Craig Smith is my vote, here’s why

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Some Day...Maybe

Some Day...Maybe

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Since people seem to posting threads of their choice, I thought I’d join in.

1. He has the best winning percentage of the three Mountain West coaches and Musselman, when he was in the Mountain West.
2. He’s done it at 3 different places.
3. He’s young so he’s got a lot of years left. 4. His players love playing for him.
5. He’s from Minnesota, which is damn cool, but this also means he is less likely to leave vs others.
6. He can flat out coach. He knows how to make adjustments.
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
Since people seem to posting threads of their choice, I thought I’d join in.

1. He has the best winning percentage of the three Mountain West coaches and Musselman, when he was in the Mountain West.
2. He’s done it at 3 different places.
3. He’s young so he’s got a lot of years left. 4. His players love playing for him.
5. He’s from Minnesota, which is damn cool, but this also means he is less likely to leave vs others.
6. He can flat out coach. He knows how to make adjustments.
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After the game he talked about the adjustments they made, both during the game and at halftime. Anybody else catch that?
 






I thoroughly enjoyed watching that game last night. Both teams do spacing well and know what they're doing out there. Both teams had a plan. The Cowboys game planned well and got the drop on the Aggies initially. As Smith said, in the second half they started defending better, and that turned the game.

I know Big Ten games are a slog, with big and athletic players, so there might not be the opportunity for as much freedom of movement as we saw last night. That said, that style of offense alone is worth the price of a season ticket. They had counters for whatever defensive set Wyoming got in.
 

While there are a number of good candidates, if I was Coyle, I'm going after Smith. The fact that he won (and relatively quickly) at three different places shows me he can coach. As others have said, Utah State isn't a highly desirable MW job, and he's still won there.

Looks like their finale is on Saturday night at 10pm on FS1. I'll have to tune in.
 

The style of play you saw last night from UW is an immediate upgrade from previous years. Why? A new coach from Northern Colorado who came and actually coached and installed some basics like rebounding and hustle. They have been atrocious for a while and were horribly coached for several years prior. The old coach? Allen Edwards. Former Kentucky player under Rick Pitino. Seems funny to me.
 



I watched a bunch of this game last night. The MWC sucks.
 

forever a gopher said:
While there are a number of good candidates, if I was Coyle, I'm going after Smith. The fact that he won (and relatively quickly) at three different places shows me he can coach. As others have said, Utah State isn't a highly desirable MW job, and he's still won there.

Looks like their finale is on Saturday night at 10pm on FS1. I'll have to tune in.
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Agreed. He also has glowing recommendations from his former players like Matt Mooney who also played for Chris Beard.

The Mountain West games have been mostly fun in general to watch. I’ve chosen them repeatedly over Pac 12 games this year if I’m still up.
 

forever a gopher said:
As others have said, Utah State isn't a highly desirable MW job, and he's still won there.
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I don't agree with you, relative to the programs in the Mountain West right now. Which have some better ones, no doubt. But would say it's at least in the top half, if not higher.

They have a rabid fanbase and a nice arena, which was built up over the many winning seasons of Stew Morrill (granted, a lot of that winning came in former iterations of the Big West and WAC).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stew_Morrill
https://utahstateaggies.com/facilities/dee-glen-smith-spectrum/2
https://utahstateaggies.com/facilities/wayne-estes-center/7
 




MplsGopher said:
I don't agree with you, relative to the programs in the Mountain West right now. Which have some better ones, no doubt. But would say it's at least in the top half, if not higher.

They have a rabid fanbase and a nice arena, which was built up over the many winning seasons of Stew Morrill (granted, a lot of that winning came in former iterations of the Big West and WAC).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stew_Morrill
https://utahstateaggies.com/facilities/dee-glen-smith-spectrum/2
https://utahstateaggies.com/facilities/wayne-estes-center/7
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I know this is two years old now, but coaches in the conference rank it really low.

Mountain West Basketball Coaches Rank the Best Jobs in the Conference - Stadium

What's the best college basketball job in the Mountain West? Jeff Goodman polled the coaches in the conference – here's what he found out.
www.google.com www.google.com

It’s good proof that a coach can make a job a better than many of its flaws. There are a lot of good jobs in the Mountain West which is why I think it attracts good coaches.
 

MplsGopher said:
Oh yeah? So they won't win any MM games against P6? How much you putting down?
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not at all what I said. I said the conference sucks. Which it does. Plenty of upsets in the tournament which is why its interesting. Most of college basketball isn’t very good.
 

manderson1984 said:
I know this is two years old now, but coaches in the conference rank it really low.

Mountain West Basketball Coaches Rank the Best Jobs in the Conference - Stadium

What's the best college basketball job in the Mountain West? Jeff Goodman polled the coaches in the conference – here's what he found out.
www.google.com www.google.com

It’s good proof that a coach can make a job a better than many of its flaws. There are a lot of good jobs in the Mountain West which is why I think it attracts good coaches.
Click to expand...

Fair enough.

FWIW, the first coach who took over for Morrill had three years of mediocrity. Then Smith came in.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
not at all what I said. I said the conference sucks. Which it does. Plenty of upsets in the tournament which is why its interesting. Most of college basketball isn’t very good.
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Well I think that's a tad silly, when you look at their top four teams. If it was just one or two good teams and the rest crap, you'd have a point. My opinion
 



Some Day...Maybe said:
Since people seem to posting threads of their choice, I thought I’d join in.

1. He has the best winning percentage of the three Mountain West coaches and Musselman, when he was in the Mountain West.
2. He’s done it at 3 different places.
3. He’s young so he’s got a lot of years left. 4. His players love playing for him.
5. He’s from Minnesota, which is damn cool, but this also means he is less likely to leave vs others.
6. He can flat out coach. He knows how to make adjustments.
Click to expand...

Honestly, you sold me.

Sign him.
 


Just one, really minor (to the point of being dumb ... but hey, it's me) thing:

yes, he is from Minnesota. As in, almost as far away from the Twin Cities as you can get while still being in the state of Minnesota. Over 300 miles, and a 5.5hr car drive away. North of Crookston. North of Grand Forks.

Went to UND.

But yes, I'm sure he will be very loyal to the state of Minnesota and the U. :cool:
 

Well, he should be able to recruit Minnesota kids anyhow. Refreshing change.
 

MplsGopher said:
I don't agree with you, relative to the programs in the Mountain West right now. Which have some better ones, no doubt. But would say it's at least in the top half, if not higher.

They have a rabid fanbase and a nice arena, which was built up over the many winning seasons of Stew Morrill (granted, a lot of that winning came in former iterations of the Big West and WAC).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stew_Morrill
https://utahstateaggies.com/facilities/dee-glen-smith-spectrum/2
https://utahstateaggies.com/facilities/wayne-estes-center/7
Click to expand...
Fair enough; thanks for the info. Having absolutely no info to back this up, I would imagine it may be tough to maintain interest in a program that has to play third fiddle in a state that has a population about 60% that of MN. You're probably not getting any decent in-state recruits, but at least you have California nearby to pluck from.
 

MplsGopher said:
Just one, really minor (to the point of being dumb ... but hey, it's me) thing:

yes, he is from Minnesota. As in, almost as far away from the Twin Cities as you can get while still being in the state of Minnesota. Over 300 miles, and a 5.5hr car drive away. North of Crookston. North of Grand Forks.

Went to UND.

But yes, I'm sure he will be very loyal to the state of Minnesota and the U. :cool:
Click to expand...

I bet he grew up cheering for the Gophers since UND wasn't even a D1 program at the time. Outstate folks have more pride in the U than many think from my experiences although NDSU football success (coupled with how awful MN had been) has taken a chunk of the fans on the football side. Either way I think it's his dream job, which is what matters most than if he was born within (in Smiths case barely) the MN border
 

manderson1984 said:
I bet he grew up cheering for the Gophers since UND wasn't even a D1 program at the time. Outstate folks have more pride in the U than many think from my experiences although NDSU football success (coupled with how awful MN had been) has taken a chunk of the fans on the football side. Either way I think it's his dream job, which is what matters most than if he was born within (in Smiths case barely) the MN border
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Right on! I was just giving some crap to people pushing the "from Minnesota" angle, even though it is technically true.
 

forever a gopher said:
Fair enough; thanks for the info. Having absolutely no info to back this up, I would imagine it may be tough to maintain interest in a program that has to play third fiddle in a state that has a population about 60% that of MN. You're probably not getting any decent in-state recruits, but at least you have California nearby to pluck from.
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When Utah and BYU were in the Mountain West, and it was only 8 teams, with no teams like San Jose St and so on, I think your argument held more water than it does currently.

UNLV and New Mexico usually have strong programs as well (I think), but not this year.
 

MplsGopher said:
Just one, really minor (to the point of being dumb ... but hey, it's me) thing:

yes, he is from Minnesota. As in, almost as far away from the Twin Cities as you can get while still being in the state of Minnesota. Over 300 miles, and a 5.5hr car drive away. North of Crookston. North of Grand Forks.

Went to UND.

But yes, I'm sure he will be very loyal to the state of Minnesota and the U. :cool:
Click to expand...
I’m originally from Northern Minnesota, have a lot of friends who went to UND, and a lot of them are Gopher football and basketball fans. It’s the University of Minnesota, not Minneapolis. The guy was born in Minnesota and went to high school in Minnesota. Your view here is pretty ignorant.
 


I'm fine if Smith is the choice. He does have one of the higher buyouts among candidates. So, if you can't buyout Musselman. If you aren't considering Dutcher, Belien, or any other older coach then Smith seems good. Gates is cheaper but more unproven. Medved doesn't make my list....if you want Thorson as an assistant then talk to your choice about his willingness to pursue him and why. (i would have had conversations months ago with Gabe if I had any intention to consider that)
 

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