Georgia Tech has hired Josh Pastner

[DaBiz]

Speaking from experience, Huff is a player's coach. He's someone that relates to his players, and truly wants the best for them. He'll get on you when you're wrong, but has a great way of teaching while being assertive. I've never met a player that didn't share both a love for Huff as a person as well as A great degree of respect for his knowledge of the game.

I can't speak for White, but know that he and Huff are friends as well as former colleagues. I would doubt he were any different.

Agree...Cabral is a stand up guy and most definitely a players coach; I can't stress enough how much of a homerun hire it would be for an Asst position.

 

[AE 87]

Just think what most would say on here if UGA fired Mark Fox and hired Pastner! It would be 10 pages of wow is us our program! We're going to be the ***** of UGA hoops. But we hire him and it's meh, we can do better. Let's hire Mark Price. He played here 30 years ago.... Unreal

Fwiw:

When Gregory was fired, there were several saying not Pastner and several saying not Price. I don't think any posted in favor of Pastner, and while Price had support, there was no or limited advocacy. That was before any targets became public. So, I don't see any evidence in support of this post.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

We are not talking Bobby Knight or anything here.

So you kind of went for the gold standard with that one, didn't you. Ironically, a coach that is considered not to far down the family tree from Knight, in terms of being abrasive with his players and not being liked, is coach K. Of course, winning makes up for that.

 

[AE 87]

So you kind of went for the gold standard with that one, didn't you. Ironically, a coach that is considered not to far down the family tree from Knight, in terms of being abrasive with his players and not being liked, is coach K. Of course, winning makes up for that.

There are coaches who are abrasive but develop relationships and communicate care. Others don't.

 

[GTRX7]

So you kind of went for the gold standard with that one, didn't you. Ironically, a coach that is considered not to far down the family tree from Knight, in terms of being abrasive with his players and not being liked, is coach K. Of course, winning makes up for that.

Don't get confused. I think coach K is one of the best coaches, if not the best, in the history of college basketball. But he is a total jerk, vulgar to refs, and often disrespectful of opposition. I am not sure what is ironic. Both Knight and K are great coaches but sort of selfish jerks that look out for themselves first and their players and the integrity of the game far second.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

What if you already have reason not too? I'm embarrassed my Institute just hired Josh Pastner. Absolutely embarrassed.

You have LONG had reason to be embarrassed that your Institute has hung on to a do nothing named Sewak, but do not recall if you have or have not been so.

Have a feeling that if in, say, 5 years Josh has a winning rate of 75% you will still be "embarrassed. But if Mark Price were here for 9 years with a winning rate of 35% you would probably be elated.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

The biggest problem is that the stuff Pastner is terrible at are core personality traits that are very unlikely to change. He cannot relate to players, alienates them and cannot motivate them. He's awful at the day to day personal interactions that are the core of being a college basketball coach.

There's a reason the die hard basketball fans HATE this hire (Red(!) was campaigning to get people to call into try and have the contract blocked ... he's not an irrational person, he knows his stuff). This stuff isn't a secret by the way, it's quite well known around the basketball community - and it will have (and already has had) an impact on his ability to recruit. The words gets around - guys talk to their old AAU coaches, etc ...

B

S

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

I'd like to point out we have shown nothing but respect for the GT program. To call us all heathens for hiring Calipari is not only ridiculous, but uncalled for. Since you claim we have no morals I guess you forget pastner was a Calipari assistant at Memphis before taking the job. So I would guess by your logic and transitive propery that means you are also a heathen and have no morals. I don't believe that but it is nice to point out the flaw in your logic

Learn something about reading comp. You can not seem to comprehend who I said had no morals.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

Please ignore our angry old guy crowd.

I would much rather stand up for my school and our new hire than worry what some other fan base thinks.

Now take your posse and crash their boards and make sweet.

 

[Peacone36]

You have LONG had reason to be embarrassed that your Institute has hung on to a do nothing named Sewak, but do not recall if you have or have not been so.

Have a feeling that if in, say, 5 years Josh has a winning rate of 75% you will still be "embarrassed. But if Mark Price were here for 9 years with a winning rate of 35% you would probably be elated.

B

S

Learn something about reading comp. You can not seem to comprehend who I said had no morals.

I would much rather stand up for my school and our new hire than worry what some other fan base thinks.

Now take your posse and crash their boards and make sweet.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

View attachment 1551

Already tried by better - still here.

 

[Peacone36]

I'm actually talking about your scorched earth way of talking to others.

Thanks for furthering my point.

 

[MWBATL]

There are definitely issues in Pastner's record to have strong and serious concerns about. Specifically
(1) the record against Top 50 teams
(2) the steady decline in W-L record especially over the last 3 years
(3) the churn of athletes in the program
This all in an environment and league that is far less competitive than the ACC.

I don't think ANY of the real basketball knowledgable posters here or on any GT board were calling for Mark Price or Noodles to be our next head coach. It's a red herring to accuse them of that. But there were some solid young coaches out there who were available earlier int he process who got snapped up before we let Gregory go who would have been very interesting, and even at the end there were some young coaches who seem like their issues were not as obvious as Pastner's. (Kitts, McCall specifically...I was never impressed all that much by Kelsey.)

I also don't think ANY of the ball fans in the know thought Bryce Drew was worth what Vandy paid, and most GT fans are happy we did not go down that road. BUT we did not get Pastner at a huge bargain price ($1.83 M per yr is lower than what he was making though)....AND we have no idea what buyout we agreed to IF his issues repeat themselves here.

I don't know anywhere near as much about college basketball as the guys who post regularly on this board. I proved that by finishing dead last in the Swarm Big Dance group. (And they *still* let me post here...imagine that!). But I listen carefully to what they post, and their arguments and concerns are real, valid and worthy.

I hope Pastner turns into the next coming of Bobby Cremins. I fear he will be the next coming of Paul Hewitt after Warren and Keener left.

I remain very unimpressed by the way our leadership is handling matters at the Institute.

But, to those of you out there defending this hire, keep putting lipstick on this pig.

 

[jacket fan in dairyland]

No doubt this hire is a gamble. I am certain MBob knows that though. He is an intelligent guy who knows way more than we do about hiring BB coaches in particular. JP didn't just drop out of the sky recently, he and MBob had talked a few weeks ago. My sense is that JPs inexperience as a head coach was at least partly responsible for his problems at Memphis. If any of you out there, in any profession , have done any hiring you know that everyone has some baggage. But most employees don't have their mistakes play out in the media with hyper vocal fans and alumni calling for their heads. I think JP is intelligent , hard working and if given a chance could work out very well for GT. I mean , South Carolina hired Will Muschamp, Florida hired Muschamp and Ron Zook before him. Could it be a dumpster fire ? Absolutely ! But the man has been hired and I am willing, as a LOYAL Tech alum and fan to give him my support at this time.

 

[GTRX7]

There are definitely issues in Pastner's record to have strong and serious concerns about. Specifically
(1) the record against Top 50 teams
(2) the steady decline in W-L record especially over the last 3 years
(3) the churn of athletes in the program
This all in an environment and league that is far less competitive than the ACC.

I don't think ANY of the real basketball knowledgable posters here or on any GT board were calling for Mark Price or Noodles to be our next head coach. It's a red herring to accuse them of that. But there were some solid young coaches out there who were available earlier int he process who got snapped up before we let Gregory go who would have been very interesting, and even at the end there were some young coaches who seem like their issues were not as obvious as Pastner's. (Kitts, McCall specifically...I was never impressed all that much by Kelsey.)

I also don't think ANY of the ball fans in the know thought Bryce Drew was worth what Vandy paid, and most GT fans are happy we did not go down that road. BUT we did not get Pastner at a huge bargain price ($1.83 M per yr is lower than what he was making though)....AND we have no idea what buyout we agreed to IF his issues repeat themselves here.

I don't know anywhere near as much about college basketball as the guys who post regularly on this board. I proved that by finishing dead last in the Swarm Big Dance group. (And they *still* let me post here...imagine that!). But I listen carefully to what they post, and their arguments and concerns are real, valid and worthy.

I hope Pastner turns into the next coming of Bobby Cremins. I fear he will be the next coming of Paul Hewitt after Warren and Keener left.

I remain very unimpressed by the way our leadership is handling matters at the Institute.

But, to those of you out there defending this hire, keep putting lipstick on this pig.

Yet again, you provide a long rant with little, if any, real answers or analysis. You again largely ignore what candidates would have been better choices. The only person I sort of agree with, is you alluded to some young coaches that were snatched up before Gregory was hired. For me, that was only Brad Underwood (anybody else you are referring to?). I am a big fan of his and would have loved that hire! But he was hired by Okl St while we were still playing in the NIT. Are you suggesting MBob should have fired Gregory before our season was over?

No way Mcall or Keatts were clearly better hires. 3 seasons of head coaching experience with absolutely zero track record of meaningful recruiting success between the two of them combined. That is who you think was clearly better!? That would have been putting lipstick on a puppy. Who the f*ck knows what you are going to get?

As I said when we announced Pastner, whether it was a good decision will be in the details of the contract and the staff. He is reportedly getting around $1.5M (not the $1.83M in your post). And we got Memphis to chip in over $1.2M to help out to boot. At that price, I think this is a great hire, and far superior to either Mcall or Keatts. I think whether he ultimately succeeds here or not will largely come down to the staff. I am much more excited than I was after the Gregory hire.

Call that putting lipstick on a pig if you want, but thems just the facts, and you just throwing out vague complaints that we should have done better without pointing out any reasonable names of any candidates that certainly would have been better doesn't change any of that.

 

[lv20gt]

BUT we did not get Pastner at a huge bargain price ($1.83 M per yr is lower than what he was making though)....AND we have no idea what buyout we agreed to IF his issues repeat themselves here.

1.83 mil may not be a huge bargain price but I feel that a lot of fans don't have a good context for money as it relates to college coaches. Let's put it this way. Shaka Smart g never won his conference at VCU, and the two coaches that came before and after him have finished 1st all 4 years. Texas paid him 2.8 mil per year. Overpay or not, Drew was able to get 2.4 mil from Vandy, and so that is the environment we have to look at this contract in. Last year Florida, following Billy Donovan, hired Mike White for 2 mil a year and White never made the NCAAT. It's easy to say that 1.83 or 1.5 mil isn't a great deal without context of what prices other coaches are commanding. In context though the story is a lot difference, and while Smart or Drew might have been better options, were they 900k and 1.3 mil better? I don't think so.

 

[collegeballfan]

"This all in an environment and league that is far less competitive than the ACC." (Referring to Pastner and Memphis)

There is no league as competitive as the ACC.

 

[CrackerJacket]

I really question this hire. Pastner has more baggage than a fully loaded 747.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

There are coaches who are abrasive but develop relationships and communicate care. Others don't.

Agreed. Just suggesting that to the fan, who is standing on the outside looking in, it is not always easy to tell the difference. And, with regard to Knight and Coach K, fans seem willing to put up with fairly high levels of abuse against players as long as the wins keep coming.

 

[AE 87]

Agreed. Just suggesting that to the fan, who is standing on the outside looking in, it is not always easy to tell the difference. And, with regard to Knight and Coach K, fans seem willing to put up with fairly high levels of abuse against players as long as the wins keep coming.

You missed my point. The issue is not what fans put up with. It's what players put up with.