OFFICIAL MBB Thread @Wisconsin

[OzLion]

Props to you for posting at 4:15am. He didn’t really “leave”. He was forced out with like 1 year remaining and AD refusing to give him an extension. He left a year before he was surely to be fired. But that’s besides the point. He at least made it, which is the goal.

This is what I remember also. I think Ed saw the writing on the wall, that with Talor Battle graduating PSU would be rebuilding in 2012, and he needed to be operating with something more than 1-yr left on a contract.

The thing that really killed the Ed era was the 2010 season. In 2009, PSU probably deserved an NCAA bid but through the luck of the bubble didn't get it. They won the NIT and then signed Battle's half brother - a top 100 recruit - for 2010 but lost Cornley and Pringle. If PSU could have kept the momentum going that year, the Lions could have strung together three consecutive post season appearances (2009 NIT, 2010 NCAA or NIT, 2011 NCAA) and that would have been something to build on. Instead, the 2010 season was allot like this season, a bad record with allot of close loses. I'm worried that this season will turn out to be the lost opportunity for Pat Chambers, the one were the team could have build momentum with a post season appearance, but instead turned out to be the punch in the gut that ended it for this coach. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Erial_Lion]

This is what I remember also. I think Ed saw the writing on the wall, that with Talor Battle graduating PSU would be rebuilding in 2012, and he needed to be operating with something more than 1-yr left on a contract.

The thing that really killed the Ed era was the 2010 season. In 2009, PSU probably deserved an NCAA bid but through the luck of the bubble didn't get it. They won the NIT and then signed Battle's half brother - a top 100 recruit - for 2010 but lost Cornley and Pringle. If PSU could have kept the momentum going that year, the Lions could have strung together three consecutive post season appearances (2009 NIT, 2010 NCAA or NIT, 2011 NCAA) and that would have been something to build on. Instead, the 2010 season was allot like this season, a bad record with allot of close loses. I'm worried that this season will turn out to be the lost opportunity for Pat Chambers, the one were the team could have build momentum with a post season appearance, but instead turned out to be the punch in the gut that ended it for this coach. Hope I'm wrong.

The other fallout from 2010 was losing Trey Burke. Keeping the momentum going, and we’ve got a program-changing recruit playing at PSU.

 

[fairfaxlion2]

Props to you for posting at 4:15am. He didn’t really “leave”. He was forced out with like 1 year remaining and AD refusing to give him an extension. He left a year before he was surely to be fired. But that’s besides the point. He at least made it, which is the goal.

Yes, he really did leave.

No doubt that he got disillusioned with the AD. Just like the previous coach had. Strangely, that also happened right after an NCAA appearance (and a very successful one at that).

 

[Nitty_Lion]

Yes, he really did leave.

No doubt that he got disillusioned with the AD. Just like the previous coach had. Strangely, that also happened right after an NCAA appearance (and a very successful one at that).

He left because he knew he would be fired. He had one year in his contract left and without a bleak outlook for 2012, he knew he would be let go. By Curley not giving him that extension, it was effectively firing him. You don’t jump from penn state to navy voluntarily.

 

[fairfaxlion2]

He left because he knew he would be fired. He had one year in his contract left and without a bleak outlook for 2012, he knew he would be let go. By Curley not giving him that extension, it was effectively firing him. You don’t jump from penn state to navy voluntarily.

That's true, but the question is why would the AD not want to support a coach who just had a good season? Why would you want to force out your coach at that particular point in time?

Back in 2001, Dunn made it to the Sweet 16, finished in the top 25, and was then left with no contract for over a month. no coincidence that the coach then simply mailed it in for the next two seasons

So that was an interesting pattern. I don't know if there is any rational explanation for it. It's the reason I don't get the antipathy towards Barbour. The old AD was a total looney toon when it came to this program. Hard to imagine anyone else having that bizarre mindset towards their own program.

So I will contend that any coach probably would have quit after that 2011 season, no matter what. That lack of support must have felt horrible

 

[UncleLar]

Yes, he really did leave.

No doubt that he got disillusioned with the AD. Just like the previous coach had. Strangely, that also happened right after an NCAA appearance (and a very successful one at that).

Curley got trapped between a rock and a hard place twice. Not sure what he could have done differently in either case.

In 2001, he had Jay Wright lined up to come to PSU. Curley wasn't happy with the way that Dunn was handling the team (the accusations of over-working the team were accurate, even if Dunn was cleared). Dunn had effectively lost the team - the team really didn't respect him and pretty much stopped listening to him. Then Joe Crispin and the team got hot and they not only made it to the NCAAs (with a less than .500 league record btw), they went on the Sweet Sixteen run. Curley was trapped. There's was no way that he could fire Dunn after making the Sweet Sixteen, so he basically had to negotiate some sort of extension (for recruiting purposes, you don't want to let your coach get inside of two year left on his contract - he becomes a lame duck coach and everyone knows it). Those negotiations were tough because Jerry expected a lot more than Curley was willing to give him. Eventually they agreed on something, but they lost Gerry McNamara partially because the process dragged on. So Dunn stayed on and we payed the price the following two years. Of course, that meant that Curley had to release Wright from the handshake deal that they had and Jay signed with Villanova. The rest is history.

Then, sort of similar thing happened in 2011. PSU makes the tournament and DeChellis expects an extension. Curley, doesn't want to get caught in a Jerry Dunn situation again, and drags his heels on extending DeChellis. Ed sees the writing on the wall and bails to go to Navy.

 

[Nit16]

So he would be a good neighbor, that doesn’t mean he’s a good basketball coach.

Chambers is awful. No argument here.

 

[fairfaxlion2]

Curley got trapped between a rock and a hard place twice. Not sure what he could have done differently in either case.

In 2001, he had Jay Wright lined up to come to PSU. Curley wasn't happy with the way that Dunn was handling the team (the accusations of over-working the team were accurate, even if Dunn was cleared). Dunn had effectively lost the team - the team really didn't respect him and pretty much stopped listening to him. Then Joe Crispin and the team got hot and they not only made it to the NCAAs (with a less than .500 league record btw), they went on the Sweet Sixteen run. Curley was trapped. There's was no way that he could fire Dunn after making the Sweet Sixteen, so he basically had to negotiate some sort of extension (for recruiting purposes, you don't want to let your coach get inside of two year left on his contract - he becomes a lame duck coach and everyone knows it). Those negotiations were tough because Jerry expected a lot more than Curley was willing to give him. Eventually they agreed on something, but they lost Gerry McNamara partially because the process dragged on. So Dunn stayed on and we payed the price the following two years. Of course, that meant that Curley had to release Wright from the handshake deal that they had and Jay signed with Villanova. The rest is history.

Then, sort of similar thing happened in 2011. PSU makes the tournament and DeChellis expects an extension. Curley, doesn't want to get caught in a Jerry Dunn situation again, and drags his heels on extending DeChellis. Ed sees the writing on the wall and bails to go to Navy.

All accurate but in both cases Curley made dumb decisions. The pursuit of Wright began one year prior, in 2000, and Curley dragged his feet when Dunn went to the NIT Final Four. He could have made the change.

After the sweet 16 run the right move would have been extending Dunn doing so in good faith. He ended up with a disgruntled coach. At that point Dunn has been to the postseason 4 times in 6 years, two of them NCAA. Nobody else has done that here, regardless of his weakness

What the hell was he thinking in 2011? He didn’t want to extend Ed why? And if he wanted to force him out, was Chambers the plan? It didn’t seem at the time like he had a plan. He used a consultant to find Chambers

 

[OzLion]

Curley got trapped between a rock and a hard place twice. ....Dunn had effectively lost the team - the team really didn't respect him and pretty much stopped listening to him. ... Eventually they agreed on something, but they lost Gerry McNamara partially because the process dragged on. So Dunn stayed on and we payed the price the following two years. ....

Backs up what you say a little bit, as Dunn was the only coach who saw B1G wins go down consistently during his tenure.

Also, PSU Hoops Karma being what it is, we managed to loose McNamara because we didn't renew Dunn quickly enough while at the same time losing Jon Crispin because we didn't fire him.

The dip between ED and PC is why people like me are reluctant to change coaches, we lose whatever slow increase in B1G wins we accumulated during the previous regime.

 

[psuguy43]

Yes, he really did leave.

No doubt that he got disillusioned with the AD. Just like the previous coach had. Strangely, that also happened right after an NCAA appearance (and a very successful one at that).

I was talking to someone the other week who was recruited by ED at PSU and was going to sign with him. He said that ED ended up calling him ahead of time and told him that he was about to be let go. ED then publicly "left" for Navy, and the recruit signed with a mid-major.

So, I would tap the breaks on the "he really left" talk

 

[Erial_Lion]

I was talking to someone the other week who was recruited by ED at PSU and was going to sign with him. He said that ED ended up calling him ahead of time and told him that he was about to be let go. ED then publicly "left" for Navy, and the recruit signed with a mid-major.

So, I would tap the breaks on the "he really left" talk

You really believe that we were going to fire Ed a few weeks after he went to the NCAAs? Not extending him or only adding on a year and pissing him off, sure. But I don’t buy at all that he would have been fired.