My thoughts

[bac2therac]

First of all I have been dealing with the sickness and loss of my 14 year old cat for the past several days so I have not devoted alot of attention to the board. I was in the midst of responding to Nuts thread when I read two total [poop] with their usual attack on me. They know who they are. I am tired of their constant attacks on what I post and if they do not like my thoughts why do they keep reading me. There is an ignore button for you two. Its as simple as that. Do it.

When it looked like Hurley was going to pass and yes he was our first choice no matter what anyone tries to say, I felt Pikiell was probably the best we were going to get. Its not an attractive job at all and this guy is the best of the rest and less risky hire. Its a nice safe hire. He could do well here. However he might not either. IMO Its not a slam dunk hire but on the other hand, this guy has a shot and wont be an embarrassment. This is the type of guy to get RU back to respectability and a 500 record. What happens after tthere is uncertain. Bannon and Rice were coaches with success that didnt translate...of course they had character flaws that Pikiell does not have. Looks like Pikiell is also class so we will not have to worry about those issues derailing him

This program serious needs a legit college xs and os guy. Hill was a horror show and Jordan just so ill fitted for college. We dont have a guy with hot head issues and we dont have a guy who is a bit of sleaze so looks like we finally have a coach. Why I voted satisified is because my concern will be recruiting. You need to recruit top 100 type players to win no matter how good the coaching is...Not a team full of the but legit guys with bball iq with talent. Overacheiving with lesser talent is a given. You have to do that for starters but you also need a couple of legit talents to sign on EARLY. If you dont get them to sign in your first two true recruiting classes, your chances of it coming later are slim. So Im satifisied for how unattractive this job is. We didnt go the high school or tv analyst root or the Cluess root. I not going to go crazy with optimism until I see the approach, style and recruits. But I do know this guy will work hard and simply coach. He will not embarrass the program nor will he accept losing and rally around effort. That much I like about this hire. We all know its a tough uphill battle in the Big 10 but at least we stand a fighting chance which is more than we did when the season ended in March.

What is going to be important is his staff. I have never been a Shoes fan because I think the program can do better so I would like to see Pikiell just a bring a top notch staff. I assume there is a push to keep him. I think he needs a hot shot young recruiter. Who is that going to be? He will know best but we need one and not just old men and we need a guy further up then Patel. We are in the Big 10, we need to assemble a staff of that quality. Its not about nice guys or hard workers as assistants. Its about the most upside and energy.

I see some board members criticizing the hire and I see some loving it and i see alot in between. Can we please let people have their opinions. I see belittling of the people who are skeptical of this hire. Let them have their thoughts. I can see their points. I can also see the optimists viewpoints. Its a message board, its not groupthink. Everybody does not have to agree when we have not seen this guy coach one Rutgers game.

 

[RUKeystone]

Was waiting for your thoughts on the hire, Bac. Nice post. I hope Hobbs is committed to surrounding Pikiell with a talented staff. I agree with your sentiments on Shoes and Patel. No offense to those guys but we need better.

 

[Sweet Pea's Corner]

Sorry for you loss.

 

[RUPartisan]

Sorry about your loss firstly. Haha dont take this the wrong way but i was waiting at some point for you to start a new thread with your thoughts.

Anyway i agree with a good amount of your points and just feel like we settled way too early for a local guy instead of going a bit more national in our search. I hope i am wrong but its seems like Hobbs prefers to look like a genius by hiring the mostly unheard of up and comer rather than the most quality perhaps known entity. I will support Pikiell and everyone will support a winning team but i and many others feel a little uninspired i guess. I think fundraising is huge right now and dont really see Pikiell moving the needle. I also think hes gotta go all new with the staff not keep Shoes or Macon or whoever. Start fresh a la Ash not hold overs from a losing regime.

 

[PatrickRU92]

sorry for your loss of your cat. I lost one and dread losing another which is obviously inevitable.

 

[bac2therac]

Sorry about your loss firstly. Haha dont take this the wrong way but i was waiting at some point for you to start a new thread with your thoughts.

Anyway i agree with a good amount of your points and just feel like we settled way too early for a local guy instead of going a bit more national in our search. I hope i am wrong but its seems like Hobbs prefers to look like a genius by hiring the mostly unheard of up and comer rather than the most quality perhaps known entity. I will support Pikiell and everyone will support a winning team but i and many others feel a little uninspired i guess. I think fundraising is huge right now and dont really see Pikiell moving the needle. I also think hes gotta go all new with the staff not keep Shoes or Macon or whoever. Start fresh a la Ash not hold overs from a losing regime.

Thank you.

I can definitely see your point and hope you dont let others shout down your opinion. I can agree with your point about making the search go nationally. I dont know why the continually thinking is that you need an east coast guy. I do not think it does and I think the northeast pool of coaches isnt as good and they dont generally have as much success as they do elsewhere. I would have considered Jacobsen, Dooley, the Hawaii coach too and two of them have beaten better programs more than once

I would have liked Sendek for this job but we dont know the story on this. I would have preferred Danny or Lonergan but I am still okay with this hire, I think we get better for sure and approach 500. The key is the recruiting. All this though is speculation from everyone. We have no idea how the era will go except it cannot be any worse.

 

[RU from Jersey_rivals]

X's and O's are needed to get RU back to respectability as very few, if any, top flight recruits will come RU's way. This way he can take a rag tag bunch and make a team out them.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Yeah, I'm not a cat guy but, damn, 14 years is a long time an it's gotta suck. Sorry buddy.

 

[RU Husky]

Time for some new *****

 

[Knightmoves]

Sorry for the loss of your cat ? Geezus H Christ, what has this world come to ?

I like bac and his contributions to this board, but can we please maintain some dignity regarding the privacy of our personal lives ?

I suddenly lost a neighbor and close friend this past week but it never dawned on me that I should advertise it on a message board. Am I missing something here ?

 

[gringo]

don't think he was looking for pity - just trying to explain why he was inactive

 

[ImBadRU]

Agree

 

[Sweet Pea's Corner]

People post on here all the time about dogs dying, loss of family members, sickness. Geez...there are even threads about celebrities that have passed.

 

[bac2therac]

People post on here all the time about dogs dying, loss of family members, sickness. Geez...there are even threads about celebrities that have passed.

because some like Knightmoves and RUHusky think they are being funny and snarky to make fun of an animal dying..whatever says more about them than me

 

[RUinFla]

My goodness, KM--have often put your size 24 in your mouth on this board, but your insensitivity is beyond my poor ability to describe. I have an Australian Terrier just a month short of her 17th birthday--my 3rd dog, so completely understand how hard you are hit by the loss of a pet. You really don't have to be such a dip.

As for the Pikiell hire--really did not favor Danny Hurley or Jay Williams. Have to do some Googling on Pikiell, but rather have a young coach or highly placed assistant. Let's see what kind of staff RU will let him have. Will watch religiously on BTN--hard to get to the RAC from Stuart, FL..
TL

 

[LC-88]

i treat everyone here like family - post what you want BAC.

 

[MusicFreaks]

Bac, you're right. I'm not sure it can get any worse...

 

[RU MAN]

First of all I have been dealing with the sickness and loss of my 14 year old cat for the past several days so I have not devoted alot of attention to the board. I was in the midst of responding to Nuts thread when I read two total [poop] with their usual attack on me. They know who they are. I am tired of their constant attacks on what I post and if they do not like my thoughts why do they keep reading me. There is an ignore button for you two. Its as simple as that. Do it.

When it looked like Hurley was going to pass and yes he was our first choice no matter what anyone tries to say, I felt Pikiell was probably the best we were going to get. Its not an attractive job at all and this guy is the best of the rest and less risky hire. Its a nice safe hire. He could do well here. However he might not either. IMO Its not a slam dunk hire but on the other hand, this guy has a shot and wont be an embarrassment. This is the type of guy to get RU back to respectability and a 500 record. What happens after tthere is uncertain. Bannon and Rice were coaches with success that didnt translate...of course they had character flaws that Pikiell does not have. Looks like Pikiell is also class so we will not have to worry about those issues derailing him

This program serious needs a legit college xs and os guy. Hill was a horror show and Jordan just so ill fitted for college. We dont have a guy with hot head issues and we dont have a guy who is a bit of sleaze so looks like we finally have a coach. Why I voted satisified is because my concern will be recruiting. You need to recruit top 100 type players to win no matter how good the coaching is...Not a team full of the but legit guys with bball iq with talent. Overacheiving with lesser talent is a given. You have to do that for starters but you also need a couple of legit talents to sign on EARLY. If you dont get them to sign in your first two true recruiting classes, your chances of it coming later are slim. So Im satifisied for how unattractive this job is. We didnt go the high school or tv analyst root or the Cluess root. I not going to go crazy with optimism until I see the approach, style and recruits. But I do know this guy will work hard and simply coach. He will not embarrass the program nor will he accept losing and rally around effort. That much I like about this hire. We all know its a tough uphill battle in the Big 10 but at least we stand a fighting chance which is more than we did when the season ended in March.

What is going to be important is his staff. I have never been a Shoes fan because I think the program can do better so I would like to see Pikiell just a bring a top notch staff. I assume there is a push to keep him. I think he needs a hot shot young recruiter. Who is that going to be? He will know best but we need one and not just old men and we need a guy further up then Patel. We are in the Big 10, we need to assemble a staff of that quality. Its not about nice guys or hard workers as assistants. Its about the most upside and energy.

I see some board members criticizing the hire and I see some loving it and i see alot in between. Can we please let people have their opinions. I see belittling of the people who are skeptical of this hire. Let them have their thoughts. I can see their points. I can also see the optimists viewpoints. Its a message board, its not groupthink. Everybody does not have to agree when we have not seen this guy coach one Rutgers game.

Nice post. I couldn't agree more with everything you said. I know he can coach. He needs top assistants who can recruit. Maybe just maybe he will turn into that sleeper coach no one thought about except for Hobbs, and this time we turn out to have a winner for the long haul.

It's fine for many of us to be skeptical. God knows we've all been put through the ringer for 25 excruciating years. I do believe, Pikiell is the BEST coach we've had at the banks in at least 25 years, just from what I've read about him. Gary W. would have been okay, but he never had a strategy to bring in a top east coast assistant who can recruit the metropolitan area. Now that we're in the B1G however, we should be able to recruit in the NYC area; D.C.; the midwest and even in Florida. But the key is we don't necessarily need four stars at every position to succeed. We need top 100-150 players with heart and can grind it out along with one or two four star players. I have settled into Steve P. as our coach and I look forward to seeing him on the sidelines next season.

 

[Jim_from_RU]

Sorry for the loss of your cat ? Geezus H Christ, what has this world come to ?

I like bac and his contributions to this board, but can we please maintain some dignity regarding the privacy of our personal lives ?


I suddenly lost a neighbor and close friend this past week but it never dawned on me that I should advertise it on a message board. Am I missing something here ?

This post is as low as you can go.

 

[S_Janowski]

here.

You're one of the most consistent and outspoken posters on this board. You complained nonstop for 2 months for the firing of Jordan and then said we should have kept Jordan after Hurley turned us down, as if he was the savior. You then freaked out in every thread as if Hobbs was really going to hire Jay Williams.

If you can't handle the criticism of your posts then maybe you should tone it down....

 

[mwcllc]

Sorry for the loss of your cat ? Geezus H Christ, what has this world come to ?

I like bac and his contributions to this board, but can we please maintain some dignity regarding the privacy of our personal lives ?

I suddenly lost a neighbor and close friend this past week but it never dawned on me that I should advertise it on a message board. Am I missing something here ?

You just did

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Sorry for the loss of your cat ? Geezus H Christ, what has this world come to ?

I like bac and his contributions to this board, but can we please maintain some dignity regarding the privacy of our personal lives ?

I suddenly lost a neighbor and close friend this past week but it never dawned on me that I should advertise it on a message board. Am I missing something here ?

First off, it's a public message board, he can post whatever he'd like, as can you. Secondly he was simply giving an explanation, as to WHY he hadn't been heard from on the topic up until now, when he is arguably the most outspoken person on this particular board. Third, BAC actually has friends on these boards, friends who might care about something personal that has him upset as such.

Food for thought.

 

[mwcllc]

People post on here all the time about dogs dying, loss of family members, sickness. Geez...there are even threads about celebrities that have passed.

Every cat and dog will be in heaven,not every person will.

 

[rutgersguy1_rivals]

Sorry for the loss of your cat ? Geezus H Christ, what has this world come to ?

I like bac and his contributions to this board, but can we please maintain some dignity regarding the privacy of our personal lives ?

I suddenly lost a neighbor and close friend this past week but it never dawned on me that I should advertise it on a message board. Am I missing something here ?

If you choose not to post about your private life that's perfectly fine and obviously well within your rights. But if someone feels like sharing that too is his/her right. I've said this before as it pertains to the football board but it runs similar throughout. The headings may say football board or basketball board but these are essentially "community" boards where posters feel a part of something bigger than just specific sports talk. While I don't post much about my own life either, I welcome others if they feel the need to share. There's nothing wrong with it and I think it's more valuable frankly to have a "community" you can lean on or ask advice of, specifically one so diverse from all walks of life and different skill sets/backgrounds.

Back to basketball, he wasn't my first choice I too liked Dooley and some other names but Pikiell's resume makes him worthy of a shot. He can choose whatever staff he likes, it's not like I know anything about who the top recruiters out there are anyway. It's all a means to an end and that's Ws. Besides IMO, I've always thought the ball would only get rolling with some good X/Os, smart basketball IQ, toughness and effort because to me it's hard to expect big recruits to come here right now. It's always going to be the guy who is able to get more out of less. So we'll see how he does, I'm good with him.

 

[Spare130_rivals]

Jesus all he did was say the reason why he hasn't posted in some time.

 

[Scarletnut]

I'm neutral on this hire, only because I don't know a whole lot about him except for been written recently. I felt the same way when Ash was hired so I'm willing to give PH the benefit of the doubt and will fully support this hire. My one question for those more knowledgeable than me, is why did it take 11 years for Pikiell to get a better gig?

 

[ru66]

truly sorry for your lost--have also lost a family cat and dog recently--as for your implied comments about my posts concerning your excessive and your constant complaining--sorry but nothing has changed for many on here--they are still considered excessive and constant and I feel they do not serve RU well

 

[zazoo2002]

@rutgersguy1 Very well said! While I tend to be more private, I recognize that the Rutgers' "community" can be a wonderful resource for knowledge, guidance, and support. Go RU!

@bac2therac Sorry for your loss. Pets are family.

 

[rutgersguy1_rivals]

I'm neutral on this hire, only because I don't know a whole lot about him except for been written recently. I felt the same way when Ash was hired so I'm willing to give PH the benefit of the doubt and will fully support this hire. My one question for those more knowledgeable than me, is why did it take 11 years for Pikiell to get a better gig?

Well I'm not "knowledgeable" but I'd say maybe he needed that NCAA bid to get his profile up coming from a smaller conference. He got close a few times but couldn't get over the hump. You can have a great regular season and win the conference title but just one slip up in the conference tourney from a one bid league and that's all she wrote on your season.

Also who knows what opportunities turned up for him that he turned down. Maybe some higher mid majors came calling and he decided to stay put. Bo Ryan stuck around quite awhile at the lower level, Larranaga was at a couple spots awhile before he finally moved to Miami, I think the same for Bruce Pearl before Tenn. Calhoun, his mentor, was at Northeastern for a long time too. I'm sure there are others. It happens, I don't know that you can pin point reasons from one situation to the next.

 

[NightKnight]

Thanks for your thoughts Bac. I'm cautiously optimistic. Not my first choice. I can get why they avoided the Masiello baggage. Pickier is close enough to the others that I'm ok with it.

 

[Knightmoves]

because some like Knightmoves and RUHusky think they are being funny and snarky to make fun of an animal dying..whatever says more about them than me

nobody made fun of the loss of your cat. I questioned the appropriateness of you broadcasting it to the board in order to solicit sympathy from others. You appear to be a sensitive guy.

 

[TMCB]

A solid hire but it comes down to a staff and recruiting........ Time will tell but yes he is a real coach

 

[Spare130_rivals]

nobody made fun of the loss of your cat. I questioned the appropriateness of you broadcasting it to the board in order to solicit sympathy from others. You appear to be a sensitive guy.

KM, I see a lot of examples of things like that. For example, someone will post something completely obvious like "Flood isn't a B1G coach" just to get the agreement that they crave. But in this case BAC was just stating his reason for not being active on the board recently.

 

[Upstream]

Bac, sorry about the loss of your cat.

I think this hire, a solid x & o guy with strong defense, could bring the program back to where it was under Waters.

Although Hurley may have been Hobbs' first choice (he wasn't telling, so it is all conjecture), I think Hurley's reputation as a hothead was risky for Rutgers, given our history. In that respect, this is a much safer hire.

 

[knight82]

Sorry to hear about your cat. Losing a pet is painful and only people who own pets can relate

 

[RutgersJoe]

Sorry to hear about your cat, bac. We lost a family cat this week as well. Never easy.

I'm pretty happy with the hire; will remain cautiously optimistic till we see what transpires over the next few months. Agree that he could be the guy to bring RU back to respectability. At least now there's a glimmer of hope to hang onto.

 

[SkilletHead2]

Sorry about the cat, bac. Took us over a year to get over the disappearance of our great bengal cat. Now have a rescue cat who is not nearly so tough and independent, but a lovely animal.

I thought Shoes was well-respected as a recruiter? Didn't he get us Sanders? To me, with a coach who really knows how to coach the game, we have the "luxury" of going after a really great recruiter or two. Hope we get them.

 

[rufeelinit]

I am OK with the hire. I was not crazy about the list of supposed priorities and I probably would have talked to a few more guys before going this route but I assume Hobbs got the right vibe and decided to pull the trigger. We will never know where Sendek was in all of this and Lonergan must really like DC to not consider a $1MM a year bump. I wish Coach Pikiell the best and will naturally root for him to succeed. As others have noted the selection of assistants looms large.

 

[rutgersguy1_rivals]

Calhoun on advising Pikiell with regards to assistants.

https://www.sny.tv/college-recruiti...r-rutgers/168190724?tcid=tw_article_168190724

 

[anon_ivydyf0amkzay]

Sorry about your cat...pets are indeed family members...I cried like a two year old when I had to put down mine because she had incurable cancer...so I get it