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Post by PantherU on Apr 20, 2015 12:20:44 GMT -6
Not sure if anyone saw this, but our favorite former beat writer tweeted that he will not be buying season tickets because his "buddy" Gary Grzesk didn't get hired. I would have viewed that as a strike against GG. Here's my problem with this: you guys are always bagging on Rob, who was just doing his job. There's nothing wrong with his reporting on the Wardle, and if there were he'd have been fired by the GBPG and/or sued by Wardle. Before the Wardle scandal, you guys didn't like Rob because he wasn't spending time promoting the program. But that's not his job. You guys have had Andrew Gavin, who has been a cheerleader covering the program, and expected Rob to be the same. But that's not what Rob's job was at the PG. Gavin's job is SID at the university, it IS his job to be a cheerleader. The beat writer isn't supposed to be a fan, they're supposed to cover everything objectively. It's long been the opinion of the writers across the conference (I'm not including myself but I'm with them) that Rob Demovsky was one of the best to ever cover a Horizon League program. It's obvious why he got picked up by ESPN - he's damn good at what he does. One would think now, of all times, is when you guys can take off the Wardle blinders and see the guy for what he really is. Look what he's done to Corn - that should be all you guys need to know about the kind of guy Wardle is. I'm sorry for the rant. I know this is your board and you guys hate when I come lecture you. But I've just had it up to here with all the crap that's been flung Rob's way.
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Post by FunDmentals on Apr 20, 2015 12:38:56 GMT -6
Not sure if anyone saw this, but our favorite former beat writer tweeted that he will not be buying season tickets because his "buddy" Gary Grzesk didn't get hired. I would have viewed that as a strike against GG. Here's my problem with this: you guys are always bagging on Rob, who was just doing his job. There's nothing wrong with his reporting on the Wardle, and if there were he'd have been fired by the GBPG and/or sued by Wardle. Before the Wardle scandal, you guys didn't like Rob because he wasn't spending time promoting the program. But that's not his job. You guys have had Andrew Gavin, who has been a cheerleader covering the program, and expected Rob to be the same. But that's not what Rob's job was at the PG. Gavin's job is SID at the university, it IS his job to be a cheerleader. The beat writer isn't supposed to be a fan, they're supposed to cover everything objectively. It's long been the opinion of the writers across the conference (I'm not including myself but I'm with them) that Rob Demovsky was one of the best to ever cover a Horizon League program. It's obvious why he got picked up by ESPN - he's damn good at what he does. One would think now, of all times, is when you guys can take off the Wardle blinders and see the guy for what he really is. Look what he's done to Corn - that should be all you guys need to know about the kind of guy Wardle is. I'm sorry for the rant. I know this is your board and you guys hate when I come lecture you. But I've just had it up to here with all the crap that's been flung Rob's way. I don't expect him to be a cheerleader. I just don't see how making passive-aggressive Tweets any time GB fails is appropriate. The guy oozes unprofessionalism. Rob gets crap because he's a crap journalist. He created the Wardle story because the parents knew that if they came to him they could fight a P.R. battle instead of a school investigation they knew wouldn't turn anything up. Rob reported the family stories as fact, and then made Wardle seem guilty because he couldn't respond to the accusations. Then when Wardle's attorney threatened Rob with a lawsuit and Rob made it personal. Quite frankly, he's perfect for ESPN. He doesn't investigate anything, he turns his own opinions into "news", and then creates day after day of stories based on the controversy his own B.S. created. Wardle is no saint, but Rob D. is everything that is wrong with newspeople today.
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Post by PantherU on Apr 20, 2015 12:41:01 GMT -6
There's nothing big time about forcing a kid into a unwanted situation. Darner and MEG are embarrassing themselves. There are 351 D1 schools, he can only pick from 341...he is so screwed and will end up in a terribly unwanted situation...not. He doesn't know what he doesn't know. Just like he isn't giving GB a chance in the new era he isn't giving those other 341 schools a chance either. Plenty of schools do this but in the end I would be surprised if he does get blocked from Bradley. GB shouldn't block any kid from transferring or dropping their commitment and reopening recruiting. Not only is it bad business, but it's incredibly unfair to the kid - you expect them to honor a commitment and stay at the school, all the while the coach can change, the school can drop them from scholarship or not play them at all or change around the academic program that they choose to take. You should do what Gary Waters did in the Anthony Davis situation. The kid grew, he became an elite prospect, and Waters did the honorable thing and let him out of his commitment. The rest is history when it comes to the Unibrow, but Waters got a bump on the recruiting trail because parents, AAU coaches and recruits themselves gained respect for him. Besides, how many players on Green Bay's current roster even fit Linc Darner's system? I can't think of one. This is a team built for half court offense and half court defense in a precision style. Limiting them from going to certain schools, even conference schools, is not just a joke but incredibly disrespectful to the kid. What if there were a kid from Dayton who wanted to transfer home to be with sick family but couldn't afford school, so they had to take a basketball scholarship - but they're not good enough for U Dayton? Mary Ellen Gillespie is too frightened of seeing that kid play for Wright State in the Horizon League? There's a reason Bo Ryan got shamed for trying to stop Jarred Uthoff from playing at Iowa. It's because it was a bully move and it deserved shaming. Not to mention limiting what school a recruit can transfer to opens the university up to litigation - that's why the Big Ten eventually let Ben Brust go to Wisconsin, because they would have been slammed by a lawsuit. At the end of the day, you just don't want to look like a sour grapes d-bag by telling an 18-year old kid where they can or cannot go to school. You want Linc Darner to have every open scholarship he can get to give him as quick of an opportunity to build his program his way. And there are few, if any, players on GB's roster right now who are going to be in the rotation of a Darner 92-feet-of-hell championship team. So let the kid de-commit and go where they want, or let the kid transfer where he wants. Otherwise you'll look petty and open up the school to litigation. Plus, it's having a conscience.
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Post by exithere on Apr 20, 2015 13:29:45 GMT -6
Not sure if anyone saw this, but our favorite former beat writer tweeted that he will not be buying season tickets because his "buddy" Gary Grzesk didn't get hired. I would have viewed that as a strike against GG. Here's my problem with this: you guys are always bagging on Rob, who was just doing his job. There's nothing wrong with his reporting on the Wardle, and if there were he'd have been fired by the GBPG and/or sued by Wardle. Before the Wardle scandal, you guys didn't like Rob because he wasn't spending time promoting the program. But that's not his job. You guys have had Andrew Gavin, who has been a cheerleader covering the program, and expected Rob to be the same. But that's not what Rob's job was at the PG. Gavin's job is SID at the university, it IS his job to be a cheerleader. The beat writer isn't supposed to be a fan, they're supposed to cover everything objectively. It's long been the opinion of the writers across the conference (I'm not including myself but I'm with them) that Rob Demovsky was one of the best to ever cover a Horizon League program. It's obvious why he got picked up by ESPN - he's damn good at what he does. One would think now, of all times, is when you guys can take off the Wardle blinders and see the guy for what he really is. Look what he's done to Corn - that should be all you guys need to know about the kind of guy Wardle is. I'm sorry for the rant. I know this is your board and you guys hate when I come lecture you. But I've just had it up to here with all the crap that's been flung Rob's way. He was hired by ESPN because he likes to gossip and make up stories. Hes an absolute perfect fit for ESPN. Venci covers GB BB far better than Rob ever did. Hell even his buddies at several radio stations admitted as much.
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Post by gbbrl97 on Apr 20, 2015 13:33:34 GMT -6
All of the commits (Pittman, Torres, and Okafor) have been released from their LOI's.....and Okoafor has already committed to Bradley. Unless BW has higher end prospects coming in to Bradley, I see Pittman and/or Torres following BW. At this point, Linc/MEG should let Francis transfer to wherever he wants to go except for an HL school (Bradley). Besides, if he wants to go to Bradley, Francis can go JUCO, then transfer to Bradley and not lose any playing time by sitting out if Linc/MEG want to play hardball.
Let's see who wants to star here with the new regime bring in players who will be a cultural fit with Linc and move on. We still have quite a bit of the spring signing period left and we are now wasting time by playing hardball with players when we can have clarity and have scholarships open up so we can bring in those from JUCO, D1 transfers, or high school ranks IDed by Linc to come to GB.
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Post by FSCMocFan on Apr 20, 2015 14:02:22 GMT -6
My father spoke to Ben Swank today and Ben will be joining Linc at UWGB as an assistant coach. He won't be leaving Lakeland until at least the end of April or maybe a little longer.
Not much left on the carcass here.
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Post by can opener man on Apr 20, 2015 16:55:31 GMT -6
Can u share ur opinion on swank. Wat does he bring to the table ??
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Post by stillaphoenixphan on Apr 20, 2015 17:16:02 GMT -6
His 1st official announced today.
Darner, meanwhile, has started to put together his coaching staff.
He said Monday he has added Nebraska-Omaha assistant Randall Herbst, who worked under Darner at Florida Southern in 2006-07 and is a native of Beaver Dam.
Herbst spent the past four seasons at Omaha, an NCAA Division I school that plays in the Summit League.
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Post by FSCMocFan on Apr 20, 2015 18:56:43 GMT -6
Randall Herbst: www.omavs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31400&ATCLID=208849046
I don't know much else about him other than what it says here. (I just let my father know this happened and I'll pass on any commentary he may have.)
Ben Swank: fscmocs.com/sports/mbkb/coaches/Swank_Ben
Linc started last season with three assistants: Ben Swank, Richard Davis and Seth Evans. Davis and Evans disappeared pretty early on, Davis to "pursue other interests out of state" and Seth (according my father) to pursue playing interests out of the country. I cannot find any further information regarding him playing elsewhere - my father could always be wrong, but he's usually not. That left Ben as the only assistant for pretty much the entire season, so he had to do a bit of everything. I'm not quite sure why the departed coaches were never replaced, but they weren't. Ben must have done a good job - Linc trusted him enough to bring him along. I can't thing of anything negative about this add for you. Someone Linc can depend on.
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Post by knightlife920 on Apr 20, 2015 19:31:09 GMT -6
From his bio and nothing else, Swank doesn't seem to be a huge hire. He has limited playing experience, something that resonates with recruits. Moc mentioned he's kind of a jack of all trades, but only out of necessity. I would like to have seen him do more focused work in an area or two at a high level before I can feel totally comfortable with his addition to the coaching staff. I wish Linc would add some more guys with experience and credibility to his staff. Herbst doesn't seem to be a bad hire for the time being but Swank will have a lot to prove.
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Post by basketballfan14 on Apr 20, 2015 19:41:33 GMT -6
From his bio and nothing else, Swank doesn't seem to be a huge hire. He has limited playing experience, something that resonates with recruits. Moc mentioned he's kind of a jack of all trades, but only out of necessity. I would like to have seen him do more focused work in an area or two at a high level before I can feel totally comfortable with his addition to the coaching staff. I wish Linc would add some more guys with experience and credibility to his staff. Herbst doesn't seem to be a bad hire for the time being but Swank will have a lot to prove. Darner could have hired Gard as an assistant and you would still question it. You clearly will always have something negative to say about Darner due to him getting it above your buddy. I fully trust what Darner is doing. He knows that the hell he is doing. He will be successful here!
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Post by FSCMocFan on Apr 20, 2015 20:06:18 GMT -6
Can't wait to get to know y'all a little better.
I have no plans to go away anytime soon, either. In fact I was just looking for a UWGB decal.
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Post by knightlife920 on Apr 20, 2015 20:27:40 GMT -6
From his bio and nothing else, Swank doesn't seem to be a huge hire. He has limited playing experience, something that resonates with recruits. Moc mentioned he's kind of a jack of all trades, but only out of necessity. I would like to have seen him do more focused work in an area or two at a high level before I can feel totally comfortable with his addition to the coaching staff. I wish Linc would add some more guys with experience and credibility to his staff. Herbst doesn't seem to be a bad hire for the time being but Swank will have a lot to prove. Darner could have hired Gard as an assistant and you would still question it. You clearly will always have something negative to say about Darner due to him getting it above your buddy. I fully trust what Darner is doing. He knows that the hell he is doing. He will be successful here! The guy hasn't even been on campus for a full week and you already have full trust in him? Lmao, yes, because everyone in an authority position is ALWAYS RIGHT and NEVER MAKES A POOR DECISION. Once again, it is YOU who cannot let it go about Grzesk, let bygones be bygones and focus on the here and now. I'm sure you know absolutely nothing more about Swank than I do (from his brief bio) and you're already saying he's a terrific hire because Linc thinks so. All I said was he has a ton to prove, not that he doesn't have potential. You should choose your arguments/battles more wisely
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Post by gbbrl97 on Apr 20, 2015 20:36:29 GMT -6
It's not too much of a surprise that Linc hired Herbst and Swank. I do like the Herbst hire because of his previous HC experience and connections with the Iowa JC's which may help us early on. I do agree with knight that Swank will have a lot to prove at the mid-major D1 level and establish relationships with the local and in-state HS programs.....It will be interesting what Linc does with the last assistant position. Looks like Corn may not be here much longer.....
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Post by GBPhoenix1 on Apr 20, 2015 21:31:14 GMT -6
I am going to jump around here a bit and circle back to several topics.
For J, you mentioned originally D1 teams don't press. I disproved it right away. I didn't even have to dig deep for Dave Rice, Mick Cronin or Mike Dunlap. Now with that said I am on your side here, I am not sure it will work either. On one hand as you mention bigs are more well rounded. Secondly guys like Sykes or Fletcher have been one man press breaks in the past, the ball handling and decision making by guards at this level is pretty good. Plus I look at guy like Pittman who was tailor made for Darner's proposed system and already committed yet Darner couldn't seal the deal. Darner may be a great guy but I worry if he has the big time personality to recruit talented kids to play his system.
The guy from Omaha was the name I heard. When it was told to me it was in passing and I wasn't fully paying attention so I didn't want to ask again to make sure but when I read it today that rang a bell. I think his resume is fine, now lets see what he can do in WI recruiting. I agree with some that I am sure Swank could be solid but I don't know enough to give him a great score passed on his resume. I would have to guess that he is responsible for getting the Baltimore and DC guys to Florida but seriously how hard can that be? Move from the cold to the warm and have a chance to win big. Who is he going to bring to GB? I am not suggesting he won't be good, just that he has a lot to prove.
Why is everybody so up in arms about Corn not going to Bradley? Just my perception but he seemed like the weakest of the coaches. He seemed to always be looking for a better job as well. I am sure he will land on his feet just fine.
As for PantherU I may have to hand you the hypocrite of the year award. I can go on the Panther board back in the TK era and find tons of your posts complaining about Rob being a blind homer. Now suddenly he is this amazing journalist in your eyes. Here is what I know. Rob did a good job of covering the team in the TK era. He was close to TK and received lots of good info. Rob did a good job of still being objective during that time and showed why he was respected. Rob also did not want GB to hire Wardle. I know this because he told me directly before they hired him. For whatever reason he and Brian didn't get along and the quality of his coverage went down. Neither Rob nor Brian handled their spat well but Rob really held his grudge. He has spent a lot of time downing GB hoops for the last two years without anyone prompting him. He deserves all of his hate on here. The thing is he has a lot of followers who read him for Packers info who then get his GB Phoenix rants. They don't know any better and form their opinion based on his. That hurts GB, it hurts the HL and it hurts every team in the HL indirectly. He could be a total pro and just move on but instead he is a total jag and stuck in the past. Be a fan or don't be a fan but don't go out of your way to diminish GB hoops. I have way more vested in GB hoops than he does and it annoys me when I see him spew his hate and try to use the voice he has because of the Packers to hold GB back.
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