Morning Coffee
by Peter Bean on Apr 5, 2007 1:13 AM CDT
in Basketball
11 comments
There's not a whole lot happening in Texas sports right now, which means the offseason flavor will start to become more pronounced at this site. We've got the rest of the baseball season to savor, but beyond that, it's slim pickins. Hope you're ready to digress a little with me.
There was a curious note yesterday from Orangebloods.com's basketball writer, Gerry Hamilton (who I think is excellent, by the way). Gerry posted a bulletin saying he'd just spoken to an "NBA source" who told him that Durant was feeling like he's "not ready" for the next level yet. Gerry went on to say that the decision was still something that would be decided by the Durant family sometime in the future.
The note sent the OB board into a frenzy, of course, but I posted it there, and I'll reiterate it here: Gerry seems to be a bit behind on this one. His last note on Durant, filed a week earlier, was about how KD was in Suitland with his family and that the money Nike was going to offer would be "very, very hard to beat." Now, I understand Gerry wants to play things cautiously, and it's certainly prudent to do so, but all the writing on the wall has pointed toward a Durant return.
In any case, I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill here, but I did want to note that "He's leaning toward staying" is now the established baseline. We're really at the point now where the big news is "I'm staying" or "I'm leaving." In other words: the waiting game is on. No matter how much we want to believe KD is thinking about staying, we're stuck until a decision becomes official.
A brief word on Billy Donovan and the Kentucky head coach search. For one thing, Texas fans need to pay attention to this situation. Why? Because Rick Barnes will be on the short list of names Kentucky officials will consider if they can't get Donovan to leave Gainesville. We're a long way from having to talk about this seriously, but it's worth keeping an eye on.
The other thing I wanted to note is that everything I'm seeing in Billy Donovan's meetings with the press leads me to believe he's going to think about a move very, very carefully. He's not denying anything, or making any definitive statements about staying at Florida. He's just dodging the issue artfully right now. That tells me he's going to think long and hard about leaving. My gut says he's gone. [UPDATE: Donovan has announced he will not interview with Kentucky and is staying at Florida. So much for my gut feeling. Is it now time to talk about Rick Barnes?]
One last note on coaching searches: with John Beilein leaving West Virginia for Michigan, could Kansas State head coach Bob Huggins, a West Virginia alum, think about throwing his hat into the ring? It's certainly possible, and worth keeping an eye on. You'd have to think that would be a "dream job" of sorts. Of course, with the recruits he has coming to Manhattan next year, he may not be in any rush to make a move. We'll see.
Last, but not least, there was one bit of Texas news yesterday: Tiffany Jackson was drafted with the fifth pick of the WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty. Congrats to Tiffany - she was a great Longhorn and deserves the recognition.
--PB--
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good morning coffee.
Couple thoughts/questions to catch me up from about 3 weeks of solid schoolwork:
On KD: Do you think Nike is telling Durant that the money he gets this year could be more than the money he would get next year as a way to get him out in this coming draft? I remembered it being mentioned that EJ, Beasley, Mayo, and Rose are more "marketable" than other guys coming out in this draft (e.g. Oden), which would mean less money to go around.
On Kentucky: When will we stop mentioning Barnes' name with every prestigious job opening? I would assume that Texas would match any kind of money that anyone would throw at him, and it's not like he's not getting stellar recruits right now. When will this ever change?
Kentucky, again: Same argument for Donovan. What will Kentucky give him that Florida won't. I guess the key in the argument for both Barnes and Donovan is that Kentucky is a basketball school. But isn't the pressure coming with this kind of focus enough to neutralize that selling point?
On Huggins: What the hell is he doing that can get these studs to come to Manhattan, KANSAS?! Are Walker, Beasley, and others all just holdovers from his job at Cincinnati? This seems like the Illinois football recruiting aberration to me. I guess only time will tell? One thing for sure, though, is that Huggins did not sound enthused to be at KState in any of the interviews I heard with him on the radio. Also, what's the word on Walker? Is he going to be 100% for next year?
by whoopspat on Apr 5, 2007 2:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Q&A
On KD: I'd imagine Nike has to be at least somewhat careful with how they phrase something like that. In other words, Pat, let's say I'm Nike and I'm courting you to be my client. You're trying to decide whether to leave college early and I say something like, "Well, you need to take this money THIS year because we can't guarantee you the same amount will be available next year."
You might damn well just say, "Okay, Nike. Try to subtly hardball me a bit. Just remember that Adidas and Reebok would love to have me..."
On Kentucky and Barnes: Texas already pays Rick gobs of money, and I'm sure they'd give him a raise if that was the only issue. With Rick, though, when you listen to him talk about Texas fans, he sounds distinctly annoyed. I think he feels like Longhorn fans give a disproportional amount of support to the football team. Which is true.
On Kentucky and Donovan: My thing with Donovan is, if I'm him, I have very little left to accomplish at Florida. The only thing I could do is make the school a "basketball first" school, and that will NEVER happen. I might go take the Kentucky challenge. It's not just "any old job" - it's Basketball U.
On Huggins: I have no idea what he does to recruit those guys. Makes you wonder if it's all on the up and up.
by Peter Bean on Apr 5, 2007 8:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
The thing with Huggins at Cincy
is that they kept renovating and investing in facilities. Cincy for sometime has had top notch investment to match anybody in the country. Cincy is a b-ball town without an NBA team, too. They love their hoops there. Those two factors brought in the Nick Van Exels and Kenyon Martins for years. It made an exciting atmosphere for recruits, so I think it made the sales pitch easy.
But now that he's at K-state you have wonder what the real story is. They don't have any of those things and never will.
I think he was offered the W Virginia job last time around. Huggy Bear is tainted and programs are reluctant to bring in his baggage, but maybe W Virg can swallow that.
by EYESofBEVO on Apr 5, 2007 9:00 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Two Comments on the WNBA Draft
- I am really surprised - pleasantly so, for Tiffany's sake - at how high she was drafted. Especially surprising that she went before Baylor's Bernice Mosby, who pretty much had her way with Tiffany in the two games between Texas and Baylor. The New York Liberty are a struggling team, but hopefully the addition of Jackson and massive C Jessica Davenport will give them some muscle and athleticism in the paint.
- The Connecticut Sun drafted super PG Kiera Hardy of Nebraska, which doesn't bode well for former Horn Jamie Carey, one of my all-time favorite Horns.
by patienthornsfan on Apr 5, 2007 5:35 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Andy Katz
This morning on Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio Andy Katz touched on the Kentucky rumors and Bob Huggins.
- He mentioned Donovan would listen to Kentucky but if he says no the name being mentioned the most behind Donovan is Rick Barnes. He mentioned to pay close attention to this situation. Not like the media would let us forget the Kentucky job is open.
- The rumors of Bob Huggins to West Virginia are very real and could actually happen.
by sportsfan on Apr 5, 2007 7:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Morn Coffee
I think the crucial thing with Barnes is the exact same thing why BCG would leave A&M, attendance(FWIW I think Donovan is gone and ESPN is finally realizing it). These guys want to be loved and while getting paid and recieving a ton of love everytime thier team does well and beats a major opponent is great but they dont see the attendance when they play Jacksonville State or Coastal Carolina in a non-conference game.
At A&M or Texas you are going to have 80% capacity or more at a non conference game against a nobody. Why? Because its football and we live and die by it. Does A&M or Texas get 80% capacity against the EA All Stars in an exhibition game? No. But they would at Kentucky. And its the exact same thing at Florida with Billy, he wants to feel the love and be the big fish, not 2nd fiddle to Urbanic.
A&M and Texas could throw gobs of money at thier respective coaches and match anything Kentucky has, but at some point it becomes less about the money and more about feelin' the love. Rick is still second to Mack, I dont know if I can say the samething about BCG and Dennis but football is still first in the Aggies hearts.
And if I were Bob Huggins I would leave.
by HMFIC on Apr 5, 2007 7:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
i tend to think
that Donovan is flirting with Kentucky to get a raise out of Florida bigger than the one he would have gotten for the championships. I mean, He IS florida. At Kentucky, he's another in a line of great coaches.
by billyzane on Apr 5, 2007 8:31 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I can't imagine
why Donovan would leave Florida. He has a great situation/repoir with the AD in Gainsville, and is coming off back to back tournament championships.
Kentucky money isn't going to be that much more, and the pressure of producing immediately is goig to be immense. The old blue bloods are going to expect him to repeat his recent success.
This isn't like Mack leaving UNC to come to Texas. Donovan has already reached the top of the mountain at UF. In my opinion, he would be leaving a situation where he is set for life only to throw hiimself right back into the fishbowl. I bet he stays.
SAT flasbacks for a final thought - Kentucky is to BB coach as Alabama is to FB coach.
by Brandon 97 on Apr 5, 2007 8:38 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
If I were Donovan, I'd go
There is something uniquely dissatisfying about being in a job in which you feel unappreciated. I've been in that situation before, and I considered taking a paycut to have a job where I felt appreciated.
The money is there either way. But rich people are as vulnerable to psychology and lack of fulfillment as are poor people, and if you feel unappreciated on a daily basis, it WILL start to get to you, even if you are a millionaire.
The only other blog I read with some regularity is EDSBS, and I flipped over to it the night Florida won the title, and there was hardly anything posted at all. The only thing that involved basketball was a post that stated Orson's contempt for the sport, but he begrudgingly admitted he'd be cheering for the team anyway.
That is what Donovan has to deal with. He also has to live with the fact that two national titles in a row will still not sell all of the school's tickets to the Final Four.
Plus, I don't buy all the pressure people are associating with the Kentucky job. They gave Tubby Smith about 10 years or so. There have been people expressing dissatisfaction for years, and they just now fired him.
by BrooklynHorn on Apr 5, 2007 11:24 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Popular...
Link to BON quote on Donovan over at A Sea of Blue...
by jc25 on Apr 5, 2007 10:31 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Also, a local recruiting update on Jai Lucas
From Kentucky Sports Radio:
Tubby Smith at Minnesota is going to hire Jimmy Williams, an assistant at Oklahoma State, to be his recruiting coordinator [...] Williams is one of the best recruiters in the nation [...] Now Jai Lucas has told a Houston newspaper that he may visit Minnesota...Williams was the main player in his OSU recruitment. Will Jai end up in Gopher land...you have to think not...but who knows at this point?
Why anyone from Houston would want to go up to frigid and barren Minnesota is beyond me, but it bears watching...
by jc25 on Apr 5, 2007 10:37 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
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