I'm not related to Stackhouse--we've never met. Interesting poll, Chris. Stackhouse continues to impress the heck out of me this year. There continue to be some who really don't like him still. That's likely for petty things like "he blocked you on twitter" or "I don't like his politics". There were some statements that he spent more time golfing than coaching, and those were concerning, too. But let's review the actual record.
1) He turned an absolute burning dumpster fire of a program into one that is competitive in every game.
2) We have sloppy games, but we've really only been blown out once this season. His teams do not give up. His teams fight for every loose ball, and they don't give up plays.
3) He can handle adversity and coach around it. We've basically had one SEC player healthy all season. Q and Stute and Wright have clearly shown they're SEC players now, too, but they didn't start the season that way. Which leads me to my next point.
4) He has developed talent. You could not have looked at Q in his first few games and reasonably think he'd ever reasonably contribute. He looked like a walk-on at best. He now stands toe to toe with everyone in the SEC. Ask yourself, "who has regressed under Stackhouse"? Who has underperformed consistently. Maybe a young guy or two, but they're new to the Stackhouse system. He's graded very well here. Dezonie is a bit maddening to watch this year, but I trust Stackhouse to get the best out of him in a year or two
5). His teams actually play well. They play with good spacing, they're tenacious on D, they're unselfish, etc. I don't know that he's quite the X and O genius as Stallings, and I think Fogler is a better overall coach, but he can be talked in the same breath as these guys.
6) He can recruit, not only freshman, but from the portal. We have a top freshman class this year, and we've mined schools like Gardner Webb to find real talent. This was the point I was most worried about, but he completely turned over a lineup into one that's really quite good. I only wish Clark Lea took a page from Stackhouse on portal usage.
7) He made a cohesive team. How hard is it to blend a team of transfers and rejects into a cohesive unit? Now add a superstar's son with diva potential and injuries to two of your three best players. It's hard to argue this part of the coaching job isn't masterful. Yes, masterful. Compare the team chemistry to any football team we've ever had--even under James Franklin. It compares very favorably. They might not all be besties, and other teams might be having lots most fun, but they look and feel like teammates working together for a common goal. That's leadership.
8) I don't know if Stackhouse came to Vanderbilt thinking he would stay forever. I have a lot of doubts about that. I still have doubt he's going to stay long. But the guy is a natural winner. He's competitive as all hell. He's won at every level, and regardless of what his motives are, he's just too competitive not to try to win every possession, every play, every game, and every season.
9) There is literally one media outlet worth listening to or watching these days. It's The Economist. A single article in the Economist has more actual fact than watching CNN and Fox all day long. Last week's magazine had a beautiful quote. "The platonic city was a simulacrum of it's ruler's soul". Our men's bb team is a simulacrum of Stackhouse's soul. It's made of transfers and early leavers--not Vandy lifers. But they accept nothing less than defeat, they play amazingly hard, and they never, ever back down. Does anyone really believe we're not an NCAA shoe-in with Chatman and Robbins healthy all year? In a parallel universe where Pippen was back and Chatman could come back next year, and the team was healthy, how many of you would take the under on a top 25 ranking?
10) People have an inherent "first impression" bias. Stackhouse didn't make the best first impression. Bryce Drew seemed like the perfect hire. But ultimately, you need to forget the first impression, and look at the results. The results here are outstanding.
11) You don't hire a coach because a team is fun to watch. But I'm a football guy, and I like watching our men's hoops team this year better than football. Or even our baseball team (pre-CWS at least). Or even most pro teams. Did you see the ball Mann tied up last game? Or the backdoor cuts and passes a few games ago. They're really, really fun to watch. I'd encourage you all to forget your Stackhouse biases and watch these players. It's fun to watch Chatman. It's fun to watch Q. It's fun to watch Mann. It's fun to watch Robbins. If you're in the bottom tiers of people who still hate Stackhouse in the poll, I'd ask you to wear blinders for a bit and just watch the players. They're great.
1) He turned an absolute burning dumpster fire of a program into one that is competitive in every game.
2) We have sloppy games, but we've really only been blown out once this season. His teams do not give up. His teams fight for every loose ball, and they don't give up plays.
3) He can handle adversity and coach around it. We've basically had one SEC player healthy all season. Q and Stute and Wright have clearly shown they're SEC players now, too, but they didn't start the season that way. Which leads me to my next point.
4) He has developed talent. You could not have looked at Q in his first few games and reasonably think he'd ever reasonably contribute. He looked like a walk-on at best. He now stands toe to toe with everyone in the SEC. Ask yourself, "who has regressed under Stackhouse"? Who has underperformed consistently. Maybe a young guy or two, but they're new to the Stackhouse system. He's graded very well here. Dezonie is a bit maddening to watch this year, but I trust Stackhouse to get the best out of him in a year or two
5). His teams actually play well. They play with good spacing, they're tenacious on D, they're unselfish, etc. I don't know that he's quite the X and O genius as Stallings, and I think Fogler is a better overall coach, but he can be talked in the same breath as these guys.
6) He can recruit, not only freshman, but from the portal. We have a top freshman class this year, and we've mined schools like Gardner Webb to find real talent. This was the point I was most worried about, but he completely turned over a lineup into one that's really quite good. I only wish Clark Lea took a page from Stackhouse on portal usage.
7) He made a cohesive team. How hard is it to blend a team of transfers and rejects into a cohesive unit? Now add a superstar's son with diva potential and injuries to two of your three best players. It's hard to argue this part of the coaching job isn't masterful. Yes, masterful. Compare the team chemistry to any football team we've ever had--even under James Franklin. It compares very favorably. They might not all be besties, and other teams might be having lots most fun, but they look and feel like teammates working together for a common goal. That's leadership.
8) I don't know if Stackhouse came to Vanderbilt thinking he would stay forever. I have a lot of doubts about that. I still have doubt he's going to stay long. But the guy is a natural winner. He's competitive as all hell. He's won at every level, and regardless of what his motives are, he's just too competitive not to try to win every possession, every play, every game, and every season.
9) There is literally one media outlet worth listening to or watching these days. It's The Economist. A single article in the Economist has more actual fact than watching CNN and Fox all day long. Last week's magazine had a beautiful quote. "The platonic city was a simulacrum of it's ruler's soul". Our men's bb team is a simulacrum of Stackhouse's soul. It's made of transfers and early leavers--not Vandy lifers. But they accept nothing less than defeat, they play amazingly hard, and they never, ever back down. Does anyone really believe we're not an NCAA shoe-in with Chatman and Robbins healthy all year? In a parallel universe where Pippen was back and Chatman could come back next year, and the team was healthy, how many of you would take the under on a top 25 ranking?
10) People have an inherent "first impression" bias. Stackhouse didn't make the best first impression. Bryce Drew seemed like the perfect hire. But ultimately, you need to forget the first impression, and look at the results. The results here are outstanding.
11) You don't hire a coach because a team is fun to watch. But I'm a football guy, and I like watching our men's hoops team this year better than football. Or even our baseball team (pre-CWS at least). Or even most pro teams. Did you see the ball Mann tied up last game? Or the backdoor cuts and passes a few games ago. They're really, really fun to watch. I'd encourage you all to forget your Stackhouse biases and watch these players. It's fun to watch Chatman. It's fun to watch Q. It's fun to watch Mann. It's fun to watch Robbins. If you're in the bottom tiers of people who still hate Stackhouse in the poll, I'd ask you to wear blinders for a bit and just watch the players. They're great.
