Josh Pastner

[slugboy]

Swapping out 2/3rds of our assistant coaches over the space of a year was also a lot of discontinuity to add to our recruiting and coaching. There’s got to be a little lag and some lost relationships when that happens.

 

[kg01]

Lets also not act like you were just being skeptical. Lets go to the monitor shall we. From the Search of Doom thread....

Also, shout outs to this guy.

I don't hide from the fact that I never wanted him hired and wanted him fired after every year he's been here.

Doesn't make me any less ecstatic about this current run.

 

[RamblinRed]

I am most disappointed in GT fans turning on Pastner over Bell. Pastner is naively trusting in a good way and was vulnerable to a sleaze (and criminal) like Bell, and yet, instead of falling-in to defend our coach and program against the sleaze, fans threw Pastner under a bus. This in the face of two independent investigations that identified Pastner as pure victim. Shame on GT fans who still hold this Bell guy against Pastner. That is like hating your grandma for getting mugged.

I didn't know anything about Pastner when he came out of the woodwork when the Drew deal fell thru (which was a real gut punch). I hadn't followed him and was not aware of the unrest of Memphis fans. But I was open-minded about him simply based on winning percentage, which is my main criteria to evaluate a coach.

But year one' surprising results carried a lot of water for me moving forward. What I was most encouraged about was the coherence of schemes on both ends. Even though we didn't have much talent to make shots, we still got open ones. The defense was the best since Hewitt's first half.

After the great Recruiting Whiff of Fall '19, that was the most painful point for me, but the arrival of Banks and Usher via transfer kept my Hope boat afloat.
The play of the team by the end of last season culminating in the win at Littlejohn and locker room celebration was all I needed to see. Hope was being replaced by the stability of solid team play, improving talent and a team that plays hard for the coach. I was convinced that the breakthrough would happen.

I will drop to me knees in thankfulness that Capel did not find his way to Coach our squad. He is at best mediocre and brings to the table all the most dislikable elements of the Duke program, notably punkish physicality. His teams fell apart at Oklahoma as they are falling apart at Pitt.

Pastner had the fire in his belly to get our program off the deck, let's see if he has the fire in the belly to keep the program afloat. I am optimistic.

My feelings with coaches at GT are pretty simple. I may not have wanted one hired, but once they are hired they are 'my coach' until the day they are not at GT anymore and I hope they win every game.

His first year bought him a signficant amount of good will with me. That was one of the best coaching jobs I had seen at GT in over 30 years.
The combination of the NCAA issues and the whiff on the '19 recruiting class used up most of that goodwill. At that point I said i needed to see if the recruiting whiff was just a one year thing (which is what it appears to have been based on the last 2 years recruiting) and whether he could get past the NCAA issues and get the team into the NCAA Tourney. IMO he had through year 5 to do that as, given his contract, yr 5 was likely to be the extend or cut bait year.

The reason this team is likely to take a step back next year (barring sr making the surprise decision to stay) is because of that '19 whiff. But other than that I think the future looks positive with 2 good recruiting classes and a couple of SO transfers that look like they should turn into significant contributors over their last couple of seasons. Also, with an ACC Tourney title, an NCAA Tourney appearance, and winning the appeal with the NCAA, I would hope for good recruiting the next couple of years. And that includes transfer recruiting which is now a significant part of recruiting at most schools.

So if the team ultimately does step back a little next year that will not be a big concern to me, I sort of see it as taking a step back to take 2 steps forward.

This year has been another good year of showing good x and o's coaching as well as player development. This is the first year where Pastner didn't really have a big rim protector at the 5 spot and the staff did a good job of re-prioritizing the defense to emphasize where it has strengths and minimize weaknesses. It has also been one of the best offensive teams in the last 20 years.

 

[MtnWasp]

I am trying to withold judgment on next year's roster until transfer season is over, but agree that as of now, we will likely have to endure some backslide next year as we grow-up some pups. I have no problem with this.

The transfer portal this season is not getting enough buzz. One thing that stands out is that all these Graduating Seniors can move without counting against Scholarship limits. So, theoretically, teams can take as many of them as they want. Kentucky and Duke, instead of taking 5 elite Freshman, could cherry pick 10 graduate transfers if they wanted.

That means the Power Ratings could show volatility this Spring like we have never seen. And Gt could be plugging holes with productive players well into June.

Another element that is not getting enough buzz is the effect of the COVID rules on 2022 recruiting class. There is essentially no Junior class. Those are the openings that would go to the '22 high school class. Seems there will be far less scholarships available for that class.

But as of now and assuming our Seniors don't return, we look to have holes in the front court unless some of our returning guys make substantial jumps in their games. On the other hand, the back court should be strong and I think there is a chance that Deebo Coleman will be ready to make a splash on the offensive end. Sturdivant looks highly promising to me. I do think we could use a quick guard for certain match-ups if Parham leaves. All of our returning guards are big or thick.

An interesting dynamic to potentially watch next year is how Sturdivant and Devoe play together. Sturdivant likes to play up-tempo and Devoe likes to play at a snail's pace.

 

[AE 87]

While I'm tempted to get into discussing next year's roster, I'm simply going to throw in my 2cents about CJP.

Like others, I was in the "anyone but" category on hiring Pastner. In part, it was from the decision to hire a family member apparently to get a recruit. It was more from the sense that he had underperformed with his talent.

Then I was really impressed with the year one coaching. Neither the RB nor the CDL stuff affected my view of him as a coach, but he didn't seem to be living up to the recruiting rep for the first few years.

With that being said, I've been really impressed with how we've played the game for the most part. I suspect that the Reveno hire has played an important part, but that doesn't take anything away from CJP.

Let's go Jackets!

 

[RamblinRed]

I am trying to withold judgment on next year's roster until transfer season is over, but agree that as of now, we will likely have to endure some backslide next year as we grow-up some pups. I have no problem with this.

The transfer portal this season is not getting enough buzz. One thing that stands out is that all these Graduating Seniors can move without counting against Scholarship limits. So, theoretically, teams can take as many of them as they want. Kentucky and Duke, instead of taking 5 elite Freshman, could cherry pick 10 graduate transfers if they wanted.

That means the Power Ratings could show volatility this Spring like we have never seen. And Gt could be plugging holes with productive players well into June.

Another element that is not getting enough buzz is the effect of the COVID rules on 2022 recruiting class. There is essentially no Junior class. Those are the openings that would go to the '22 high school class. Seems there will be far less scholarships available for that class.

But as of now and assuming our Seniors don't return, we look to have holes in the front court unless some of our returning guys make substantial jumps in their games. On the other hand, the back court should be strong and I think there is a chance that Deebo Coleman will be ready to make a splash on the offensive end. Sturdivant looks highly promising to me. I do think we could use a quick guard for certain match-ups if Parham leaves. All of our returning guards are big or thick.

An interesting dynamic to potentially watch next year is how Sturdivant and Devoe play together. Sturdivant likes to play up-tempo and Devoe likes to play at a snail's pace.

I actually read an article from the San Diego Tribune last week (it's from October) that says that isn't quite correct. Basically every senior gets the extra year, but you only don't count against schlarship limits if you stay at your current school.

NCAA grants all basketball players extra year of eligibility

Aztecs have 5 seniors who could all return next season

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

An NCAA spokesperson told the Union-Tribune on Wednesday night that “the additional eligibility is only at the current school” but clarified that Thursday morning.

“The eligibility is available at another school,” the spokesperson said in a subsequent email, “but the scholarship will count against team limits. If a student-athlete stays at their current school but has exhausted eligibility, their aid doesn’t count against team limits.”

In other words, if you have 13 basketball players on scholarship and three seniors stay for their extra year, you still get three additional scholarships for 2021-22. If a senior transfers to another school for that extra season, he or she counts against the allotted scholarship limit (which is 13 for men’s basketball).

 

[MtnWasp]

Ahh, that makes so much more sense! I asked Panther this and he indicated that there were no limitations. That didn't make sense as the blue bloods could just load-up.

Still, the portal will be epic.

 

[gt24]

 

[Pointer]

Is that a big ten mask he's wearing?

I would be afraid that it is overrated in protecting against covid, just like their basketball teams' seeding in the NCAAT.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Two disappointing things remain:
1) Pastner’s hair.
2) The incredible over saturation and overrating of the Big Ten.

 

[OlaJacket]

Two disappointing things remain:
1) Pastner’s hair.
2) The incredible over saturation and overrating of the Big Ten.

Yeah, but it sure was fun watching all but one go down. F*** the BIG FOURTEEN! I do agree about Pastner's hair though. Him not getting braided up gave us some bad juju.