Where the Cats are, have been, and will be with Collins as coach (revisited)

[NJCat]

Heck, NU is struggling to even have a winning record, and some of you are dissing making the NIT?

Odds are NU will have a losing record for 5 out of the last 7 seasons. Maybe the first step is to consistently deliver a winning record.

Collins is under contract through 2025. Phillips has shown no interest in sacking coaches before their contract is up, so Collins will be here unless he gets tired of pounding the rock.

 

[Sec.112]

Boy, NUCat320, you sure put a lot of words in my mouth.

Once again ... the question was what is a reasonable definition of a consistent post-season contender at NU ... AND is that the next step or is there something (a stage/period of time/another level) in between.

I think Zeek is relatively on the money. There should be a progression here. I'd say there's at least two more difficult steps before tournaments become an every-three-year expectation. There needs to be another tourney bid in two or three years, then hopefully this becomes more consistent.

Let's look at all the usual high academic/big-conference suspects in the last five years - Vanderbilt, Stanford, Cal, Georgetown. Look at NU's neighbor to the north - Marquette with a change at the same time as well as its history and relatively recent success. (Please give me other examples. I know I'm forgetting some.)

All have one bid in the last four or five years. All have a MUCH better history and updated facilities for more than four months.

And everybody suddenly wants to forget the NU grades.

How about Iowa with a fabulous history and killer support? Three in eight years.

This isn't easy. I'm sorry, but this isn't the usual program. Unfortunately, this thing is not going to turn on a dime.

 

[Sec.112]

... Phillips has shown no interest in sacking coaches before their contract is up, so Collins will be here unless he gets tired of pounding the rock.

That's a good question. It will be interesting to see how Phillips handles this if things continue to be mediocre.

Are you saying Phillips doesn't show interest based on what he's done outside the revenue sports also? I can't speak to that.

For Fitzgerald and Carmody, I wonder if extenuating circumstances with both forced Phillips to act differently than he might have.

 

[freewillie07]

I think the more pertinent question is can Collins turn this NU program into a consistent post-season contender? I'd say the jury is still very much out on that, especially given the crash-and-burn of last season, when expectations were so high, the current "rebuild" season and the dim prospects for next year without our two best players. It absolutely is too soon to "give up" on Collins. But it is absolutely time to start asking hard questions, such as, "If Collins goes to one post-season in 7 years, does that impact his ability to recruit?" "Can Collins coach an efficient (or even entertaining) offense?" "Can Collins figure out how to win close games?" "What is his vision (identity) for the NU program?" "Will he have a true PG next year?" "Will he have a Big Ten quality center?" "And what are the true ceilings for this year's freshmen, who came in so highly touted but haven't really established themselves yet?"

This is so on point, and should be the end of this discussion for now.

 

[torque-cat]

This is so on point, and should be the end of this discussion for now.

So the final word is that the jury is out whether he can build a consistent winner? Yes we can all agree with that.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

This is so on point, and should be the end of this discussion for now.

Let it be written, let it be said.