Coach Jones?

[niouxsiouxfan]

Why not be realistic? Are the seniors really that talented, and/or well-rounded? The argument has been made that during the transition, it was difficult to recruit, as expected. Maybe those guys maxed out. Now, with new recruits, younger players, and incoming juco, maybe the building blocks are in place. The staff seems to be able to recruit. Let's see if they can develop the new talent. I would presume they are starting with more upside as well as better foundation. Brian Jones is well respected, let's see how he does with the new guys and the expectations put upon them. Let Jones coach the youth and build. If Craig Smith is the goal, what is a year or two going to matter. The talent will presumably be here.

[Hambone]

Why not be realistic? Are the seniors really that talented, and/or well-rounded? The argument has been made that during the transition, it was difficult to recruit, as expected. Maybe those guys maxed out. Now, with new recruits, younger players, and incoming juco, maybe the building blocks are in place. The staff seems to be able to recruit. Let's see if they can develop the new talent. I would presume they are starting with more upside as well as better foundation. Brian Jones is well respected, let's see how he does with the new guys and the expectations put upon them. Let Jones coach the youth and build. If Craig Smith is the goal, what is a year or two going to matter. The talent will presumably be here.

Smith is going to be named USD coach tomorrow.

[ibleedgreen]

Smith is going to be named USD coach tomorrow.

Dislike...

[gfhockey]

ugh

tool late for us to act

[SWSiouxMN]

So here is a question I pose to both sides of this debate. What will it take for Jones to get off his hot seat? If he repeats what he did this season, is it enough? If he wins 20 games and gets upset in the 1st round, does he get dismissed?

[UNDBIZ]

So here is a question I pose to both sides of this debate. What will it take for Jones to get off his hot seat? If he repeats what he did this season, is it enough? If he wins 20 games and gets upset in the 1st round, does he get dismissed?

If he gets 20 wins in the 2014-15 regular season (that'd be quite the surprise), he's off the hot seat in my opinion, though I'm sure opinions will differ.

[darell1976]

If he gets 20 wins in the 2014-15 regular season (that'd be quite the surprise), he's off the hot seat in my opinion, though I'm sure opinions will differ.

I think 20 is a good number but how about impressive OOC road wins (not just beating the Jacks or Bison) getting to the dance would IMO get him off the hot seat whether we win the conference or not.

[UNDBIZ]

I think 20 is a good number but how about impressive OOC road wins (not just beating the Jacks or Bison) getting to the dance would IMO get him off the hot seat whether we win the conference or not.

To get 20 wins, they'd have to win a couple road non-con games. I don't think next year's team will come close to 20, but maybe they'll surprise like the women did this year.

[darell1976]

To get 20 wins, they'd have to win a couple road non-con games. I don't think next year's team will come close to 20, but maybe they'll surprise like the women did this year.

Hopefully the women's success will rub off on the men to step it up and get to the dance.

[bincitysioux]

Not sure I even believe he is on the "hot seat" right now.

Given what is returning next year, a .500 record would actually be quite impressive.

A single digit win season may influence Faison to not renew his contract when it expires. Is that after the 2014-15 season or the 2015-16 season?

[CMSioux]

So here is a question I pose to both sides of this debate. What will it take for Jones to get off his hot seat? If he repeats what he did this season, is it enough? If he wins 20 games and gets upset in the 1st round, does he get dismissed?

With all due respect - other than the perpetual hot seat that every coach is put on here - how do you identify that a coach is really on the hot seat? From the reality standpoint I'm not seeing how a coach that has a three year contract and just finished #2 in the conference is on the hot seat within the UND Adminstration.

[UND92,96]

Not sure I even believe he is on the "hot seat" right now.

Given what is returning next year, a .500 record would actually be quite impressive.

A single digit win season may influence Faison to not renew his contract when it expires. Is that after the 2014-15 season or the 2015-16 season?

Looks he's actually under contract through 2016-17: http://collegebasket...asketball-coach

With that in mind, maybe he really isn't on the hot seat. Although I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a lot of coaches who potentially last 10-plus years with a career sub-.500 record and no 20-win seasons, regardless of the circumstances.

[bincitysioux]

A quick Google search reveals that Jones contract is up after 2014-15, but contains options that could keep him here through 2017. I assume those options could only be exercised by UND.

Knowing that now, if this team really falters next year, I could see Faison using the opportunity to go a different route.

http://www.wdaz.com/event/article/id/14458/

[bincitysioux]

Looks he's actually under contract through 2016-17: http://collegebasket...asketball-coach

With that in mind, maybe he really isn't on the hot seat. Although I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a lot of coaches who last 10-plus years with a career sub-.500 record and no 20-win seasons, regardless of the circumstances.

Ah I see.......

Looks like UND already exercised the options....

Knowing that now, unless the program strings together multiple horrid seasons, I'd be surprised if UND bought out the contract of a basketball coach.

[Siouxperfan7]

With all due respect - other than the perpetual hot seat that every coach is put on here - how do you identify that a coach is really on the hot seat? From the reality standpoint I'm not seeing how a coach that has a three year contract and just finished #2 in the conference is on the hot seat within the UND Adminstration.

100% agree.

You would think that a coach that had the ammount of injuries UND has had to deal with and had to throw out primarily bench players out there for signigicant minutes and led that team to finish second in the league and to the conference championship game should be commended a little bit don't you think?

[SWSiouxMN]

With all due respect - other than the perpetual hot seat that every coach is put on here - how do you identify that a coach is really on the hot seat? From the reality standpoint I'm not seeing how a coach that has a three year contract and just finished #2 in the conference is on the hot seat within the UND Adminstration.

It was more of an open ended question for those who think Jones should be fired and retained and wondered what would it take for the "hot seat" to cool. I could have worded it the question differently, but it is what it is.

UND should consistently compete in the top of the Big Sky, that is my expectations. My frustrations with Jones is that he can do decent in conference, but struggle outside. Also get frustrated with some of the things he runs too (the full court press this year, Princeton offense in 2009-10 season). I personally don't think he will be fired or is on the hot seat unless next year really goes bad.

[bincitysioux]

100% agree.

You would think that a coach that had the ammount of injuries UND has had to deal with and had to throw out primarily bench players out there for signigicant minutes and led that team to finish second in the league and to the conference championship game should be commended a little bit don't you think?

I agree. I think they've done exceptionally well in Big Sky play two straight years. I also think they've been terribly inconsistent and did not live up to they're potential.

I don't believe they make the results public, but it wouldn't surprise me if Jones finished second or at least third in the voting for Big Sky Coach of the Year.

I don't believe he is any danger of losing his job at this point.

[UND92,96]

100% agree.

You would think that a coach that had the ammount of injuries UND has had to deal with and had to throw out primarily bench players out there for signigicant minutes and led that team to finish second in the league and to the conference championship game should be commended a little bit don't you think?

I think the fear is that while the past two years certainly haven't been horrible, an overall .500 record should not be the standard to which we aspire in the good years, i.e. years with a strong group of upper classmen. And now with having to replace 80% of the scoring, how much of a regression should be expect? My feeling is that if Jones can approach .500 next season, that's pretty good under the circumstances. But if we see something like 8-24 and a finish in the bottom third of the Big Sky, you will almost have to start looking at the overall body of work and question whether he's capable of being better than a .500-type coach.

[bincitysioux]

I think the fear is that while the past two years certainly haven't been horrible, an overall .500 record should not be the standard to which we aspire in the good years, i.e. years with a strong group of upper classmen. And now with having to replace 80% of the scoring, how much of a regression should be expect? My feeling is that if Jones can approach .500 next season, that's pretty good under the circumstances. But if we see something like 8-24 and a finish in the bottom third of the Big Sky, you will almost have to start looking at the overall body of work and question whether he's capable of being better than a .500-type coach.

Excellent post.

[Siouxperfan7]

I think the fear is that while the past two years certainly haven't been horrible, an overall .500 record should not be the standard to which we aspire in the good years, i.e. years with a strong group of upper classmen. And now with having to replace 80% of the scoring, how much of a regression should be expect? My feeling is that if Jones can approach .500 next season, that's pretty good under the circumstances. But if we see something like 8-24 and a finish in the bottom third of the Big Sky, you will almost have to start looking at the overall body of work and question whether he's capable of being better than a .500-type coach.

The good thing is Jones knows the situation is in. He has to have his teams produce and win. If he fails to do that, he will be let go. Faison has shown that with the recent firing of Mussman.

[dmksioux]

Smith is going to be named USD coach tomorrow.

According to a report on twitter, USD is giving Craig Smith $185,000/year.

[gfhockey]

just good a good ole boy and said no chance could we ever match that

that settles that.

[jdub27]

just good a good ole boy and said no chance could we ever match that

that settles that.

Do you hang out with a bunch of other people that don't donate or just you? All hat, no cattle.

Faison has shown he is willing to pay what is necessary when hiring new coaches, I don't see why he would change that if there was a candidate that fit the bill. If USD wanted Smith, that is what they were going to have to pay. At this point in his career, I don't think he was going to take much of a pay cut even if it was to get head coaching experience.

[Irish]

Ok - I'll buy for a while the theory that because of the transition we were able to get in some talent, but at a price - guys that weren't particulairly coachable. Here's what I expect from Jones going forward

- Signs that we can not only get talent but develop it. We need guys to get better in our program.

- a recognizable offense - not just drive, shoot, and hope for a hack.

- More mental toughness especially on the road

- Much better teamwork

- Execute the fundamentals (such as boxing out)

I think if we have a program like this we will be just fine - It'll be interesting to see if these things take place without this group of seniors -

[CMSioux]

Ok - I'll buy for a while the theory that because of the transition we were able to get in some talent, but at a price - guys that weren't particulairly coachable. Here's what I expect from Jones going forward

- Signs that we can not only get talent but develop it. We need guys to get better in our program.

- a recognizable offense - not just drive, shoot, and hope for a hack.

- More mental toughness especially on the road

- Much better teamwork

- Execute the fundamentals (such as boxing out)

I think if we have a program like this we will be just fine - It'll be interesting to see if these things take place without this group of seniors -

So is this also what you would put on a job listing for his replacement - I don't think I've ever seen a job listing that tells you how to do a job.