Does Chambers get his walking papers or....

[fairfaxlion2]

If any of this year’s non-senior starters transfer or leave PSU has to pull the plug because recruiting will fall off

HOWEVER, consider what this season was (9-9, could have been 12-6 with some breaks, and some big wins occurred).

If that became the norm Chambers could stay here until he retires.

 

[psu00]

I've been on record previously of stating how much I like Chambers. While it's obvious we won't make the tourney this year and I think equally obvious Chambers will be back for another year, here's my issue. Assuming Carr is back next year, we should have an excellent shot of making Big Dance next year. But then what, thereafter? We'll take a huge step backwards after Carr, Reaves & likely Watkins leave, the following year. Everyone who raves about Chambers recruiting prowess is not paying close attention...he's had one great class (the Roman Catholic kids), since he's been at the helm.

Dread & Bolton appear to be solid players, but we need at least 5 or 6 more of their caliber (or better) to remain competitive in the near future. It's not happening. For any of you who see it differently, go take a look at 247 or Rivals top 250 recruit lists for 2017 & 2018 classes. PSU is bottom tier within the Big 10. We should all really enjoy next season, because afterwards, I see another run of 6-12 Big 10 seasons coming.

I don’t follow basketball recruiting at all but I did wonder about the recent recruiting classes. There’s lots of talk on how he made inroads into Philly recruiting but has that really continued or was it just 1 good year?

 

[rokar]

....does the NCAA Tournament committee save his job?

Wow.....9-9 record in the Big 10 with talent! He has earned millions without a winning season in the Big 10! Now is the perfect time to get rid of Chambers. If we want to hire a decent coach, to help us be competitive in the conference, we need to hire someone while we have some talent. It will be easier finding a big-time coach now! If we wait another 2-3 years we will be starting from scratch without any talent.
A one time decent recruiting class does not make Chambers a good coach. I have seen some sparks that show that he has learned some things coaching against great coaches in the conference but, HE IS NOT A GOOD COACH.
The only strategy is to keep the game close and let Carr do whatever he wants in the last 2-3 minutes. He saves his time outs to use for desperation come-backs, rather than to strategically add to a lead or call a play when a bucket is needed. He cannot win the end game and has not been able to get new talent.
The haters on this string are just like those who complained when I complained about Donovan 2 years before he was canned by Franklin. NOW IS THE TIME FOR A NEW COACH, even if we make the NCAA this year or win the NIT!

 

[rokar]

rokar the clown returns!

I bet Fairyfaxlion2 is still upset that franklin let Donovan go!

 

[fairfaxlion2]

Wow.....9-9 record in the Big 10 with talent! He has earned millions without a winning season in the Big 10! Now is the perfect time to get rid of Chambers. If we want to hire a decent coach, to help us be competitive in the conference, we need to hire someone while we have some talent. It will be easier finding a big-time coach now! If we wait another 2-3 years we will be starting from scratch without any talent.
A one time decent recruiting class does not make Chambers a good coach. I have seen some sparks that show that he has learned some things coaching against great coaches in the conference but, HE IS NOT A GOOD COACH.
The only strategy is to keep the game close and let Carr do whatever he wants in the last 2-3 minutes. He saves his time outs to use for desperation come-backs, rather than to strategically add to a lead or call a play when a bucket is needed. He cannot win the end game and has not been able to get new talent.
The haters on this string are just like those who complained when I complained about Donovan 2 years before he was canned by Franklin. NOW IS THE TIME FOR A NEW COACH, even if we make the NCAA this year or win the NIT!

I get where you are coming from but consider how it looks to a coach who really cares about his career moves.

PSU has a historically awful program. Then a coach finally got P5 talent to PSU out of Phila for he first time ever, got into the top half of the B1G for the second time this decade, and then got fired before the players hit their junior year. PSU’s Administration would look totally incompetent and delusional, even more than they are already perceived to be. Who would take the job over any other P5 opening in that scenario? Answer: Not your first choice, in all likelihood

 

[greenmanRD]

Penn State was always a long term rebuilding project. Chambers has us moving in the right direction and I think we should keep him for the foreseeable future. This idea that Penn State hasn't went to the tournament in 7 years so he should be fired is nonsense. The NCAA Tournament has never been the standard at Penn State, we've been there five times since 1965. We have been a bottom of the pack program for years. We have to get out from the bottom, which we are doing, before we can expect the tournament imo. Penn State can expect to be competitive in the Big Ten year after year, even if Carr leaves they'll still be competitive next season. That is a huge success considering this program's long term history.

He has strong relationships with Team Takeover, Team Final and he's been close to landing kids from OBC and We-R1. The guy gets how to recruit in this day and age, and despite Penn State's spending on basketball lagging behind significantly the rest of the conference, he's built a respectable program. He has to make the step to the tournament with this group though, recruiting will be difficult if he doesn't ever get beyond the NIT. The team was close this year, but a few random events went against them and they won't make the NCAA Tournament absent a complete overreliance on analytics from the committee. That's disappointing to be close and come up short, but I expected us to be a bubble team this year, and that's essentially what we were by season's end. To me, the team is basically where I anticipated them being. They have a solid 2018 class coming in (Rasir and Myles will be contributors right away), and a talented team. If everyone returns, we'll have the most talented PSU team in the entire time I've followed this program.

If you could guarantee an elite hire, then sure, it would be worth getting rid of Pat. But who is that guy and why would he go to Penn State?

 

[Nittany Security]

I get where you are coming from but consider how it looks to a coach who really cares about his career moves.

PSU has a historically awful program. Then a coach finally got P5 talent to PSU out of Phila for he first time ever, got into the top half of the B1G for the second time this decade, and then got fired before the players hit their junior year. PSU’s Administration would look totally incompetent and delusional, even more than they are already perceived to be. Who would take the job over any other P5 opening in that scenario? Answer: Not your first choice, in all likelihood

Rick Pitino's available.

 

[PineIslandLion]

I don’t follow basketball recruiting at all but I did wonder about the recent recruiting classes. There’s lots of talk on how he made inroads into Philly recruiting but has that really continued or was it just 1 good year?

It was truly one good (in fact, very good) year. That's the issue in response to folks who think we're building a strong foundation for the future, under Chambers. Aside from the 1 Roman Catholic class, we're not recruiting at any different level than we have in recent memory (including the pre-Chambers era).

 

[Nittany Security]

It was truly one good (in fact, very good) year. That's the issue in response to folks who think we're building a strong foundation for the future, under Chambers. Aside from the 1 Roman Catholic class, we're not recruiting at any different level than we have in recent memory (including the pre-Chambers era).

Myles Dread was named DC player of the year. That's not to shabby.

 

[greenmanRD]

It was truly one good (in fact, very good) year. That's the issue in response to folks who think we're building a strong foundation for the future, under Chambers. Aside from the 1 Roman Catholic class, we're not recruiting at any different level than we have in recent memory (including the pre-Chambers era).

This is simply not true, the 2015 and 2018 classes are better than what PSU has typically done.

To further expand, according to 247, PSU has had a top 10 Big Ten recruiting class three times in the last four years, and they've been top 50 nationally three of the last four years. Go into PSU's history, when have they been consistently there? They haven't.

 

[psu00]

It was truly one good (in fact, very good) year. That's the issue in response to folks who think we're building a strong foundation for the future, under Chambers. Aside from the 1 Roman Catholic class, we're not recruiting at any different level than we have in recent memory (including the pre-Chambers era).

That’s my concern. So, does Sandy give a contract extension (and increased buyout) when it looks like this year may just be a temporary blip on the radar rather than true change in the program with sustained improvement in recruiting? Are we just postponing the inevitable here?

 

[fairfaxlion2]

That’s my concern. So, does Sandy give a contract extension (and increased buyout) when it looks like this year may just be a temporary blip on the radar rather than true change in the program with sustained improvement in recruiting? Are we just postponing the inevitable here?

The core of this team are sophomores so it is reasonable to expect finishes in the top half of the league and NCAA tournaments in 2019 and 2020. Postponing the inevitable, in this case, means firing Chambers in 2018 because we think 2021 might be a down year, but it is obviously way too early to tell. That really doesn't seem like a situation where you fire a coach. Unless players start departing.

Postponing the inevitable was extending Jerry Dunn in 2000. Probably the single worst decision in the history of college basketball since Jay Wright was supposedly ready to accept the job if offered.

 

[Raffycorn]

It was truly one good (in fact, very good) year. That's the issue in response to folks who think we're building a strong foundation for the future, under Chambers. Aside from the 1 Roman Catholic class, we're not recruiting at any different level than we have in recent memory (including the pre-Chambers era).

Garner, Watkins, Reaves, Dread, and Bolton are all individually and collectively better than the types of recruits we've gotten previously, and none of those guys are from the 2016 class.

 

[77 PSU]

So is this year the floor or the ceiling for Chambers? If it’s the floor and we’ll be at least a bubble team, go for it extend him. If it’s the ceiling, why not see if some else can do better.

 

[blion72]

People forget that Coach Chambers arrived right before the SStorm hit PSU. He had some quality recruits bail in that first year. He didn’t start his tenure at 0. He started behind the 8 ball at negative 5 and has us in the best position of the past 10 years. He desrves more time.

i would add that alot of commentators have talked about PSU missing key players during the season at critical moments. Presently, there is a pretty big fall-off to the bench from the top 5-6 players. this team is nowhere near the same team when Watkins goes out. i firmly think that PSU beats Michigan had Watkins not got hurt. we have a couple mystery losses like the Rider game. most of this country has never even heard of Rider, so you cannot lose to teams like that. i think we may have been at full strength in that game. however, there are not alot of the Rider type games. we had leads against good teams and lost the lead due to fatigue - short bench. look at how the team was out when Reaves was academically ineligible.

 

[interrobang]

He'll be back. He'll get some token extension (only because you can't let your coach be in lame duck mode) with a meager buyout, and will be NCAA or bust next year.

 

[TrevYoung]

He'll be back. He'll get some token extension (only because you can't let your coach be in lame duck mode) with a meager buyout, and will be NCAA or bust next year.

When they only make the NIT again next year and they don't fire him, what will become the new excuse.

 

[Raffycorn]

When they only make the NIT again next year and they don't fire him, what will become the new excuse.

We haven't even made the NIT in consecutive seasons since joining the Big Ten. At Penn State, making the NIT consistently is a better result than we have had in fifty years.

 

[AWS1022]

Absolutely not. Has a school with a very long history of not being a competitive basketball program very close. Also a good ambassador of the University who plays by the rules.

Very close to what? And is it close for one year then drop back to mediocrity because what we’re seeing coming off the bench and from a recruiting standpoint hasn’t been anywhere near his one strong recruiting class.

 

[greenmanRD]

Very close to what? And is it close for one year then drop back to mediocrity because what we’re seeing coming off the bench and from a recruiting standpoint hasn’t been anywhere near his one strong recruiting class.

The recruiting is fine and still better than what PSU typically has pulled prior to Chambers. Also, when has Penn State dropped back to mediocrity? They've dropped to the bottom.

EDIT - The team is also going to have a bench next year btw.

 

[PSU65]

....does the NCAA Tournament committee save his job?

No walking papers and no NCAA.

 

[AWS1022]

The recruiting is fine and still better than what PSU typically has pulled prior to Chambers. Also, when has Penn State dropped back to mediocrity? They've dropped to the bottom.

EDIT - The team is also going to have a bench next year btw.

I would say a couple of post season apprearances in a 7 or 8 year span is in the area of mediocrity...where we’ve been with Pat is below mediocrity.

 

[PSU65]

I've been on record previously of stating how much I like Chambers. While it's obvious we won't make the tourney this year and I think equally obvious Chambers will be back for another year, here's my issue. Assuming Carr is back next year, we should have an excellent shot of making Big Dance next year. But then what, thereafter? We'll take a huge step backwards after Carr, Reaves & likely Watkins leave, the following year. Everyone who raves about Chambers recruiting prowess is not paying close attention...he's had one great class (the Roman Catholic kids), since he's been at the helm.

Dread & Bolton appear to be solid players, but we need at least 5 or 6 more of their caliber (or better) to remain competitive in the near future. It's not happening. For any of you who see it differently, go take a look at 247 or Rivals top 250 recruit lists for 2017 & 2018 classes. PSU is bottom tier within the Big 10. We should all really enjoy next season, because afterwards, I see another run of 6-12 Big 10 seasons coming.

I'm certainly not an expert in BB but I don't think his recruiting is all that bad. Dread and Bolton, who you consider solid, are both 3 star players, as are Harrar, Wheeler, and Buttrick, all 3 starts and all freshman. We never used to get any 3 stars. And our sophs are Carr and Stevens.

 

[greenmanRD]

I would say a couple of post season apprearances in a 7 or 8 year span is in the area of mediocrity...where we’ve been with Pat is below mediocrity.

What makes making the postseason essentially 25% of the time mediocre for a power 5 school? BTW, when we make the postseason again next year, we'll be at your completely arbitrary line.

 

[AWS1022]

What makes making the postseason essentially 25% of the time mediocre for a power 5 school? BTW, when we make the postseason again next year, we'll be at your completely arbitrary line.

If we make it next year and then we will be back to not making it for another 7 years. If Carr leaves, we won’t make it next year.

 

[greenmanRD]

If we make it next year and then we will be back to not making it for another 7 years. If Carr leaves, we won’t make it next year.

How do you know what we're going to be like 2019 and beyond? I think we could make the postseason without Carr as long as no one else leaves.

 

[rokar]

Carr is not going anywhere if we finally get a Big name coach!

 

[greenmanRD]

Carr is not going anywhere if he doesn't get a favorable draft grade at the combine in May.

FIFY

 

[fairfaxlion2]

Carr is not going anywhere if we finally get a Big name coach!

Carr isn't going anywhere, period! He showed NBA-level skill against Ohio State. Against almost every other team he showed that his game is not quite there yet.

 

[captain pipe]

If you fire Chambers, PSU loses a year’s recruiting and loses several players to transfer. How many years to rebuild to where PSU is now?

It just blows my mind away that people think that a school with no history in Men's BB will always have skilled coaches lined up to jump in the pit with PSU BB. Just fight it out with Chambers.

 

[fairfaxlion2]

It just blows my mind away that people think that a school with no history in Men's BB will always have skilled coaches lined up to jump in the pit with PSU BB. Just fight it out with Chambers.

Also that people want to make a move when the next two years could be the best in decades.

You fire a coach when you are looking at 7-20 next season, not a possible top 25 team.

 

[Art]

FIFY

Doesn't work that way. Player can request an evaluation well before the combine and before declaring for the draft.

 

[Art]

It just blows my mind away that people think that a school with no history in Men's BB will always have skilled coaches lined up to jump in the pit with PSU BB. Just fight it out with Chambers.

Any number of assistant coaches would be happy to take a head coaching job at PSU and one of them just might be the right frog, though if Annie kisses them they will more than likely die.

 

[AWS1022]

Carr isn't going anywhere, period! He showed NBA-level skill against Ohio State. Against almost every other team he showed that his game is not quite there yet.

Not sure you can be the leading scorer in the Big 10 only playing well against one team.

 

[AWS1022]

It just blows my mind away that people think that a school with no history in Men's BB will always have skilled coaches lined up to jump in the pit with PSU BB. Just fight it out with Chambers.

So the general consensus for the pro-Pat group is that they don’t think we can get anyone better, so just stick with Pat forever. Sounds like a great plan.

 

[AWS1022]

How do you know what we're going to be like 2019 and beyond? I think we could make the postseason without Carr as long as no one else leaves.

We have no depth now, recruiting has been less than impressive, so I’m not sure where the players that will make us a top Big team are coming from.

 

[greenmanRD]

We have no depth now, recruiting has been less than impressive, so I’m not sure where the players that will make us a top Big team are coming from.

The recruiting has been fine, we've been recruiting as a middle of the pack Big Ten team in 2015 and 18, and we had a top 5 class in 2016. How is that "less than impressive?" Do you know how we've recruited historically?

 

[BobPSU92]

It just blows my mind away that people think that a school with no history in Men's BB will always have skilled coaches lined up to jump in the pit with PSU BB. Just fight it out with Chambers.

What does "fight it out" mean?

 

[ST8FAN]

It's startling how accepting of mediocrity some are...

 

[78SweetRevenge]

Unfortunately we'll have Chambers for one more year...status quo sigh