Comments on: ITH Super Happy Fun Time Coaching Search: Sean Miller

By: JerryCT

JerryCT — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:05:55 +0000

I don't understand.
Miller did not build the Xavier program. Gillen, Prosser, Matta and another guy I forget did that over more than 10 years maybe 15 years. It is in fact a serious mid major program with the athletes to go with it.

Did WSU get beat by 5 teams worse than them ? uuhh No.
DId WSU lose any game by more than 20 in any reg season game ? uhhhhhhh No
Was any WSU player "well recruited" by even a mid major ? uhhhhh No
Was WSU a "big time coaching job" like Xavier ? uhhhhh Nein

Did both schools hire the asst coach ? uuuhhhhhhh, YESSSSS

By: JerryCT

JerryCT — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:05:55 +0000

By: CBinOR

CBinOR — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:49:27 +0000

well, I like this guy best so far. Miller is the deal real deal. unlike bennett, no relative handed him a well-recruited class, a cupcake schedule and big time coaching job in the pac 10. Miller is his own man. Miller was Matta's #1 assistant at Xavier..Miller is who we need. We can respect Miller unlike Pearl. We can rest assured that he really has the skills. People people people please look at the schedule and the Pac 10 games UCLA beat him both times, Stanford beat him 3 times, Arizona beat him twice and Cal beat him (Cal just fired their coach) Bennet is smoke, daddy and mirrors. (Again, if he winds up being our coach I take it all back)

By: Ryan_Btown

Ryan_Btown — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:39:02 +0000

I look at the recruiting competition he is going up against on the West coast. WSU is a team that has made the tourney like 6 times…TOTAL! That doesn't make it easy to recruit against the likes of UCLA, Cal, USC, Arizona, even Oregon.

I think it's more likely to consider the recruits he was on board for while an assistant in the Big 10. Guys like Alando Tucker, Brian Butch, etc…

By: BTOWN40

BTOWN40 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:00:09 +0000

I'm about 65 percent partial to Bennett and 35 percent to Miller. My ? is this. What are we looking for in a coach? Bennett looks to be a coach you could fall in love with, getting his players to play to there max, hard nosed defense and mental toughness. Can we win national championships with him though? What you see at WSU is great, not any big name players, but can you get the higher caliber player to buy into what he is teaching. Miller seems to have the more athletic team, but there focus seems to be elsewhere at times during some games. I watched several of their games and the 2 games late in the season to Saint Joseph, it just seemed liked they weren't all focused and most of these guys are seniors. I do liked how they showe mental toughness against Purdue in the tournament..I just feel that Bennett gives us more of what we want right now. I personally would rather have us in every game, because of our defense (Bennett), winning Big Ten titles (defense), and let the rest of theseason fall where it may. I think people put 2 much stock in the tournament. Too much luck is involved. Would we be considering Miller if his team didn't come back against Purdue, but is that enough for IU fans? I would rather look at the body of work of how a team played, not how they did in the post season. IU and WSU had about the same record this year, but Bennett's squad looked far more impressive in there losses than we did. I can handle a loss knowing that the kids busted there ass and never gave up, what I can' watch is the mental checkouts, and lack of effort that has been on again and off again since Knight was let go..GO BENNETT

By: ronb

ronb — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:00:47 +0000

Thanks for the help. I will try that.

The signing of the Constitution of the United States quote: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” John AdamsLove Dad,Pappy,Ron

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By: BrianK

BrianK — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:55:38 +0000

i just want some winning championship caliber teams. Kids graduating, not getting into trouble like the “old days”. I don't care if its fast paced or what as long as they have some strong defense. One thing you can say about Pearl's team is missed shots don;t get to them they are mentally tough kids.

By: Ryan_Btown

Ryan_Btown — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:00:55 +0000

Agreed, my point exactly. He thinks it's so easy but in college, there's the psychology of dealing with 18-22 year olds, the book with thousands of pages of rules you have to follow and make sure ALL of your assistants follow, there's press, alums, fundraising and blogs that are critical of you (haha)…X's and O's are for nothing compared to what these guys have to deal with.

By: RD21

RD21 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:21:36 +0000

Like I said before, I knew that he had a say in the recruiting..I am just saying I would like to see in a couple more years how he would do, though I wouldn't mind seeing those next couple of years at a much better basketball school like IU. -Accomplishments even more special-… I would love to have Low and Weaver blossoming during my first year. Thanks for the insight splenda, I agree that he is a well established recruiter (5 good players for '08)

By: tberry

tberry — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:12:18 +0000

if you want to see up-tempo, fast action basketball that wins, you are a Bruce Pearl fan.

By: easy

easy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:10:23 +0000

Haha can't blame Matta for not wanting to go back to Xavier where everyone seems to hate him now….

By: xfactor9600

xfactor9600 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:05:43 +0000

I've never heard him state this, nor seen it in print. In fact, OSU-Xavier were supposed to schedule a home and home one year after Matta bolted for OSU. It was Matta's idea to cancel it.

By: BrianK

BrianK — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:59:35 +0000

Thats kind of a ridiuclous statement. I would put that in the negative column for him if he said that. Most ex-assistants want to play there old mentors. Alot of times they add each other in their schedules ala Billy D and Pitino.

By: oday

oday — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:34:16 +0000

No doubt he is a good coach, but he has said before that he will not coach against Thad Matta. If this is true, it would be useless to pursue him.

By: xfactor9600

xfactor9600 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:57:39 +0000

Actually according to the coverage map i've seen... a good portion of IU will see WSU
http://www.hdsportsguide.com/files/327-1-map.pdf

By: Raymond219

Raymond219 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:46:45 +0000

On top of that, Dick's last year as a coach was not exactly one to be remembered. I believe they only won around 13 games that year and I am almost positive they finished last in the Pac 10. Having his “dad's” players should make his accomplishments even more special.

By: BrianK

BrianK — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:38:32 +0000

Coaching isn't easy either or we wouldn't be complaining about our past 2 coaches. I coached middle school age kids in football. To be a good coach isn't just about making x's and o's.

By: easy

easy — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:19:01 +0000

Sounds good to me. And “pop off the page” names are trumped by wins. I think most people who actually KNOW basketball certainly know who Sean Miller is. Hopefully if he gets the job he doesn't want to bolt for the Big East or something down the line.

I almost went to Xavier, and I may still go there as a grad student. Thanks for the post and assessment. I'm definitely pulling for Xavier to do well.

By: xfactor9600

xfactor9600 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:15:53 +0000

Yup I have two degrees from X and a graduate degree from IU. So i'm fans of both.

Is Miller better than Matta? I think so. Sean was a hardnosed player in the Big East and that mentality has transferred to his coaching. He stated recently that he wished he was playing in the tournament instead of coaching in it. His teams play great defense generally. Miller recruits well. He tends to stick to the East Coast and Midwest, but i think his overall goal is to go where the talent is. He's heavily recruiting Georgia right now for the 2009 class.

I believe (perhaps foolishly) that in this day and age, Miller can win a title at Xavier. SO of course i think he can win one at IU.

The one thing that may deter most IU fans is the fact that he's not a big name, and he doesn't have that pop of the page appeal to the casual fan. But if he's your coach, your team will be competitive, play for the post season, and graduate players.

By: Ryan_Btown

Ryan_Btown — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:01:24 +0000

Then maybe you should take up the profession…