Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:23 am EDT
Believe it or not, people still want the USC job
Why, it seems like it was just yesterday when I referred to the USC basketball program as a "smoking, post-apocalyptic crater." My, how the time flies when you're having -- what's that? That was yesterday? And the metaphor is still apt, because the things that make USC smoldering and barren -- no head coach, no remaining players or recruits, an impending NCAA investigation that might take down both the football and basketball programs with the dreaded "lack of institutional control" charge -- all still exist. Really?
Really. USC is no better off than it was yesterday, when little old Eamonn was convinced that no one was going to step in and attempt to rebuild that Metal Gear. (I used a complicated, dumb video game reference yesterday, too. Never mind.) And yet there are apparently two men bold enough to step into the abyss without knowing how deep it goes. Two men so hell-bent on coaching next season they'll each take a college job after spending most of their careers in the pros. Two men, like Lewis and Clark, Columbus and Vespucci, Jack and Sawyer.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: P.J. Carlesimo and Reggie Theus.
Yes, according to the Los Angeles Times, those two have emerged as USC's top candidates for the job. They fit USC athletic director Mike Garrett's hiring profile: two experienced (albeit one more than the other) pro coaches with college roots. Theus recruited well and took New Mexico State to one NCAA tournament in two years before being hired by the Kings; his tenure in Sacramento was short and unimpressive. (To be sure, I asked the foremost Kings blogger on the planet, Tom Ziller, to describe Theus over GChat, and he wrote: "Terrible game coach. Bad x's and o's. He had Artest/Bibby/Martin/Miller, which had been a decent playoff team two years prior. But he is about the most charming man in the world. After I met him, I had trouble ripping him wholesale.") Theus would seem to be a good fit for USC, where he can recruit -- but not too well, ahem -- and fits in with the flashy Los Angeles stereotype that may or may not be pertinent to this conversation.
The other candidate is Carlesimo, and really, God bless P.J. Carlesimo's little heart. Most recently fired from the Oklahoma City Thunder, which for a while there was like coaching a college team, the last time P.J. rolled them out in the college game was in 1994, when he took Seton Hall to the NCAA title game. But really? P.J. Carlesimo? He's a better game coach than Theus or Floyd will ever be, but Carlesimo's just sort of a resounding "meh" at this point, right? Is anyone excited about P.J.?
Actually, check that: USC fans should be excited about P.J., because USC fans should be excited about anyone with a whistle, a clipboard and a bank account routing number. Theus and Carlesimo are better than anything I would have imagined USC pulling 24 hours ago. The crater is still smoking, after all.
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Jeff Eisenberg
The Dagger is a college basketball blog edited by Jeff Eisenberg. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.
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3 Comments
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Maybe it was a porrly constructed and worded sentence but the lack of research and knowledge on a blog about college basketball is astounding.
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And, you don't have to set the world on fire to make the fan base happy. Pete Carroll holds that as part of his job description
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The NBA coach thing is only a single facet of what they are looking at. Reggie Theus has ties with California AAU and coaches a team, has several years of D-league experience as an head coach of the ABA Las Vegs Slam who went to the championship game in his first year and he coached for two NBA summer league teams-under Larry Brown in Philly and for the Denver Nuggets.
``He’s one of the best hires I’ve ever made,” Pitino said about Theus in Louisville. “``I needed someone to get me into the west coast region and there was no better guy to do it than Reggie. Not only is he a great recruiter. He can also teach the game.” ``It’s like having two head coaches on the sidelines,” said the 6-6 Williams, who completed the stellar class when he called Theus and Pitino yesterday. “What I like about Reggie is that he’s so straightforward. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He’s going to tell you everything, even if it’s not what you want to hear.”
With his coaching work at Louisville and New Mexico State he showed his ability to recruit, teach and game plan as well as administrate a program bringing in top recruits and transfers without running afoul of the NCAA- that's a minor miracle in today's college game. The turnaround at New Mexico State was miraculous.
That doesn't sound like someone who doesn't know X's and O's. But wait, he also was a 14 year NBA pro and two time All Star and a college All American. So who are we going to trust with X's and O's here?
Obviously he was a much better coach in the NBA than PJ- he improved the Sacramento Kings by five wins, on a team that lost the little talent it had and Theus had a winning record but was stuck in the Western conference with talentless Sacramento. If he was in the East he would have been in fifth place at the end of the season with that record. But somehow we are to believe that he doesn't know X's and O's. And I guess USC should also just commit suicide too because Eamonn Brennan O'Weiss says so?
On the face of it it doesn't look like the NCAA has the goods with no evidence and the only accusers being two drug dealing convicts who contradict even their partners. So the NCAA is using the investigation itself to punish USC, drawing it out and leaking to the press.
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