The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(03-28-2024 11:09 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  If we had hired a new AD, and HE had made the very same MJ/Odell hire, many of you would have been gleefully dancing naked in the streets and touting the GENIUS of the new AD.

Two things can be true at once. Wood can be terrible at building an athletic program with a winning culture, and they could have made a good basketball hire.

I will also say, it is my understanding that MJ was Hemphill's choice.

Now let's see if they give him what he needs to build a program that aims to compete among the top mid majors, or if it is more of the same scrimping on fan engagement, marketing, outreach, etc that hamstrings MJ's ability to build something that is truly special.

(03-28-2024 11:36 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 11:09 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  If we had hired a new AD, and HE had made the very same MJ/Odell hire, many of you would have been gleefully dancing naked in the streets and touting the GENIUS of the new AD.

Im very happy with the hire, but its not like it was genius. Many people have talked about how good it would be to have MJ be our coach over the years. Some even wanted him when Wood hired JJ over Keats and Rhodes. We've even openly dreamed of a MJ/Hodge combo on this site. I'll give Wood credit for making it happen, and negotiations and deal making is where Wood shines. But it was pretty much the most obvious hire there could have been. Going back to when MJ was hired at VT, people were saying he was setting himself up for when JJ left.

I agree with this. It was a safe hire that everyone on this board pretty much predicted would happen. There was no "outside the box" or "genius" thinking to this hire. Ultimately, it seems like Mike Jones was ultimately the head coach in waiting, and this move seems like it was done before it *officially* even got started.

(03-28-2024 01:11 PM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 11:36 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 11:09 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  If we had hired a new AD, and HE had made the very same MJ/Odell hire, many of you would have been gleefully dancing naked in the streets and touting the GENIUS of the new AD.

Im very happy with the hire, but its not like it was genius. Many people have talked about how good it would be to have MJ be our coach over the years. Some even wanted him when Wood hired JJ over Keats and Rhodes. We've even openly dreamed of a MJ/Hodge combo on this site. I'll give Wood credit for making it happen, and negotiations and deal making is where Wood shines. But it was pretty much the most obvious hire there could have been. Going back to when MJ was hired at VT, people were saying he was setting himself up for when JJ left.

I agree with this. It was a safe hire that everyone on this board pretty much predicted would happen. There was no "outside the box" or "genius" thinking to this hire. Ultimately, it seems like Mike Jones was ultimately the head coach in waiting, and this move seems like it was done before it *officially* even got started.

Speaking of Keats, he just took his team to the final four. He was one of the six candidates for Blaine’s vacant job, and then came JJ. Now I’m not stupid and he would probably be here, maybe 3 years but he could have built the program back up, after a 5-25 record. If hired and left, I would try the next top guy I could get. No long contracts, to start off with.

(03-31-2024 08:32 PM)bluelight Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 01:11 PM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 11:36 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 11:09 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  If we had hired a new AD, and HE had made the very same MJ/Odell hire, many of you would have been gleefully dancing naked in the streets and touting the GENIUS of the new AD.

Im very happy with the hire, but its not like it was genius. Many people have talked about how good it would be to have MJ be our coach over the years. Some even wanted him when Wood hired JJ over Keats and Rhodes. We've even openly dreamed of a MJ/Hodge combo on this site. I'll give Wood credit for making it happen, and negotiations and deal making is where Wood shines. But it was pretty much the most obvious hire there could have been. Going back to when MJ was hired at VT, people were saying he was setting himself up for when JJ left.

I agree with this. It was a safe hire that everyone on this board pretty much predicted would happen. There was no "outside the box" or "genius" thinking to this hire. Ultimately, it seems like Mike Jones was ultimately the head coach in waiting, and this move seems like it was done before it *officially* even got started.

Speaking of Keats, he just took his team to the final four. He was one of the six candidates for Blaine’s vacant job, and then came JJ. Now I’m not stupid and he would probably be here, maybe 3 years but he could have built the program back up, after a 5-25 record. If hired and left, I would try the next top guy I could get. No long contracts, to start off with.

I'm not sold on Keatts. He was about to get fired, before this crazy run they're on. You have to give him credit for what they've done and the confidence he has instilled in this team, but I still don't think he's a great x and o guy.

(04-01-2024 07:30 AM)Cant Tame the Lion Wrote:  

(03-31-2024 08:32 PM)bluelight Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 01:11 PM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 11:36 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 11:09 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  If we had hired a new AD, and HE had made the very same MJ/Odell hire, many of you would have been gleefully dancing naked in the streets and touting the GENIUS of the new AD.

Im very happy with the hire, but its not like it was genius. Many people have talked about how good it would be to have MJ be our coach over the years. Some even wanted him when Wood hired JJ over Keats and Rhodes. We've even openly dreamed of a MJ/Hodge combo on this site. I'll give Wood credit for making it happen, and negotiations and deal making is where Wood shines. But it was pretty much the most obvious hire there could have been. Going back to when MJ was hired at VT, people were saying he was setting himself up for when JJ left.

I agree with this. It was a safe hire that everyone on this board pretty much predicted would happen. There was no "outside the box" or "genius" thinking to this hire. Ultimately, it seems like Mike Jones was ultimately the head coach in waiting, and this move seems like it was done before it *officially* even got started.

Speaking of Keats, he just took his team to the final four. He was one of the six candidates for Blaine’s vacant job, and then came JJ. Now I’m not stupid and he would probably be here, maybe 3 years but he could have built the program back up, after a 5-25 record. If hired and left, I would try the next top guy I could get. No long contracts, to start off with.

I'm not sold on Keatts. He was about to get fired, before this crazy run they're on. You have to give him credit for what they've done and the confidence he has instilled in this team, but I still don't think he's a great x and o guy.

It will be interesting to see if he has learned something from this run. They are typically a pressing, no shot is a bad shot team, but during this run they have committed to playing really solid defense and settling into the half court and taking advantage of their strengths on offense. Does he revert back to his normal, which is mediocre, after this season or does he pivot to some extent?

I will say that he has done a pretty good job getting creative with different ways to play off of Burns during this run. So, while Xs and Os have been pretty terrible for most of his time at State, it does seem that he has some capability of actually coaching based off what we have seen for the last few weeks.

(04-01-2024 08:17 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(04-01-2024 07:30 AM)Cant Tame the Lion Wrote:  

(03-31-2024 08:32 PM)bluelight Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 01:11 PM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  

(03-28-2024 11:36 AM)monarx Wrote:  Im very happy with the hire, but its not like it was genius. Many people have talked about how good it would be to have MJ be our coach over the years. Some even wanted him when Wood hired JJ over Keats and Rhodes. We've even openly dreamed of a MJ/Hodge combo on this site. I'll give Wood credit for making it happen, and negotiations and deal making is where Wood shines. But it was pretty much the most obvious hire there could have been. Going back to when MJ was hired at VT, people were saying he was setting himself up for when JJ left.

I agree with this. It was a safe hire that everyone on this board pretty much predicted would happen. There was no "outside the box" or "genius" thinking to this hire. Ultimately, it seems like Mike Jones was ultimately the head coach in waiting, and this move seems like it was done before it *officially* even got started.

Speaking of Keats, he just took his team to the final four. He was one of the six candidates for Blaine’s vacant job, and then came JJ. Now I’m not stupid and he would probably be here, maybe 3 years but he could have built the program back up, after a 5-25 record. If hired and left, I would try the next top guy I could get. No long contracts, to start off with.

I'm not sold on Keatts. He was about to get fired, before this crazy run they're on. You have to give him credit for what they've done and the confidence he has instilled in this team, but I still don't think he's a great x and o guy.

It will be interesting to see if he has learned something from this run. They are typically a pressing, no shot is a bad shot team, but during this run they have committed to playing really solid defense and settling into the half court and taking advantage of their strengths on offense. Does he revert back to his normal, which is mediocre, after this season or does he pivot to some extent?

I will say that he has done a pretty good job getting creative with different ways to play off of Burns during this run. So, while Xs and Os have been pretty terrible for most of his time at State, it does seem that he has some capability of actually coaching based off what we have seen for the last few weeks.

Agreed

Guys, we are kind of getting off topic for this thread.

(04-01-2024 09:18 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  Guys, we are kind of getting off topic for this thread.

So about those fan ODU surveys....

(04-01-2024 09:20 AM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  

(04-01-2024 09:18 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  Guys, we are kind of getting off topic for this thread.

So about those fan ODU surveys....

We covered it in our episode with Joe Rafanelli last week, he’s gonna be forming some breakout groups in the future and plans to continue using surveys to get feedback from fans.

You can listen at the link;
https://odumonarchists.com/monarchists-p...dutickets/

(04-01-2024 09:32 AM)Monarchist13 Wrote:  

(04-01-2024 09:20 AM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  

(04-01-2024 09:18 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  Guys, we are kind of getting off topic for this thread.

So about those fan ODU surveys....

We covered it in our episode with Joe Rafanelli last week, he’s gonna be forming some breakout groups in the future and plans to continue using surveys to get feedback from fans.

You can listen at the link;
https://odumonarchists.com/monarchists-p...dutickets/

C'mon M13. There is already one thread dedicated to the promotion of your podcast. Isnt that enough?



In all seriousness, I am not a frequent listener and have no desire to become one. However, this is one of the very few episodes I did listen to. Needless to say, as you can probably imagine, I was left unimpressed with what I heard.

IMHO, it was a lot of sizzle, but no steak.

It was a lot of the following:

"We are looking into X. We are looking into Y. We are looking into Z."

There were very few (if any) memorable quotes like the following:

"We are going to do X. We are going to do Y. We are going to do Z."

M13, respectfully, I donate way too much time, money, effort, and emotion to get the sizzle instead of the steak in return with the product. If folks within our athletic department cant figure out whats wrong with the product by now, whether it involves things like in-game entertainment, promotions, or more student involvement, they likely wont be able to. To me, some of the issues within the overall game experience are pretty darn glaring. And if the things that are glaring continually don't drastically change, then we have even bigger problems here. And sorry, but a potential chicken wing eating contest is NOT going to draw more people to come to games.

(04-01-2024 10:07 AM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  

(04-01-2024 09:32 AM)Monarchist13 Wrote:  

(04-01-2024 09:20 AM)ODURallyFox Wrote:  

(04-01-2024 09:18 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  Guys, we are kind of getting off topic for this thread.

So about those fan ODU surveys....

We covered it in our episode with Joe Rafanelli last week, he’s gonna be forming some breakout groups in the future and plans to continue using surveys to get feedback from fans.

You can listen at the link;
https://odumonarchists.com/monarchists-p...dutickets/

C'mon M13. There is already one thread dedicated to the promotion of your podcast. Isnt that enough?

In all seriousness, I am not a frequent listener and have no desire to become one. However, this is one of the very few episodes I did listen to. Needless to say, as you can probably imagine, I was left unimpressed with what I heard.

IMHO, it was a lot of sizzle, but no steak.

It was a lot of the following:

"We are looking into X. We are looking into Y. We are looking into Z."

He’s saying that because we talked in March. A lot of time left to make the plans more concrete and/or adapt. But I heard a lot of things I liked. Less check presentations, more attempts at improving fan involvement during games, an improved pregame experience for non-tailgaters. And I heard even more that I liked off-air.

Joe is gonna do good things here.

Personally, if I had the money to give to have one of those “check” ceremonies I’d pass. Never been one for ego massaging.