Big 12 down



  • Texas Hawk 10 said:

    @JayHawkFanToo TCU had won 6 Big 12 games total in their first years in the league. Dixon won 7 Big 12 games including the tournament win over Kansas last year. He also more than doubled their win total from the previous season in his first year.

    That’s major immediate progress no matter how you look at it.

    Correction, TCU won 8 games in the conference prior to Dixon, 10 if you count the conference tournament; Dixon won 6 games, 8 if you count the Tournament and finished 7th and a trip to the NIT with some pretty decent players he inherited and 2 he recruited, Fisher and Bane, that were the 4th and 6th players on the team. Like I said, he inherited a decent team with nowhere to go but up and brand new facilities. He has made good progress, there is no denying it, but with his recruits and a veteran team let’s see if he can finish in the top half of the conference.

    P.S. KU did not have Jackson when it lost to TCU. Just sayin’…



  • Computer rankings are so flawed. Halfway into a season so it could still change a ton. and it doesn’t take into account injuries, off nights or how schedules are built. Just the opponent. The big 12 being the “best” conference 5 years in a row buy 0 Championships is proof that these rankings are flawed.



  • The Big. 12 is the most balanced conference. That makes all the games competitive. The bulk of the conference is ranked 10-40 so the teams are good, but there aren’t multiple elite teams in the Big12. That’s how the ACC wins so many championships- when Duke is down UNC is good and vice versa. Who picks up the weight when KU is down? Who pushes KU to be better in a good year? I was hoping that would be Hoiberg at ISU.



  • @JayHawkFanToo we don’t have him this year either.



  • @Crimsonorblue22

    We did not have Doke either and this year we don’t have Mason or Lucas. I was simply pointing out that the win was agains a KU team at less than full strength. This year KU’s team is quite different than last year, probably not as good at this time but can get considerably better once Silvio and Cunliffe start to contribute and more so if Preston becomes available.



  • @Jayballer54 I agree about the competition. We’ve had and have some soft coaching. I really think we’ve been hurt by not being challenged over the years with some stiff competition. We’ve only had marquee players over the years, but coaching has been lacking. Many may not like Kruger, but I saw OU getting Kruger from Las Vegas way before he arrived in Norman. Kruger was a great grab by OU and the best coach, next to Billy Tubbs. The Dixon grab was good, but didn’t know how he would translate in the B12. Huggy is tough as nails, and they have actually made KU better. Now, we have ISU, OSU, KSU, and UT that are all ‘down’ with coaching. I was really hoping that Brad Underwood would stay around and disappointed when he bailed so early. I’d like to see Arkansas join the B12. They have really improved over the last few years.

    I’ve never been a Shaka fan, and it wasn’t the whole VCU/KU thing. I blame KU, and have never given Shaka any credit for that win. KU made Shaka’s career after that stupid win. Unfortunately, KU has given Hurley and ASU new life. How about a B12 team getting Bobby Hurley as a head coach? Maybe KSU or OSU? Hurley does come from some bball pedigree. Another good get for the B12 if he ever became available from UCLA would be Steve Alford. It would be ironic if he went to TT, haha following Bobby Knight, but hopefully with better success. I think Jim Larranaga would be a good grab for a B12 school too.

    I digress…thanks for the coaching inspiration that could make the B12 even better.



  • @dylans Agree with Hoiberg, but Prohm has been a fair fix for now. I see them getting someone of Hoiberg’s coaching prowess soon.



  • @JayHawkFanToo Tubby just never quite recovered after UK, and just didn’t translate. Dixon is resonating and this is his breakout year as a B12 coach. I see him only getting better. We will be competing for recruits in Texas with Dixon at TCU. Once again, a football school making noise in bball. IT can be done. If a football school can be as good in bball, then a bball school can be good in football, hello Zenger. Watch what other programs are doing in their departments. They expanding their school’s image by getting good coaches. If they can do it, you can do it too. NOW, do it, and do it soon. Hell, look at OU Kruger and Lincoln. It can be done.



  • I would rank the Conference coaches as follows:

    • Elite coaches - Self, Huggins Kruger, their records speak for themselves.
    • Top tier but not quite elite- Dixon, Drew and Weber. Most of us don’t care for Drew or Weber but Drew has made Baylor relevant and kept it as a consistent too 25 team. Might not like Squeaky and he can’t recruit or keep players in the program but he can flat out coach.
    • In between - Prohm, he has done well with Hoiberg players and he is coming along; not quite the mayor but not bad.
    • Still too earl to tell - Boynton and Beard; we shopuld know more after this season.
    • Overrated - Smart. So far he has shown that he reached his level of incompetence when he joined a major program. Worst W-L record among conference coaches at 51.3% and it is not even close, next is Weber at 61%


  • @truehawk93

    Prohm has been very good for ISU, not quite the mayor but few would be. Having said this, there is a chance the mayor comes back to ISU; his stint in the NBA so far has not been good and Bull’s fans are just about out of patience. This year (0.353) they are way behind the previous two years when they were a 0.500 team. Uunless they make a run they will finish out of the playoff, again, and Hoiberg will be history.



  • @JayHawkFanToo Who freaking cares if JJ didn’t play in that game. The point is Jamie Dixon did far more in his first year at TCU than they had done in a long time. He inherited some good players, good for him, doesn’t chamge that they won 12 games the year before and only 2 Big 12 games that year.

    I don’t need to wait for him to finish in the top half of the league today he’s a good coach. The man had Pitt consistently competing for Big East titles over his 10 years. Even his mediocre last 3 years weren’t terrible. He still finished with a winning ACC record in his 3 years with Pitt in that league.

    There’s very few programs out there that wouldn’t take Dixon as their coach. The man has a 73% career winning percentage that is top 10 among active coaches right now.

    If you can’t look at what he’s accomplished and say that he’s very good coach, then finishing in the top half of the Big 12 isn’t going to really change your mind on the matter at this point.



  • @Texas-Hawk-10 I care a little bit.



  • @Texas-Hawk-10

    No need to get upset, it is just a friendly discussion in a sports forum.

    I never said Dixon is not a good coach, I said and I still believe he is just not elite. Is Dixon better or equal to Self, Huggins and Kruger? In my opinion, no. Would KU hire Dixon? The answer is probably no which means he is just not an elite coach…again, in my opinion.



  • @JayHawkFanToo I’d rather have Dixon than Huggins or Kruger right now, moving forward. But analyzing career accomplishments, I’d agree with you. It would not bother me much if KU hired Dixon if Self left. That would be better than trying too hard to hire a legacy (like Manning or Haase). Not sure what would be a better hire that Dixon. Brad Stevens? Bill Donovan? If either would exit the NBA, which I doubt.



  • @HighEliteMajor

    My two top choices would be Brad Stevens and Archie Miller. Stevens has put together a nice team in Boston. Did you watch last night’s game against Houston? Boston Came back from 26 point down to win the game. Most interesting part of the game is Smart getting two offensive fouls on Harden on Houston inbound plays with seconds left in the game. Smart has had lot’s of practice but these were Hall of Fame worthy flops, not that Harden did not push and they normally would not be called, particularly on Harden, but Smart sold it both times and the ref had to call the charges. Unbelievable.



  • @JayHawkFanToo Agree very much with Stevens in a fantasy situation.

    Archie Miller might be a realistic get but I need to see more from him…



  • @JayHawkFanToo I didn’t watch, but saw the highlights this morning. Harden seemed to want the second one.

    Archie Miller? I didn’t consider that one.



  • @HighEliteMajor

    Archie Miller si the best up and coming coach. A few years at Indiana should have him ready for KU.



  • I’d take Jay Wright. I also like Mike White of Florida. I would like to see more pressure defense, with traps, pack lines, freak defenses, and all that jazz.



  • @Texas-Hawk-10 Glad someone else can bring up points on Jamie , I can’t dig into deep enough to really try to point out. -All I know he did really well at Pitt for MOST of the time he was there, and I’ll still say he is a definite plus for the Big 12 to have o n Board as a /Coach. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY



  • @JayHawkFanToo haha…Whodathunkit…the Smart Flop, WOW. Not once, but twice, and against Harden of all people. That’s a feat in and of itself for Smart. Smart just single handedly won that game for the Celts in a matter of secs and never handled the ball.



  • I think Archie Miller is overrated to be honest. And with his family connections, I wouldn’t be surprised if it came out at some point that he’s as crooked as his brother.



  • @KUSTEVE agreed. I think Self is too predictable at times.



  • @JayHawkFanToo

    Stevens has done a remarkable job with Boston. I watched that game. I sensed the outcome when it got back to an even game. Putting the world’s biggest flopper on one of the most aggressive driving guards in the league… yes. Smart flopped. But he deserved BOTH of those calls. And the fact that Harden didn’t see the second call coming just shows how he lives in a bubble. The guy has really melted down recently. At this point, he is starting to hurt Houston as they pile on more talent. If he wants to ball hog that much, he should be traded to a really bad team that doesn’t have much offensive talent.



  • @Texas-Hawk-10

    Why do you think he is overrated? Very unfair to say he could be crooked because you think his brother is. Sean Miller has been very successful everywhere he has coached and has anyone stated that he is crooked…other than Jaybate, of course? Even the FBI investigation did not mention him personally unlike Pitino 😄


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