing for Larry Brown, coaching under Jerry Green, being around Mark Turgeon, his total basketball culture has been about winning and he continues that as head coach.
At least I warned you early enough Pac-12.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
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