I think Porter has done a pretty good job recruiting big men. He has done a poor job developing their skill set. I still believe its the hardest position to teach by far. That's why John Thompson got so many great big guys at Georgetown and JT3 continues because pops is there everyday. BTW We have had a good number of former players offer to help with the big guys over the years and have been either turned down or ignored.
Julius has some real potential. He moves well and has good court sense. What he doesn't do well is defend an area of the floor. His man regularly gains the position he wants because Julius is more worried about help-side and getting benched. The leash has to be longer with a big guy. You have fewer of them on a team. I think Kirby has some talent to but needs to work on his footwork and vision. From what I have seen from Porter a big guy exists to screen and get a defensive board. A big who can pass a ball from the interior can be extremely effective against a zone producing open looks for everybody else.

Well, 86 you should know. You say some nice things re PM But , for my money, he knows guards, coaches guards and plays guards and has this year, shown little else.

We need someone else--a complete coach --give him $$$ , lots of them. He needs to be one who checks his ego at the door. He needs to bring LUC back to the top. It can be done.
I wager there are many out there who would grab the chance.

Imagine --a Chicago team playing Illinois GTN X Kentucky UCLA Vandy Villanova Gonzaga and more AT Gentile. The right coach and $$$$ will do this just as many others have done.

86 played against the best--right 86 ??

We played competitive schedules for the day. Gene and Doug had no problem playing anywhere at anytime. We need to wait and see what Bob Parkinson and his committee comes up with for the next University President. If we don't have the foresight to keep a GREAT coach like Shane, who by the way is one of us, with the current structure I don't see how things change for the better. Then again I thought we would win by 17 last night LOL

LU86 I would agree with you that Julius and Kirby may end up being decent big men and would have been OK if there were big men already in place so they had time to develop. From everything I can see PM is a defense first guy. I do not know who was responsible for developing Christian Thomas but he was fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball.
I heard that when NU recruited Shane they told him to tell them what he needed,,,,,and he would have it. I believe that LU tried to keep him but they had limits. I do not think LU knows this yet that they will not get a first rate athletic program without paying the price. We have some very good coaches but the need the support in all areas. If not the good ones will leave like Shane because someone ups the ante and we dont match. I fear the Track coach , who has done a tremendous job with NO resources will be the next to leave and he has produced All-AMericans with out a track

I think the responsibility for development rests on the player. No one ever told Alfredrick to spend time in the gym. Actually most of my time at Loyola the players came into the gym to play together on their own. I literally mean every day. However a coach has the responsibility to relate and demonstrate the skills needed for that particular player. I agree Porter is a defense guy first and I think thats a good thing.
Now for the Shane debacle,
You bet NU gave him everything he asked for. Loyola had no one with half a brain to know to ask when the season was over. But Loyola (Malisch and Kelly) asked Swoopes after winning 11 games and gave her more resources. My last talk with Shane I asked him what he really needed and the response was nobody had ever asked him that. What a shame that no one was smart enough to recognize that you might want to sit down with a 2 time national championship coach and ask what resources he might need. You might be surprised how little the cost would be for some of them. Yes, and some do cost. But no one asked. Are you surprised NU was able to steal him away? So everyone runs around covering their butts. I'm tired of hearing we tried. Loyola tried after the horse was out of the barn. That's not trying, thats failing plain and simple.
Loyola wasted the best opportunity in 30 years to generate interest to support athletics. What a great hook they had with one of our own leading the way. People leading extraordinary lives. You couldn't have written it better.
He wanted to stay and if he thought anyone was concerned about his program and was proactive he would still be here.
I'll end my rant with a direct quote from Tom Kelly. "Shane's Loyola education had no influence on his ability as a coach he just gets it""

Couldn't agree more.....review should always be part of any program athletic or not......What are your goals?.......how will you accomplish them? ...and how can we help? Leadership is the key and if I can read what you are saying you really think we have poor leadership. What exactly is the relationship between Kelly and the AD.....who has the power?.........Now I am really feeling bad about Shane leaving..not just because we lost him but what it implies about our leadership

It is as I have suspected all along. We have no one who even knows the principles ofHuman Resources in Athletics. No clue--none whatsoever. The name of MIGHTY LOYOLA OF CHICAGO just does NOT get it any longer. Just being Di 1 just does not measure up any longer. For that matter how do we keep even top tier Professors ??
It is now more apparent than ever , our Administration does not get it. If slippage (Shane) occurs in Athletics falls or fails because of near sighted Administrators, can Med or Business or Law be far behind ??
Give Hoops $$$$ or move on and get an ADMIN which does.

Steve Watson is AD and its his department to run. However his boss is Tom Kelly. Any expenditures over budget have to be approved by Kelly. Any increases in budget have to be approved by Kelly. He holds the purse strings. Its my experience whoever holds the money is in charge. What are Tom Kelly's qualifications to head athletics. NONE. He never coached, played, worked in an athletic dept, raised revenue, fund raised. How could he possibly know what goes into a successful department or what tools an AD really needs. How about the most important factor. How do you even measure success or performance correctly.

Just the point I make 86 without naming names. You especially and the rest are much closer to the situation than am I but if USS in my day ran the deal as does LUC ADMIN Grant St in Pittsburgh would be afire !!
In all humility when I was running around all 50 states, I drove the Treasurer insane, BUT my boss the exec VP always came through by telling him to back off as BJR is bringing in profitable sales and by his movement of steel siding in quantity it helped our scheduler each and every month on the whse end. In other words I produced.
The VP shot down the money man each and every time.--LUC's superiors should do the same--tell whomever to spend $$$$ to get a winning Big time program.

It can and should be done.