One year ago, Bruce Weber was announced as the Kansas State men's basketball coach.
It was a whirlwind romance for both the coach and the fan base, so recently divorced from Frank Martin in a chaotic and emotionally turbulent week.
Rage against the John Currie machine was at an unprecedented, all-time high.
Shortly thereafter, BOTC contributor GTcat requested that we archive people's opinions of the hire and then re-examine them one year later, like a time capsule.
That time has arrived. Follow the jump to open the time capsule and look back into the turmoil-plagued past.
Also worth reviewing is Panjandrum's quality post from those angst-ridden days, Okay, Bruce, I'll Give You a Chance, which presented several steps Weber had to accomplish to win over fans and then flat-out win games.
One year later, how does he grade out? Has he met those expectations?
User:
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@xmcgraw:
I was feeding off of the frenzy because I had no clue who this guy was. Oops…
This guy has a history of pushing teams to win. The key here is if he can surround himself with great staff to help him do that while getting kids excited to come to K-State. I don’t think he’ll have a problem doing that, but that is TBD. Far too many unknowns at this point.
This guy definitely cares about his university & players (see: his last presser at IL)
It’ll be nice to have a fresh look to the program. Love what Frank did, but I couldn’t shake the thought of having a lingering cloud that prevented us from going to the next level.
I wish the guy all the best and I hope the kids rally/buy-in — blowing everyones mind & taking the brand up a notch or two.
Hope for the best, expect the worst.
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Angus0199:
Couldn't Be More Indifferent right now.
1. Was disappointed in the hire…Kind of like getting sloppy seconds w/a girl your friend broke up with. I think we could do better.
2. Realizing that sometimes a bad fit somewhere doesn’t mean it won’t be a good fit another place.
3. Understanding that might not apply here, but wishing it does. i.e. asking out barnwarming queen, but then hearing that the homecoming queen was wanting you to ask her
4. ADJC feels some heat and makes a popular AC hire.
5. We find out that HCFM was on the edge of loosing the team and is not as good a coach as we all thought….USC never really getting better and some mud coming out over a few years. Some heat comes off of ADJC, but continues to be thought of as slightly dirty.
6. HCBW continues to have a tough time w/the fan base, but eventually everyone really stops giving a damn/modest hopes
6. Next season proves pretty well, contending in the XII Title pulling off the season or tourny title w/a win against KU.
7. Sweet 16
8. The next year has increased hype and expectations w/a good recruit or two.
9. another XII Title of some kind.
10. Elite 8.
11. The next few years goes a lot like the past several years-Making most of the NCAA tourney, but not ever higher than 16 but maybe once.No realy biggie, but not bad either. I do believe HCBW will stay as long as we’ll have him, and we’ll have him awhile. I still feel we missed a great opportunity here, but that won’t be able to be proven.
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Anon_the_younger:
From what I’m reading about Frank Martin and how he treated players, the transfers do not surprise me at this point. I do not think the Frank Martin method is something that is all that good in getting the absolute most out of players. I think if he had not left that the stories would have eventually emerged such that most K-State folks would have been on the side of you need to shape up or ship out. That might have taken another 1-4 years, since there were plenty that were already seeing smoke (I wasn’t one of them 8-( ).
So I’m not sure where to put this hire in terms of expectations. Part of me wants to say Coach Weber is a place holder coach until we can find someone else but the terms of the contract make it look like he is the coach of choice by Currie.
I would like to see the Cats maintain the current tournament tendency of not losing in the first round. But I want the Cats to win the conference and the B12 tournament. I’m not sure how likely we are to do any of those.
At this point I’m supporting the coach, wondering about the AD (he might be good or he might be bad) and hoping for a bright future while praying that we do not relegate to the cellar of the B12.
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ArkieCat:
1. I was not happy to see Frank leave, but sensed all year that there was big friction in the program with players. You could tell it.
2. I was ready to fire Frank myself after the first KU game because he had quit in his eyes and demeanor almost from the first of the game.
3. JC and Frank both say that ADJC proposed renegotiating as early as Feb. So why try to say that Currie "ran Frank off". Bull Shit. Frank turned into a quitter. My take. Let the Mfer go.
4. You can say that Weber was a quick hire but in almost all cases at this level of college basketball, when a head coach leaves, there is an expectation that the administration will act quickly. Would we be knocking Currie right now if here were still out there interviewing? Hell yes.
5. Five years from now, Currie will be gone to bigger and better things. Weber will still be here and KSU will be winning 20+ games a year, year in and year out. I won’t try to prognosticate so many E-8’s or such, because there are too many things that go into that. But I will say that he will have success that emulates what he was able to do at SIU only at the major college level of expectations.
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ATL Jim:
I have no negative feelings on Webber, I will give him a chance because I have to, all I take out of this is how our AD is a fool.
He is apparently on some moral high horse which is what I believe led to the split with Frank (btw, I figured that would be Franks eventual downfall, just not from within).
His ego is in the way. No hire would have made me excited besides Coach K or Erik Spolestra. We pissed away a proven commodity to a lesser job for nothing. The new hire never was as important to me than getting to reasons why a man thought it was necessary to kill a relationship
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BeYard2:
Predictions:
Bruce Weber will take us to the Elite 8 year number one.
Year 2 Coach Weber will not even take us to the NCAA Tourney.
Year 3 KSU wins the Conference outright loses in the first round of the NCAA Tourney.
Year 4 John Currie is fired for embezzlement. Oh wait, this is about Bruce. He gets us a top 15 recruiting class but we mail to make the NCAA Tourney AGAIN.
Career of Coach Weber will end prior to year 5 and we will wonder if we should have hired WojoMojo or GottleibReactions:
Received a text from my buddy while at the golf course letting me know the news. I said I’ll check it out when i get home, confirmed the truth and said to myself. "Holy hell, this is the best we can do?"
Re-Posted on Facebook: Successful Illinois coaches go to KU, Fired Illinois coaches go to KSU. (hated doing that but it was pretty funny at the time even though I was knocking my favorite institution for the sake of a few laughs)
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Bingee:
Since I'm apparently paid by John Currie, I was not thrilled with the hiring when I found out.
Of course I was mildly hungover and trying to decide if I should mow the yard to sweat it out or just start imbuing again, so perhaps I was just irritable in general.
After researching my boss’s hire and breathing a bit I decided that he’s not a completely terrible choice and he obviously fits into the image that the AD and Prez are working to put together for the university – winning w/o sacrificing compliance. Martin’s public comments about paying players and not seeing anything wrong with Jamar’s situation were likely unpalatable to both Currie and Schulz (hope i spelled that right this time).
I think we’ll get 3 to 5 more years of averaging 20+ wins per season and continue NCAA appearances. I think this is a safe assessment because in 13 years or so HCBW is averaging right a 67% winning.
This should establish the idea that winning at and recruiting to KSU is not impossible and a dynamic coach will be more willing to leave whatever mid-major they may be at to take the reigns and put together a much longer run of sustained success at the 23+ wins per year average (roughly translating to winning 75% of our games).
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BlackCats:
First reaction: Are you fucking kidding? Someone give me a calendar.
Now: Meh. Don’t love it, don’t hate it.
Year 1: If Angel comes back, E8. If not, out the first weekend.
Year 2: A lot riding on recruiting. I’ll say bubble or better.
Year 3: Again recruiting…either B12 title or bubble team. How’s that for commitment?
Year 4: I don’t know. /Shivers in corner.
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ChrisP Wildcat:
Initial thoughts.
Outrage. Incredulity.
My very first public response?
Bruce Weber?! Are you kidding me? BRUCE WEBER?!?!?!
fmlI still feel that the hire screams of resume building and a lack of imagination. I feel like hiring Weber after 5 days is akin to if somebody drafting Tom Brady/Tim Tebow in the first round. Yes, Tom Brady is good, but there was no chance somebody was going to take him early, which is why the Pats were smart to wait to draft him. Tim Tebow may end up being a great quarterback, but there was absolutely no reason to give up draft picks to move up in the first round to draft him. Stupid move.
But none of that is Bruce Weber’s fault, which is why I’ve never had a problem with him personally. In fact, I am almost certain that we will have some great success to being with. He is a good coach. I am not as sure if he will ever be able to maintain a solid program the way that Frank did, though. However, if he can coach us to some titles of some kind, then I will probably be ok with a drop back down to earth afterwards.
I like the fact that the players seem to really like Weber and have completely bought in. For now, if they like him this much, that is good enough for me. I am still skeptical, but I think he stands as much chance of continued success as anyone else.
I guess that's not much of a stance, so here goes:
1. I think he will have great success followed by a gradual decline.
2. I think Currie will leave for a "better" job in one to three years, getting out just before the floor drops out on Weber.
I give point 1 about a 55% chance and point 2 about an 80% chance.
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classlesscat:
I will support Coach Weber until he gives me a reason not to.
My stepbrother texted me the news of the BW hire. Initially I was angry. I texted him back saying K-State basketball was in big trouble and that apathy will surround the program once again. BW’s press conference didn’t inspire much confidence as I watched it on K-StateHD.tv. Now that we are a few days removed from the learning that BW will be coaching K-State Basketball, I’m feeling a little better about the hire. I think Coach Weber’s press conference was a product of being extremely busy and doing a lot of traveling in a short period of time. I thought he sounded pretty good listening to him on the various radio stations the last few days. I really liked the hiring of Chris Lowery as an assistant. Living in Omaha, I do follow the Missouri Valley Conference some and I thought he was a pretty good coach at SIU. I just think he stayed there too long. I think K-State hoops should be successful next year. Success or failure in the coming years will depend on how well he and his staff recruits. Doug Gottlieb said it best on 810 the other day. This isn’t an imaginative hire, but it is a safe hire. ADJC knew what he was getting with HCBW and he pulled the trigger. How will BW pan out? That’s difficult to say. I will support Coach Weber until he gives me a reason not to.
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dcchiefcat:
I was on the golf course, hole #4, when I saw the news on twitter.
Initial thought: Bruce Weber? WTF!!!! Golf game began going downhill as my anger boiled…
I soon realized it wasn’t Bruce Weber I was angry at, but John Currie.
After several days, I have begun to accept Bruce as our coach, and actually get excited about it at times (propaganda video that came out today about practice helped)…
All in all, my thoughts boil down to this: I think we have a chance to be really good the first 2 or 3 years, especially if Angel stays. After that, I hope we can stay competitive but I have a bad feeling we could get the Illinois-version of Weber and begin to slip…. Hopefully I’m wrong about that.
Thinking level-headed here, I guess we could have done worse. Just not an inspiring hire, and definitely a "safe" hire Currie made to cover his own arse.
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EMAW is my MO:
Agree with the question 'Is that the best we can do?'
With my first response, obviously there is so much more potential out there for hiring a head coach and still have mixed feelings about it. But I need to accept it that Weber is the head coach (which I am close to doing). But he has a pretty legit D-1 past with what he has done like making the finals in 2005. No matter what, the team will still have the same blue collar attitude and in a couple or few years we will go deep in the tourney. Oh ya, BEAT KU.
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GTcat:
I was cleaning my garage when I heard 810 say Bruce Weber was likely to be hired at K-state on that Saturday. My immediate reaction was sort of a roll my eyes, and move on with my life cleaning my garage. I was not impressed. Besides the guy JUST got fired from Illinois. Well I gave myself 24hrs from his press conference to voice any displeasure I had in what I thought was an uncreative hire. Over that course of time, I cannot nail down all of the negative things I said (I really don’t know how much I said, I don’t think it was much), but here’s what I did say in those 24hrs:
When asked by a KU fan how I fealt I said something along the lines of "Well I’m not that thrilled about it, but the reality is HCFM was such a dynamic individual that it really would have taken a special person to either improve on the entertainment value of the person or clearly prove he’s leaps and bounds above him in the win column"
On facebook during that time I called HCBW "the Illini’s damaged goods".
I watched the press conference late at night the day he was hired and was wildly un-impressed/mad he botched so much and came across so soft. Wedge that in the 24hr period where I allowed myself to think negatively.
After the fact, winning the press conference is so lame.
After the 24hrs was over, I began support mode. The more I looked at it the more I said to myself "am I really getting mad at my AD for selecting a guy with a nat’l title appearance?". To which I kind of pointed out the ridiculousness of the situation. Brad Stevens would have only been the only other better choice and I’m not sure anyone’s hiring him away from Butler soon anyway. So the more I looked at it, the more I’m willing to give the naysayers that "he did it with Selfs’ players". Ok fine, but he still did it. So if the naysayers are going to put that much stock in what he did with other peoples’ resources I’m willing to make this prediction:
HCBW’s first 2-3 years will be his best and then he will trail off. Fine. I’m ok with that. While we all can admit HCFM didn’t leave the talent that Bill Self did at Illinois, I don’t think that he left the cupboard stocked full of only ramen noodles…there’s some spice here or there. So I don’t think HCBW will have as many total wins in his 5yrs as HCFM, but I think the guy can keep our guys playing tough (D and rebounding), while being able to shoot a little better that it might be enough to put 1 trophy in the trophy case over the next 5 years. And the trophy I talk about is one of the following: A big 12 reg season title, a big 12 tourney title, or an NCAA regional championship trophy, and it will happen in year 1, 2 or 3 rather than 4 or 5. If he hasn’t done it by year 3, he won’t do it ever.
I’ll admit it’s a bit of sunshine pumping, but I’m putting stock in history will repeat itself. Go State.
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Hank44:
Not flashy on the surface but will be very gratifying in the end. Illinois had some difficulty hiring after they dismissed Weber. Perhaps that says something. The anger toward Currie and the apparent relational issues with Martin might look different in a few years. There did not appear to be any lack of suitors for this position or hesitation to work under him. Weber is a man of character (by everything we read) and should be a very capable coach. K State is going to come out of this looking pretty good. I think it could be more interesting to speculate on Frank Martin at South Carolina in 3 to 5 years.
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Itchy n Scratchy:
Anyone who says Bruce Weber was even on their radar as a realistic KSU hire before that Saturday is lying. This is a guy who was on the express train to desperate mid-major irrelevancy. Consequently, the hiring could not have been anything but initially disappointing. That it generated so much anger and disgust is probably the least surprising aspect of the entire event.
I think the hire was made to benefit John Currie more than to benefit KSU. Certainly, those two motivations can (and do) overlap to a great extent. If Weber is successful, then both Currie and KSU are successful. But, I believe Currie was looking for a "caretaker" hire. A coach with a name that would run a squeaky-clean program and would have a high probability of not failing immediately (with a somewhat talented team full of veterans) before Currie could move on to bigger and better things. How KSU basketball does after a couple of years or how KSU is positioned in the big picture of college basketball in the long term was pretty far down the list. To that point, I mostly blame Currie for the need to hire a replacement to begin with. I think it’s fairly obvious that Frank Martin had at least one foot out the door months ago. He refused to renegotiate his contract mid-season, signed Upshaw to an aid agreement (vs LOI), didn’t even wait for his contract-triggered April 1st renegotiation period, AND TOOK A JOB AT SOUTH CAROLINA. Pretty sure he knew he was leaving to go somewhere … anywhere in major college basketball that was offering … mid-year. I don’t think the Jamar situation triggered it; I think it made it easier. I blame Currie for contributing mightily to a toxic relationship that resulted in chasing a star basketball coach away from KSU. Obviously, I also blame Martin for that, but in all reality it’s on the A.D. to be the bigger person (if necessary) and smooth things over as best he/she can in order to keep a star coach around as long as possible. I not believe Currie gave his best effort in this regard, to say the least.
Anyway, predictions …Currie will leave inside of three years.
Martin will struggle big-time his first and (probably) second years at USC. But, if they keep him around he will get USC to a competitive level (bubble or better) until he leaves for a better job. And he will leave for a better job at his earliest opportunity.
At this moment, predictions on Weber at KSU are even dicier, given he was unable to retain any of Martin’s staff and only Chris Lowery is known as one of the new assistants. But, it does look like he will probably keep all the returning players, including Angel Rodriguez. That will be a solid group to work with. If he can convince a couple of his impact former Illini commits to follow him to KSU or Ziegler is hired and his kid comes with him, so much the better. Long-term, I expect Weber to struggle recruiting to KSU. He no longer has Chicago kids (the ones he could get) to fall back on. Hopefully, he always has a hotshot recruiter on his staff while he’s at KSU. Still, I expect at least moderately worse (rated) recruiting classes than those he was pulling at Illinois (which were pretty good ones much of the time, it should be noted). I have no idea what to expect of Weber as a player developer. I don’t think much of Weber in terms of strategy and tactics. I base that on what I’ve witnessed, not on reputation. I think he will be outcoached often. I worry that much of KSU’s success this season was built on Frank Martin Basketball. And that when we switch our roster over to a more traditional culture (one without maniacal rebounding to generate crucial second chances), deficiency in offensive talent will really rear its ugly head. But, the BigXII should be down enough in 2012-13 and KSU returns enough experience, we should be a solid NCAA tournament team. Less than a 6-seed should probably be deemed a failure. Long term, I think we’ll make at least 2 of every 3 tournaments under Weber and make the NIT the years we don’t. Though I’m pretty sure we won’t be nearly as good a tournament team as under Martin (it is not easy to win a game with every team you bring). I don’t expect any Elite 8 runs, but would be very happy. Maybe one or two Sweet 16s before Weber is done. No regular season conference championships, but maybe a conference tournament championship … at least one finals appearance. A horrific record against Bill Self (I mean pre-Martin bad). Weber is on a somewhat hot seat as soon as Currie leaves, but will do well enough to hang around a few more years. After Currie is gone, if/when Weber has two NIT years in a row, he’s out. I give him more than a 50/50 shot to be at KSU at least 6 years, though.
I should add on Weber ...
By all indications, he’s a really good guy that will not embarrass the school by his actions on or off the court (which is another big reason Currie jumped at him).
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Jeremy Sharp:
I was so pumped up about the possibility of Doug Gottlieb, that it really didn’t matter WHO was named the head coach, I would have been mad. I was excited about Doug because of the enthusiasm he showed, and the plan he already had in place for what he would do to keep the momentum going.
My initial thoughts about Bruce Weber were tainted by what everyone else was saying immediately after it was announced that morning, because I will be honest, I didn’t know who Bruce Weber was. I was getting all of my information from the comments of other posters here on BOTC.
I was upset at ADJC for making a "bumbling hire" taking the "safe, secure" pick instead of making a splash.
When I watched the press conference, I was not impressed with the script ADJC read, nor was I impressed at all by what Bruce had to say. His multiple slips of the tongue when mentioning KSU greats, and then losing track of what he was trying to say gave me the initial impression that he is a doofus.
By Sunday evening, I had given myself more time to do more reading up on Bruce and examine the numbers a bit closer. I ultimately decided that at worst, Bruce is likely to give us 4 or 5 years of Frank Martin like numbers in terms of win/loss. That is, IF he gets the right staff in here and can keep the team from transferring away.
Four days later, I am still upset with ADJC for the way this whole thing went down. I’m starting to ask myself what I am really so upset about though. I have come to the conclusion that KSU may actually be better off in the long run by not having Frank as our head coach (presuming any of these rumors about team mutiny, Frank’s actions towards some of the players, possible NCAA investigations, etc turn out to be true). We have a new head coach that has actually gone farther in the NCAA tournament than any KSU coach in the past 40+ years, and as far as single season success has done more than Frank ever did while at KSU. We are as good off, or better, financially now with Bruce as we would have been had we been able to retain Frank. When I stop and consider all of these things, I ask myself "what REALLY are you mad at ADJC for, exactly?" I don’t have an answer. It FEELS like I have been betrayed, though. Maybe because he didn’t ask my opinion on any of these decisions. I don’t know.
I guess as I have written this brief synopsis of the past few days worth of emotions from this ordeal, I have pretty much convinced myself that I really don’t have any reason to be mad at ADJC. If, when we look back at this in 1, 2, or 5 years, and we have been able to maintain the success we have had for the past 5 years under Frank, I will have no choice but to say "I guess ADJC did the right thing after all." And in 5 years, if we are having this success, and our other programs are performing at the same level or better, whether ADJC lucked into the situation, or knew exactly what he was doing from the beginning, I will be absolutely stoked about the state of KSU athletics. Because that will mean a decade of competitive athletic programs across the board at KSU, which is quite an achievement for "the little ag school in podunk Manhattan, KS". Hell, a decade of competitive programs across the board is a big achievement for ANY school in the country.
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jonfmorse:
We’re going to be just fine. There will be bumps in the road, but we’re going to have some successes under Weber as well.
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jtarkman:
At first I was very unispired by the hiring of Bruce Weber but I quickly cooled into the wait-and-see camp.
I feel that he has the potential to take the team that returns on a pretty good NCAA run, as long as all the key pieces of the team remain.
I am very interested in seeing how this experiment plays out.
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k-stater86:
I think...
Bruce will have us in the final 4 in 3 years.
also, I think...
bruce was a horrible hire and currie should be fired
take that future accountability
here's something i just thought, and a prediction
what has weber had to deal with his whole carrer?
he’s had to hear, "he was only good with Bill Self’s players"
now i know he’ll never come out and say this, but you can bet that bruce is going to make beating Bill priority #1, even if it doesn’t start with the traditional KU vs. K-State hatred, i predict that Weber revitalizes the rivalry that’s been dormant for nearly 25 years. no more bowing to KU like Frank was prone to do. I wanna see some fire in this team and I think a little personal vendetta isn’t the worst way of getting there.
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KSU4LIFE08:
1. Bruce Weber’s most successful year at K-State will be next year (2012-2013) provided our current roster stays intact (i.e. no transfers or dismissals).
2. John Currie will be out before Bruce Weber.
3. Currie will leave within the next 2 years given no major scandals\blemishes on his record.
4. Bruce Weber will be at K-State for 7 years. The success he has in his first 2 years will buy him 2 extra years of time past his initial contract. New A.D. will finally get tired of mediocracy and start his own search for Weber’s replacement. We gave Wolly 6 years?
5. K-State will not have 1 recruiting class in the top 25 during Weber’s tenure.
6. K-State will make the NCAA Tourney 4 of the 7 years Weber is at the helm.
7. John Currie will be caught up in a serious scandal that will ultimately end his career within 10 years. Sorry I think the guy is kind of a snake and it will eventually catch up to him. Pretty good A.D. for K-State just my personal opinion of the man.
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KSUfan4Life:
First, I would like to say, I think ADJC is gone in gone by Fall 2014. I think this was the perfect hire for ADJC, not KSU. I project next season, we will make a run back to the Elite Eight. I do not think that we will have much success under HCBW. To prove me wrong, recruit well and stay in top 3 of Big 12. I am a KSU fan no matter who our coach is, but to say the least, I was not impressed with this hire.
One more request: HCBS DO NOT LET ADJC PUSH YOU AROUND. STAY AROUND TILL HE QUITS AND THEN ANOTHER 4 YEARS. THANKS COACH SNYDER. I ADORE YOU AND YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE ANOTHER JOB, MINUS OURS.
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LC:
After a trip to the dentist to repair the damage from grinding my teeth over this hire, I think I’ve calmed down enough to post about HCBW’s hire.
ADJC misplayed his hand. He thought Frank’s failure to negotiate was an angle to up the stakes in the post season, and decided he would play hardball too. He couldn’t (or wouldn’t) see that Frank had already made the decision to leave the table at the end of the year, no matter what.
In March, when he thought he was going to negotiate a fat new contract for his overachieving head coach, he was left standing there alone. Frank had made the not-so-subtle career statement that he would rather coach Little League, than work another year with ADJC. Followed by another not-so-subtle statement by the assistants that they would rather coach Little league with Frank, than work with ADJC.
So now he’s standing in the spotlight with a media-proclaimed Sweet Sixteen team, no coaches of any kind, and a fanbase saying WTF? There’s no home run hires on the horizon, so he gets a headhunter and tells them he needs 3 things:
1. A winning record with another coach’s recruits.
2. A built-in recruiting base.
3. Never had contact of any kind with Curtis Malone.Headhunter says, Bruce Weber. John Currie says, Hired. Bruce Weber says, Damn Straight.
You can see where I’m going. Next year, awesome. Sweet sixteen, maybe Elite Eight. 2nd year, OK, tourney 3rd round, no Sweet Sixteen. Then the bottom falls out.
Bruce, I would love it if you prove me wrong.
John Currie, GTFO, now.
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MadCat:
My expectations are low...
…it should be relatively easy to pleasantly surprise me.
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MeatGeek:
Bruce Weber will take us deep into the NCAA tourney after making a run at the conference title next year at the least.
It will go progressively downhill, he will be fired in year 5.
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mjk7166:
I believe we will stay close to the level we have been for the next 5 years, either in the tourney or close. We won’t win the big 12 with Bruce nor get past the sweet 16, but he will get decent recruits coming here and leave a foundation for continued success (yes making the tournament is success.) He will retire (be forced out) people will scarcely remember the dirty rat named Currie who brought him here.
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mystman995:
I called my brother (an Indiana alum) to fill me in on his rival's ex-coach.
He likes to cry a lot.Only time will tell…
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Panjandrum:
I'm going to go ahead and throw out some vague predictions...
Any prediction should be measurable, so I’ll go with some vague stuff.
- Our overall winning percentage will be equal to Frank Martin’s.
- Our overall conference winning percentage will be greater than Frank Martin’s
- In the next five years, we will go to the NCAA tournament 80% of the time, and when we don’t, we’ll go to the NIT
- Our NCAA tournament winning percentage will be less than Frank Martin’s
- Will will win either a Big 12 conference title, a Big 12 tournament title, or both
- In the next five years, we’ll make one deep run in the NCAA tournament (Elite 8 or better), we’ll have one good, solid run (Sweet 16), and well most likely get bounced in the first round the other times.
Also, I realize that my initial reaction to the hire was extremely harsh, but Weber seems to be self-aware of what went wrong at Illinois.
And it appears that he’s taking steps to rectify it.
I think that covers most of it.
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rich04:
I was late meeting some friends after work the day he was hired and my reason was that after I heard the news I had to go home and cry. There are a few rumors floating around about recruiting and stuff that give me a bit of hope and I’m trying really hard to buy in but in the end I think if ADJC hasn’t moved on in 2 1/2 years they will both be fired.
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rjd27:
Saw the news on the ESPN Bottom Line. Didn’t really believe it. Opened BOTC and sure enough, it was happening. Disappointment, disbelief, some anger and then just went numb with the thought that this is K-State and this is the best we can hope for (a coach fired a few weeks before; never on anyone’s list or radar; no splash, mostly bland).
Sent out a few tweets on the matter. Posted on BOTC. And waited for the next shoe to drop. As it is, that happened yesterday with the news that the rest of the staff is leaving. Only silver lining is that the players seem to be satisfied and will remain in the program (this is no little thing). I reserve further judgement as Weber hires his assistants.
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Sean T:
I was initially outraged that Currie made a decision so quickly, and the he hired a re-tread. I knew the guy could coach once upon a time, but I also knew he had just been fired.
I’m cautiously optimistic about Weber’s hire. The Cats will hopefully get all the pieces back next year (come on Angel!) and if so, they should be a really good team, particularly if Weber can instill smarter decisions and better offense. However, he was also just fired from a school where could get plenty of recruits so I don’t know how well he’s going to play out long term.
As for Currie, I want him gone and I can’t think of a single thing that could change my mind about that. I believe he’s failed Kansas State University and our sports teams by his inept handling of the PR from Martin’s (stupid) departure and then he hired the first guy he liked.
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VegasCat07:
First, I denied it – as I was leaving for a Saturday of activities I saw just one post sneak up onto BOTC RE: hiring Bruce Weber (believe it was by yeahboozin). Wrote it off as another rumor – "Nah, that canNOT be true – he was just fired for losing too much at Illinois."
Then, I was angry – HE JUST GOT FIRED FROM ILLINOIS FOR LOSING. How can Currie really believe Weber is better than Gottlieb – or TheBigE, even – for KSU’s next head coach?!?!????
Next, I felt depressed and just wanted football season to start (still anxious for that) and resigned myself to having to ‘support’/follow a lesser basketball program a la Asbury/Wooldridge years. How sad this will truly be if it goes that route.
I also bargained – well, so long as this means Currie will be gone soon so he doesn’t get to replace Bill… or so long as this means Underwood turned it down to stay AHC… or so long as (fill in this space with most of what Pan posted RE: how Bruce can succeed/survive). Many of my later bargaining positions I still hold to – bring in good assistants, don’t take the same tangent coaching angles Bruce claims derailed his Illinois behemoth last few years, keep the current team in-tact, and get started recruiting PRONTO.
I’ve now accepted Bruce Weber as K-State’s next men’s basketball coach. So far the team is sticking together, assistants he has succeeded with before/have recruiting ties are likely on board the staff (or SOON), and what other choice do I have if I want to live with myself as a KSU alum? I am totally on the Weber wagon right now – let’s get this thing loaded up and headed down the tracks.
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yeahboozin:
The first three seasons we will be extremely happy.
As in three second weekends in a row.
We will then have two straight inexplicable disappointing seasons.
Bruce will have an extension by then and his last few seasons will be fairly solid, but nothing great, with one good tourney run and the rest being solid buy not memorable.
I think overall we’ll be happy with this hire, but happier at the beginning than the end.