Heavy Handed?

[BKLYNCyclone]

I think this next year is either going to make or break Mr. Pollard. In the couple years that he's been at ISU, he's definitely had a heavy hand. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about the next two years of ISU football with Chizik at the helm. The program definitely went a little stagnant the last two years under McCarney. Still, it's hard to force the resignation of the coach who took us to more post season success than anyone prior. Of course this isn't the only case of Jamie exerting his will.

2. Bobby Douglas's (more or less) forced resignation. I don't remember Douglas's quote after his resignation, but I'm pretty sure he didn't seem too happy about it. How do you force the resignation of a highly successful (and Olympic caliber) coach? Luckily for Pollard, he got the one guy who could replace Douglas. Cael's coaching will continue to improve as he gains experience.

3. Why was Wayne Morgan fired? D1 scheduling scandal(completely overblown by CBS Sports) aside, the only reason that Morgan was fired appears to be his supposed incompatibility with ISU's long term goals. Street ball or not, it was relatively effective being that Morgan lead us to the NIT and the 2nd round of the NCAAs his first two years. Unfortunately, ISU basketball is hard to watch right now. McDermott needs to show a much improved team in his 3rd year. Hopefully he'll be able to retain enough players to do so.

4. Logo change? I still vomit a little in my mouth every time I think about how this actually occurred and was implemented. We use a similar technique at work when we want the client to go with a certain design. (You slap up two dogs to make the third look like a great design.) Heaven forbid we were given three quality options...

Of course, with time, I've stopped wincing every time I look at the new logo. Dare I say, I might actually be starting to like it. Just don't start chanting I-State for fear that I'll regress. Gravitas or not, at least it doesn't look like a minor league baseball team logo anymore...

5. Tickets? I'm glad that we're starting to pump some money into the program, but I hope this doesn't create empty seats... 'nuff said.

I have to give Mr. Pollard credit. It takes a lot to put yourself out on the line as much as he has. Hopefully it will work out for everyone. As for me, I'll reserve my final judgment until the close of next year's Men's basketball season. At that point, I'll either have the kool-aid lip, or I'll be calling for a change.

 

[CycloneWarrior]

it was so much more fun to watch wayne morgans teams than it is to watch mcdermotts teams, i want mcdermott to get guys like stinson,blalock, and clark. i wish mcdermott would recruit a point guard from new york, cause there is always so much talent out of ny, like johnny flynn, levance fields, russel robinson, and a lot others. morgan always seemed to recruit very well on the east coast, and that showed with blalock, stinson, and clark, i can't wait till we are good in basketball and football again

 

[Bobber]

JP is a fearless leader. Leaders make decisions that aren't always appreciated.

I'm not sure heavy handed is the right word, but aggressive certainly is.

I've seen Athletic directors cycle through this school since Max Urich. I think I admire JP more then any of the others I've seen other then perhaps Gene Smith.

What I like most about the guy is that's he's approachable. Every time I send him a personal note or e-mail I get a fairly prompt response back. He's brutally honest and works his butt off. He's detail oriented and looks ahead and plans. In an hour I bet JP could give you a list of the strenths and weaknesses of each one our athletic programs with a detailed budget projection and where he wants to be in 5 years.

Now he's given people plenty of bullets to shoot at him with as your list of items shows, but I don't think he worries about that. He does what he thinks is right for the long term health of the program period.

We won't know for a long time what decisions were good and what weren't , but I think we're going to miss this guy when he finally moves on.:sad:

 

[ajk4st8]

I just like the fact that we aren't trying to move up by doing the same old thing year after year.

 

[Bobber]

it was so much more fun to watch wayne morgans teams than it is to watch mcdermotts teams, i want mcdermott to get guys like stinson,blalock, and clark. i wish mcdermott would recruit a point guard from new york, cause there is always so much talent out of ny, like johnny flynn, levance fields, russel robinson, and a lot others. morgan always seemed to recruit very well on the east coast, and that showed with blalock, stinson, and clark, i can't wait till we are good in basketball and football again

Wayne was one of the few coaches we had who pulled people out of New York. It makes sense since he lived there so long.

I saw some very fun to watch McDermott teams when he was up at UNI. More up tempo and good defense. It will never be a run and gun team like Johnny Orr and Wayne Morgans teams were. It will look more like a Tim Floyd and Larry Eustachy type team.

 

[Iastfan112]

Wayne was one of the few coaches we had who pulled people out of New York. It makes sense since he lived there so long.

I saw some very fun to watch McDermott teams when he was up at UNI. More up tempo and good defense. It will never be a run and gun team like Johnny Orr and Wayne Morgans teams were. It will look more like a Tim Floyd and Larry Eustachy type team.

Floyd had some boring games I must say.

 

[Wesley]

I am more concerned about recruiting big men. AT came to us. CB was lined up initially by Wayne. Jiri was here. Hamilton is the first big man recruit in two years?


Do Sadler has all 13 scholarships filled at UNL, yet he just visited five states looking for a big man. He wants to win bad enough that he will replace his low man on the totem pole. His contract was just extended to six years out at $800k a year.


I know everyone is waiting for 4th year breakthru. How about this scenario?

06-7 - a wash
07-08 - a wash
08-09 - CBI
09-10 - NIT, Harrison arrives
10-11 - NCAA
11-12 Sweet 16
12-14 Great Eight

 

[ajk4st8]

I dont think Coach Mac's teams will end up with a style like any of the coaches mentioned above.

He will play hard D. He will shoot a ton of 3s.

 

[cybsball20]

He will play hard D. He will shoot a ton of 3s.

This is what scares the crap out of me... Teams that do this wear down towards the end of the year (much like his UNI teams). They can suprise teams early but when the legs get tired and the shots stop falling they hit a wall...

 

[Wesley]

This is what scares the crap out of me... Teams that do this wear down towards the end of the year (much like his UNI teams). They can suprise teams early but when the legs get tired and the shots stop falling they hit a wall...

UNI ran out of gas this year too.

 

[ajk4st8]

This is what scares the crap out of me... Teams that do this wear down towards the end of the year (much like his UNI teams). They can suprise teams early but when the legs get tired and the shots stop falling they hit a wall...

One more reason to have more than 2-3 shooters.

 

[CrossCyed]

I've been drinking and only read the first post.

Basically, what it comes down to is that is change really going to make the athletic department that much worse? Our programs aren't anything to write home about. Drastic changes may not work, but why not ******* try and hit a home run? It may not work, but at least we're going up to the plate with a plan in mind and a goal to hit one out of the ****in park.

 

[MontyBurns]

it was so much more fun to watch wayne morgans teams than it is to watch mcdermotts teams, i want mcdermott to get guys like stinson,blalock, and clark.

I don't think McDermott can recruit guys like Stinson and Blaylock and I don't think guys like that would play for him. But that's okay -- for all their athletic ability, Stinson and Blaylock never accomplished anything for ISU. I'll take guys like Fred Hoiberg, Stevie Johnson, and Jake Sullivan -- who work hard and get the most out of their ability -- over Stinson and Blaylock every day of the week. And I think those are the types of players McDermott wants and can recruit. He went the JUCO route his first year because the cupboard was so bare -- he probably felt he had no choice -- but it didn't pay off and in reality it cost him an entire season. I agree with Pollard that the fair thing is to consider 2008-2009 to be McDermott's second season at ISU.

 

[kingcy]

He is doing what is needed to improve things, make more money, and win. His main 2 programs just have to get it done. There are other programs on campus that are doing well under JP.

The greatest things he has done are growing the fan base, made it easy for fans to come back, make fan feel wanted, made it easy to be an ISU fan, make ISU more visual, put the spotlight on ISU, sold a ton of ISU gear, and stuck his middle finger up at Iowa. He has the coaches in place that can win and will win. His coaches are good, doing stuff the right way, are good people, and most importantly his people and get along with him.

Will the wins come in FB and mens BB, who knows but there is no reason to think they wont. Lets not forget JP has a lot at stake here, if it works he will be able to AD anywhere, if it doesnt work he will be activity bus driver for Gilbert HS.

 

[Aaron Jacobs]

I really think Mac wants a Bo Ryan type team. More better shots than the other team, and this last year we only had two shots, a post move, or a 3 ball.

 

[Steve]

Do Sadler has all 13 scholarships filled at UNL, yet he just visited five states looking for a big man. He wants to win bad enough that he will replace his low man on the totem pole. His contract was just extended to six years out at $800k a year.

If there is any justice in the world, Doc better be scrounging for a big man. None available on the roster with Maric a sr and the guy with the asian name transferring - no big loss in the latter case. His plan for next year centered around the 6-10 recruit from Germany. One minor problem - he was a teammate of Lucca on the club team. This kid better get the Lucca treatment or the NCAA better not even pretend to be fair and unbiased.

 

[tgoedken]

WOW.......You're not smart at all!!! You have absolutely no clue what your talking about......

 

[Phaedrus]

What I see is an Athletic Director who knows what it takes to build winning programs, and has decided to take the steps necessary to attempt to do that very thing. He still has plenty of opportunities to fail, but I believe in the long term, his plan to grow the infrastructure, and the coaches he has put in place (plus the obvious philosophy of positioning for long-term coaching success) will pay off more times than not.

The problem will be those fans that are not capable of seeing the need to take steps backwards to go forwards, in their minds.

Time will tell, I suppose, but in principle, I believe in what JP is doing and support him.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Rome was not built in a day. This thread might have merit if we are sitting in a similar situation in April of 2010 or 11.

 

[BryceC]

06-7 - a wash
07-08 - a wash
08-09 - CBI
09-10 - NIT, Harrison arrives
10-11 - NCAA
11-12 Sweet 16
12-14 Great Eight

Barnes is an '10 recruit, he wouldn't be here until 10-11. That scenario would be great, but if it were that easy, it wouldn't concern people.

As for JP, he has had a heavy and there is no way to deny that. Regardless we won't know if any of his ideas end up being bad or not until about 10-11. If we haven't had much success in MBB or football by that point, MAC here we come.