Billy Kennedy: "I thought our guys were just terrible"

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Am I the only person that thinks that BK essentially watched Pat Knights post-game comments multiple times, and then tried to apply them to his situation? To me, it seems canned.

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For the record, I've heard the 'stealing money from the university' line multiple times in coaching rants for years, as well as poster rants on this very board. Pat Knight did not coin that phrase, so Kennedy's use of that phrase nor the statement that 'I thought our guys were just terrible' come across as a rant trying to copy some other really unique rant

That does not mean there have not been some pretty unique coaching rants readily attributed to a single coach. For example:

'I'm a man! I'm 40!'

Anybody guess who that one is? Unfortunately, I think Kennedy is about 48 and that line is just hard to copy by most coaches anyways because it only really works well when the coach is actually 40.

How about this one...

'Its practice man! I'm talking about practice!'

Or this one:

'They were who we thought they were!'



[This message has been edited by Pumpkinhead (edited 2/26/2012 6:54p).]

Maroon dawn. Do u really have to post the logos of the SEC teams on every post

Summit, are you f'n kidding me?

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BKs first year > Sherman's first year

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Yeah, both teams started from the same starting position. One was a conference bottom feeder and one was a top 25 team. Exactly the same.

Wow. Double f'n wow.

I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. We hired cheap, health of coach didn't help much either. If aTm really wants to be a force in college BB they will need to hire better. A bigger name coach would be more apt to lure big time recuits in here. This team should have never been picked as a favorite to win the conference. Kansas, Mizzou, & Baylor way more talent. Texas, K State, Iowa State, even OU has better looking athletes on their roster. New coach (mid tier) weak at point guard & and big men, absence of scoreres, sick coach, injuries, unrealstic expectations, defections, and apathy. Its easy to see what is wrong with the basketball team. The bigger question is who will fix it and how long will that take?

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BK supporters - how much money will you bet that he has us in the dance next year

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I'll take wagers of $300/person from anyone that would like to put their money up.

At some point some of the BK haters have to look at the big picture to see why this year has sucked so much.

- Jamal Branch quitting midseason left us paper thin at PG. And when Dash went down at the KU game, we were forced to play Naji and ET at point. That's not an ideal situation and it won't win many games. That's not BK's fault.
- Kourtney Roberson's injury has been a huge loss. He was by far the toughest presence we have down low. When he's gone we don't match up well down low against teams with aggressive big men.
- Throw in the injury to KM and you have more issues with scoring and chemistry issues when he returns to the lineup.

I'm not saying this year has been a blast. It has obviously sucked and been frustrating. But if you take a step back and look at what all has taken place, it's not fair to crucify Coach Kennedy. A lot of things have been outside his control.

You don't have to agree with me. If you don't it's fine. That's just my opinion on the matter

The injury excuse is just that: an excuse.

If it's injuries then why did a healthy team with everyone on it still find a way to lose to Rice and OSU?

Kenedys sets are terrible and his team is reminicent of Watkins: more talent on paper than the other guy but no discipline, no hustle and the ability to always snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

He can't coach, he can't recruit and he can't win, but half of you idiots want to give him an extention!

He needs to do the honorable thing and admit to himself he is in over his head, accept reassignment and let Byrne higher a proven, hungry mid-major coach who will work with Cyp to right this sinking ship before it's too late.

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I'll take wagers of $300/person from anyone that would like to put their money up

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Victory tax?

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BKs first year > Sherman's first year

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Debatable. One only returned 40% of the team and was expected to finish close to the bottom of the league, the other returned all but 2 players and was expected to be at the top.

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coach who will work with Cyp

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You do realize that Cyprien is only at A&M because he a long-time friend of Kennedy, right? If Kennedy leaves, Cyprien won't stay. He rarely stays anywhere longer than 2-3 years anyway.

We pay him a lot, too

BCG tried to pay Cyp a bunch to go to Lubbock and Cyprien turned him down. Apparently working at Tech and living in Lubbock requires A LOT of incentive if you have good options elsewhere

Obviously if a new HC was brought in, what would happen to the current staff is totally unpredictable. Most likely, there would be at least some staff turnover, with the new HC bringing in people that he was comfortable working with. The idea of just swapping out Kennedy for some other HC and keeping Cyprien, Keller, and Reese in place seems a bit far-fetched, but totally depends I guess on who the new guy actually is.

That is what can really suck about a coaching change in terms of recruiting, you may be having to hit the reset button again. There is not an easy answer here, particularly if your new HC is not a really big name 'splash' kind of hire.

[This message has been edited by Pumpkinhead (edited 2/27/2012 8:01a).]

I submit exhibit 2,876 on why Byrne should be canned. But by all means, all of you $Bill lovers continue ranting about how he's the best AD in the country, point to other sports successes that don't generate any revenue, blah, blah, blah.

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No one is saying "fire" but he needs to "resign" or be "reassigned due to medical issues".

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A lot of "people" are saying "he" needs to "be" fired.

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I'll take wagers of $300/person from anyone that would like to put their money up.

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Doesn't A&M making the dance depend on some unknown variables at this point? Such as incoming JUCO help or Middleton not going pro. If Middleton pulls an Elonu and we don't get our top JUCO targets we may be even worse next year. If Middleton stays, Roberson gets healthy and we get great JUCO PG contributions then we can make the dance again. I think it remains to be seen.

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mhayden
posted 9:53p, 02/26/12


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BK supporters - how much money will you bet that he has us in the dance next year
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I'll take wagers of $300/person from anyone that would like to put their money up.

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You are a BK supporter. I'll put up $300 that we don't make the dance next year if he is our coach. Let's get Gabe Bock to hold the money. And if you want to make it $3,000 that is ok with me. Let me know.

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And if you want to make it $3,000 that is ok with me.

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Wow! JeffHamilton going to the mat without even knowing the full 2012 recruiting class or whether or not for sure Middleton is coming back.

That kind of gambling approach sure seems like a skydiver jumping without a backup chute...

Couple of thoughts:

1. If Kennedy leaves, it has to be his decision, or at least appear that way. Firing him would be a PR nightmare for the athletic department and set us back for quite a few years. PR hit would come from firing a coach recently diagnosed with Parkinson's. Also, you would have trouble hiring big name coaches if they feel that if they have all the uncontrollable set backs in any year and they don't win, then they will be canned. Other coaches would use all of this as negative recruiting against us.

2. Going out and hiring a big name coach would cost us money. Would the A&M fanbase be okay with paying the basketball coach more than the football coach at a football school?

I don't know what the answer is to "right the ship". But I do know that whatever decision is made, we will have to tread lightly so we don't completely destroy the basketball program for the foreseeable future.

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Wow! JeffHamilton going to the mat without even knowing the full 2012 recruiting class or whether or not for sure Middleton is coming back.

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I'm not concerned if KM comes back. Even with him, we won't make the dance. There is some risk that we could pull a stud 2012 recruit that would improve us enough to get to the dance, but that risk is small.

I just don't see us making the dance next year with BK as our coach. And I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is.

Waiting to hear from mhayden.....
And anyone else that wants to bet money that we make the dance next year with BK as our coach. Because I disagree.

Cut our losses and get a new coach next month. We picked a dud and eventually everyone will figure that out.

dcaggie, people don't seem to understand your point #2. we are not going to be able to pay for a top coach. we do not pay top dollar for our football coach and we are supposed to be a football school. we certainly are not going to can/reassign a guy and then spend more month than we just did on our football coach. we do not have a huge athletic budget, especially in basketball. our fairweather basketball fans make it impossible to spend a lot of money because the revenue will not be there. even when we were winning attendance for half the season was poor.

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If it's injuries then why did a healthy team with everyone on it still find a way to lose to Rice and OSU?

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we were not near 100% for Rice, not that it is any excuse but don't act like we were healthy. Middleton had just come back and Roberson was pretty much out.
OSU is tough in stillwater, ask ISU, tu, Mizzou, again no excuse for the horrid performance especially when they were without Nash which may have actually helped them since their big guy controlled the paint pretty well defensively.

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You are a BK supporter. I'll put up $300 that we don't make the dance next year if he is our coach. Let's get Gabe Bock to hold the money. And if you want to make it $3,000 that is ok with me. Let me know.

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I'll do $300 now and will be willing to add the extra zero once we know for sure Middelton is coming back (I find it very unlikely he leaves, but obviously that would impact my confidence in what the team is needing to be good).

You have stars, so please ask Gabe to hold the money. He can email me his address or I can wire it to his account or drop it off when I catch a baseball game in a couple of weeks.

I'm willing to consider another person (mutally agreed), but I want the money up so there can be no welching. And I'm not impuning your ethics, just texags posters. We will both feel better knowing the money is in place. And we can add to it in June if we agree to.

You can email me at jhamilton@ibectx.com

dcaggie04 and expert, I generally agree.

We can't fire Kennedy because of the W-L record. No coach gets fired after just 1 season because he lost too many games with a roster that he did not recruit, not to mention with a large percentage of that roster being injured during the season.

So, if Kennedy is fired, well it is because of the Parkinsons diagnosis. But, wait a minute, apparently Kennedy is actually physically able to coach and is not even on meds for Parkinsons...soooo..you can't fire him because of that either without a public relations nightmare and opening yourself up for a lawsuit to boot.

Okay, so the athletic department can't fire Kennedy, but they are still scared of Parkinsons killing his recruiting ability (even though the guy hasn't even finished one recruiting season yet and has Cyprien on the staff, but let's say that the AD is still scared and impatient and doesn't want to wait to see how the recruiting is actually playing out over a longer time-frame).

So, the theory by some TexAgs posters is that A&M is going to make Kennedy some kind of 'we'll take care of you for life' deal that is good as his current contract and that he can't refuse so he will step aside? So that they can then do what? Go out and throw a bunch of $$$ at some big name 'splash' hire? But they have never ever done a 'splash' hire that pays a basketball coach more than our football coach...which is what a 'big name' hire like Buzz would cost...so...

Well, crap. That means they would go the up-and-coming mid-major route again, hitting the reset button after just 1 year of already hitting the reset button. And having to do that while simultaneously having to pay off Kennedy with a 'golden parachute' package so they don't get sued...holy cow what a mess!

Really? This is what some TexAgs posters think a professional Athletic Department is actually going to do? They think that is what Byrne is going to actually do?

Much more likely is this...assuming Kennedy is actually physically okay, they give more time to Kennedy to turn things around, recruit his own players and so forth. Just as they would have if the Parkinsons diagnosis had never happened.

After multiple seasons, if Kennedy doesn't produce, then they fire him. Just like they would any other coach without Parkinsons.

I think the only way Kennedy is not back next year is if he truly wants to resign himself (i.e., it is really his family and his decision). But, he sure doesn't talk or act like a guy who is thinking that way...instead what he seems to be doing is flying to BFE places like north Idaho looking for players to help next year.









[This message has been edited by Pumpkinhead (edited 2/27/2012 11:11a).]

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will be willing to add the extra zero once we know for sure Middelton is coming back

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mhayden, as an industrial engineer with lots of statistics courses under my belt, I find your gambling thought process much more statistically sound and less emotional than Jeff's approach

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You have stars, so please ask Gabe to hold the money. He can email me his address or I can wire it to his account or drop it off when I catch a baseball game in a couple of weeks.

I'm willing to consider another person (mutally agreed), but I want the money up so there can be no welching. And I'm not impuning your ethics, just texags posters. We will both feel better knowing the money is in place. And we can add to it in June if we agree to.

You can email me at jhamilton@ibectx.com

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I don't know Gabe from Adam, so if you're interested in asking him about holding the $$$ you can contact him. I've also got no issues with going without a middleman for the $300 amount, I've spoken with you enough to know you're good for it. If it later becomes $3k then we can look into finding a middleman at that point.

I'll hold the cash.

I remember when A&M basketball stood for toughness and hard play. We were always in games - even when we lost it was always close and you thought we'd have a chance.

I remember when A&M basketball was horrible. It wasn't that long ago. Everyone expecting us to be great every year is outta their mind. North Carolina missed the tournament a few years ago. Florida won back-to-back championships and then missed the dance for a couple of years. Kentucky didn't make it a few years ago. And so on. It helps to have a little perspective when thinking about our program.

Well ... it's back.

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I'll do $300 now and will be willing to add the extra zero once we know for sure Middelton is coming back (I find it very unlikely he leaves, but obviously that would impact my confidence in what the team is needing to be good).

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You were wrong about Middleton, so I assume you want to leave our bet at $300 and not raise it to $3,000? Let me know, but if it's going to $3,000 then we definately need to let Gabe or someone reputable hold the money.

Wow missed this one the first time around

Wow a real bet has gone down.

I think Kennedy is probably a fine coach but I'm not sure that means we're gonna make the tournament this season. Tons of new faces.

Rooting for hayden for once.

I'm also rooting for us to make the tourney, but I don't mix emotions and money.

We have almost an entirely new roster with Kennedy's guys. I'm thinking the logical approach is to watch us play some non-conference games against legit opposition before deciding that we can't make the tourney.

Kennedy's guys?
Isn't it about 1/2 and 1/2 still?
Just in terms of potential contributors:

Turge: JG, Elston, Ray, Kourtney, Dan Alexander, Keith Davis

Kennedy: Fab, Reese, Caruso, Young, Smith, Space?

So yeah, BK has got some of his guys, but i'd say Fab, Reese, and Young will be the only ones this year to get a good chunk of PT. Maybe Shawn Smith if Logan is right about him looking impressive thus far.