Giacoletti

[DUBulldog]

Drake getting good would be great for the league.

Another Question for Drake fans. I think even you guys would admit that the Knapp Center is awful. With sustained success is the money there to either build an actual arena (not a rec center that converts to an arena on game nights) or play downtown at the Well?

I think if everything would go right for you, and with the population growth in Des Moines, that you could realistically draw 10-12,000 a night with sustained success.

Knapp Center is terrible....but the place is incredibly noisy when it's full. I still remember my disappointment the first time I walked into the building in 1992. But, Giacoletti often mentions that it's very similar to Gonzaga's gym, and they were incredibly successful at home.

I don't see the Bulldogs moving downtown to Wells Fargo for reasons that others have mentioned. I would love to see them replace all the seating at Knapp with permanent seats. For that to happen, there would first need to be major upgrades to the rest of Drake's athletic facilities

[DUBulldog]

I think wufan nailed it. Phelps had a system, and he expected all his players to adapt to his system. Except, none of them ever understood it. Giacoletti is keeping it simple, and has designed his system around the players he has....he has put them in positions to utilize their strengths. Plus, he has them rebounding and playing defense like they never did under Phelps.

Ahhhhhhh, like a coach? I can understand the difference in records now.

I know it seems incredibly basic, but the difference in coaching ability between the two is immense. A large percentage of Drake fans realized Phelps was in over his head after just one game of his career....the deficiencies were painfully obvious.

[Cdizzle]

I think wufan nailed it. Phelps had a system, and he expected all his players to adapt to his system. Except, none of them ever understood it. Giacoletti is keeping it simple, and has designed his system around the players he has....he has put them in positions to utilize their strengths. Plus, he has them rebounding and playing defense like they never did under Phelps.

Ahhhhhhh, like a coach? I can understand the difference in records now.

I know it seems incredibly basic, but the difference in coaching ability between the two is immense. A large percentage of Drake fans realized Phelps was in over his head after just one game of his career....the deficiencies were painfully obvious.

Oh, I'm on your side. Phelps was pathetic.

[McBulldog]

The Knapp Center is the greatest auditorium in college basketball ... ya dumbarches! Anything related to Drake and the City of Des Moines is by far more superior to any and all of mankind.

Who do I sound like?

[PantherSigEp]

The Knapp Center is the greatest auditorium in college basketball ... ya dumbarches! Anything related to Drake and the City of Des Moines is by far more superior to any and all of mankind.

Who do I sound like?

An ass hole.

Des Moines is pretty fantastic though. Knapp Center isn't great but the rest of this place is pretty great.

[BradleyBrave]

I wanted Ray to get a serious look in 2002 and would have been happy with him in 2011. I'll be curious to see how he can recruit in the MVC, but he got it done at Eastern Washington, did well at Utah with someone else's guys (including Andrew Bogut) but wasn't given a chance to rebuild after that, and spent a long time at Mark Few's side. He would have been good hire at BU, and I think Drake made a good hire...possibly a great one if he can recruit.

[rlh04d]

Giacoletti is getting around $500 K per year. I have heard him (on more than one occasion) say that this is it for him; he plans to retire here. He and his wife are both from the midwest (central Illinois), and they've been out west for 20 years. He wants to build something. I think he's seen the downside of "big-school" basketball.

I know people say things like that all the time, but he seems sincere about it.

If Drake becomes successful enough for somebody to want to hire him away, I think Drake can come up with the funds to keep him. They raised approx $9 million in 7-8 months for the new practice facility.....given that, I think they'd be able to raise the money needed to keep Giacoletti around.

The new facility should be ready in time for the next basketball season.....I think Giacoletti wants to see what he can do once it's completed. I know he thinks it's a hugely important thing for the program. His first recruiting class is very solid (yes, I know everybody thinks their class is great), he's got a new facility coming....I think he sticks it out.

These seem like odd assumptions to me, given two facts: Most coaches say some variation of "this is my dream job," even as they're actively looking for their next job, especially in the Valley (where only Jacobsen seems entirely immune; I won't include Marshall, because of the pay); and very few Valley schools have ever been able to come up with enough salary money to keep away other, bigger schools.

And if his requirements are mid-west, not a "big school," and something he can build, there are probably 10 other schools that'll meet those requirements and could pay him $1-1.5 million with better resources if he does well at Drake.

What do you actually think Drake's cap on salary will be long term? I've heard he's getting about $450k right now, which is a surprisingly good salary to start with, but it'll have to go up with winning, if we're assuming he's as good as he currently looks to be.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love for him to be as good as he looks right now and stay with Drake long enough to build something. Just not optimistic about it. It's very rare to see a highly sought after coach stay somewhere without the money/resources to keep them in place.

[McBulldog]

The Knapp Center is the greatest auditorium in college basketball ... ya dumbarches! Anything related to Drake and the City of Des Moines is by far more superior to any and all of mankind.

Who do I sound like?

An ass hole.

Des Moines is pretty fantastic though. Knapp Center isn't great but the rest of this place is pretty great.

Great response! I was going to say a Dingleberry Head fan but it's the same thing, right?

[DU12]

Giacoletti is getting around $500 K per year. I have heard him (on more than one occasion) say that this is it for him; he plans to retire here. He and his wife are both from the midwest (central Illinois), and they've been out west for 20 years. He wants to build something. I think he's seen the downside of "big-school" basketball.

I know people say things like that all the time, but he seems sincere about it.

If Drake becomes successful enough for somebody to want to hire him away, I think Drake can come up with the funds to keep him. They raised approx $9 million in 7-8 months for the new practice facility.....given that, I think they'd be able to raise the money needed to keep Giacoletti around.

The new facility should be ready in time for the next basketball season.....I think Giacoletti wants to see what he can do once it's completed. I know he thinks it's a hugely important thing for the program. His first recruiting class is very solid (yes, I know everybody thinks their class is great), he's got a new facility coming....I think he sticks it out.

These seem like odd assumptions to me, given two facts: Most coaches say some variation of "this is my dream job," even as they're actively looking for their next job, especially in the Valley (where only Jacobsen seems entirely immune; I won't include Marshall, because of the pay); and very few Valley schools have ever been able to come up with enough salary money to keep away other, bigger schools.

And if his requirements are mid-west, not a "big school," and something he can build, there are probably 10 other schools that'll meet those requirements and could pay him $1-1.5 million with better resources if he does well at Drake.

What do you actually think Drake's cap on salary will be long term? I've heard he's getting about $450k right now, which is a surprisingly good salary to start with, but it'll have to go up with winning, if we're assuming he's as good as he currently looks to be.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love for him to be as good as he looks right now and stay with Drake long enough to build something. Just not optimistic about it. It's very rare to see a highly sought after coach stay somewhere without the money/resources to keep them in place.

I agree that the whole 'I'm here for the long run' is mostly just talk. I think it's way too early to honestly assess that.

My biggest concern is the salary factor. I remember when Keno Davis was rumored to have been interviewing around there were quite a few heated discussion on drakenation and around the Des Moines area about this very topic. I think Drake has the alumni base and surrounding metro area to sustain a competitive/high cost program. It's hard to compete with Iowa/Iowa St (especially this year) but I think there's a fan base out there they could somewhat easily tap into. Play exciting basketball, get butts in the seats, start selling out games, win a few conference championships (or a lot) and I think money will not be an issue.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

[uniftw]

So.....will UNI fans will be less than 55% of the crowd in the Knapp Center this year for the first time in years?