When does Pastner feel heat

[MWBATL]

I like Pastner...as a person.

I have come to the conclusion he just is NOT a good basketball coach. Recruiting is a miss. Not finding an offense that utilizes your player's effectively is a miss. Results is a miss.

As I did in the last few years of Hewitt's regime, I will simply have to wait until the noice (or poor attendance) gets bad enough for J Batt to make the obvious move. I fear one splash in the portal this off-season is (1) not likely and (2) not really going to help us long term.

 

[Jacket20]

I am a bigger BB fan than FB (I graduated in 1990) but Im a lifelong Tech guy (third generation grad). Don't post alot, but definitely lurk on the BB board. I've stated numerous times Tech has the resources to regularly finish in the top third of the ACC. I like Pastner as a person and I believe he can coach but his inability to recruit, especially the fertile metro Atlanta area is unsat. It will only take one or two recruits to get us back on the right track. The question is can Pastner do it. I give him next year to make the tourney. I am tired of sucking in hoops.

no he can't

 

[Peacone36]

Given our financial position, I would imagine the newAD understands the importance of being relevant on the only other revenue producing sport. I just think it has sunk to the point (fortunately for him) that it's not a front burner issue due to lack of attention, which he did not have with the other revenue producing program. He has got some space to fix this and I imagine that he will want to do that moving forward. I know I would.

I’m not arguing, but GD this excuse gets sickening. I know it’s legit but GT is in the best basketball conference (historically/potentially) in the nation during a downtime, in a state, not a region, a STATE, that produces probably 4-7 high level, program changing recruits every single year. At what point does the lightbulb turn on that this basketball program is not only worthy of the investment, but also a potentially viable source of revenue/profit?

 

[4shotB]

I’m not arguing, but GD this excuse gets sickening. I know it’s legit but GT is in the best basketball conference (historically/potentially) in the nation during a downtime, in a state, not a region, a STATE, that produces probably 4-7 high level, program changing recruits every single year. At what point does the lightbulb turn on that this basketball program is not only worthy of the investment, but also a potentially viable source of revenue/profit?

I am not arguing either. Far from it....I totally agree with you. BB, at least as it appears to me, is a simple fix. Get the right coach and then a handful of players. The ROI potential appears to be much higher even than FB at a place like GTand a relatively low hanging piece of fruit.. I am baffled as to why we have been where we have been ove the last decade and a half.

 

[gtphd]

“When does Pastner feel heat?”

2019

 

[LargeFO]

I’m not arguing, but GD this excuse gets sickening. I know it’s legit but GT is in the best basketball conference (historically/potentially) in the nation during a downtime, in a state, not a region, a STATE, that produces probably 4-7 high level, program changing recruits every single year. At what point does the lightbulb turn on that this basketball program is not only worthy of the investment, but also a potentially viable source of revenue/profit?

This. There's no reason we should be taking projects from overseas.

 

[kg01]

Although I understand all the reasons we are where we are, I can't shake the feeling that we're the biggest example of 'scared money don't make no money' in cbb.

 

[awbuzz]

When the WBB team (who is pretty good) starts out drawing the MBB team

Maybe closer than we'd think...

 

[bennyjacket]

I think he should be gone. But just my opinion.

 

[RyanS12]

Next year the seat better be scalding hot. I’m having a hard time seeing us win more than 6 acc games right now. We look completely inept vs quality Power Conference teams (Utah Marquette Iowa UNC Clemson) and got lucky against uga. This is not a well coaches team and they really look uninterested at times. If he doesn’t make the NCAAT next year it’s time to pull the plug.
NIL money needs to step too. Im not sure if those that would organize it are hesitant because they think it’s not worth investing in the program under Pastner or we just have no one left that cares!
7 tournament trips since 1994 will kill off any program honestly….

 

[dtm1997]

How long before Josh shows up on the coach's hot seat list? I actually like his demeanor and attitude. I really want him to succeed but at some point he will need to win more. How much time does he get if we continue to stay near the bottom of the league?

More than likely, next year is the pivot year for success or being relieved of his position, given he'd have two years remaining. This assumes those final two years are not at 100% buyout.

That said, unless J Batt musters some serious investment for hoops, it's a moot cause. You need like a $35MM-$40MM multi-year commitment to staffing, NIL, and facilities upgrades.

 

[YlJacket]

What facilities do we need? McTIT and practice facility seem fine? NIL is a couple mil per year and coaching staff is what $6 to $8 mil if we get a legit P5 guy?

 

[Techster]

My first year as a GT fan, GTFB won the Natty, and GTBB went to the Final Four. I thought it was going to be like that forever. GTBB under Cremins was pretty much a yearly NCAAT team. GTFB had its ups and downs, but usually made a bowl game.

This is probably the lowest point for both programs since I've been a fan.

The one thing about hiring Key is that GTFB didn't have to pay any buyouts for another coach, and we're paying Key a ridiculously low P5 salary. That's a LOT of money GT saved that can be applied to the BB program. Now that the GTFB program situation is settled (for now), the spotlight is on Pastner's program. With most things in the GT sports universe, it comes down to $$$. I think Batt and Pastner will sit down after this season and have a come to Jesus moment in terms of expectations going forward. McCamish can not be a ghost town for much longer if GTMBB wants to compete. For that matter, McCamish and BDS have to have better attendance for GT sports to compete. Pastner's contract runs through the '25-'26 season. Not sure of the buyout language, but if it's not fully salary, Pastner may not be here much longer.

 

[orientalnc]

More than likely, next year is the pivot year for success or being relieved of his position, given he'd have two years remaining. This assumes those final two years are not at 100% buyout.

That said, unless J Batt musters some serious investment for hoops, it's a moot cause. You need like a $35MM-$40MM multi-year commitment to staffing, NIL, and facilities upgrades.

And to build on this, I am very uncertain there is much stomach for throwing the money toward basketball that improving on Pastner would require. While he is not doing as a good as we hoped, it could certainly be worse and there is no certainty that a new coach would be a lot more successful. I agree with dtm that NIL money and commitment to funding assistant coaches is key. I am puzzled about his facilities improvements point. Is that an issue? Living 10+ hours away has hidden that problem from my view.

 

[Steverc]

And to build on this, I am very uncertain there is much stomach for throwing the money toward basketball that improving on Pastner would require. While he is not doing as a good as we hoped, it could certainly be worse and there is no certainty that a new coach would be a lot more successful. I agree with dtm that NIL money and commitment to funding assistant coaches is key. I am puzzled about his facilities improvements point. Is that an issue? Living 10+ hours away has hidden that problem from my view.

I agree that the need for better coaches and NIL requires a greater financial commitment. I disagree that it could be worse. The last time the team performed this bad was in Hewitt's last season.

 

[slugboy]

More than likely, next year is the pivot year for success or being relieved of his position, given he'd have two years remaining. This assumes those final two years are not at 100% buyout.

That said, unless J Batt musters some serious investment for hoops, it's a moot cause. You need like a $35MM-$40MM multi-year commitment to staffing, NIL, and facilities upgrades.

I think job #1 for Batt is finding quality and quantity of investors. There’s no point swapping Pastner for Brian Gregory or a coach who would go for a heavy building job without the materials to build a program. We either need a coach that is ready to prove they can accomplish a lot without a lot of funding or we need the infrastructure (investors, NIL, money for assistants, staff, etc.) for a good coach.

Pastner hasn’t had that infrastructure, either. I’m not saying that he’d be a terror with equal footing (he’s made some puzzling choices to me), but he’s been handicapped compared to a lot of the ACC and even better mid majors.

 

[grandpa jacket]

I like Pastner...as a person.

I have come to the conclusion he just is NOT a good basketball coach. Recruiting is a miss. Not finding an offense that utilizes your player's effectively is a miss. Results is a miss.

As I did in the last few years of Hewitt's regime, I will simply have to wait until the noice (or poor attendance) gets bad enough for J Batt to make the obvious move. I fear one splash in the portal this off-season is (1) not likely and (2) not really going to help us long term.

It is really, really hard to get fired as a coach for GT. We accept sorry coaching and keep slumming along.

 

[dtm1997]

What facilities do we need? McTIT and practice facility seem fine? NIL is a couple mil per year and coaching staff is what $6 to $8 mil if we get a legit P5 guy?

Significant locker room upgrade is needed. Could probably use an upgrade to the ancillary facilities (weight room, recovery suite, etc.).

A new head coach's initial contract is gonna need to be upwards of $15MM scheduled salary and then we need to probbly double the bench assistants' salary to a pool of $1.2MM-$1.5MM. There's $21MM+ to open. Then you need the couple of million for NIL you point out, let's bring that up to $30MM total planned investment. We really need to invest further in support staff. I don't know what that number needs to be. Maybe $500M/year, so we're at $32.5MM. Pretty sure the locker room already had a budget of $4.5MM, putting us at $37MM.

The cash won't be laid out all at once, but we should have a rock solid plan on how to fund that because if we're gonna depend on "increased ticket sales', we'll just get burned again.

 

[dtm1997]

My first year as a GT fan, GTFB won the Natty, and GTBB went to the Final Four. I thought it was going to be like that forever. GTBB under Cremins was pretty much a yearly NCAAT team. GTFB had its ups and downs, but usually made a bowl game.

This is probably the lowest point for both programs since I've been a fan.

The one thing about hiring Key is that GTFB didn't have to pay any buyouts for another coach, and we're paying Key a ridiculously low P5 salary. That's a LOT of money GT saved that can be applied to the BB program. Now that the GTFB program situation is settled (for now), the spotlight is on Pastner's program. With most things in the GT sports universe, it comes down to $$$. I think Batt and Pastner will sit down after this season and have a come to Jesus moment in terms of expectations going forward. McCamish can not be a ghost town for much longer if GTMBB wants to compete. For that matter, McCamish and BDS have to have better attendance for GT sports to compete. Pastner's contract runs through the '25-'26 season. Not sure of the buyout language, but if it's not fully salary, Pastner may not be here much longer.

Did I miss the news about someone coming along to foot the bill for Geoff Collins' buyout and take that expense off of our hands?

I think assuming there's any particular funds available to apply to GT Hoops is a gigantic leap.

 

[lv20gt]

There is no real point in firing Pastner unless we have a plan to actually upgrade, and based on the football search I have no confidence that we would make one.