At Least Tim Floyd Won Games

As I documented earlier, the Tim Floyd saga at USC came to an end because he got too desperate to win big, and ended up losing his career in the process. But, as I mentioned, I'm not mad at him because he was essentially on his last chance at coaching and did whatever he thought he needed to in order to win.

If only USC followed suit.

Today, the University of Southern California hired Kevin O'Neill as its new basketball coach. That's a bad hire. I wanted to put it in print so that when they're talking about the underachieving Trojans basketball program in 4 years, you'll remember that you heard it hear first. Mike Garrett, USC's athletics director, talked of bringing discipline to the program and needing someone who could show that he was in control. I get that, but you also might've wanted someone who could win.

Kevin O'Neill is one of those guys who gets a lot of credit for being around basketball, but he's never actually done anything. As the immortal John Wooden said, "never mistake activity for acheivement." He was head coach at Marquette...and they weren't good (86-62 in 5 years, averaging out to 17-12 per season). He was head coach at Tennessee...and they also weren't any good (36-47 in 3 years, averaging out to 12-16 per season). He was head coach at Northwestern...and they weren't any good, either (30-56 in 3 years, averaging out to 10-19 per season). He then bounced around as an NBA assistant before being named head coach of the Toronto Raptors in 2003. After going 33-49, he was canned. After being an assistant again, he showed up at Arizona during Year One of the Lute Olson Weirdness and led the Wildcats to a 19-15 record, the only time in the last 25 years that they haven't won 20 games. The dude had 34 opportunities to win a game, and couldn't do it 20 times. This was two years ago. And he's going to lead USC to the promised land? Yeah, right.

I'm all for coaches getting second chances. Heck, Rick Majerus did nothing at Marquette before heading to Utah and turning them into a consistent NCAA Tournament team, even reaching the Final Four in 1998. Herb Sendek was run off at NC State for "underachieving" (how's that working out for you, Pack fans?) and goes out to Arizona State and leads them to one of the more prosperous years in school history. However, when it's been proven time and time again that a guy just can't get the job done as a head coach, there's no excuse to hire him. None.

Is USC headed for probation? Possibly, but you can't use that as a reason to hire a sub-standard coach. Why? Because you interviewed the perfect candidate a few days before hiring the wrong candidate. Reggie Theus worked wonders at New Mexico State before leaving to become head coach of the Sacramento Kings. He took a 6-24 team to 16-14 (including a 10-6 conference record); and took that team to 25-9 and an NCAA Tournament appearance the following season. (side note: Theus got screwed in Sacramento. He went 38-44 with a terrible roster in 2007-2008 and got off to a poor start in 2008-2009 with an even worse roster and got canned. How does this happen? They should've built a statue in his honor for getting 38 wins out of the '08 Kings.) Theus was born in Inglewood, California, has a ton of high school coaching contacts in the area and really wants to get back into coaching. What's not to like? USC had the opportunity to hire a local guy with a proven winning track record and a hunger to coach again. But instead they opted for an import with a proven losing track record and a complacency to just have a job. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

USC had a nice run under Tim Floyd. They made the NCAA Tournament consistently, sent multiple players to the NBA, and were headed in the right direction. Amidst all of the turmoil that came along with the allegations of Floyd cheating, USC panicked and chose a guy who they know isn't crazy (which you couldn't say about Floyd) and won't bend the rules (which you also couldn't say about Floyd). Just because he's the safe choice doesn't mean he's the right choice. Judging by his resume, Kevin O'Neill will probably go 52-83 in the next four years in Los Angeles, and will once again be looking for a job.

Maybe the next time around, in the spring of 2013, USC will make the right call and hire Reggie Theus...unless a more intelligent athletic department beats them to it.

~~ Lank