[NU Sports] Trying to make s**t taste like ice cream

Fri Mar 9 08:41:28 CST 2012

The Denny Green analogy is exactly how I feel. Had he not left on his own accord I'm not sure he could of taken us to the next level. BC may have taken us from the bottom of the heap, but after 12 years,its not good enough in my book 

Harry

Harry 
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan Hodges <j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu>
Sender: jonathanwhodges at gmail.com
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2012 08:20:35 
To: <hakirsch at aol.com>
Cc: Aaron Ament<aaronsament at gmail.com>; <nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com>; shawn.folkes at comcast.net<shawn.folkes at comcast.net>; NU Sports List<nwu-sports at tssi.com>
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Trying to make s**t taste like ice cream

Harry, I clearly agree with your reasoning why Carmody must go.

Yes, Carmody is by all accounts a stand-up guy.  He's honest and
respectable, runs a clean program, graduates his players, and has brought
in some talented guys (Vukusic, Thompson, Coble, Shurna).  He has led NU to
the NIT for what looks to be 4 consecutive seasons and has a couple of
20-win years under his belt and he is the most successful coach at NU in
the modern era.

BUT, in 12 seasons they just haven't taken that next step.  It's admirable
that he was able to get them this far, but that shouldn't guarantee him
essentially a lifetime contract.  Imagine if NU looked at Dennis Green in
the 3-win 1982 season and offered him a lifetime contract.  Yes, it was a
huge step forward after "the streak" but it was by no means achieving a
broader level of success (note that Green would leave NU on his own to go
coach under Bill Walsh, while NU would fail to reach the postseason until
that magical 1995 season).

Carmody has had his chances to get into the top ~20% of the country's teams
and make the tourney in any of his 12 seasons at the helm and he's failed
to do so (even when afforded the advantages of being in a strong major
conference).  His teams have always lacked depth and, as others have
mentioned time and time again, he has never brought in even a decent big
man.  His best seasons' win totals were padded by pasty non-conference
schedules.  He hit .500 in league play just one time (when the team
finished under .500 on the season).  He also almost rand the program back
into the ground about 5 years ago with his 1-win Big Ten performance
despite being on the job long enough to recruit plenty of players to run
the system.  He ran off one of the program's best players before last
season when it looked like the chance for a tourney run was there.

NU needs a coach who can recruit, specifically by bringing in enough
players to field a decent rotation (going an entire season with essentially
6 guys clearly isn't cutting it) and that elusive big man who can rebound
and get the ball in the basket down low (something that doomed NU in this
past game).  It's not going to be easy, but NU needs a different strategy
to make that jump to the next level (again, not asking for conference
titles here: just cracking the tournament).

Jonathan

--
Jonathan Hodges
Contributor, HailToPurple
Web: http://www.hailtopurple.com/jhodges/
Twitter: @hailtopurple
Email: j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu

On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 10:35 PM, <hakirsch at aol.com> wrote:

>  My standards are low having been at NU during some of their worst years.
>  I rejoiced a few years later when we got our first NIT bid.  And like
> Aaron, I  realize that we are  improved from when BC came in. But that is
> the problem. We compare BC to the rock bottom years that we had.  This is
> fine for the first few years when he was taking over a lousy program but
> after 12 years, it hasn't really worked. We all know it's due to our
> inability to recruit a handful of guys that can win. And Dennis ' assertion
> about big men is spot on. We can't really compete consistently without one.
> I think its time for  a change. Yes I know if Solo's shot goes in many of
> us would be singing a different tune but that isn't really the point.
>
> My suggestion is to  get a top high school coach from the Chicagoland area
> who has contacts with a bunch of his peers and their assistants to find one
> good big man every year or 2 who can get admitted to NU and who can be
> convinced that its a smart move to play in Evanston. Its a gamble saying
> that essentially we should be able to find one nearby,(rather than
> Ohio,Indiana or elsewhere) but I think we got to try something different.
>
> Harry
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Aaron Ament <aaronsament at gmail.com>
> Sender: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
> Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2012 22:17:30
> To: shawn.folkes at comcast.net<shawn.folkes at comcast.net>
> Cc: NU Sports List<nwu-sports at tssi.com>
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Trying to make s**t taste like ice cream
>
> Once again I also agree that Jonathan is completely wrong.
>
> My freshman year we were 0-17 in the Big Ten under KO.  We are now
> competitive with (and in the case of Mich St, have beaten) Top 10 teams in
> the country.  This was the best year in school history, at least since the
> 1930s..
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Mar 8, 2012, at 9:23 PM, shawn.folkes at comcast.net wrote:
>
> > I don't agree.  And I think there are a lot of fans out there like me.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jonathan Hodges" <j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu>
> > To: inaugurationbook at yahoo.com
> > Cc: "NU Sports List" <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
> > Sent: Thursday, March 8, 2012 7:12:47 PM
> > Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Trying to make s**t taste like ice cream
> >
> > Also, it should be clear that Carmody will be gone and NU can finally
> move
> > on from an era that took 12 years where the biggest accomplishment is 4
> > straight NITs.  If NU had somehow made it into the tourney it would have
> > been difficult to get rid of him.  I think most everyone agrees its time
> > for a new era in NU basketball, hopefully to take it to the next level.
> >
> > Jonathan
> >
> > --
> > Jonathan Hodges
> > Contributor, HailToPurple
> > Web: http://www.hailtopurple.com/jhodges/
> > Twitter: @hailtopurple
> > Email: j-hodges at alumni.northwestern.edu
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 7:57 PM, <inaugurationbook at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >> If we had won today, lost tomorrow, then not gotten a bid, we would have
> >> felt like we got screwed.
> >>
> >> Now, because we lost, if we don't get a bid, we'll understand why.
> >>
> >>
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