Good news bad news.

[mu_hilltopper]

Would you take one NC and give up TC?  Hmmm..


Dec 31, 2007 @ 10:47 PM
By Paul Anthony Arco
RRSTAR.COM

Bold prediction for 2008
Marquette will break the school’s 31-year drought and win the NCAA basketball championship on April 7 in San Antonio, thanks to heady guard play by its three future NBA players — Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews. The bad news: Coach Tom Crean will leave after the season for the NBA to coach the Miami Heat and former MU guard, Dwyane Wade.

http://www.rrstar.com/sports/columnists/x1295924516

[mwbauer7]

Can you really call not having won the NCAA Men's BBall championship for 31 years a drought when more teams in nation don't have any championships at all? I mean at least we've got one to look back on right?

[ecompt]

Crean wants NO part of the NBA.

[RubyWiscy]

Give me the championship and I'll take our chances with Crean leaving.  Not going to happen any time soon.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Where do I sign up for that deal?

[ChicosBailBonds]

I'd take that in a heartbeat.

[bilsu]

The only way I see Crean leaving is if he feels he can never win a NCAA championship here. If he wins one, there would be no reason for him to leave.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

Where do I sign up for that deal?

Oh man, that made me laugh.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Crean wants NO part of the NBA.

What leads you to conclude this? Crean is constantly talking about the NBA and it's quite clear (at least to me) that a move to the NBA is much more likely (and desirable to him) than a college move. I'll go so far as to predict that when Crean does leave Marquette it will be for an NBA position.

[Avenue Commons]

Crean wants NO part of the NBA.

What leads you to conclude this? Crean is constantly talking about the NBA and it's quite clear (at least to me) that a move to the NBA is much more likely (and desirable to him) than a college move. I'll go so far as to predict that when Crean does leave Marquette it will be for an NBA position.

Everything that we've seen from Crean is that he likes being "The Boss." I have a hard time seeing him accept an NBA position where he was just the coach and not the total master of the universe. Crean will retire at Marquette.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Crean wants NO part of the NBA.

What leads you to conclude this? Crean is constantly talking about the NBA and it's quite clear (at least to me) that a move to the NBA is much more likely (and desirable to him) than a college move. I'll go so far as to predict that when Crean does leave Marquette it will be for an NBA position.

Actually I think it wouldn't happen because no NBA teams want to put their trust in NCAA coaches right now, and for that matter the NFL either.

[mosarsour]

I would definitely take a NC over TC anyday.

[Marquette84]

Everything that we've seen from Crean is that he likes being "The Boss." I have a hard time seeing him accept an NBA position where he was just the coach and not the total master of the universe. Crean will retire at Marquette.

I think Crean is close enough to be the all-time winningest coach at MU to want to stick around at least to reach that milestone.

He had 164 wins coming into this year, which puts him 132 away from Al McGuire's total.  26.4 wins per year over the next five years (counting this season) would do it--which is on the borderline of being conceivable.  That would be an average 14-4 conference record combined with 10 non-conference wins and an average of 2 in conference and post-season tournaments.

22 wins over six years most certainly is.  

The question in my mind is how long after reaching win #296 does he stick around?

[ChicosBailBonds]

I would definitely take a NC over TC anyday.

I think the point was that TC would deliver that NC and then move on....that's the only way I would take it.

[NavinRJohnson]

I have long thought that his next job will be in the NBA. Not so sure about the whole national title/Miami thing, but I do think he will be coaching an NBA team in the not too distant future.

[MilTown]

The NBA is a whole different beast. Crean could be successful in the NBA, but I think his style would have to change drastically. The tackling dummy would be out for sure. In the end, for selfish reasons, I hope Crean never goes to the NBA. I think as long as Crean is running the show, MU will be a top tier team every year. Also, Crean's committment to coaching and his pursuit of excellence is what makes the college game special. Follow coach K's lead and stay in the college ranks!

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I think as long as Crean is running the show, MU will be a top tier team every year.

We have been a "top tier team" exactly once in his 8 plus years.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I think as long as Crean is running the show, MU will be a top tier team every year.

We have been a "top tier team" exactly once in his 8 plus years.

Sigh....define top tier.  I'd say every time this team has finished the season ranked, that makes it a top tier team.  I'd say every time this team has made the NCAA Tournament, that makes it a top tier team.

The NCAA tournament is a crap shoot, anything can happen on any given day.

[jage]

I would hope that if we win a nat'l title we would campaign like hell to keep him around. I think the only job (pro or college) he would leave marquette for is michigan state and even then i'm not sure. it would depend on where this program is when izzo retires. he's got a great thing here. dealing with 23 year-old millionares seems a lot less appealling than managing a successful college bball program. (to me at least).

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I think as long as Crean is running the show, MU will be a top tier team every year.

We have been a "top tier team" exactly once in his 8 plus years.

Sigh....define top tier.  I'd say every time this team has finished the season ranked, that makes it a top tier team.  I'd say every time this team has made the NCAA Tournament, that makes it a top tier team.

The NCAA tournament is a crap shoot, anything can happen on any given day.

I think top tier means that we have a chance to advance to at least the Sweet 16. I don't think either of the past two years we had a team capable of doing that (hindsight being 20-20).

I do think we have a chance this year, if pre-conference performance is any indication.

This team is currently playing better than any of Crean's previous teams...including the FF team. I'm not saying they ARE better -- Jackson was a difference maker on that squad -- but they are playing at a higher level with greater consistency.

[DegenerateDish]

I completely agree with PRN's last comment, this is the best Crean coached team I've seen so far. The consistency of play, the depth in the backcourt, and Crean has really improved his game coaching/strategy this year. I'd really love to see this team unleash some sort of "40 minutes of Hell" at some point, and it could be forthcoming during BE play.

This team is poised to finish first or second in the BE. They'll have an off shooting night one of these early BE games and lose to somebody they probably shouldn't, but their depth and consistent play bode well for the remainder of the season.

[TallTitan34]

Paul Arco is actually the head of the Marquette Club of Rockford.  I believe he works for the Rockford Park District in addition to having a radio show and newspaper column. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

That may be the case, but does a team that wasn't supposed to go to the Sweet 16 earn a "top tier" ranking then?

I guess it's all how you want to define top tier.  To me, if you're nationally ranked, you're a top tier team just by the entire definition of a national ranking.

Last year, for example, Wisconsin won 30 games, was ranked #1 in the country during the season, finished I think ranked 6th or something...received a #2 seed but didn't make the Sweet 16.  I'm sorry, I'd still say they were a "top tier" team regardless of them not making the Sweet 16.

[CTWarrior]

I'd take that deal in a heartbeat, too.  Wouldn't want Crean to leave, but in my heart I give us maybe a 5% chance at best of winning another NCAA title in my lifetime.  It is very hard to do when there are about 70-80 major conference teams and another 10 or 20 who have some sort of chance (like Gonzaga, Xavier, etc).

Futher, maybe it's just me, but I don't see Crean as a successful NBA type coach.  The rah-rah, teach skills, work hard in practice stuff doesn't fly in the NBA (though it probably should).  There it is ALL relating to the players and keeping the right guys happy and having a solid GM.  All the NBA teams run basically the same isolation/inside-out stuff with a very few exceptions.  I know that having your living be dependent upon enticing 17 year olds to join your program is an unsettling way to make a living, but it seems to me that being a college coach is the best way to make a living as a basketball coach.

[MUinCO]

Would you take one NC and give up TC?  Hmmm..

Damn straight I would! 

With MU in the Big East, a recent Final-4 fresh off a NC...and a demonstrated willingness to pay a coach on the high end of the scale?  We would have no problem attracting some of the best coaching talent out there after a title win and our current situation would put MU ball on top for years to come.

Of course, even the best can stink up a coaching hire (see ND football), but loosing TC would be worth a NC in a heart beat.  I personally would hate to see him go, but TC has put MU in a situation that would make living without him very comfortable.

[muwarrior87]

And how, exactly, has he done that MUinCO? I don't see how we would be living comfortably without him at the helm

[tower912]

I would take the deal, though it may ultimately mean another 10 years of wandering in the wilderness.   I am one of those who believes that TC isn't leaving anytime soon, regardless, because (A)he cannot get the degree of control elsewhere that he gets at MU, and (B)Joanie says no, that she likes raising her family in one place.   15 years from now, when the kids are grown, it will be a different story.

[MUinCO]

And how, exactly, has he done that MUinCO? I don't see how we would be living comfortably without him at the helm

I admit losing TC would hurt, but my point is that because of TC we are in a much better situation to live without him than before.  Because of TC:
1. We're in the BE conference now
2. MU has demonstrated a willingness to pay a coach on the high end of the market
3. Success and national press attention...especially if we're talking hypothetical NC here

All these things mean the position of the program is strong...it means we can still attract top coaching and athletic talent if TC were to leave.  I don't think he will leave any time soon, but if (per the theme of this tread) we were to win a NC under TC, MU would be in a much more "comfortable" position than we were...say under Bob Dukiet...muwarrior87.

[muwarrior87]

Very true. The 87 is my birth year though, not graduation year. I'm a junior currently.

[MUinCO]

Very true. The 87 is my birth year though, not graduation year. I'm a junior currently.

Damn...I was a junior in HS in 87.  Anyway, those of us who graduated in the 90s still carry the scars from the Dukiet years and know life as a MU basketball fan is much better today. 

Good luck this semester.

[muwarrior87]

Thanks, and I know my history well enough to be thankful I'm at school now and not then!