Bobcat Attack - Ohio Basketball - The Official Jim Christian Thread

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Topic: The Official Jim Christian Thread

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OhioCatFan

4/1/2012 9:42 PM

Maybe Christian's wife teaches classics and Western Religions, so it's a twofer!

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Jeff McKinney

4/1/2012 9:49 PM

OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more

Maybe Christian's wife teaches classics and Western Religions, so it's a twofer!

LOL!

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Suga Fries

4/1/2012 9:52 PM

bigtillyoopsupsideurhead wrote:expand_more

I never liked his reliance on juco's and players with shady backgrounds, but hopefully he'll be able to recruit differently to Athens.

She was 15.

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Bball Jones

4/1/2012 9:54 PM

WOWI I'm so disappointed!!!!!

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bobcat28

4/1/2012 9:56 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Christian

Wiki has been updated already. It MUST be true.

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UpSan Bobcat

4/1/2012 9:57 PM

TCU actually had the best season it has had in quite a few years. The Horned Frogs finished .500 in a pretty good Mountain West (all four teams ahead made the NCAA. They had wins against New Mexico and UNLV.

I'm sure TCU hoped for more, but it kind of sounds like that might have been the limit based on how little the school puts into the basketball program. Obviously, he was successful at Kent State, but then again, he inherited a program in good shape then.

If this is true, I'd say he's capable. He knows how to be a head coach. Most people were looking for an up-and-coming type of coach again, so I think most are disappointed he is not this kind, but I guess I'm like some of the others in that if Schaus really believes this will work, then who am I to say he's wrong? I'll trust him.

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Chicken George

4/1/2012 9:58 PM

Other than his bio, don't know a thing about JC the person and I'm sure others on here may know. But if true, I'm sure the spin JS will put on this hire internally is:

*This team/program is ready for the next level and a rookie coach, as with JG, would take a year or two to learn the ropes of being a head coach. We don't want a developmental coach, but one's that's battle tested
*We're not picking a coach for the next 12 months, we're picking one for the future of our program. A Ford hire would keep the team together for next year, but his vision is longer than 12 months. He's looking for a coach to lead us into the future. Being a WVU alum, he may reflect back upon Bill Stewart being hired as the players choice after the team lobbied for him after the big Oklahoma upset. Didn't quite workout, though they did hire another assistant.
*He may have the impression that JC is ready to settle down after seeing the "other side" and unlike Boals/Ford who may be on the JG, young up-n-comer route, and bolt with a little success.

Just a thought?

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BuddyLee

4/1/2012 10:00 PM

From what I remember of his time in the MAC I really think this guy can coach. Not sure how well he recruits. Did he get any big time guys while at KSU?

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cc-cat

4/1/2012 10:00 PM

Three criteria going in: coaching experience, knowledge of the conference, knowledge of the players.

Boals: No, yes,, no
Ford: no, yes, yes
Christian: Yes, yes, no

4th criteria - style pf play that would work with the players we have.

What type of style does Christian run?

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Alan Swank

4/1/2012 10:05 PM

Checked my phone a few minutes ago and had a text from NOLA stating that our next coach is Chistian. He's the guy folks.

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digitodd2008

4/1/2012 10:08 PM

The CBI does give teams a chance at some kind of postseason play, but these are not high-quality teams. A win in the CBI is good, but I think we are shooting for a coach with success at a higher level in the postseason. He was obviously very successful with Kent State. Let's hope he can transition into Ohio smoothly and have great success with a very talented MAC squad. Go Bobcats!

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OUVan

4/1/2012 10:11 PM

My first reaction is that I'm not thrilled by the hire. Like many I was hoping for Jeff Boals for several reason, not the least of which was continuity since both coached under Thad Matta. But Christian was a very good coach when he was at Kent. His teams were always tough as nails. There is a better chance that he'll stick around than Boals. I also really, really, really hope this doesn't mean that Boals ends up at Fiami.

On a positive note it sounds like we have committed to take the next step with our basketball program.

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Bobcat2005

4/1/2012 10:12 PM

This taken from the Star Telegram twitter feed on the Christian signing... this followed him saying it is not a done deal and no offer was made.

If Christian leaves it is a major slap in the face at TCU, which is joining the Big 12 this summer. This would mean a head coach would willingly leave a Big 12 job for a MAC job, a clear step down in conference prestige.

Christian leaving means one of two things, or both:
1.) This is a trap door job because there lacks either a direction or a plan from the administration to "go big" and try to win in a highly competitive league.
2.) The school doesn't want to make the necessary investment in this program until it has a coach it believes in.

Read more here: http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/mac-engel/2012/04/tcu-mens-basketball-coach-jim-christian-confirms-he-has-talked-to-ohio-but-no-offer-made.html#storylink=cpy

i couldn't tell if he is calling the Ohio job a trap door or the TCU job.

Also he stated that this offseason Christian has also been mentioned in the Rhode Island job

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OhioCatFan

4/1/2012 10:13 PM

I looked at all of his post-season records. It's not very impressive. This year he got his first win -- UW-Milwaukee in the first round of the CBI. Prior to that he'd lost a number of first-round games in the NCAA and NIT tournaments -- most by large margins. Does this seem like a coach that can get us to the Elite 8 or Final Four next year? I'm fearful of this hire. It seems to me like Dale Bandy after Jim Snyder. If this story is true, I sincerely hope that my analysis is completely wrong.

Last Edited: 4/1/2012 10:16:36 PM by OhioCatFan

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Bert Presley

4/1/2012 10:17 PM

Unless he kicks some serious tail here at OHIO. If he makes the Elite 8 or Final Four, I won't give him too much credit (will give him some), because I will feel it was the players that were here that brought their game. If we get back to back MAC Title and he brings us to back to back Sweet 16s then it will give him more than enough love from Bobcat Nation.

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Turney13

4/1/2012 10:17 PM

have we ever hired a coach that had head coaching tournament wins?

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Andrew Ruck

4/1/2012 10:19 PM

Wow. The players are going to be so pissed off. Right hire or not, I'll be shocked if this doesn't really negatively impact our anticipated dream season next year.

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Mike Coleman

4/1/2012 10:20 PM

Turney13 wrote:expand_more

have we ever hired a coach that had head coaching tournament wins?

As far as I know, if we hire him, Jim Christian is the first coach that Ohio has ever hired that has previously coached in the NCAA tournament, much less the NIT, CBI, etc. As a matter of fact, he might be the first ever who has even been a head coach at the Division I level.

Snyder, Bandy, Nee, Hahn, Hunter, O'Shea, Groce had a combined zero Division I regular season wins as far as I know.

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Jerry86

4/1/2012 10:22 PM

OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more

His numbers in MAC play blow away any recent coaches here - from Groce to O'Shea to Hunter.

70% winning percentage in all games and 73% wins in MAC doesn't impress you? Groce won 53% in MAC play and 59% in all games.

2002–03	Kent State	21–10	12-6	1st (East)	NIT 1st Round
2003-04	Kent State	22-9	13-5	1st (East)	NIT 1st Round
2004–05	Kent State	20-13	11-7	T–2nd (East)	NIT 1st Round
2005-06	Kent State	25-9	15-3	1st (East)	NCAA 1st Round
2006-07	Kent State	21-11	12-4	2nd (East)
2007-08	Kent State	28-7	13-3	1st	NCAA 1st Round
Kent State:		137-59	76–28

Prior to taking over at TCU, Christian was head coach at Kent State University from 2002 to 2008, where he led the Golden Flashes to six consecutive seasons of twenty or more wins, four MAC East division titles, two overall MAC titles, and two conference tournament championships.

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JSF

4/1/2012 10:26 PM

Any off the court issues at TCU? There were plenty in Kent. I do not like his JUCO history.

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OhioCatFan

4/1/2012 10:27 PM

Yes, his regular season MAC record is impressive, but I worry about this post-season record. He did recruit the class that Stan Heath took to the Elite 8, and we just beat a Stan Heath team, so I guess not all is lost, but I still find my head spinning about this one. Like I have to jump through mental hoops to make it justifiable.

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Bobcat Debate 73

4/1/2012 10:27 PM

Doc Bobcat wrote:expand_more

The only thing that will pee me off about this (if it's true) will be any recruiting loss because of the change.

From the recruiting board we may have lost one already and any defections may cause this program to take a step back.

He appears to recruit well. Rivals has him with two three stars in 2011, some well receievd JUCOs, and in 2012 three three stars. He beat out Virginia's Tony Bennet for Kyan Anderson for a PG in the 2011 class.. Tony was looking hard for a point guard. The young man had a great visit to UVA on what was called a perfect weekend. Tony is an excellent and very personable recruiter. Tony lost him to TCC, albeit his home town. Kyan ended up starting for TCU. TCU also beat Virginia in November when UVA was injury free 57-55. Christtian's record at TCU needs to take into account rebuilding and what I believe were losses of some very important players for extended periods. I really know far less than others on the board about Christian, but I am thinking he has the capability to recruit against the best. He will have to do that because replacing our juniors will be no easy task..

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Steve

4/1/2012 10:28 PM

I was always impressed by the way Kent's teams played under him. Played hard. Very intense. (Well, Singletary was dirty). Seemed like you had to out-tough them to win. Also seems like Kent has always relied on JUCOs, dating back to Waters.

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Andrew Ruck

4/1/2012 10:30 PM

JSF wrote:expand_more

Any off the court issues at TCU? There were plenty in Kent. I do not like his JUCO history.