Dylan Painter
- Thread starter gary2
- Start date
I know this is impossible to believe but Painter has eliminated Pitt.
Tell me again why Barton is still on staff?
The number one recruiter is always the head coach.
It's a stale fart right now.
It's a stale fart right now.
Gary, as I and others have said many times, the assistants don't decide who gets the offers and when. They have the initial contact with the kids , do initial evaluation and make recommendations. Each of the assstants have kids they're recruoting who THEY think are good targets and should be high priorities but clearly only a few can be priorites.
They don't set the priorities. That falls on the Head Coach.
Barton WAS the first recruiter "on" Painter. There was some mutual interest and it was discussed that an unofficial visit would be made but it was never scheduled and never happened.
Most of this board was aghast ( at that tine) that Pitt woud have any interest in a low-ranked kid like Painter. Until he blew up, I think he just fell through the cracks. He had offers from a lot of schools before Pitt tred to get involved again.
It was simply too late, as I think we have been too late on most of the kids we've offered this Summer.
This is, IMHO, a by-product of spending too much time from last November's early signing period through June this Summer in trying to fill vacancies in the 2015 class, and on retaining the two 2016 early commits. We put a lot of emphasis on Chieck Diallo up until almost LOI day in April. We put a lot of effort into the 5th year graduate transfers, the ones we missed and the ones we signed.
We didn't turn our sights on the 2016 class until recently. We did pursue Cassius Wilson early, and Corey Manigault in a timely fashion, but, partly because of commitments from Rowan and Heron, we were very late recruiting others. We were late on TJ Gibbs abd have been late on a lot more since.
There's an old chestnut about "When you are up to your a** in alligators, it's hard to remember thst the original objective was to drain the swamp. " We're in catch-up mode and maybe falling further behind.
I fear that is going to be the moral of the 2016 Pitt recruiting class.
Dixon has always had a peculiar way of recruiting. He has always been VERY deliberate in pulling the trigger on a commitable offer to recruits. Over the years, yeah, we mssed some kids because of that but mostly, we ended up with guys who were willing to play our way and were good enough.
That may still happen, but there will be plenty more like Painter who sign elsewhere. There always have been and always will be. KENTUCKY was recruiting about 30 2015 stars and ended up with 3 of those original targets.
I personally would gave liked to see Painter come here but I'm not sure he was in Dixon's top 4 or even top 10 priority recruits right now.
But blaming Barton for Pitt's not signing Painter when we didn't offer him for almost a full year after Barton first spoke with him is a little like blaming the guy who drove the bus to the stadium when the team loses the Suoer Bowl.
Harve , I know the head coach prioritizes the recruits and I never expected Painter to go to Pitt. I just wanted to take another shot at Barton.
As you may or may not know, I said I hated the Barton addition on the day he was first hired and have every since. He did nothing for Duquesne and has done less here.
DT admits to recruiting difficulties. Dixon needs to do something about it and I believe a good place to start is with Barton.
Harve, I know you believe that the head coach deserves the right to choose his assistants and you further believe that we fans do not necessarily understand what each individual assistant's duties are. Having said that, would you admit that you would feel better about the direction of the program, if you woke up tomorrow to the news that Barton had been replaced with someone like a Darren Savino?
As you may or may not know, I said I hated the Barton addition on the day he was first hired and have every since. He did nothing for Duquesne and has done less here.
DT admits to recruiting difficulties. Dixon needs to do something about it and I believe a good place to start is with Barton.
Harve, I know you believe that the head coach deserves the right to choose his assistants and you further believe that we fans do not necessarily understand what each individual assistant's duties are. Having said that, would you admit that you would feel better about the direction of the program, if you woke up tomorrow to the news that Barton had been replaced with someone like a Darren Savino?
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[QUOTE="SoufOaklin4Life, post: 232248, member
"The number one recruiter is always the head coach.
It's a stale fart right now."
LOL
Have to agree.
Pitt NEEDS talented players in next year's recruiting class badly.
"The number one recruiter is always the head coach.
It's a stale fart right now."
LOL
Have to agree.
Pitt NEEDS talented players in next year's recruiting class badly.
IMO some thin, tall kid from Hershey was never coming to play at Pitt, just a big cultural difference, and the kid probably isnt seeing the style of play he will be comfortable with. Not to excuse barton, who I agree w most everyone else is worthless for the most part. It also is super exasperating to see rowan and heron, who had been in the fold, looking at schools mostly at the panthers level.
I agree totally w harve, jd has been far to slow to offer to many kids in this class. They have almost literally never closed on a fairly contested kid they have entered late on. I understand his thinking as to why, but dont think those factors should have held up the offers so long. Recruiting in general is too important to how jd runs a program, and this class is so incredibly important to this program.
I feel so strongly about that I have done more homework than I have in a long time, even finally getting premium here. I was REALLY worried about how this class was going. After tuning in, I feel a LITTLE better.
I think there is one top kid they really want that they think they might pull out, and it isnt winston. Winston reeks of diallo or vargas, that big time kid they put too many eggs into a basket at the expense of the rest of the class. While late they do seem to be hitting it harder this year. I feel, maybe am hoping they get at least one more fairly regarded kid, and they should fill out the class, quality might be under whelming to, hopefully, the kind of solid 3/4 star kind of kids jd built the program on.
I agree totally w harve, jd has been far to slow to offer to many kids in this class. They have almost literally never closed on a fairly contested kid they have entered late on. I understand his thinking as to why, but dont think those factors should have held up the offers so long. Recruiting in general is too important to how jd runs a program, and this class is so incredibly important to this program.
I feel so strongly about that I have done more homework than I have in a long time, even finally getting premium here. I was REALLY worried about how this class was going. After tuning in, I feel a LITTLE better.
I think there is one top kid they really want that they think they might pull out, and it isnt winston. Winston reeks of diallo or vargas, that big time kid they put too many eggs into a basket at the expense of the rest of the class. While late they do seem to be hitting it harder this year. I feel, maybe am hoping they get at least one more fairly regarded kid, and they should fill out the class, quality might be under whelming to, hopefully, the kind of solid 3/4 star kind of kids jd built the program on.
While I do think Pitt should have a recruiter with better East Coast ties, I honestly do not beleve replacing Barton with almost ANYONE woud make one iota of difference.
I really like Dixon as a coach and I doubt Pitt will ever see a better one but his approach to recruiting is DIFFERENT to say the least.
Barton beats the bushes of the jucos and lesser prep schools and finds obscure, previously unknown recruits as well as anyone. He generally gets them on campus for unofficial visits. And, at that point, we generally never hear of them again. Now, Barton is the guy who is mostly responsible for handling the kids on their campus visits. Maybe he's lousy at it, but he was considered a strong recruiter when he was HC at ND Prep and kids always seem to leave here saying they had a good visit or a good time.
Mostly, we just don't ever offer the kids Barton digs up. Or at least we don't offer them until long after a dozen or two other schools have already done so and got their attention. Dylan Painter is a great example. Yes, we were on him last year. Then, we basically ignored him for almost a full year, only offering late this Spring. Technically, Matt is right, we weren't as late as we've been on many of our recent offers, but we were later than a dozen or two others. He got something like 26 offers in a two week span this Spring. Maybe we didn't need to give him a commitable offer until then, but since we KNEW about him, we certainly SHOULD have been in contact with him and got him to town on an unofficial visit some time before he blew up, IF we wanted him. His junior video is a LOT better than his sophomore video. He made a lot of progress and could become a very good player as he fills out. The only excuses are 1) that we were busy concentrating on 2015 kids and 2) we still hadn't prioritized him.
Are those good excuses? Well, ultimately no excuse is good enough if we don't sign a better kid, but unfortunately, both are probably true.
Maybe we still hadn't prioritized Painter. Maybe this is a bigger loss to us fans than to the staff. I suspect we are going to have a similar the-sky-is-falling thread when Konate signs with WVU or somewhere else in a few weeks because we haven't pulled the trigger on him.
Going back to Jamie's recruiting style. as DT is correctly fond of pointing out, we DON'T know what Dixon's plans are. All we can do is observe. I'm not a true insider. I get my information second- or third- hand and from blogs, tweets, posts and what I can see with my own eyes. I've focused on a couple of these visits and observed the interactions that I could see from the seats and sidelines at Blue-Gold games, the ProAm etc.
Two instances come immediately to mind. Barton was the lead recruiter on Satchel Pierce. We offered him pretty late and he and his family visited during one of the pre-season Blue Gold scrimmages. Barton checked in with him a few times during the scrimmage and after the final buzzer, took him out on the court to talk with the players and head coach.
They stood for ten to 15 minutes while Jamie chatted with various boosters and fans. Although they were literally within 10 feet of him, Jame NEVER acknowedged them, even with a nod abd eventually, Pierce seemed to get bored and they drifted away twards the exit.
I'm pretty sure Dixon never really had Pierce as a priority recruit and it was more of a courtesy offer to a kid at a local school but Pierce was certainly a better player than Haughton and probaby Doorson, bigs who had scholarships in that class. If I were the recruit and the HC blew me off like that, I'd go somewhere else too. According to many at the time, including Pierce's head coach, a verbal was a likely outcome of the visit. I don't believe Dixon WANTED a verbal from Pierce and after that snub, he certainly didn't get one. It wasn't a big loss. He is a marginal talent.
There is no way to blame Barton for that. In an interview after the first time he left Pitt, Slice basically described similar occurances, where he had kids ready to commit and Dixon wouldn't pull the trigger.
I observed a very similar situation a couple years earlier with David Cox and a DC Assault PF. At that time, there was a strong competition between several assistants, all of who had their OWN candidate for the PF slot. Cox baby-sat his guy in the stands and nobody else from PItt ever came by to show him any "love". The DC Assault kid's dad wanted him here but he ended up elsewhere. To be completely fair, there were academic concerns too which might have contributed, but he definitely got a cold shoulder.
I also know from discussions with some people directly involved with recruiting some local prospects that Jamie is not flexible in his recruiting. He wants to do things on HIS timetable and under conditions he sets. It's not a warm and fuzzy kind of recruiting style that a lot of kids seem to expect these days. Dixon is a genuinely nice guy but he runs a rigid ship, more like Bobby Knight, without the throwing chairs and choking. That requires a certain kind of kid and maybe there aren't enough of them around anymore. If kids can't adapt to that, it's probably best to find it out during recruiting rather than during a season like with Khem Birch.
It is somewhat understandable why we are late on offers. Jamie has been burned by a number of early signings where the kid didn't develop and by early commits reneging before. The signings and commits keep getting earlier all the time. Whatever we are doing is not working.
I don't have any answers. I don't know if Dixon has any answers. I'm pretty sure he's not going to get a personality transplant. And, I think it's independent of assistants. Having a recruiter like a Skerry cozy up to kids isn't going to work if Jamie is still coaching with tough love.
Again, as DT has said, either he works through this or he doesn't. If he doesn't, we probably become a Georgia Tech, VA or BC, a school that make an occasional run to the NCAAT but mosty is a bottom--half ACC team. We have no long-term tradition and little fertile local recruiting ground. I don't believe we will ever go back to the Golden Panther era of buying talent and in any case, that method brought little real on-court success.
Howland didn't believe success was sustainable here. He may have been right.
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OK, Hershey kids dont want to play college ball in the city, fine. Explain Pat Chambers lighting up inner-city Philly?
Lamar Patterson was in lancaster for a year or two, so I'm not sure you can sell me on the "Oh hes from the farm country, there is no way he will go to pitt" excuse
Isn't that the story of the past 3 or 4 years? We are still playing catch up from Steven Adams and Khem Birch bolting early. With grad transfer bandaids this year and all this scrambling for the 2016 class, it looks like the 2017 recruiting class might be the next best time to actually things back in order. Birch played at Pitt in 2011-2012 (Did he even make it to 2012?). From what I can tell, its going to be a full 6 years after he left until we stop trying to atone for our recruiting mistakes in the early part of the decade.
Thats hard to believe and hard to swallow.
I think I am clearly on the record here saying recruiting has been abysmal, and this class is HUGE for this program and potentially jd.
My point is carr and dylan arent the make or break kids in this class.
Chambers isnt "lighting" anything up, dudes job is on a thread.
Hershey isnt "the country" and lamar is not some white, priviledged kid from hershey.
Apples and oranges.
Again, this is an icredibly important class for jd and the program and there is really good reason to be skeptical, carr and painter just are not the make or break kids ...
Ah, The Sanduski lover always coming to praise his loves from pedo land. Does SMF love Chambers as much as he loves Bradley and his favorite man Jerry S???? Maybe SMF can reignite the Second Mile.
Harve... I have a problem in getting TOO WORDY in my posts.... POSTS THAT ARE TOO LONG... but you are outdoing me in that regard.
One thing I have tried... making a point of not putting too many thoughts into one post. Yeah, haven't had too much luck with that maybe I should try harder.
In regard to this latest post of yours... no... I am not gonna bother to read that. Might be good comments in there BUT... way too long.
As far as recruiting is concerned... maybe Dixon is planning to rely more and more on... the 5th year grad transfers. He brought in three this year and there were more out there.
Otherwise, the problem here is the loss of visibility on the east coast and the loss of the recruiting pipeline, particularly from the NYC metro area, and trying to replace that. A REAL PROBLEM and only time will tell if Dixon can get on top of it.
In other words... THINGS ARE NOT GONNA CHANGE ON THIS unless and until... Dixon finds a way.
Yeah, the BEST thing he can do for recruiting... is have a good season this year... make some noise... get into the top 10... so that we are relevant again. Then, good players would be more interested in coming here.
Otherwise, the problem here is the loss of visibility on the east coast and the loss of the recruiting pipeline, particularly from the NYC metro area, and trying to replace that. A REAL PROBLEM and only time will tell if Dixon can get on top of it.
In other words... THINGS ARE NOT GONNA CHANGE ON THIS unless and until... Dixon finds a way.
Yeah, the BEST thing he can do for recruiting... is have a good season this year... make some noise... get into the top 10... so that we are relevant again. Then, good players would be more interested in coming here.
If you talk about Patterson... eastern PA... and we got other players from eastern PA... Gray... Wanamaker... etc. But, we do not have ANY players from eastern PA on the roster right now and... outside of Maryland... the ONLY player we have from the east coast is Chris Jones and he was a late bloomer that didn't get much attention from top schools until the very end of his HS career.
The thing is... with the move to the ACC we lost our visibility on the east coast and.... Pederson/Dixon did not do anywheres near enough to maintain it (Davidson at MSG is not enough to be sure) and.... we lost our pipeline for recruits from that area and that was our MAJOR recruiting area.
We should be playing UConn home and home... and Temple home and home... and playing Cuse one of our two ACC games each year... at MSG.. and then one other game, like the Davidson game at MSG, should serve to keep up our visibility on the east coast.
Otherwise, we got a problem. Have no idea where Dixon is gonna get his players now. Players from North Carolina that the NC schools won't take, like Josh Newkirk, isn't exactly gonna work out. Yeah, maybe he indeed will start relying more and more on grad transfers.
Saying Dixon just can't recruit is a really weak comment. But otherwise, yeah, this one is a real YINZER special.
Get with it and fix the dam* problem!
Otherwise, gonna be like chicken's running around with their heads cut off and... the slow slide into the depths of mediocrity.
The thing is... with the move to the ACC we lost our visibility on the east coast and.... Pederson/Dixon did not do anywheres near enough to maintain it (Davidson at MSG is not enough to be sure) and.... we lost our pipeline for recruits from that area and that was our MAJOR recruiting area.
We should be playing UConn home and home... and Temple home and home... and playing Cuse one of our two ACC games each year... at MSG.. and then one other game, like the Davidson game at MSG, should serve to keep up our visibility on the east coast.
Otherwise, we got a problem. Have no idea where Dixon is gonna get his players now. Players from North Carolina that the NC schools won't take, like Josh Newkirk, isn't exactly gonna work out. Yeah, maybe he indeed will start relying more and more on grad transfers.
Saying Dixon just can't recruit is a really weak comment. But otherwise, yeah, this one is a real YINZER special.
Get with it and fix the dam* problem!
Otherwise, gonna be like chicken's running around with their heads cut off and... the slow slide into the depths of mediocrity.
Harve, first I for one appreciate your and others in depth posts.
You state: Barton beats the bushes of the jucos and lesser prep schools and finds obscure, previously unknown recruits as well as anyone. He generally gets them on campus for unofficial visits. And, at that point, we generally never hear of them again Mostly, we just don't even offer the kids Barton digs up.
If the above is accurate, is not this a waste of time? Would not someone else doing something else be better?
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Barton does the job he's assigned to do. His contract was renewed just last year I think. If he wasn't doing what the HC wants him to do, I'd assume he wouldn't have been renewed.
It's not like assistants have tenure.
He just doesn't do what Owtie and some others want him to do. I find it strange thtg many of the same people (not you) criticize Brandin and Dixon for being too intense and demonstrative and criticize Barton for being too laid-back and reserved.
Harve, just a couple of more questions if you would.
I know Dixon assigns assistants their duties and I know he is at least satisfied with Barton enough to not dismiss him. My first question is: If your were in Jamie's shoes, would you be satisfied with this staff's production and Barton's in particular?
My second question is: If you were a head coach, how would you assemble a staff (make up) and assign duties? I invite others to contribute to this question as well. What should an ACC basketball staff look like? Age, experience, race, recruiting, Xs and Os, head coaching experience, AAU and camp contacts, advance scouting, individual instruction, (bag man),etc.
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Ya know... on this one.... the kid is a PF... and we got too many PFs already. There is Young and Artis, and that forces Dixon to play one or the other out of position. Then there is Luther, and I am not sure where his career is going but two more years of Young and Artis so that doesn't leave any time for Luther. To that, we got Manigault coming in next year and that is ANOTHER PF.
So, even if this guy WANTED to come here..... if anything we got too many PFs already.
Some posters think we should bring in players regardless of position and... that doesn't work.
With Maia and ANO both going to be gone after this year, we will still have Nix for next year (unknown how good he will be) but we still need ANOTHER C... and maybe even one that will start. Dixon tried playing Luther some at C and... that didn't work.
With Smith and Robinson gone after this year.... we will ALSO be needing a guard. As the season progresses we will probably see how well Wilson is doing.... and how bad our need is gonna be.
Things are a bit unsettled this year with 5 players that will be new to the team... with maybe two of them starting and another two in the regular rotation.
ESPN shows us with offers to offers to 6 of their top 100 players that are currently uncommitted. So, we are gonna have to see if Dixon closes the knot on some good players.
So, even if this guy WANTED to come here..... if anything we got too many PFs already.
Some posters think we should bring in players regardless of position and... that doesn't work.
With Maia and ANO both going to be gone after this year, we will still have Nix for next year (unknown how good he will be) but we still need ANOTHER C... and maybe even one that will start. Dixon tried playing Luther some at C and... that didn't work.
With Smith and Robinson gone after this year.... we will ALSO be needing a guard. As the season progresses we will probably see how well Wilson is doing.... and how bad our need is gonna be.
Things are a bit unsettled this year with 5 players that will be new to the team... with maybe two of them starting and another two in the regular rotation.
ESPN shows us with offers to offers to 6 of their top 100 players that are currently uncommitted. So, we are gonna have to see if Dixon closes the knot on some good players.
A good read Harve ... thanks.
The only thing I'd like to add is that over time, Jamie has proven to be a poor liar.
I recall the first time I noticed this was in 2005 after the WVU meltdown loss to WVU when he was asked in his press conference: "why didn't you put Chris Taft back in." Dixon stumbled around some answer around matchups and some other stuff. It was pretty clear what Dixon was thinking which was Taft was doing a terrible job stopping the Trailer Monster, but Dixon has just didn't want to call a player out.
So what I know that Dixon says to recruits is "you'll work hard, learn the system, go to class, and play defense." In the past at least, I know for a fact that's what he has said to recruits.
So I don't think Dixon ever really tries to tell kids 'what they want to hear" and if he has been trying, it might be showing.
This is part of what I am saying about painter, more specifically they dont need any more finese kinds of players, which I am assuming he is. If the can get another good meat and potatoe big guy who can help them regain their toughness edge, fine, but as you noted, luther can probably do what he does.
Gary, I don't particularly see a problem with Barton's production. He's not mis-evaluating guys who turn out to be stiffs. He didn't sign any Tyrone Haughton's.
Pretty much all the guys he brings around have ended up signing at P-5 schools.
I think a lot of people don't understand how recruiting works. Very few staffs have 3 or 4 guys whose primary job is recruiting.
The rules allow only 3 guys on the road recruiting at one time and there are limits on where secondary guys like the DBO can recruit and plenty of quiet periods when the coaches cannot initate contact with a recruit. As somebody said, if a recruit calls the coach, and leaves a message because the coach missed the call, the coach is not even permitted to return the message.
Teans that have an experienced bench coach, like some claim Dixon should have, aren't sending that 65 or 70 year old guy out on the road recruiting. Pitt functioned quite well for years with only two assistants who travelled as recruiters and the third guy who ran practices, scouted future opponents and made up game plans. The Head Coach was the third travelling recruiter.
Barton spends a lot of time at remote locations, looking at juco Summer tournaments like the one he found Rozelle Nix and the juco guard we offered after Heron and Rowan reneged, ( again too late to really get involved.) He does first evaluations of freshmen and sophomores at underclass events. He's the guy we send to look at Plan D or E guys, not the guy who is lead recruiter on a Heron or Rowan or Diallo.
He's trying to find a nuggest of gold in a riverbed of pebbles. Somebody has to do it. But it's the kind of thankless job most schools have their low man on the pecking order do. The venom some posters have thrown at him is simply foolish. Nobody who is sane expects the utility infielder to be hitting grand slams every time at the plate. Except, apparently, Pitt fans.
Bartn was lead recruiter on Artis. Starter and leading scorer.
Barton was lead recruiter on Nix. Jury is out but arguably the best true center we've signed since Adams. (I know that's damning with faint praise.)
He was the guy who identified Dylan Painter, who so many derided last Fall but are now upset because he eliminated us yesterday.
That's three pretty good finds in three recruiting seasons for the low man in the pecking order.
The argument could be made that Barton is better at his job than many of us are.
I kind of forget about this, but now I do recall that many did voice their displeasure at our interest in him.
Oh well.
Let me take a stab at my own question on staff composition.
1-Assistant Head Coach: Not ancient former Head Coach to act as a kind of bench coach, an Xs and Os guy, does video scouting, not an on the road recruiter but someone who has developed recruiting contacts over the years. Helpful if from ACC territory - individual instruction
2- Assistant Coach - Former player - establishes linkage to teams past - coach who is closest to the players - coach who provides discipline and still keeps the team together - coach most responsible for individual instruction - second recruiter
3-Assistant Coach- Young aggressive coach looking to make a name for himself - primary recruiter - (contact with the boosters - acts as bag man - fall guy should we get caught - haha) - should have extensive AAU and camp contacts - Helpful if familiar with our recruiting footprint
4-DOB -Young - Next in line to be an assistant - Handles administrative tasks - arranges and oversees official visits - organizes recruiting efforts, mailings, social media, etc - manages basketball camp - oversees eligibility concerns
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Harve if your description of JDs recruiting style is remotely accurate then he needs to sit down with a former head coach that he respects who could recruit and be intensely tutored. He needs to make every kid he meets think that he's the best thing since sliced bread and that the University of Pgh doesn't just want him but they need him even if they don't. Not everyone is a natural salesman, people person whatever else you'd like to call it ,but not making the effort to engage a kid who took the effort to make a visit official or not is a recipe for failure.
I can't say that's true. For his first 8 years, this style enabled Dixon to recruit players were truly bought in a played at a high level, leading to a great number of wins.
I don't know what has seemingly changed, but I can't say it's as simple as you are suggesting.
My best friend agrees with you on the experienced assistant head coach.
I don't.
Dixon's STRENGTH is his coaching. He has won the Naismith and at least one more national Coach if the Year award and a U-19 World Championship. The idea that a failed former coach on the bench beside him could add much is, to me, absurd at this stage of his career.
But, as I said, one of my best friends thinks I'm totally wrong.
I do like a younger guy as DBO. ( The acronym USED to be DOB). But, with all the administrative duties you're assigning him, most young guys would be swamped. Basically, you have given a description of what Barton does BESIDES recruiting the remote outposts of basketball.
I won't argue that there is probably too much similarity between Barton and Regan and one should be replaced by a younger guy.
But for the umpteenth time, it's NOT our staff. It's Dixon's staff. It's his job on the line. Not ours. He gets to go to war with HIS team, not ours.
DT is exactly correct. The whole super-salesman approach currently viewed as essential on this board is pretty much pure BS.
The unemployment line for coaches is filled with guy who can recruit but can't coach their way out of a paper bag.
The people who keep bringing up the talent of the 1987 team should understand that both recruiting and coachng have NOTHNG to do with a smooth, charming personality.
Paul Evans was a miserable human being and almost everyone who knew him hated him. Yet he could recruit. He however couldn't coach a lick. He rarely won a post-seasn game despite multiple 5-stars and McDonalds'All Americans.
Bobby Knight is an overbearing jerk. But HE can coach.
Dixon is a genuinely nice guy. Actually a proven hero who crawled into a smoldering car to save strangers. His biggest fault is maybe that he cannot lie convincingly. Did no one learn anythng from the Khem Birch fiasco? If a kid doesn't fit what we want to do and want to be, he can cause MORE probems being here than if we had never signed him.
Sorry, but it would be stupid to lie to a kid we don't want if we don't need him. Or really, even if we do need him. Lying to a kid is a real recipe for failure.,
Every generation is different and kids are just much different now. Gen Y ,millennals etc it's tough to keep up. Everyone though responds to an other ones interest and some people are just natural at making people like them ,but one sure way to make people not like you is to seem aloof and not interested enough in you to say hello. Pitt has been shooting at and losing out on heavily sought after kids and when then go to their forth or fifth option and the HC ignored that kid on a visit I'll guarantee you that kid is going elsewhere were the coach really wanted him. What was working is not working presently ,maybe the words out on JD. ( aloof ,defense minded ,rebounding ,system first ,and God forbid mandatory class work ) It's just not that hard to pretend for five minutes that the person in front of you is the most important person in the world. You know what they say about people who repeat the same behavior and expect different results. Maybe it's time to change the aloof HC routine it isn't working here. It may not be the answer , but it's worth a try.
But for the umpteenth time, it's NOT our staff. It's Dixon's staff ????
Harve, my question was not what Dixon should do with his staff, but:
It was: If you were a head coach, how would you assemble a staff (make up) and assign duties? I invite others to contribute to this question as well. What should an ACC basketball staff look like? Age, experience, race, recruiting, Xs and Os, head coaching experience, AAU and camp contacts, advance scouting, individual instruction, (bag man),etc
Neither Barton or Regan fit any part of the profile that I would want on my hypothetical ACC basketball staff.
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Unless someone is a head coach in a similar situation, they do not have the understanding of all of the duties involved to make a useful assessment. It's a useless exercise. We're outsiders. We have only a superficial understanding of what is necessarily, and much of what we think we know is probably wrong.
What the heck are you talking about?? You think Dixon IGNORES a recruit on a visit?? Or that he's aloof with potential players?? He might not be a good public speaker, but he's pretty affable & pleasant.....very approachable.
Hard to believe some of the garbage tossed around on this board.
And we'd kick that team to the curb. It's only a handful of Mark Madden types that are b*tching about everything. As if THEIR lives are without difficult periods. I doubt ANY poster on this board has accomplished in their career what Dixon has in his. Instant gratification is only superficial.
