So, it's been a couple weeks. I didn't want to throw up an immediate reaction; instead, I wanted to let it sit for a little bit.

I was never fully in the Jim Christian camp. Part of it was because he succeeded John Groce. I freaking loved John Groce. He was just about my ideal basketball coach. He seemed like he was on the cutting edge. He is a numbers guy. He has passion. He's smart. His style of basketball is pleasing to me: Force turnovers, lots of hedging, bomb away on offense, keep the pace up. I was basketball heartbroken when he left.

Jim Christian seemed like the opposite. His teams weren't pretty. They played hard defense, but games were more about grinding and doing just enough to win. He spoke publicly against newer statistics. He did not seem like the kind of coach I would want to play for. So I was not excited for the future of Ohio basketball. I mentioned some of my misgivings from time to time; folks like Jeff McKinney would challenge them. People on this board and in private conversations talked a lot about how much they enjoyed this team. I did not share in that. There were certainly games I really liked watching and I was appreciative of the effort the men gave. However, I didn't really connect with them. But I didn't want to express just how little joy I took away from his teams, as I felt he was going to be in Athens for a long time and needed to accept that. I didn't want to be that publicly negative without benefit. I ended up being wrong and Jim's in Boston. Funny how life turns out.

Had Christian stayed, I think my fears about pace would have been realized. While Groce's teams never ended up playing as fast as promised (his teams were always outside the top 90 in pace), this last Ohio team clocked in at 67.6 possessions/40, 194th in the country. I would expect that to be typical of what Christian's Ohio teams, if not a little slower. Plus, his teams looked hapless in the halfcourt on offense way too often. He didn't recruit a point guard in two years. I won't miss that. I like toughness, but I also like skill. This last Bobcat team had to have extra toughness to make up for lack of skill (and injuries). Example: We were 223rd in turnover rate. This shouldn't surprise anyone.

Trying to think of a good way to characterize Christian, I came to this: He's a rich man's Steve Hawkins. Two MAC tournament titles, usually a factor in the regular season race, not the prettiest basketball, struggle in March, manage to deliver enough wins to keep people happy, able to bring in a really good player from time to time. But neither Hawkins nor Christian are "it" guys who raise the level of their programs. Christian largely maintained Kent's strength, but I don't think he really made them better. He did a good enough job in Athens preventing the program from falling off, but I don't think he really made it better, either. A lot of people are wondering what BC saw in him. I don't particularly care. I'm glad he's gone and I'm looking forward to the future for the first time since John Groce put on an orange tie.

So now we have Saul Phillipps. By all accounts, it's a great hire. It's pretty rare you can get a guy with a recent NCAA tournament win on his resume. He left North Dakota State better than when he took the job, which is no mean feat because they were pretty good to begin with. He obviously has the personality that will excite the fans. Recruiting is the big question. At Ohio, he'll have access to a higher caliber of player than he did in North Dakota. This can be a trap; you have to get the right players, not just the most talented or athletic. We'll see.

When it comes to style of play, I'm excited. He doesn't stick to just one plan; his teams in Fargo ranged from 91 to 334th in pace. But even the slower teams aren't boring. It's not like Rob Murphy's "dribble around for 28 seconds" offense. There's a lot going on. Lots of passing, lots of screens, lots of cuts. They're giving defenses multiple looks and trying to force switches and favorable matchups. It's intelligent basketball. These teams are going to know how to attack a zone, how to get a good shot. We may not have a ton of possessions, but the possessions will be interesting. Basketball for the fan who likes to see how plays develop. Positions are going to be kind of flexible; players will change responsibilities depending on the set. Studying under Bo Ryan and Tim Miles gives a person a lot to go on.

His Bison teams didn't force a lot of turnovers, but they held on to the ball pretty well. I like one of these things and not the other.

Many fans are concerned with how many openings we're going to have. I'm not sweating it, personally. At best, we're getting two of Crute/Owens/Morillo-Lajara/Wigginton. That's fine. Let's get Saul's guys in quicker and set this machine in motion that much earlier. Even if we are picking guys off the scrap heap this year, that's a lot of playing time we can promise to the next recruiting class. 2014-15 might be a step backward, but two steps forward will follow.

As I said, I'm excited for Ohio basketball. I think Saul Phillipps is going to do special things in Athens. I think the team is going to be a lot of fun to watch. Let's get it.

so, I have to ask, why the two P's at the end of Phillips? It's in the title and throughout the writing, so I imagine it's deliberate. Does that have some significance?

Yes. I made a mistake. My apologies to Mr. Phillips.

I forgot to talk about that. I thought Groce's style was one that gave them a puncher's chance against anyone. Nobody likes playing a disruptive team that can shoot and take the ball away.  The problem with Christian's style is bigger teams are simply going to do it better than you. You have to have an equalizer.

JSF--you echo my sentiments very well and wrote it in such a way that I couldn't have communicated as clearly.  I was fine with JC, but just moderately.  Wouldn't complain, but then again, wasn't excited.  In fact, while I still came to as many games and cheered as loudly as I normally do, for some reason I wasn't quite into the teams as  I normally am.  Not sure if it was JC fault, or anyone's, just wasn't.  Always felt JC was a low-risk, safe, hire.  We were always going to be good/very good with JC, so that was a plus.  Probably were going to be consistent 18-22 game winner year-in-year out and you can't complain about that.  I just never felt break-out great years were ever going to be in the cards.  Think JC's resume kind of shows that. consistentl good/very good, but never great.

On the other hand, I consider Phillips a much higher risk hire, but at the same time, I think the ceiling is much higher.  Just an unknown.  Unlike JC, I think a 14-15 win season is not out of the question with Phillips along the line and I doubt that was the case with JC.  At the same time, I have a hunch a magical NCAA ride is more likely with Phillips for some reason.  Guess if you wanted to use an investment term, Phillips is going to be a much higher risk, volitale investment.  With Phillips I think you have the potential for much lower down years, but much higher great years.  I think you measure that with an investments Beta.  JC was like a solid Bond Fund, while Phillips will be like trading Gold or Tech Stocks.  Kind of just depends what you have the stomach for.  Think it's going to be much more of exciting ride and only time will tell if we wished we had chosen a higher weighted Bond portfolio.

THIS

This is exactly why teams like Akron can win the MAC and go nowhere in the tourney.  We will get out rebounded, we will get outscored in the paint, we will deal with foul trouble against all of the power conference teams.  They are simply bigger and stronger.  It's the scrappy, relentless teams that can turn a tournament appearance into a Cinderella story.  I'm curious to see where Coach Phillips will take us in terms of recruiting.

Well stated.

   No one knows in April, 2014, if the Christian for Phillips trade will turjn out positively for Ohio. My gut feeling has me excited for the future of Ohio basketball under Phillips.

    The worst part of JC leaving for BC, I have felt since the original announcement of him being interested, is the typical roster attrition, both from the current roster and from signed recruits. That still being a possibilty leads me to believe that Ohio might take a step backwards before taking two steps forward, as Dragon mentioned toward the end of his post.

yeah

I agree that the projections should stop.

Saul is here. JSF stated what many of us who supported the program because "he's our coach" thought but kept to ourselves for the greater good.

This should not turn into a thread bashing a coach or comparing what might have been as that is so much mental masturbation that does not get you anything but temporary satisfaction in lieu of lasting thoughts and emotional investment.

For those who had those thoughts that JC was a fix and held their breath for the last 2 years they should take this opportunity to share what was pent up without repercussion. For those who supported the coach and made their point. It has been heard over and over for 2 years and literally spoon fed. I admire JSF for holding his opinion to himself all that time. I admire him for putting it up there.

I would like for this not to turn into an argument and camps established but for those who kept silent to have a place to vent. If you are in the opposite opinion.....that is fine. We heard you for the last 2 years extoll the virutes and remained silent. Let the great unspoken finally speak. You really do not even have to open this thread knowing it is not in line with your thoughts.

let this be a thread of catharsis and not turn it into an argument where folks choose camps and make more like politics rather than a fanbase coming together with a common Saul

I was trying to draw a line to the similarities of the new coach and a former coach, not living in the past. whatevs.

Apologies Jeff

I did not want to shut it down...just wanted to avoid a long hashed out thread of comparisons and folks drawing lines when the focus should be on what is going forward.

I opened the link to the Coach's Corner this weekend and you were right. It is certainly worth listening to.