re: If Trent goes to UTAH who would you like to bring in as your next bball coach?

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there is some strong interest for the Utah job by Trent Johnson,

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Case for Tim Floyd: do you want to win? He's won everywhere he's been (and revived the programs). UNO, Iowa St., USC, and UTEP. Took the teams to NCAA tourney and won 22+ games with regularity. This year he won 25 games at UTEP despite losing it's top 2 big men. Want a good recruiter and developer of talent? UNO had Tony Harris, as well as big men Ervin Johnson and Michael McDonald who played in NBA despite never playing high school basketball. He had big man Kelvin Cato who had played only a year of high school ball, at ISU. Cato played in NBA along with Dedric Willoughby. At USC he had Nick Young (Wizards), Demar Derozan (Raptors), Taj Gibson (Bulls), OJ Mayo (Memphis), who were all 1st round picks. Look at Arizona's team now: three players were Floyd signees at USC before the AD ran Floyd off. PAC10 player of the year Derrick Williams is one of the 3. People are calling that team the Arizona Trojans. Floyd can recruit the Louisiana also as he he PAC 10 defensive player of the year Marcus Simmons, all PAC 10 player Dwight Lewis of Rummel, pg Ryan Francis from glenn oaks before he was killed, Leonard Washington who was a top player for USC. He also had commitments from #1 player in country Brandon Jennings before it became apparent he wouldn't make grades, top 5 big man Renardo Sidney who ended up at MSU. Want a good coach? He can x and o with the best. What other college coach can say the Bulls wanted him, then the Hornets had him as coach twice? He knows what it takes to get to NBA and what they look for. The whole Mayo thing was a joke. It was a statement by a convicted felon saying Floyd gave a guy $1000 when he a year earlier said that USC and it's coaches did nothing improper. It was such a non issue that in the ncaa's almost 100 page ruling on the Reggie Bush, USC, Mayo saga, that they didn't even mention allegations of payments. Floyd was sabotaged by the AD to save football. Ask any USC fan. Also ask any USC fan if they like Floyd. LSU made an attempt at Floyd while he was at ISU but offered about $400,000 while he was making $750,000 at ISU. LSU then got Brady. People can throw around the names of these coaches who are the flavor of the week, but Floyd has produced every he's been. The one place that had the resources like LSU, was USC and he was building a top 10 program there until he was run off by the AD who was trying to save USC football and was then fired. His signees are leading Arizona's team this March. Floyd would win a national championship here. He'd sign Ricardo Gathers, Bridgewater, and the St. Aug guys.

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The 15 to 35 LSU fan has largely abandoned LSU Hoops the last two years. They barely showed up for Johnson's inaugural team he well coached up, riding SEC-POY Thornton, and Taz, in carrying a mere seven man team, to an outright SEC crown three years ago. Saving their loudest cheer for the Canes Challenge to go over the total, ensuring a game ticket had become a Canes BOGO coupon..that and spiked attendance for Quick Change appearances.

The product is no longer Pistol Pete, Rudy and Astronaut, John Williams, Chris Jackson, Shaq, Stromi & homey Jabari, Baby & Tyrus, etc..

And this Ritalin generation of students, many more of whom aren't native to La in the Tier-1 era, thus didn't grow up with a P&G colored ball and net, are far too stimulated and bore easily, to be loyal to mediocrity. Especially in a day of proliferated tv contract packages and large HDTVs compared to Pistol and Macklin eras, where you were either there, or lucky to catch a few rare games on a small analog.

The Pistol on into Dale Brown era, had a Barnum and Bailey element of fascination, that is missing to today's LSU Hoops, had the luxury of arriving when LSU Football was just starting into a slumber in DB's era, and the LSU Baseball as known of the past 27 years, had yet to really exist just yet.

LSU Hoops has great history and highs, but it's valley lows, their durations, and it's bandwagon fanbase, have always been it's biggest detriment to sustained greatness..

Elite ballers don't want to play in empty arenas. Nor are they as abundant in La as are Footballers and Baseballers. Pistol was an import via his dad getting gig, Dale recruited worldwide, Brady landed Stromile via Shreve, Jabari via lucky reclamation project, and then the Collis AAU bunch, which helped get Randolph for a year..

Outside of Pistol packing Frosh games at the Ag, the 1979-1981 teams, CJ/Shaq eras, and Dale/Brady/Johnson best teams having people slowly come around to filling the place at the tail end of seasons where great teams that deserved that support all year, finally came around..

Most LSU Fans haven't been the program aid that they have been to LSU Football and Baseball. I've had to come to accept this, after growing up with Dale's dream of LSU Hoops climbing to the top of that mountain, assuming that what he built would march forward and be maintained to those former levels of consistency.

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