SO...

[Boom]

I'm not sure Mark Few wants to leave Gonzaga and coach for us.

If he did then I think Pat Kilkenny would have hired him when he was the AD.

I have heard people say that it is a Phil Knight thing and he doesn't want him to coach for us. Not sure if it is true or not, but I do think that if Phil Knight did want him then we would have already tried to hire him away from Gonzaga.

[Boom]

I really think that we need to hire a big time coach to get a spark back into Oregon basketball and for the opening of the arena. I think hiring a young guy could set us back even more if he turns out to be a dud like Ernie. To do this though we will have to pay at least twice the amount than what we were paying Ernie(1 million). In contrast Tubby Smith can make up to 3.3 million per season and this is at Minnesota!

Depending on what comes out of the USC/NCAA meetings... I think Tim Floyd could be a great hire. Great defensive minded coach with NBA ties, currently he is an assistant coach for Charlotte?

And what about Terry Porter? He's currently living in Portland and I believe his son is playing high school hoops up there.

If we do go after an assistant coach then I would prefer one of the Duke guys Chris Collins or Steve Wojciechowski.

Wojo and Collins could possibly be good but they have no previous head coaching experience at the college level, which makes me wary of them. Porter could be a possibility but I'm not sure how his coaching style would fit into the college level. Floyd is a definite no since everywhere he's been, there's been problems.

I'm only aware of his incident at USC. What other problems has he had?

I think that Floyd also had some incidents at Iowa State concerning some recruits and player conduct off-court, but I'm not certain on the particulars

You mean sort of like our football team?

Google isn't showing anything in that regards though, if there was trouble I dont think it was the NCAA kind.

[greenyellow]

I don't think it ever reached up to the NCAA level but I do remember him having some problems with one or two of his players.

[duckgrad99]

I've mentioned Wojo and Collins as possibilities. Sure they don't have the head coaching experience, but they have worked for several years under Krzyzewski. I bet they would excel at recruiting. Pastner was an assistent under Olsen and now he is the head coach for Memphis. Few and Tubby would be good also.

[bellsduck]

I've mentioned Wojo and Collins as possibilities. Sure they don't have the head coaching experience, but they have worked for several years under Krzyzewski. I bet they would excel at recruiting. Pastner was an assistent under Olsen and now he is the head coach for Memphis. Few and Tubby would be good also.

Are there any Krzyzewski assistants that have done a good job as a head coach? I don't think there are.

[duckgrad99]

I've mentioned Wojo and Collins as possibilities. Sure they don't have the head coaching experience, but they have worked for several years under Krzyzewski. I bet they would excel at recruiting. Pastner was an assistent under Olsen and now he is the head coach for Memphis. Few and Tubby would be good also.

Are there any Krzyzewski assistants that have done a good job as a head coach? I don't think there are.

Mike Brey has done a pretty good job, and Jeff Capel did well with VCU and hasn't been awful with Oklahoma. The duke assistants are probably a stretch, but I'm just trying to come up with ideas.

[greenyellow]

I not quite sure how big of a name we could get. While Kent has turned the program into one that can recruit top players, the new coach may not be able to bring in those type of players since they probably wouldn't have any ties to the West Coast or Midwest. A new coach from a smaller school or one that has only assistant coach experience may not be able to attract the big-time players.

[duckfan22]

here's a name. i know he can recruit and he knows basketball. and i bet
he would be interested would be Steve Lavin ex ucla coach. i think he got
the shaft while he was there. he's the kind of guy that relates well with
his players. just tossing it out there.

[duckgrad99]

here's a name. i know he can recruit and he knows basketball. and i bet
he would be interested would be Steve Lavin ex ucla coach. i think he got
the shaft while he was there. he's the kind of guy that relates well with
his players. just tossing it out there.

I agree that he got screwed at UCLA. The team was very successful while Lavin was there, but I guess anything short of a championship isn't good enough at UCLA. My only concern would be that he has been out of coaching for awhile, but maybe that wouldn't be a big deal.

[soduck]

Lavin was generally considered an underachiever and lost a lot of games to lesser teams. He had awesome talent and certainly showed he could recruit. Not so hard at Ucla. But he was not considered a good ingame coach. We have had enough of that. I was told via high placed source that Few and Tubby Smith are the two top targets. I like speculations of other possible coaches.

[duckgrad99]

Lavin was generally considered an underachiever and lost a lot of games to lesser teams. He had awesome talent and certainly showed he could recruit. Not so hard at Ucla. But he was not considered a good ingame coach. We have had enough of that. I was told via high placed source that Few and Tubby Smith are the two top targets. I like speculations of other possible coaches.

I would be happy with Few or Smith. Who do you think would be the better recruiter at Oregon?

[greenyellow]

Lavin was generally considered an underachiever and lost a lot of games to lesser teams. He had awesome talent and certainly showed he could recruit. Not so hard at Ucla. But he was not considered a good ingame coach. We have had enough of that. I was told via high placed source that Few and Tubby Smith are the two top targets. I like speculations of other possible coaches.

I would be happy with Few or Smith. Who do you think would be the better recruiter at Oregon?

I think it would be Tubby due to his experiences and successes at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky and Minnesota. With Few, it's hard to tell how his team would compete against the big-time teams on a nightly basis, not just one-shot games. Smith to me is a long-shot, with Few the most likely, but I could see the Ducks going after Grier at San Diego.

[UOducksTK1]

Lavin was generally considered an underachiever and lost a lot of games to lesser teams. He had awesome talent and certainly showed he could recruit. Not so hard at Ucla. But he was not considered a good ingame coach. We have had enough of that. I was told via high placed source that Few and Tubby Smith are the two top targets. I like speculations of other possible coaches.

I gotta disagree, he took over a team that had made the sweet 16 only 3 out of the last 16 years..

And his teams made the sweet 16, 5 out of his 7 seasons there.

Just saying...

I'm not saying Lavin is a top coach, but much better than lots of people give him credit for.

[duckfan22]

another way to look at this is...Ernie is a good recruiter. but in game coach
he isn't good at all. Look at Gonzaga less talent but very well coached. so someone like Few can take less talent and make them play within his system
and succeed. Tubby Smith is a good recruiter, had a load of talent at
Kentucky and they will say he underachieved.
Years ago when Ralph Miller was at osu, he took Oregon kids and they
contended for the conference championship every year. I watched the
northern Iowa vs old dom tonight. northern Iowa very well coached. good
team. there are alot of young coaches out there. I feel sorry for Ernie
as he bleeds Oregon colors. but a change is needed. going to be a long
off season. will be interesting to see if a change is made, who they hire,
and what players stay and which ones leave.
The biggest key is that college sports is a business. This is a business
decision dictated by the new arena being built. the present course of this
team does bode well for business. they will never fill that new arena with
the way this team is playing and being coached.

[Boom]

I don't think we have a shot at Tubby Smith and I have my doubts about Mark Few.

Lavin could be an interesting option though. Not sure how much money ESPN is paying him, but he could be looking for another payday. Does anyone know if his name came up in the USC & Arizona vacancies last year?