Nagy is "back"

[Nidaros]

Re: Nagy is "back"

I think this is probably accurate. Nagy's probably a far, far better coach today than he was in 2004. Adversity always pushes people--it pushes some over the edge to fall, and it pushes others towards the sky to fly.

I agree and no coach learns it all from a book, and the good ones make money on their own books, but do they really teach others all there is to know? I doubt it. Its learning by doing as in many professions.

I keep thinking back to the golf outing in Volga, the year that it started to look like D1 was a possibilty. Plenty of doubters, and as each coach gave their report after the golf play and the evening meal, Coach Nagy I recall told us, we need to get behind adminstration on this move as he felt it was going to happen and I suspect he sensed that 20 win seasons under D1 would be a long time in coming and his job would be an uphill climb and with no D1 recruiting network, where do you start? Because of the CBS dollars and the big dance, building a D1 program scratch, is not the same as making a pizza from scratch.
Even the pizza making would be a challenge for me, and maybe would put some dollars Papa John's coffers.

[zooropa]

Re: Nagy is "back"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7m079Hq6tA

fast forward to the 3:20 mark, if you don't want to listen to the whole press conference.

[bballfan54]

Re: Nagy is "back"

Thanks for the link above..

[zooropa]

Re: Nagy is "back"

Once again, Nagy uses the phrase 'it's been a long time...' in the presser.

Best part: SDSU tied for 3rd place and they're -not- playing over their heads to be there. Not playing over their heads, and should be even better next year.

[packer_tattoo]

Re: Nagy is "back"

I'm not sure if the old Nagy is back, or the new Nagy is here.

I think he may have learned more about himself, coaching, recruiting, and running a DI program in the last 5 years than in all his other years of coaching experience. The transition was brutal, and life in DI basketball doesn't get a whole lot easier.

I think the new Nagy has a bunch of new tools in his belt, and he has retained the old ones too. He still has the fire and brimstone when necessary, but also knows when to dial it down to reach and motivate players. Each tactic has its place, and I'm not sure the old Nagy knew when to dial it down.

The last five years of adding new coaches, managing time in a DI world, managing a staff and players when on the road, facing tougher competition almost every night, etc have no doubt changed Nagy the coach. IMO, for the better.

I agree more with this comment than the one saying the "old Nagy" is back. It's a growth that took place. I admit, I was one of the very frustrated fans and I'm happy to say I'm in the fold again. I'm glad he took it upon himself to change. Change is never easy. He said something in a postgame interview about something his wife said to him that turned him around. I won't try to quote it exactly for fear of getting it wrong, but she gave him a sort of wake up. We should probably be thanking her too.

[SUPERBUNNY]

Re: Nagy is "back"

I agree more with this comment than the one saying the "old Nagy" is back. It's a growth that took place. I admit, I was one of the very frustrated fans and I'm happy to say I'm in the fold again. I'm glad he took it upon himself to change. Change is never easy. He said something in a postgame interview about something his wife said to him that turned him around. I won't try to quote it exactly for fear of getting it wrong, but she gave him a sort of wake up. We should probably be thanking her too.

I agree with both of you and made that part of my thread-originating post. Nagy has no doubt evolved and improved. To hear you and others say they are "back in the fold" is great news. At the end of the day we all want to see SDSU MBB back at a competitive level and we are definitely headed that way. The next month is going to be very exciting.

I hope we fill Frost this Saturday and get things turned around against the Bison! Let's show them we are behind them not just by showing up but being loud and proud.

GB, GB, GJ!

[SidelineObserver]

Re: Nagy is "back"

I don't think the 'old' Nagy ever left. But I do however think he was screwed over by the questionable recruiting of Troy Larson after Margenthaler left the fold. Klinkefus helped get some of these kids we have now as juniors and seniors and I have no doubt coach Hansen helped us get some of these sophomores and freshmen. Getting rid of Troy Larson was the best thing to happen to Nagy.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Nagy is "back"

I don't think the 'old' Nagy ever left. But I do however think he was screwed over by the questionable recruiting of Troy Larson after Margenthaler left the fold. Klinkefus helped get some of these kids we have now as juniors and seniors and I have no doubt coach Hansen helped us get some of these sophomores and freshmen. Getting rid of Troy Larson was the best thing to happen to Nagy.

I used to subscribe to the T. Larson poor recruiting/Margenthaler good recruiting idea. However, this is Klink's 4th year with the program, Morganthaler's 9th at Mankato. That leaves a 5 year gap when Larson was here, which also happened to coincide with one of the toughest recruiting periods for SDSU.

I'm pretty sure Larson was still around when Engen, Kai, and Garrett were recruited and signed, but I could be mistaken.

Larson was here when we landed Gilbert (who went on to play at K-State) Matt Cadwell (453 points as a true freshman), and Steve Holdren (who probably would have ended his career with over 1000 points). Not to mention Berte, Beran (the 12 all time leading scorer in SDSU history). Kleinjan was Argus Leader player of the year coming out of high school. I wouldn't say they were bad "recruits", most of them just didn't stay for their whole careers or played with a different set of teammates almost every season. Heck, Kai and Garrett only won 13 games last year despite playing with virtually the same squad for the last 3 years.

We are coming out of a dark age for SDSU basketball. It made one of the best DII basketball coaches in the country look like a fish out of water at times. It is possible Larson would have been as good of an assistant as Morganthaler if SDSU would have stayed DII, but was a victim of circumstance in the change to DI.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: Nagy is "back"

If Nagy ever leaves I would take Margenthaler back in a heart beat. He has good relationships in the Twin Cities for recruiting.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Nagy is "back"

If Nagy ever leaves I would take Margenthaler back in a heart beat. He has good relationships in the Twin Cities for recruiting.

I'm not saying Margenthaler was a bad coach, and I would take him if/when we eventually have a vacancy (hopefully about 20 years from now).

I'm just saying maybe Larson gets a bad rap due to circumstances beyond his control, when in fact he did a decent job with the things he could control.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: Nagy is "back"

I have heard players had issues with Larson and may have led to his departure.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Nagy is "back"

I have heard players had issues with Larson and may have led to his departure.

I'm sorry, but if players had enough sway in the program to get a coach to leave (short of inappropriate behavior like locking kids up in a tool shed), I'm not really surprised we struggled as badly as we did during transition... that's NBA/NFL/MLB team-cancer type of stuff (TO, Marbury, etc.) you rarely see on successful teams...

Players always have issues with their coaches. Well, almost always. I'm sure there are football players who have issues with Stig, and I don't think you could find a better person.

I think considering as recently as last fall local media was speculating about Coach Nagy's future, the dismal performance on the court meant someone had to go, and that someone was Larson. Just my opinion.

[slosho]

Re: Nagy is "back"

Honestly, I think we as observers never know why... and it's better not to speculate.

[zooropa]

Re: Nagy is "back"

I'm sure there was a reason why Larson was let go, even if Nagy was under pressure to fire someone....

At any rate, it must do Nagy no end of good to have players that will play.

[Nidaros]

Re: Nagy is "back"

I have heard players had issues with Larson and may have led to his departure.

This was the unoffical word that I picked up but again its hard to know where the real truth lies.

I think David Boots at USD is learning that recruiting at this level is not the same as at D2.

No matter who was the assistant at the start of the transition period be it Larson or anyone else, had a real tough job in front of them since at D2, coaches probably have different contacts for the starting point of the recruiting process. No doubt Larson knew few people associated with D1 programs. He probably did the best he could and building contacts and a recruiting net works takes time. One has to be a real good salesman. I think the first recruits where people that were available and probably not the best choices, but they were choices.

Its now behind us and our recruiting network probably is much more today than it was 5 years ago.