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Post by basketballfan14 on Apr 14, 2015 11:21:35 GMT -6
You are right Knightslyfe, and when I went deeper into the situation, all I found was a National Championship banner, multiple back to back conference championship, a young winning coach with a lot of enthusiasm that works with barely any resourses. Half scholarships compared to the other schools in his conference and a gym that is laughable. If you have not seen the gym, I left a link for a highlight video of one of our own that shows the gym multiple times. CS's gym is the one that has the wolf in the middle, no bleachers behind where the players sit (looks like a middle school gym). Now compare that to SNC's gym. I am not saying hire Diener because of this, but do not try and put him down because he is NAIA. He has to work far harder than his D3 counterparts, fact! And when you go deeper into the situation at SNC, you'd see that Grzesk, with ZERO scholarships, has recruited and developed both guys who were highly touted that easily could've played up a division or two as well as guys who were totally overlooked. Several conference championships, a couple of tourney wins (he did win two, not one), and he has turned SNC, who was in the basement of the MWC into a team that wins and draws huge numbers of fans, which is remarkable considering Schuldes (which I guarantee you have never set foot in) is a very poor excuse of an athletic facility for a college level program. I am not putting Diener down at all, I think he has done an outstanding job, but don't put Grzesk down when he has had a similar level of success with even fewer resources compared to his D3 counterparts. You cannot compare NAIA to D3 in general, two totally different animals in terms of recruiting, academic standards, finances etc... I am not putting GG down, just felt that a National Ship and deep runs in March mean MUCH more than meaningless regular season wins (which he still does not have as many as the other candidates). Lets face it, every one of Coach GG teams have choked in March. That is not something that I want to happen to our program here at UW-GB. Darner and Diener have went through the ringer of March and came out Champions, that is who I want representing The Phoenix! GG needs to step up his post season wins or go back to the drawing board. Maybe he needs to find another place to coach (d2)??
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Post by exithere on Apr 14, 2015 11:27:04 GMT -6
When you put Darners accomplishments up against pretty much any of the other candidates its pretty clear why he was picked. That being said hes going to have a lot of work to do to keep this current team intact and hopefully keeping some of the incoming recruits.
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Post by exithere on Apr 14, 2015 11:30:37 GMT -6
And francis states hes leaving. Tough loss but not that surprising.
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Post by shooting the J on Apr 14, 2015 11:31:54 GMT -6
When you put Darners accomplishments up against pretty much any of the other candidates its pretty clear why he was picked. That being said hes going to have a lot of work to do to keep this current team intact and hopefully keeping some of the incoming recruits. He'll need to sell himself to the public here too. He's a winner, but he has a lot of work to do. He'll be ignored in the media here until he wins, and wins big.
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Post by fightphoe93 on Apr 14, 2015 11:32:00 GMT -6
If indeed it is Darner, congrats to him, and I will wish him well as the new Phoenix coach.
As someone pointed out in a previous post, it looks like he won a D2 championship doing almost the exact opposite of what the Phoenix team did this year. He had a high octane offense but his team wasn't necessarily a defensive or rebounding power. That said, he found a way to win it all at the highest level outside of D1, so he is worthy of our support if indeed he is the hire.
I believe Darner once played against UWGB as a member of Purdue in the '93-'94 season so he probably is somewhat familiar with our history. That was an early season tournament game where Purdue won by maybe 8-10 points or so as the Phoenix could not stop Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson. The Phoenix would go on to the NCAA tournament where they won a game vs. Cal, and Purdue and Darner made it to the elite 8 that season.
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Post by gbalum2007 on Apr 14, 2015 11:50:02 GMT -6
So, I opted to maintain radio silence during the search, because I find it meaningless to pick favorites in these situations. Mostly everyone was clamoring for Grzesk for the obvious connections, or Diener (likewise), with some support for Barone (maintain the status quo). But in reality, what do we know? We don't know how these guys interviewed or if they shared the same vision for the future as the administration, or if they even fit the current culture at GB.
Based on what I've read, it sounds like Darner could be an exciting 'get' for a school like Green Bay. High scoring, efficient offense. Seems to shoot a lot of threes (about 40% of all FGA this past season). Would be a nice change from a lot of the drag out games we've seen the past couple of years in the HL, especially given the styles of Cleveland State and Valpo.
He'll definitely have his work cut out for him on the recruiting trail with Francis already announcing his intentions to transfer. I'll presume Uwadiae won't be back, and that at least one of the three incoming guys won't remain committed (Pittman would be my guess, and maybe Torres. Okafor seemed pretty set on Green Bay). That leaves three openings (at least). He'll have to move quick to lock up any guys who have yet to sign.
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Post by Fanforever on Apr 14, 2015 12:01:14 GMT -6
Would be quite the change to have players that can acutally shoot a 3 pointer with some consistency. Although my hope is he brings in kids that can shoot and provide some crazy dunks. As the phoenix have shown the last 2 years their style won games but could not win the big one due to lack of shots being made. Some of the best years we have had here were when our players made a lot of 3 pointers and did not dunk very much. So if i had to choose I will take the shot maker over the dunker and hopefully once again make it to the Dance.
Pittman and Okafor both said they most likely will honor their scholarships to Green Bay. Torres was the only one that seemed to be waivering. Also, from what i have read is that Okafor and Hendo have a friendship that may keep both of them in Green Bay.
Hopefully Coach Darner is our missing "Linc" to make it back to the Dance. Sorry I had to.
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Post by gbbrl97 on Apr 14, 2015 12:11:44 GMT -6
Sounds like we are losing Torres and Francis has already announced his transfer. If those are the only 2 GB is losing then we may not have the dramatic drop we were bracing for. Rebuilding, yes, but as long as we don't finish in the bottom 2 of the HL and flirting with a .500 record. But it still appears that we will have 3 scholarships to fill.....unless there are more transfers/de-commits. We will need a post player to replace Torres (presumably) and 2 gun-slinging shooters since it appears that we will be cranking 3's like in the mid to late TK Era (if Darner IS the choice).......but we can do without the bad defense of those teams. Hey Buzz....If Darner is the new coach, I may have to break out this avatar from classic pro wrestling....... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Missing_Link_(wrestler)
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Post by exithere on Apr 14, 2015 12:14:50 GMT -6
Sounds like we are losing Torres and Francis has already announced his transfer. If those are the only 2 GB is losing then we may not have the dramatic drop we were bracing for. Rebuilding, yes, but as long as we don't finish in the bottom 2 of the HL and flirting with a .500 record. But it still appears that we will have 3 scholarships to fill.....unless there are more transfers/de-commits. We will need a post player to replace Torres (presumably) and 2 gun-slinging shooters since it appears that we will be cranking 3's like in the mid to late TK Era (if Darner IS the choice).......but we can do without the bad defense of those teams. I think more will leave. But this was a rebuilding year anyways in my opinion.
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Post by exithere on Apr 14, 2015 12:17:30 GMT -6
Horizon League and Phoenix have confirmed the hire.
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Post by gbbrl97 on Apr 14, 2015 12:35:26 GMT -6
I have a boss who has a son-in-law that was a potential assistant coaching hire for one of the other candidates, and she just confirmed to me that Darner was the choice. So the job search for her son-in-law continues.
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Post by thetulsawarrior on Apr 14, 2015 13:02:47 GMT -6
So the missing Linc is finally revealed.
The joke aside -- all the candidates mentioned were solid and would have had a good shot at success given the chance. Brian Barone deserves our thanks for his years of service to the program and the university. He will be an outstanding addition to the Bradley staff.
There will be roster turnover in GB but I hope the current players and recruits will give Darner a chance to visit with them and share his vision for the program. Darner enters the job with the most impressive resume of any past Nix head coach. That includes Dick Bennett's resume when he arrived in town. It would be foolish to say Darner will equal Bennett's actual achievements. Resumes don't win games -- players and coaches do.
Darner's first test will be with the Nix current players. The next will be hitting the ground running on the recruiting path and building a staff. Having at least one holdover coach could do a world of good, on several fronts. Chrys Cornelius has strong Chicago and Illinois connections, a relationship with current players and recruits.
The next few weeks should be interesting
One final note -- last week's leak of the Darner hire needs to be addressed by MEG, for PR purposes. There are a number of potential explanations -- I think one of the most likely is a PO'ed coaching candidate wanting do a number on the AD and the school. Schools across the country have had hires fall through at the last minute and GB needed plans for any development. As I mentioned before -- Tony Bennett when he was at Washington State came within ten minutes of becoming the head coach at Marquette.
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Post by Fanforever on Apr 14, 2015 13:28:27 GMT -6
Sounds like we are losing Torres and Francis has already announced his transfer. If those are the only 2 GB is losing then we may not have the dramatic drop we were bracing for. Rebuilding, yes, but as long as we don't finish in the bottom 2 of the HL and flirting with a .500 record. But it still appears that we will have 3 scholarships to fill.....unless there are more transfers/de-commits. We will need a post player to replace Torres (presumably) and 2 gun-slinging shooters since it appears that we will be cranking 3's like in the mid to late TK Era (if Darner IS the choice).......but we can do without the bad defense of those teams. Hey Buzz....If Darner is the new coach, I may have to break out this avatar from classic pro wrestling....... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Missing_Link_(wrestler) Awesome. I can't stop laughing. That is the best avatar around. Still cracking up.
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Post by gbbrl97 on Apr 14, 2015 13:29:35 GMT -6
Imagine TB at Marquette......Buzz did good at MU, but there was something about him I didn't trust.
With Darner, I hope he's meeting with the players as we speak or later today. His style of play at Fla. Southern should give them a glimpse of what will happen in 2015-2016.....On paper, I like this hire. Hopefully he can maintain a similar defensive culture that BW established. If you score a lot of points, you will also give up points. I don't want Darner's teams resembling the early TK era......But we aren't getting a first-time head coach, so Darner will hit the ground running......Also, being visible in the community will also help sell the program. TK was not good in this area, and improved under BW, but we need a coach who will sell the program to a new crop of fans.
I know GG and Deiner would have been popular choices with local angles, but Darner had the best tournament resume of all the candidates and cut his teeth in D2; Remember, this is what we railed TK on and even more so with BW. In the end and with the candidates who interviewed, GG probably would not have even factored into the top 3. He's a good D3 coach and brought SNC back from the bottom of the MWC, but he has to do some damage in the D3 tourney in the coming years (if he stays at SNC) to get D1 attention. If he wasn't GG, and was another D3 coach with a similar record, he would not have gotten an interview compared to those in the pool......Maybe he has maxed out what he can do at SNC with the talent/facilities available. He may have to go to a WIAC school or go up to D2 if he has any desire for a D1 job. If UWM ever gets rid of Jeter at some point, he could be in play for that job, but improving his tourney resume is a must, since UWM may be a more attractive job (from a budget standpoint) than GB, especially if they get their practice facility and update UWM Panther Arena......
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Post by gbbrl97 on Apr 14, 2015 13:31:59 GMT -6
Buzz95.....As soon as Darner was a candidate, I had to find a good picture of "The Missing Link"......It's a nod to my Saturday morning, pro wrestling infused childhood.....:-)
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