(10-29-2013 03:35 AM)CardinalJim Wrote: I like Pastner. I believe he is as talented as any young coach. I actually would like to see him replace Pitino when he retires. I know its Richard's job to lose know. If for some reason Richard doesn't want to come home, I hope Louisville targets Josh.
He just needs more game experience. No knock on CUSA but until this season he really has never had the opportunity to face top shelf talent, game in game out, like he will in this league.
Not much of a basketball fan anymore but I even I am looking forward to it. I don't believe this league will be as good as The Big East was but it will be damn close.
CJ
Good post, CJ. I think that's fair. I disagree about the going to Louisville part, though. Never say never, but IMO, that ain't happening. I am not guessing, b/c he and I have actually discussed that subject.
He has told me privately, and has also said publicly, that his plan is to be Memphis' Boeheim. Now you never know how these things actually go, but I do believe that is his intent.
He is cut from a much different cloth than Calipari. And he is unbelievably grateful for getting his first chance at Memphis, at such an early age.
Where I think we have a bigger chance of losing Pastner one day is to the NBA. At age 19, he actually applied for the head coaching job of the Lakers.
THAT is his real dream job. However, his strength at the moment is recruiting, and that translates much better on the college level.
As for Pastner's coaching ability, I understand the outside criticism. Heck, a vocal minority of Tiger fans have doubts, too. There is absolutely no doubt that he is learning on the job. It is also clear that he has improved each year.
Four seasons in, he's done pretty well. I think Coach K had a losing record at that point. Yeah, yeah, we played in a relatively weak CUSA, but if running the table is so easy, why hasn't anybody in the 20+ lower ranked conferences ever done it?
One thing is obvious. He is a top level recruiter, and always will be, unless he just falls on his face as a coach. Right now, he's a lot closer to being a star than he is to being a flop.
As posted previously, he hasn't had a lot of chances to beat ranked teams yet, only 2 or 3 at the beginning of each season, while we were still rebuilding a depleted roster from Calipari's exit. Only two were home games total in his tenure, and I think we were not a favorite in any of those games so far. And in each season, we clearly got better as the season progressed, regardless of opponent. Against Michigan State last March, we were just way overmatched up front.
This year, he will get 7 chances for wins over ranked teams (finally had one last year), and probably 8, if Memphis and OSU reach the finals of the Old Spice Classic. Still won't be favorites in but one or two, but we have a good chance in every game. We finally have enough senior leadership not to get rattled, and at least decent depth up front, which has always been a problem until now.
I think one issue against the perception of Pastner as a coach is that he has recruited at a high level, but hasn't beaten any high level teams yet. I think it's for the above mentioned reasons, plus, I have a gut feeling that his first highly touted class in 2010 turned out not to be as good as people first thought. They essentially won a national AAU championship together, and had high hopes to duplicate that in college, perhaps. Almost all of them thought they were one and dones, or two and dones, at worst.
Will Barton was really good, but not as great as advertised, especially in a team setting. Joe Jackson struggled with his own high expectations, and almost transferred out. Tarik Black was good, but never great, and apparently never had his heart in playing at home, and had attitude problems the whole time. Adonis Thomas came in the next year, and was mostly a bust, partly due to injury. Chris Crawford wasn't highly ranked, and has been inconsistent, although streaky hot at times. Antonio Barton was a 3 star, and played great in spots, but never cracked the starting lineup much.
Only Jackson and Crawford remain. The other main players are Geron Johnson, a juco with great D and streaky on offense, and Mike Dixon, the former sixth man at Missouri, the year they won 30+ games.
Our starting center is a 4 star sophomore who hit a wall last year, and our likely starting PF is a senior grad transfer from GW, who sat out a year.
So, no real superstars, by any stretch, but an all senior starting lineup, and the #3 recruiting class in the country backing them up, and giving us unusual depth. We now have the horses to press more like Louisville, so it should be an interesting season.
I do agree this is a watershed year for Pastner's perception as a coach. We should win a few of those big games, finish at least in the top 2 or 3 in the AAC regular season, and perhaps win the AAC tourney in Memphis.
As for the NCAAs, I think our ceiling is the F4, and anything less than the Sweet 16 would be a huge disappointment.
We'll see. Should be a fun year for all of the AAC.
Didn't intend so, but there is your preseason preview of the Memphis Tigers. Other Tiger fans feel free to add or correct.
/
ESPN Insiders College Basketball Projections for 2013-2014
