Just curious as to the general consensus of TJ as the basketball coach. Positive Negative or wait and see. Thanks
Consensus of TJ as a coach?
- Thread starter ketelmeister
- Start date
So far I think he is a good coach but not a great recruiter. He needs to get better, more athletic players in to work with. With the UNLV facilities and a city the caliber of Las Vegas there should be a lot of 4 and 5 star players that should be convinced to come to UNLV.
Definitely wait and see. I usually dont expect to get real answers about a coach until their 3rd or 4th years. I know there are exceptions, like Beard and Oats for example, but its not realistic to expect every coach to turn things around asap like that.
I agree with this more in the past than now. In the past, there were more limitations with recruiting.
Now, you can effectively change your team 100% overnight. You can go from tiny to huge, inexperienced to experienced ... you can completely transform your team in short order with the number of transfers and some immediate eligibility.
Depends on the school. Go to USF or San Jose, you got some time. Other schools, you better produce sooner than later.
I am in a wait and see. I thought he did good with what he had last year but very unimpressed with this years squad. I think he has signed a couple good players but overall I think he has missed it with his player evaluation. I really don’t see much improvment for next year and probably be worse if Hamilton leaves. I really hope Kaluma stays committed might be the bright spot for next year. I think year 4 TJO should be on the hot seat. Make some noise or get out. If he can’t turn it around by then it is 100% on him. There should be no year five if we are still hanging around with AirForce, San Jose St and other bottom dwellers. 20, 30, 40 point losses are inexcusable period don’t care what is going on. I think the area he is flat out failing is game prep. You can say he isn’t the one turning over the ball or missing open jumpers or missing a defensive assignment but that is a bunch of BS in my mind. He is responsible to fix that and he hasn’t done that yet.
The first job of a coach is salesman. First he has to sell himself to the AD and then to the current players followed by future players and then to the fanbase. TJ looked good coming out of the box but not so much this year which means he is gonna have one heck of a time trying to sell recruits on his plan for next year. Absolutely took a big step back.
Biggest issue I see is that he is gonna have to unload quite a few guys from this years squad to make room for 3-4 transfers that can come in right away and save his job. Whether Desiree is on the job or not come April 2022 he will be gone if things haven't turned around.
I have believed from the beginning that the ability for kids to transfer easily will benefit the smaller & less prestigious schools the most. There are lots of 4 star guys not getting much playing time around the country at the big programs that would like to get a chance to shine someplace other than practice. TJ needs to get those feelers out now cause what he has on the bench now isn't gonna save him.
Man with gin and soda, cardamom bitters, in hand:
“Get me Buzz on the phone.”
“Buzz, my guy, I’m big money major player from Vegas and I don’t pay taxes, what do you need and how long do you need it for?”
“Consider it done.”
wakes up
mervyns munsters?
TJ notnateoatzburgers?
what’s a basketball?
“Get me Buzz on the phone.”
“Buzz, my guy, I’m big money major player from Vegas and I don’t pay taxes, what do you need and how long do you need it for?”
“Consider it done.”
wakes up
mervyns munsters?
TJ notnateoatzburgers?
what’s a basketball?
I figured someone else would make a comment, but it hasn't happened. The 2021 class is currently ranked 16th with two 4 star and one 3 star players. I would say he has done a pretty good recruiting job up to this point. The bigger question is will he be able to fit these players into his system and win?
I am not trying to be confortational or anything but why does this year not count or TJO deserves a pass for this year? Is UNLV the only team that got effected by COVID? from what I can see it basically hit everybody. Other teams adapted why hasnt TJO and staff? Injuries? that has to be expected you need a back up plan for them TJO didnt. I agree on the wait and see but why give a pass on a 22 point loss to Montana St a 29 point loss to UNR then a 10 point loss right after? Seven figures a year to figure this crap out and TJO hasnt. So i am very interestd to see why i keep reading that he deserves a pass for this year?
Me personally, I give every coach a pass for years 1 and 2. Its not fair imo to expect a coach to turn a program into contenders in year 1 or 2, I know its happened, but its rare to find a coach that can do that. I always like to give a coach at least 3 years to show something.
The issues with this team are talent based.
If he was recruiting well I'd give him a pass. But it's clear to me that either OTZ can't evaluate talent or he can't recruit the talent he needs. He hasn't recruited well anywhere he's been. Add to that it doesn't appear his assistants can recruit either. It doesn't really make a difference. We end up with players who aren't good enough for our league, much less Nationally.
IMO, recruiting is more than 50% of college basketball success. Unless he gets better players we'll be a MWC bottom 1/3 team that occasionally can get a sniff at the top three. Get to the NCAA once every 10 years and get blown out each time in the first round.
People lament that Covid was a raw deal for him. I say, for Otz, it was a miracle savior. Can you imagine the T&M attendance for a team that is this bad? Most likely worse than Munchies because each crappy coach reduces fan interest. They build on each other - or should I say they demolish on each other.
He's an OK D2 coach or perhaps the Southland Conference or the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. He also could work at a football school that doesn't care about Basketball. But he's completely out of his element here.
If he was recruiting well I'd give him a pass. But it's clear to me that either OTZ can't evaluate talent or he can't recruit the talent he needs. He hasn't recruited well anywhere he's been. Add to that it doesn't appear his assistants can recruit either. It doesn't really make a difference. We end up with players who aren't good enough for our league, much less Nationally.
IMO, recruiting is more than 50% of college basketball success. Unless he gets better players we'll be a MWC bottom 1/3 team that occasionally can get a sniff at the top three. Get to the NCAA once every 10 years and get blown out each time in the first round.
People lament that Covid was a raw deal for him. I say, for Otz, it was a miracle savior. Can you imagine the T&M attendance for a team that is this bad? Most likely worse than Munchies because each crappy coach reduces fan interest. They build on each other - or should I say they demolish on each other.
He's an OK D2 coach or perhaps the Southland Conference or the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. He also could work at a football school that doesn't care about Basketball. But he's completely out of his element here.
I give him a pass simply for the fact I cant watch the damn games. Far be it for me to really grade the end product if I haven't seen it.
I see the recruiting comments above and 1 states we are 16th nationally. Note that rank was with Zaon and the pal who followed him who we may now not see in a unlv uniform. Take those 2 away and that 16th gets a zero added, 160th.
Evaluation seems to be the main issue. Running off players he thought he had replacments for but didn't is what killed this years team. How could he ever felt that Jenkins could get past anyone is amazing. C Wood where he has to be a defender and rebounder? He would be a brillant shooter with the right pieces around him. All our potentially great shooting is wasted as we have one creator and really no good post threat so our 3's are mostly forced.
Evaluation seems to be the main issue. Running off players he thought he had replacments for but didn't is what killed this years team. How could he ever felt that Jenkins could get past anyone is amazing. C Wood where he has to be a defender and rebounder? He would be a brillant shooter with the right pieces around him. All our potentially great shooting is wasted as we have one creator and really no good post threat so our 3's are mostly forced.
Good post.
Last year we were 59th in recruiting. We were that elevated primarily due to Blake who has turned into a really nice player. Without Zaon we should be @ the same rating this year - or a little worse. All things being equal, Kaluma should be a nice player next year. But it normally takes some time with Fresh. and I don't expect too much out of him early in the year. Should be solid by mid conference. Gilbert is also there, but I don't expect anything from him in his first year.
The next year recruiting will most likely be worse. For the first two years Otz can sell the idea of "building something new" and a "return to glory". But after the first couple of years recruits and their parents can see we suck and they'll tend to go elsewhere.
One of the issues with Otz is with the transfer busts. Grill, Wood and Del Cadia are all busts, IMO. None of the three would see any meaningful time on a contending team. Jenkins is a semi-bust. Streaky, Volume shooter who can't play defense. This is where I come to my conclusion that Otz's eye for talent is lacking.
A roster needs @ 4 recruits each year. ( 3 of these need to be solid by their Soph year). They don't have to be 4* or better. But 2 of them need to contribute early on and 1 of the other 2 need to be contributing their second year. This gives you @ 16 players rotating in over 4 years (12 keepers and 4 that will eventually transfer out). Of the 12 players, 8 need to be solid enough to make your rotation and 4 are practice players and cheerleader's. Of the 8 on the rotation 2 need to be outstanding and the rest solid. Of our current 8 man rotation how many are top players and solid players? Three? Four? NOT ENOUGH!!. And next year how many? Especially if Hamilton leaves.
Unless he drastically changes things, I expect to see a few of our current players go down the road and for Otz to bring in Kaluma, Gilbert an unknown fresh and 1 or 2 transfers.
If we're going to compete for conference championships we need better than what he has brought in his first two years. Way better. And he better do it this year or it will just get harder.
Last edited:
Dude, hate to be a hater but I’m not impressed with anything.
first time I saw the team tonight against AFA. I have my own biases and these are just kids. They aren’t professional.
wish I could raise my expectations but I resigned myself that we are just another sub par university school.
i think in general, this is true about men’s basketball. The talent will never be where I want it.
I see us imploding the Thomas & Mack and moving into Cox Pavillion. Just the sign of the times.
first time I saw the team tonight against AFA. I have my own biases and these are just kids. They aren’t professional.
wish I could raise my expectations but I resigned myself that we are just another sub par university school.
i think in general, this is true about men’s basketball. The talent will never be where I want it.
I see us imploding the Thomas & Mack and moving into Cox Pavillion. Just the sign of the times.
I’d like to see what TJO does next year, BUT if Iowa State is willing to write a $3 million check to UNLV I wouldn’t mind that either.
Well, I wouldn’t mind it only if DRF used that money to get a big name coach. If she wants to hire another Summit league guy or a career assistant then no I wouldn’t like losing TJ at this point.
Well, I wouldn’t mind it only if DRF used that money to get a big name coach. If she wants to hire another Summit league guy or a career assistant then no I wouldn’t like losing TJ at this point.
I personally wish we would have let Rice learn on the job and get better. He bleed Rebel red, was an excellent recruiter and brought a peak in interest back to the program. Right now we are stuck in the mud with the program and until we spend the money on a coach that can breed interest we will remain there. I do think this program is a sleeping giant. We have the facilities. We have the history. I like TJ as a coach but I am just not sure this is a situation where he will strive.
The only reason TJO LACK of success at UNLV would play well for us still is their fans think so low of UNLV. I remember those recruiting wars we had under Rice and they would scoff at the idea that we could compete with them. BDJ went there and they acted like he of course he would rather play for us.
Rice had some strong recruiters and he knew how to sell the package. Many recruits spoke of that, how meticulous he was mapping out their possibilities.
I think UNLV made a mistake. Even if he didn’t take us to where we wanted, it was far better than now and he certainly gave glimpses of the program capabilities. Have a hot shooting night, you can fluke a win against top teams.
We sincerely outplayed the opposition in our big wins. Indiana was close, but it took a bit of a meltdown towards the end to make it close. Most of the other wins, UNLV was the better team for the game and it showed.
Of course; then comes conference play which was way below what it needed to be.
You look at the cost vs return ....
He definitely needed to tighten bolts as a head coach. People say X’s and O’s and that is so simplistic and way overrated. He beat more established programs and style and play calls (esp vs Arizona) had a lot to do with it.
But yeah, he certainly needed to tighten things with personnel management. But you got a rookie coach, one that isn’t going to be poached if he has success ... you ride it, but you also support it. And no, he wasn’t supported. At all. By fans, yes. By the power players and AD, not at all.
At this point, I'm wait and see. Given the downward trajectory of the season, I think it's going to speak volumes as to how TJO approaches the offseason. It's pretty clear that the program will be in need of at least two impact transfers to go with the current class and it's a bit unrealistic, in my extremely inexperienced opinion, that the current roster and incoming class (as is) really won't make much of a step forward especially if Hamilton leaves. I really hope that we can pickup a few serviceable transfers to provide some much needed athleticism and leadership; if the ship stays the course and we bring in more unheralded freshmen pieces...I will become much more pessimistic about the future. As of right now, I really only see Tillis and Blake being impact players from last years class. Grill could make some noise if he develops into a 3 and D player, which the D part needs quite a bit of improvement. One thing is for sure, UNLV isn't the kind of program that can succeed amidst a continuing coaching carrousel and running coaches off after 3 or 4 years has proven to be quite counter productive. Not to say the admin can't/won't strike gold eventually, but I wouldn't hold my breath given the track record since they ran off LK.
On a lighter note, I really like Tillis so far. Very smart player, gives good effort and doesn't do anything he isn't capable of. I am interested to see how Kaluma could pair with him on the floor as Tillis has a knack to be a good facilitator in the post. Oh, and wtf is going on with Martinez? He hasn't even gotten garbage minutes in the one or two blowouts this season and given the backup options (Del Cadia or Brown) I would think he would have picked up a few minutes here and there. I hate to speculate, but I'm assuming character issues given his history?
On a lighter note, I really like Tillis so far. Very smart player, gives good effort and doesn't do anything he isn't capable of. I am interested to see how Kaluma could pair with him on the floor as Tillis has a knack to be a good facilitator in the post. Oh, and wtf is going on with Martinez? He hasn't even gotten garbage minutes in the one or two blowouts this season and given the backup options (Del Cadia or Brown) I would think he would have picked up a few minutes here and there. I hate to speculate, but I'm assuming character issues given his history?
Probably had to sign a Non-Disparagement Agreement to get her son the schollie.
i think if he gave it all in practice he would see some PT. OTZ seems like that type of guy especially in our blowout losses.
This is a stat that shows you IMO that he has to slow the offense down because lack of scorers or/and defense.
That's crazy. He's got great facilities, a pretty hot city(pre-Covid), he should have his pick of guys the power conferences pass on so I'm not sure what the deal is. Did it take long for him to get the program going at SDSU?
I would say he took over a program in good shape and TJO was able to keep it at that same level. Nagy, the SDSU coach before him, is the one who really built that program. He spent 21 years there and managed to turn that success into a Horizon League job offer (Wright State). Otz spent 3 years there and gets one of the premier jobs in the MWC.
He’s the diamond in the rough that was supposed to be the feather in the cap for our AD. By the way, he will be receiving a pay raise next season.
I would say because we have to send everyone to the boards to get a rebound. That kills your break because you have no one already at half court. Second reason, Blake and the other point guards who are freshmen, Lindsey is hurt and the Las Vegas kid can't beat out Blake. I think we can run, but when your guards including Hamilton are doing the rebounding, there is no three second break.
"By the way, he will be receiving a pay raise next season."
Otz goes to $1.3 million next year. $580,000 more than Medvid at CSU next year ( $750,000). I wonder what school got the better bargain?
