Arizona and March Madness

[jumpinjohnny]

PAC titles? You make me laugh, thanks I need a good laugh!

Interesting take. You do realize that there's life away from the Dance, don't you.

This is where we run into differences as a fan base. Conference championships and conference tourney titles does not compare to having success in 'The Dance'. Not for a top 5...wait...top 10...no wait...a top 20 program in Arizona. No coach or players is ever content with conference titles. There a forever judged by what they accomplished against the best of the best in March Madness.

Where is it written it has to be all or nothing? Live in the present. Enjoy the good things as they happen.

[jumpinjohnny]

Rinse and repeat first round exits and not being invited to the NCAA at all is not a great outcome. A top tier program doesn't Perron to the level the the Cats have over the past 6 years. All the Miller homers need to open their eyes and see the truth. I'll be the first to admit that I'm wrong about Miller and the state of the program, when the direction changes.

. . . and we've deserve better because?

Count your blessings, we could be Illini fans, or Marquette Warrior enthusiasts, or even North Carolina fans who regularly experience feast and famine. You, me, none of us have earned shit. We've been spoiled, fans in the right place at the right juncture. All good things come to an end. We've got it better than most, you may come to realize that someday. As a soon-to-be-70-year-old man, who grew up in the Midwest and followed the Chicago Cubs through decades of failures, I already have.

Unbelievably naive take. How many Tourney appearances, Sweet 16s, E8s, Final 4 and NC's has Arizona bee to? We also consistently recruit top classes. Deserve's have nothing to do with it. The program is established; we are no longer a blip on the radar; we have done it before. You would never hear other top programs say something like this? This is something an ASU fan would say and even they would be wrong.

We are one wrong hire away from becoming an afterthought. We were so-so before our Hall of Fame coach, and may very well revisit average if the fan base ends up running Miller out of town like they did Tomey. The fact that we became established was subsequent to Olson's arrival. He made us winners. What you want is another Hall of Fame coach other than Miller--that is no less naive than being thankful for all our successes, however menial they may be in your world of perfection.

[ichi]

I think Chuck Berry said it best when he sang "go go, go Johnny go go go"

[KansasCityCats]

Nice. I was hoping you were t going to reference My Dingaling

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39320370

[TucsonTruckStop]

Rinse and repeat first round exits and not being invited to the NCAA at all is not a great outcome. A top tier program doesn't Perron to the level the the Cats have over the past 6 years. All the Miller homers need to open their eyes and see the truth. I'll be the first to admit that I'm wrong about Miller and the state of the program, when the direction changes.

. . . and we've deserve better because?

Count your blessings, we could be Illini fans, or Marquette Warrior enthusiasts, or even North Carolina fans who regularly experience feast and famine. You, me, none of us have earned shit. We've been spoiled, fans in the right place at the right juncture. All good things come to an end. We've got it better than most, you may come to realize that someday. As a soon-to-be-70-year-old man, who grew up in the Midwest and followed the Chicago Cubs through decades of failures, I already have.

Unbelievably naive take. How many Tourney appearances, Sweet 16s, E8s, Final 4 and NC's has Arizona bee to? We also consistently recruit top classes. Deserve's have nothing to do with it. The program is established; we are no longer a blip on the radar; we have done it before. You would never hear other top programs say something like this? This is something an ASU fan would say and even they would be wrong.

We are one wrong hire away from becoming an afterthought. We were so-so before our Hall of Fame coach, and may very well revisit average if the fan base ends up running Miller out of town like they did Tomey. The fact that we became established was subsequent to Olson's arrival. He made us winners. What you want is another Hall of Fame coach other than Miller--that is no less naive than being thankful for all our successes, however menial they may be in your world of perfection.

Another stupid take. Kids play for the brand as much as for the coach. Too say Arizona can't hire an established or up-and-comer coach is ridiculous. You want the status quo because you are afraid we can't do better? That's a poor attitude as a fan and in life.

[jumpinjohnny]

Rinse and repeat first round exits and not being invited to the NCAA at all is not a great outcome. A top tier program doesn't Perron to the level the the Cats have over the past 6 years. All the Miller homers need to open their eyes and see the truth. I'll be the first to admit that I'm wrong about Miller and the state of the program, when the direction changes.

. . . and we've deserve better because?

Count your blessings, we could be Illini fans, or Marquette Warrior enthusiasts, or even North Carolina fans who regularly experience feast and famine. You, me, none of us have earned shit. We've been spoiled, fans in the right place at the right juncture. All good things come to an end. We've got it better than most, you may come to realize that someday. As a soon-to-be-70-year-old man, who grew up in the Midwest and followed the Chicago Cubs through decades of failures, I already have.

Unbelievably naive take. How many Tourney appearances, Sweet 16s, E8s, Final 4 and NC's has Arizona bee to? We also consistently recruit top classes. Deserve's have nothing to do with it. The program is established; we are no longer a blip on the radar; we have done it before. You would never hear other top programs say something like this? This is something an ASU fan would say and even they would be wrong.

We are one wrong hire away from becoming an afterthought. We were so-so before our Hall of Fame coach, and may very well revisit average if the fan base ends up running Miller out of town like they did Tomey. The fact that we became established was subsequent to Olson's arrival. He made us winners. What you want is another Hall of Fame coach other than Miller--that is no less naive than being thankful for all our successes, however menial they may be in your world of perfection.

Another stupid take. Kids play for the brand as much as for the coach. Too say Arizona can't hire an established or up-and-comer coach is ridiculous. You want the status quo because you are afraid we can't do better? That's a poor attitude as a fan and in life.

This is rich.

One never knows whom one is dealing with in this sort of forum. The writer could be a young adult with limited life experience, or an older, frustrated, myopic adult, who can't accept opinions that don't line up with their world view. I'll roll with the second option. The older, wiser, adult, unwilling to accept or even consider other points of view, would be the type to use words such as 'stupid' 'naive' 'ridiculous' et all. I say this in response to the claim that I've offered a ". . . stupid response." I disrespectfully disagree.

"Kids play for the brand as much as for the coach."
Agreed.

"Too say Arizona can't hire an established or up-and-comer coach is ridiculous."

To, not 'too.' If you're going to be a stickler for perfection, set a good example. Anyway, I know we can hire another coach who might possibly prove to be better than Coach Miller, anyone with half a brain could figure that out. What some people fail to grasp, is that becoming a hall of fame coach takes time, and is wrought with bumps in the road. Take Coach O for example. I distinctly remember "fans" dogging him severely after the loss to a Steve Nash led Santa Clara team. Those "fans" called for his head. Maybe you were one of them?

"You want the status quo because you are afraid we can't do better?"

I don't want the status quo, I sometimes accept it because I'm willing to be patient. I don't enjoy losing any more than you do, but sports, like life, runs in cycles, they both have their high and low points. While we as U of A hoops fans haven't experienced the highest of highs under Miller, we certainly haven't had to face the lowest of lows. I think that fact mirrors most of our lives. You may be an exception.

"That's a poor attitude as a fan and in life."

Maybe I'm just too dumb to realize my shortcomings . . . an ignorance is bliss sort of thing.

[jumpinjohnny]

I think Chuck Berry said it best when he sang "go go, go Johnny go go go"

" . . . Johnny be good."

Smart comment there, Ichi. Smart meaning clever. One attaboy coming up.

[ichi]

isn't there a relationship between coach tenure and success in sports? I just saw a thing about the relative success of the Patriots and Bills that compared the success of one long term coach against the failure of a revolving door search for the right coach

Belichick lost to the fins to end the season and then to the Titans in the first round IIRC, smart money knows not to fire him for a few bad losses

its unfair to characterize the desire to retain a future HOF coach as being afraid to buck the status quo, or as settling. 

Miller has shown that he can recruit, he can handle the intense media pressure, has helped put talent into the NBA, he has represented the team and school as well as anyone could have over the last few years, he has a won/loss hovering around .750

I can understand the desire of fans to see the team do better, and I don't fault anyone who thinks we can do better than Miller, I just disagree.  But it seems like the replace Miller crowd are very eager to try to throw shade on anyone who thinks we have a great coach and that we need to get behind him.  We're not settling or scared of change or worried about rejection or anything, we know we have a good thing in CSM

I hope he wins his first nattie and enter the HOF as a Wildcat.

[Wildcat4life]

If the team underperforms for  the next 4-6 years, the brand will be tarnished. Couple that with the lingering NCAA investigations your guess is as good as mine if what the future holds. I read an interesting take about the state of the UOfA basketball program stating that the "once feared program is now a shell of itself, and no one fears playing them anymore". The program also has a track record of playing the bottom tier of NCAA program resulting in inflated record. Maybe I was spoiled having a HOF coach directing the program, that had a completely different approach to basketball. Lute played anyone, anywhere and had the stones to say it, now we look forward playing Long Beach State. Hopefully this is an eye opening seasonfor the coaching staff and things change. Maybe I'm wrong and this last five years is variance in sports the next five will be more like Miller's first five.

[jumpinjohnny]

isn't there a relationship between coach tenure and success in sports? I just saw a thing about the relative success of the Patriots and Bills that compared the success of one long term coach against the failure of a revolving door search for the right coach

Belichick lost to the fins to end the season and then to the Titans in the first round IIRC, smart money knows not to fire him for a few bad losses

its unfair to characterize the desire to retain a future HOF coach as being afraid to buck the status quo, or as settling. 

Miller has shown that he can recruit, he can handle the intense media pressure, has helped put talent into the NBA, he has represented the team and school as well as anyone could have over the last few years, he has a won/loss hovering around .750

I can understand the desire of fans to see the team do better, and I don't fault anyone who thinks we can do better than Miller, I just disagree.  But it seems like the replace Miller crowd are very eager to try to throw shade on anyone who thinks we have a great coach and that we need to get behind him.  We're not settling or scared of change or worried about rejection or anything, we know we have a good thing in CSM

I hope he wins his first nattie and enter the HOF as a Wildcat.

Here here!