MaoTosiFanClub
The problem
At this point, he's the only realistic hire (please do not bring up Izzo, Wright, or Dixon as all have less than zero % chance of happening) that keeps the golden goose alive even if it is on life support. Boylen, Greenberg, Haith, and Purnell are all mediocre coaches at best. If Arizona hires one of them the program will limp along for the next 5-8 years until we hire Pastner at which point the Arizona tradition will be long gone and McKale Center will be half-empty. Arizona BBall will no longer be relavant at that point and the atheltic department will have lost so much money in the meantime that at least a few programs and jobs will have been cut. Basically an all-around losing situation.
Now hiring Pastner is not without it's flaws there almost assuredly will be growing pains. Most guys his age will struggle making the adjustments to being a HC especially when he has had limited x's and o's experience. But surrounding him a savvy veteran game coach could alleviate part of the problem. There's also some question as to whether Pastner can compete with some of these older coaches in the recruiting wars. Well, that can always be alleviated as well with a couple strategic hires as recruiting is many time more about connections and playing time versus clout or experience.
The positives about Pastner - he can recruit and develop with the best of them. He's just as connected as any college coach in the country and will almost definitely get players to come to AZ. The other positive is the financial implications. For one, he'd be willing to come cheap and he's the unanimous favorite amongst the current NBA players whose donations we will definitely need over the next 1-2 years. Next he's the only guy left that can be packaged and sold to Arizona fans. Everyone in Tucson loves Pastner and anyone who's attended a school knows alumni back up their own. If Pastner is named I'm guessing we'd see a slight decrease in attendance next year compared to the probable 25-30% drop if one of those other scrubs is brought aboard. That difference is huge on the bottom line.
Now the problem with Pastner as it relates to the politics behind the search - he's a Lute guy and Jim Livengood hated/hates Lute Olson. Now that might be moot at this point as I see no reason Livengood should be allowed to further conduct this search and I've heard he's probably on his way out anyways. But it's an interesting scenario to follow nonetheless.
So with all that being said - if Arizona is going down I'd rather it be with a guy who's a Wildcat through and through and has the potential to be great than slowly circle the drain of mediocrity until somebody puts us out of our misery. Time to take the training wheels off, give Josh the job!
Now hiring Pastner is not without it's flaws there almost assuredly will be growing pains. Most guys his age will struggle making the adjustments to being a HC especially when he has had limited x's and o's experience. But surrounding him a savvy veteran game coach could alleviate part of the problem. There's also some question as to whether Pastner can compete with some of these older coaches in the recruiting wars. Well, that can always be alleviated as well with a couple strategic hires as recruiting is many time more about connections and playing time versus clout or experience.
The positives about Pastner - he can recruit and develop with the best of them. He's just as connected as any college coach in the country and will almost definitely get players to come to AZ. The other positive is the financial implications. For one, he'd be willing to come cheap and he's the unanimous favorite amongst the current NBA players whose donations we will definitely need over the next 1-2 years. Next he's the only guy left that can be packaged and sold to Arizona fans. Everyone in Tucson loves Pastner and anyone who's attended a school knows alumni back up their own. If Pastner is named I'm guessing we'd see a slight decrease in attendance next year compared to the probable 25-30% drop if one of those other scrubs is brought aboard. That difference is huge on the bottom line.
Now the problem with Pastner as it relates to the politics behind the search - he's a Lute guy and Jim Livengood hated/hates Lute Olson. Now that might be moot at this point as I see no reason Livengood should be allowed to further conduct this search and I've heard he's probably on his way out anyways. But it's an interesting scenario to follow nonetheless.
So with all that being said - if Arizona is going down I'd rather it be with a guy who's a Wildcat through and through and has the potential to be great than slowly circle the drain of mediocrity until somebody puts us out of our misery. Time to take the training wheels off, give Josh the job!
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