Looking back...Could things have been handled differently? (long)

[clonetil01]

Look, I know this has been discussed way before, but its creeping back into my mind now that so many games have been on TV, after following lots of recruiting last April/May transfer season, and watching a lot of these early season games, is there any way things could have been handled differently/better with the Bulls/Fred timing situation? Anton Grady at Wichita State, Horne at Illinois, Harris at Auburn, Bielfeldt at Indiana, Olivier at Okie State, just to name a few of the several immediately eligible guys that were out there.... all role playing front court players that are making impacts and putting up pts/rebounds on their teams and could have made our team even stronger. Its not like they were swept up by blue bloods. I hold no ill will about Fred leaving to the NBA, and truly cherish his time as our coach, but I really believe we could have gotten a needed piece to complete this team if a head coach had been in place sooner and not so much uncertainty. But it still gets my goat that we were put in that position. (And no I don't believe he contemplated until the very end as to whether he was going to be the Bulls coach, other than the Bulls red tape). I know, let it go, right? But if we have several games like Colorado in which we fight foul trouble, and eventually find it to be a main cause of losing a game, I will refuse to blame Prohm. Because in the back of my mind, we were robbed of an opportunity long before he arrived.

Well, the last coach that left on his own before Hoiberg spent several years chasing away his best players to transfer to other schools and we never came close to sniffing the NCAA tourney, Big 12 title(reg or Tourney) and left the cupboard as bare as could be for a mid major job. I wish Fred was still the coach but, he left us with a one of the best teams in the country, a program that he built from NOTHING. No matter when you go through a coaching change you'll suffer some recruiting challenges, and I'd say Prohm has recovered masterfully from that. If it were me, no matter how much I love ISU, I'd have stayed for the chance to get to the Final Four and then bolted for the big leagues. Hoiberg did us as big a favor as he could have, with the exception of making ISU is career gig, which he never intended to do. Would it have made us feel better knowing that from the beginning, maybe, but he couldn't have built what he did with that being so well known. All this being said, I hate the BULLS!!!

 

[cemarclone]

I have said the same thing many times. Fred used and abused ISU. Good times were great but the end sucked. Icing on the cake was Fred's final press conference after the fact where he rubbed our noses in all of the other jobs he flirted with. I can't believe people bought that garbage he was spewing that day. I Feel bad for Pollard he had to put up with Fred looking at 8 or more jobs in his short time at ISU. He held ISU hostage every chance he got and I am sure that got old quickly for Pollard.

Yes, we all know that high quality employees never look to get other jobs.

 

[CyCy]

Lot of "what ifs" here.
What if Fred had left a month earlier
And what if there had been a different pool of potential coaches to pick from
And what if Jamie had hired somebody other than Prohm
And what if that coach was no good (Jamie has been known to hire a few of those)
And what if the other new coach drove away some of the returning players (McDermott anybody)

Maybe things are OK on how they worked out.

 

[heitclone]

Lot of "what ifs" here.
What if Fred had left a month earlier
And what if there had been a different pool of potential coaches to pick from
And what if Jamie had hired somebody other than Prohm
And what if that coach was no good (Jamie has been known to hire a few of those)
And what if the other new coach drove away some of the returning players (McDermott anybody)

Maybe things are OK on how they worked out.

What IF Royce White stayed in school

 

[inCyteful]

I had to open this thread expecting to see 'Open Letter' level material.

I was not disappointed.

My biggest concern about how things are being handled is why isn't there a MBB game every night.

 

[SlawsCy]

We're moving up because other teams lost, not because we've proved something.

We have proved that we haven't lost?

 

[Cycsk]

WHOA........Look, this is not the intention of my thread. Just wondered how situation could have been different, not a bash Fred post. And yes, I'm still optimistic about our great team.

The OP seems to lack the proper respect and appreciation for Prohm and what he has already shown: great recruiting, appreciation for seniors, honor for Hoiberg, emphasis on defense and rebounding, etc.

 

[ISU42]

Is there any way Fred can make a LeBron James "What Should I Do" commercial?

 

[allfourcy]

The OP seems to lack the proper respect and appreciation for Prohm and what he has already shown: great recruiting, appreciation for seniors, honor for Hoiberg, emphasis on defense and rebounding, etc.

Not true at all. In fact I think he's done very well considering how late he was hired, recruiting wise. Why does the Bulls situation/ frustration show any lack of respect or appreciation of Prohm? I think he'll do great. He's embraced this job and university. Doesn't mean he ,too, wouldn't like to have that extra big off the bench right now. It was simply a reflection about the transition time when available players were swept up while we waited for the Tibs thing to play out. If that shows a lack of respect for the Bulls management, then okay. In NO way do I lack respect for Prohm or Fred.