The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(03-23-2013 10:34 PM)iam4uab Wrote:  I don't think it's a matter of what made you a fan. No one is disputing that each of us have our own loyalties.

The topic of the thread is success.

Where are we most likely to see the level of success that we desire? Should we not do more to achieve that success and let the other programs ride the coattails? I say yes, but I understand that many others say no.

And I think that's okay. It's just a conversation to have.

No this is a message board. The thread must continue until everyone agrees with me or we start calling each other names and it is moved to the smack board.

Those are the rules.

(03-23-2013 10:44 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(03-23-2013 10:34 PM)iam4uab Wrote:  I don't think it's a matter of what made you a fan. No one is disputing that each of us have our own loyalties.

The topic of the thread is success.

Where are we most likely to see the level of success that we desire? Should we not do more to achieve that success and let the other programs ride the coattails? I say yes, but I understand that many others say no.

And I think that's okay. It's just a conversation to have.

No this is a message board. The thread must continue until everyone agrees with me or we start calling each other names and it is moved to the smack board.

Those are the rules.

noted

I saw this argument earlier in the thread and it bothered me.

UAB basketball started to decline mid 1990's because of Gene's age. He was 66 when he retired from being the head coach here. This is why he handed the reigns over to Murry. It was time for Gene to retire; He was no longer able to recruit and coach like he had 10 years prior. It had nothing to do with Football. That is a BOT argument for shutting down football and the fact that it survived on this forum without being slaughtered bothers me.

Those other schools made wiser choices with coaching changes over the last decade. We... or our BOT chose to not try to keep Anderson when they should have offered him a raise and chose to hire Davis once he left. Shaka Smart, Brad Stevens, et al are hungry young coaches that understand that they have a better chance to win and succeed at upper mid level schools rather than bad Power conference programs. Hopefully Haase understands the same thing and won't move on to a school like Auburn and chase $. Tony Barbee will become another retread soon after he was having some success at UTEP.

I think Hasse will prove to be a very solid hire, and that he knows exactly what the potential of UAB basketball is. I think that the next couple of years will be a major improvement.

It is my hope that he is a Brad Stephens type - that he chooses to stay here and build this program into a power in the conference, to build both UAB's basketball program and his coaching rep until such time as he gets a coaching advancement offer he can't refuse. I know that this is an idealistic and hopeful approach, and that few head coaches choose this path. That said, I think that coaches like Stephens and Shaka Smart are showing that you don't have to make the traditional jump to a crappy big conference team to advance your coaching cred and advance your career.

Haase is a smart guy. I think he knows that if he returns UAB to anything approaching our status under Gene he'll be positioned to move to a much better program when he does make the jump.

Brad Stephens and Shaka Smart aren't as noble as they are being made out to be. Great guys and great coaches, no doubt. However, I don't think they are doing their respective schools any favors (they're not working for free). Those schools have given them raises and made sure that their jobs are as competitive as they can be with "big-time" jobs. Both Stephens and Smart are making 7 figures salaries.

I'm confident that Haase, or anyone else for that matter, will stay with us if we do the same thing (save maybe a chance to take the helm at Kansas or UNC).

(03-24-2013 02:56 PM)iam4uab Wrote:  Brad Stephens and Shaka Smart aren't as noble as they are being made out to be. Great guys and great coaches, no doubt. However, I don't think they are doing their respective schools any favors (they're not working for free). Those schools have given them raises and made sure that their jobs are as competitive as they can be with "big-time" jobs. Both Stephens and Smart are making 7 figures salaries.

I'm confident that Haase, or anyone else for that matter, will stay with us if we do the same thing (save maybe a chance to take the helm at Kansas or UNC).

So it's not noble to be being paid for a job well done. They are being lauded because they stuck with the schools they had success with. They didn't jump ship. Yes they are being paid well, but they have turned down much bigger money. They may not stay at their schools, but they have built a foundation.

And I've seen nothing one way or another to convince me whether Haase would stay or go. We can't pay what the big guys can afford to pay. I don't fault anyone for trying to better himself.

(03-24-2013 03:02 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 02:56 PM)iam4uab Wrote:  Brad Stephens and Shaka Smart aren't as noble as they are being made out to be. Great guys and great coaches, no doubt. However, I don't think they are doing their respective schools any favors (they're not working for free). Those schools have given them raises and made sure that their jobs are as competitive as they can be with "big-time" jobs. Both Stephens and Smart are making 7 figures salaries.

I'm confident that Haase, or anyone else for that matter, will stay with us if we do the same thing (save maybe a chance to take the helm at Kansas or UNC).

So it's not noble to be being paid for a job well done. They are being lauded because they stuck with the schools they had success with. They didn't jump ship. Yes they are being paid well, but they have turned down much bigger money. They may not stay at their schools, but they have built a foundation.

And I've seen nothing one way or another to convince me whether Haase would stay or go. We can't pay what the big guys can afford to pay. I don't fault anyone for trying to better himself.

You know what I mean. Like I said, they are great guys. But, it's not like they are just getting by with scraps and taking a vow of poverty for the good of the programs they are with.

My overarching point is that UAB has to have the mindset that programs like Butler, VCU and Gonzaga have. That is that we will do what it takes to be successful. It's not so much about a certain coach, but an entire attitude of a program. From administration to staff to players to students to fans and on and on.

Are we building or maintaining? There's a different mindset depending on what your goals are. Teams like those mentioned above have a building mindset. For the first time in a while, I feel like we are trying to build, but I feel like everyone has in their mind a ceiling of what is possible for us to achieve. Personally, I think those expectations are a little low.

Then again, I'm the guy who always think the miracle is possible, even if we're down by 20 with 5 minutes left. Personally, I don't think a national championship run in the tournament for UAB would be a miracle...I think we can get to a point where it's expected.

I'm not putting Smart or Stephens or Mark Few up for sainthood. All I'm saying is that they are guys who have chosen a different path to success in their coaching careers. Instead of putting together a couple of good years at a mid-major, becoming the hot coach flavor of the month and taking a mediocre job at a middling BCS school, they decided to stay put and build their programs and their records. They're getting paid plenty of money... maybe not as much as they would at a middling BC$ school, but plenty. I think that they like being where they are, respected and loved by their fan bases, big fish in smaller ponds. They can afford to be picky, to turn down jobs that are not what they are targeting. They'll wait till the right program and the right offer comes along, then make a move.

That seems smart to me. Why jump into a frying pan coaching at a school that has proven to be difficult to win at?

Well, A10 had 5 teams make the round of 32, but only one makes the sweet 16. The least likely, Lasalle, who was one of the last at larges chosen just beat Ole Miss.

(03-24-2013 04:24 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  I'm not putting Smart or Stephens or Mark Few up for sainthood. All I'm saying is that they are guys who have chosen a different path to success in their coaching careers. Instead of putting together a couple of good years at a mid-major, becoming the hot coach flavor of the month and taking a mediocre job at a middling BCS school, they decided to stay put and build their programs and their records. They're getting paid plenty of money... maybe not as much as they would at a middling BC$ school, but plenty. I think that they like being where they are, respected and loved by their fan bases, big fish in smaller ponds. They can afford to be picky, to turn down jobs that are not what they are targeting. They'll wait till the right program and the right offer comes along, then make a move.

That seems smart to me. Why jump into a frying pan coaching at a school that has proven to be difficult to win at?

Did someone mention Auburn?

Sure, that's one. Miss St is another. NC State. There are lots of middle of the road jobs at schools in places hard to recruit to, who have three or four schools in their conference who are consistantly better, who don't have the tradition or the success or the flash. They'll jump out and spend the money to get a coach, or build facilities, but that does not mean that anything really changes.

So why squander your big chance signing to go where coaching careers die? Other than that big contract?

(03-24-2013 11:59 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  Sure, that's one. Miss St is another. NC State. There are lots of middle of the road jobs at schools in places hard to recruit to, who have three or four schools in their conference who are consistantly better, who don't have the tradition or the success or the flash. They'll jump out and spend the money to get a coach, or build facilities, but that does not mean that anything really changes.

So why squander your big chance signing to go where coaching careers die? Other than that big contract?

Nc state isn't doing too bad with gottfried