Pollard Addresses MBB

[Frak]

If a coach wants to get rid of a player he can. Assistants and head coaches can move from one school to another with no restrictions. They can begin coaching immediately, with no waiting period. Student athletes should be be able to move as freely as other students and as coaches. It just doesn't make sense to make transferring harder because a student happens to play sports. There shouldn't be restrictions if a student athlete wants to transfer.

You're right. Although bailing on programs is obviously a problem these days. I'd be all for giving players free reign to transfer if the HC bails. Otherwise, I'd say that they lose their scholarship to a new school for a year OR lose a year of eligibility. An assistant leaving shouldn't be enough.

 

[Cyclonepride]

While this is certainly a societal trend, I don't think that can be offered as anything other than an excuse.

A comparison must be made to other schools who are dealing with the same problems. Naturally, some schools will be performing better in this regard than others. Why?

Perhaps it is because their staffs are better at:

Identifying young people who are more mature than average (while keeping the critical issue of talent in mind)

Relating to young people on a level that gets their respect and makes them buy in to what you are saying.

While defections are to be expected, I want a coaching staff that does these things better than others. We don't have that.

I'd compare it to a fast food place. You can go into some places, and even though they are largely staffed by teenagers, the quality is good, and the place is clean and organized, and the service is excellent. Go into the next, and you wonder if anyone is in charge there, and the kids behind the counter make your appetite go away. The different is that the managers are better at identifying good kids, training them well, and holding them accountable in a way that keeps their respect.

 

[Tre4ISU]

Pollard didn't need any excuses to pull the trigger on Wayne Morgan. Now Pollard is full of excuses in defense of McDermott. They must be best buddies. This will not end well. I've lost all respect for both men.

McDermott should have the sense to step down on his own and take a nice "little" buyout package with him. ISU has been very good to him by giving him his first major college head coaching job at 5X the salary he was making at UNI.

He is making these excuses because he has to control the damage somehow. I believe that we do not have the money to both buy Mac out and go get a new coach. Pollard cannot come out and say that because it would absolutely crush what is left on the recruiting trail. Recruits would see that Mac very likely will be fired when the money is there. Simply put, Pollard is in damage control mode right now. I fully believe if the money was there he would make a change.

 

[cyclonenum1]

Interesting strategy by Pollard...trying to link our successful WBB program to our not successful (under GM) MBB program. A pretty big stretch in my opinion.

But I thought his quote describing today's generation of kids probably could be applied to him relative to our MBB program situation:

"run from the problem rather than deal with it."

 

[cycloneML]

his weeny attitude is a ******* embarrasment.

 

[cycloneML]

I think that is pretty accurate.

predictable response.

 

[cyclone1306]

I just read Pollards letter. I agree.... we have become such a politically correct world where you cant be to harsh on anybody or anything. Kids are soft.... if its not laid out there and gift wrapped for you then you go somewhere else. Its sad... in my profession the younger generation or new recruits come in very soft and a bunch dont make it. Not worth all the effort you have to put in to not be constantly praised or receiving big accolades. I think its nice to read a letter that maybe some of us had already thought but didnt say. Im not saying everything is good with our basketball program right now but one obvious truth is that if the young people entering our program aren't treated as "special" then they leave. Hopefully it changes. i did not realize that all of Coach BF recruits left from last year as well. Very sad.

 

[Rural]

If a coach wants to get rid of a player he can. Assistants and head coaches can move from one school to another with no restrictions. They can begin coaching immediately, with no waiting period. Student athletes should be be able to move as freely as other students and as coaches. It just doesn't make sense to make transferring harder because a student happens to play sports. There shouldn't be restrictions if a student athlete wants to transfer.

You have a great point. Why should anyone be restricted? The "sitting out a year" rule is presumably in place to prevent the all-out raiding of rosters every spring. The haves would shop through have-nots looking for pieces to put them over the top. The college BB biz is already one of the more corrupt things in society, would it be that much worse with less rules?

 

[CycloneErik]

While this is certainly a societal trend, I don't think that can be offered as anything other than an excuse.

A comparison must be made to other schools who are dealing with the same problems. Naturally, some schools will be performing better in this regard than others. Why?

Perhaps it is because their staffs are better at:

Identifying young people who are more mature than average (while keeping the critical issue of talent in mind)

Relating to young people on a level that gets their respect and makes them buy in to what you are saying.

While defections are to be expected, I want a coaching staff that does these things better than others. We don't have that.

I'd compare it to a fast food place. You can go into some places, and even though they are largely staffed by teenagers, the quality is good, and the place is clean and organized, and the service is excellent. Go into the next, and you wonder if anyone is in charge there, and the kids behind the counter make your appetite go away. The different is that the managers are better at identifying good kids, training them well, and holding them accountable in a way that keeps their respect.

Well said. That's extremely reasonable. Coaches and teachers have to have the ability to adapt themselves to their people. I know that was tough for me when I first started with 3-5 year olds in Taekwondo. Everything about me and my approach was what had to change.

 

[UNIGuy4Cy]

I just read Pollards letter. I agree.... we have become such a politically correct world where you cant be to harsh on anybody or anything. Kids are soft.... if its not laid out there and gift wrapped for you then you go somewhere else. Its sad... in my profession the younger generation or new recruits come in very soft and a bunch dont make it. Not worth all the effort you have to put in to not be constantly praised or receiving big accolades. I think its nice to read a letter that maybe some of us had already thought but didnt say. Im not saying everything is good with our basketball program right now but one obvious truth is that if the young people entering our program aren't treated as "special" then they leave. Hopefully it changes. i did not realize that all of Coach BF recruits left from last year as well. Very sad.

This is the basketball progam, not real life, let their dad teach them this stuff.

 

[azn4cy]

This is the basketball progam, not real life, let their dad teach them this stuff.

Exactly. While everything Pollard says may be true, it's not his place as the figurehead of ISU athletics to say it, especially when it's an excuse for his own coach when every other program suffers through the same environment, and yet loses less starters and still wins.

 

[CycloneErik]

This is the basketball progam, not real life, let their dad teach them this stuff.

That's a good point to a point. As a mentor type of person, the coach is going to be somewhat involved in that sort of character development, or should be.

And people seem to complain when parents get involved with their own athletes, which I don't comprehend at all.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

And yet it was WAYNE'S FAULT his players were undisciplined? What.....kids being out of control selfish started when...........March of 06'? Wake up and smell what you are shoveling JP.

 

[joefrog]

Didn't we recently go through a coaching change in football an retained most if not all of the players?

So what does that say about Pollard's statement?

Kids nowadays.:wacko:

 

[ChickenWing]

I respect the hell out of JP, he gets it...I feel sorry for those that don't understand what JP is saying.

Thanks Yoda. Way to not articulate what people don't get. Be vague and insightful at the same time you little insider.

I have no grudge against Pollard he is smart. This letter and his press conference were silly. He did a great job of saying things people would agree with. By people I mean major boosters. He could care less what I think or most people, his job is to keep big money engaged and he knows what they want to hear and he gives it to them.

Press Conference - big money wanted a likable face to mens bball and JP reminded them what a great guy Greg is and that he is doing things the right way. They can't argue...that's what they wanted.

Letter - His points are dead on with these kids and I bet he's already had these discussions with boosters that "don't like the attitude of kids these days". So Jamie got them all lathered up with this. Who is going to argue with the epidemic of entitled kids?

He doesn't care about the peon reaction but what a bonus to have so many peons say "i agree with Jamie" instead of saying "i agree with Jamie but the team is going to be a pile of crap next year" or "i agree with Jamie, but wait, aren't most schools doing a better job of dealing with it".

All these goofballs love saying how their coach yelled at them when "they played". It's never about yelling or not yelling, it's about being geniune with the application of your method.

 

[leroycyclone]

I now know what Pollard will say at the Tent events. It's an epidemic. It's not just ISU and the men's bball team.

 

[ChickenWing]

I now know what Pollard will say at the Tent events. It's an epidemic. It's not just ISU and the men's bball team.

It's not just ISU, it's not just the mens team at ISU, but this epidemic is destroying ISU men's bball. You should ask him why others have done a better job of dealing with it.

 

[CYKOFAN]

Nothing new about some in the older generation dissing the younger generation, or some people blaming their problems on societal ills, that's been going on for generations. There's good and bad in every generation just like there always has been and always will be. Playing this blame game may or may not work with the big donors, but it's nothing but a lame blame game and I expect our a.d. to be a responsible stand up guy, which JP keeps proving he is not.

 

[cyclonenum1]

I just read Pollards letter. I agree.... we have become such a politically correct world where you cant be to harsh on anybody or anything. Kids are soft.... if its not laid out there and gift wrapped for you then you go somewhere else. Its sad... in my profession the younger generation or new recruits come in very soft and a bunch dont make it. Not worth all the effort you have to put in to not be constantly praised or receiving big accolades. I think its nice to read a letter that maybe some of us had already thought but didnt say. Im not saying everything is good with our basketball program right now but one obvious truth is that if the young people entering our program aren't treated as "special" then they leave. Hopefully it changes. i did not realize that all of Coach BF recruits left from last year as well. Very sad.

This illustrates what a great diversionary tactic Pollard's comments were. Instead of focusing on the reality of ISU having a MBB coach that is simply not getting the job done and actually regressing our program...we are now engaged in generational arguments here.

I am 44 years old and from my first hand experience I believe that every generation thinks the next generation after them is a bunch of slothful slackers. Can you imagine if any of us went back 125 years (5 generations by the generally accepted definition of a generation being 25 years). I'll guarantee you that the man of 1885 would not want to listen to your whining about having to walk behind a horse-drawn ploy all day to raise the crops you needed to eat instead of making the leisurely trip to Whole Foods. And the woman of 1885 would not want to hear the whining about having to kill the chicken and spend nearly all day preparing the meal for the evening instead of running by HyVee to pick up a WonderRoast chicken and a package of ready-to-eat potato salad.

As for your comments that I highlighted...how do you know these kids are leaving because they don't feel they are being given "special" treatment? The answer is...you don't know...so this is not an "obvious truth" but rather an assumption on your part.

And your second comment clearly identifies another diversionary tactic employed by JP...even our successful WBB program is having these transfer issues. The reality is that these WBB transfers are not an issue because that program is having and has had success.

The bottom line is that all of this discussion is detracting from the blatant facts of the matter:

1) Our MBB remains under the direction of a coach that is proving with each passing day that he is not getting the job done...no winning records, abysmal conference records, and nowhere near postseason.

2) While there is a rise in transfers throughout college MBB...our program is averaging far more of this than the typical school and even worse we tend to have contributing players leave.

Maybe Pollard should really take a stand against this plague of transfer-itis...kick all kids currently on ISU teams that transfered off their respective teams immediately and put up the "you're not welcome here" sign for all future transfers by enacting a policy that ISU will no longer accept any new transfers. Come on JP...have the courage of your convictions.

Will that happen...nope...this is just a patently obvious attempt at diverting attention away from the real problem...GREG MCDERMOTT.

 

[cyclonenum1]

And yet it was WAYNE'S FAULT his players were undisciplined? What.....kids being out of control selfish started when...........March of 06'? Wake up and smell what you are shoveling JP.

Excellent point...excellent!