Lute Still Standing

[BD80]

O'Neill is not:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ap/index.html

Lute sounds REALLY I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.y. When asked about O'Neill saying last week he would fulfill the last 2 years of his contract - Lute said he might fulfill the contract, but he won't be on the staff! Better than fiction.

Well, maybe Lute is just making sure Kevin is available for the Marquette job! Such a sweet guy!

[Clipsfan]

O'Neill is not:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ap/index.html

Lute sounds REALLY I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.y. When asked about O'Neill saying last week he would fulfill the last 2 years of his contract - Lute said he might fulfill the contract, but he won't be on the staff! Better than fiction.

Well, maybe Lute is just making sure Kevin is available for the Marquette job! Such a sweet guy!

The animosity between O'Neill and Lute has been fairly public, but the way he undercut O'Neill there was fairly cold. I wonder if Kevin's statements were a way to look like the good guy/get offered a buyout as he looks at one of the openings which currently exist.

[JasonEvans]

So, I'm guessing that this means Kevin O'Neil is not the designated success to Lute anymore, huh?

What happened to them? I mean, 5 months ago they were so close that Lute was going to turn his program over to Kevin and now Lute will not stand for Kevin to even be on his staff?!?!?

I agree that Lute really looks bad in all this. It is not like Kevin led the team to a disastrous season. It was not a great year, but it is not like they flamed out and went NIT.

--Jason "frankly, I've never felt Kevin O'Neil was that good a coach anyway" Evans

[dkbaseball]

So, I'm guessing that this means Kevin O'Neil is not the designated success to Lute anymore, huh?

What happened to them? I mean, 5 months ago they were so close that Lute was going to turn his program over to Kevin and now Lute will not stand for Kevin to even be on his staff?!?!?

I agree that Lute really looks bad in all this. It is not like Kevin led the team to a disastrous season. It was not a great year, but it is not like they flamed out and went NIT.

--Jason "frankly, I've never felt Kevin O'Neil was that good a coach anyway" Evans

Apparently your opinion came to be shared by many people in Tucson during the past season, which, while not a disaster, was hardly what people expected of a squad with potentially three first round draft picks (Bayless, Budinger and Hill). That includes several of the team members, who had to be assured by Olson that O'Neill's offense wouldn't be run next year.

A good friend of mine was a legendary high school coach in Tucson and follows the program closely. His main problem with O'Neill was that he always seemed to be flying by the seat of his pants. Never established a set rotation, claiming he wanted to follow his gut, and nobody but the top three ever had a clear idea of what his role was. A lot of discontent on the team by the end of the season.

As to where the falling out between Lute and O'Neill came -- I don't really know, if disagreements about how to run the team don't explain it all. I can remember a lot of quotes when O'Neill was hired from Steve Kerr and other team members about how Kevin loved Lute and regarded him as like a father. Supposedly, the happiest of marriages was being re-consummated.

[BD80]

So, I'm guessing that this means Kevin O'Neil is not the designated success to Lute anymore, huh?
...
I agree that Lute really looks bad in all this.

This is almost a scene from one of the Scary Movie series, complete with Leslie Nielson!

Last week, Lute and O'Neill have a "good" meeting and Arizona then let O'Neill face the press and talk about fulfilling his contract. Didn't Lute know then that he was going to dump O'Neill? Of course he did. Did he tell O'Neill? Hmmm. If so, then O'Neill really played it up to make Lute look bad.

It looks like ol' Lute shuffled up behind O'Neill and gave him a little shove just as that bus was speeding by.

Since "Roadkill" Kevin is the unlikely successor, who is next? Uber recruiter Josh Pastner is only 30, but he is considered such a rising star, I see him taking the reins.

[gotham devil]

Apparently your opinion came to be shared by many people in Tucson during the past season, which, while not a disaster, was hardly what people expected of a squad with potentially three first round draft picks (Bayless, Budinger and Hill). That includes several of the team members, who had to be assured by Olson that O'Neill's offense wouldn't be run next year.

A good friend of mine was a legendary high school coach in Tucson and follows the program closely. His main problem with O'Neill was that he always seemed to be flying by the seat of his pants. Never established a set rotation, claiming he wanted to follow his gut, and nobody but the top three ever had a clear idea of what his role was. A lot of discontent on the team by the end of the season.

As to where the falling out between Lute and O'Neill came -- I don't really know, if disagreements about how to run the team don't explain it all. I can remember a lot of quotes when O'Neill was hired from Steve Kerr and other team members about how Kevin loved Lute and regarded him as like a father. Supposedly, the happiest of marriages was being re-consummated.

In fairness, Lute has underachieved, relative to NBA talent, quite
a bit in the recent past. O'Neill's calling card on the NBA level was his ability to teach defense. The roster was filled with talented, but soft Pac-10 (redundant) players. It just wasn't a good match.

[roywhite]

U of A had talent, but they were a young team. Could be really dangerous next year; wait for the Lute is Back stories. What a soap opera...in fact, Lute looks like a soap opera character, the family patriarch who's had a few "issues" but still has some spirit left.

Budinger and Hill are sophomores, right? and Bayless just a freshman? Any of them possibly jumping into the draft?

[BD80]

In fairness, Lute has underachieved, relative to NBA talent, quite a bit in the recent past.

We will get to see next year when the Cats add Brandon Jennings to Bayless, Budinger and Hill. I don't think any team will have as much "NBA talent" as Lute. Bet they don't get to the elite 8. Lute does have that reputation of being soft.

[BD80]

Lute was on fire:

"I apologize for what they had to go through this year in terms of the change," Olson said. "They came here to play a wide-open game, and they didn't. That's no one's fault, because that's not coach O'Neill's belief on the offensive end. It was his team once I left. But I said we're going to play Arizona basketball and we're going to have fun doing it."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3324436

[dkbaseball]

U of A had talent, but they were a young team. Could be really dangerous next year; wait for the Lute is Back stories. What a soap opera...in fact, Lute looks like a soap opera character, the family patriarch who's had a few "issues" but still has some spirit left.

Budinger and Hill are sophomores, right? and Bayless just a freshman? Any of them possibly jumping into the draft?

I'm told Bayless is expected to go, Budinger and Hill are up in the air.

[dukemsu]

Luther has been losing it ever since the '01 final, when his complaining and Packer's statement about the officiating was the groundswell that started the Duke Hatred Tsunami.

2005: Blows a gasket over being sent to the Chicago regional, where, guess who, Illinois is waiting, as the #1 ranked team in America playing a de facto home game. True, Pitino did the same thing prior to Louisville playing the Holes, but he did it with that inimitable Pitino smirk and it seemed that he was resigned to the fact that it was unfair, but he couldn't do anything about it. Lute complained about it for the better part of two weeks.

2005: Pulls one of the great gag jobs in NCAA history, blowing a double digit lead to the Illini in the waning moments. Not exactly Gone in 60 Seconds level, but pretty close.

2005: The infamous Stoudamire is better than Redick comments. He had backup based on Salim's shooting percentage, but this sort of "my guy is better than your guy" nonsense should be beneath someone of Lute's stature. This is something Calipari or maybe Bruce Pearl would pull (I actually think Pearl did, touting Lofton last year).

I don't think I need to chronicle the bizarre goings-on of the last two years.

Seems to me that something is afoot in the desert. They are still pulling great recruits, such as Budinger, Bayless, and the Jennings kid next year, so it can't be all bad.

However, Lute doesn't seem to be fully in control these days. Delicate subject as I know he's had numerous big-picture family issues, and he's a generally respected coach. Still, lot of red flags out there.

[dcarp23]

What is the story alluded to on the front page about death threats and the UNLV-UA rivalry? I have never heard it, but it sounds interesting.

[davekay1971]

The UA program is in chaos right now. They're going to go into freefall if Lute doesn't get things under control very quickly, or step down. If you were a recruit right now, would you be nervous about going to Arizona?

[roywhite]

The UA program is in chaos right now. They're going to go into freefall if Lute doesn't get things under control very quickly, or step down. If you were a recruit right now, would you be nervous about going to Arizona?

Maybe so, but he's got Brandon Jennings coming in and perhaps at least 2 of the current trio (Bayless, Budinger, and Hill) will stick around. If Jennings doesn't have talent around him, he'll just dribble and shoot himself.

[BD80]

Well it appears Lute blindsided O'Neill AND his AD Livengood:

http://www.azstarnet.com/sports/232499

A bunch of good stuff, including Lute saying his leave cost UA THREE of the top 2009 recruits and some quotes from parents of players who have some questions.

Some of the funny stuff:

Lute Olson further re-established control of the Arizona Wildcats basketball program while announcing he would remove Kevin O'Neill as assistant coach.
Olson said if O'Neill did not land a job elsewhere and came back next season, the university would "be responsible for the second year of his contract."
That apparently was news to UA athletic director Jim Livengood and O'Neill alike.
"None of that has been determined," Livengood said, declining additional comment.
O'Neill, who says he intends to be an assistant coach and the future head coach, said, "I'm not aware of that."

[BD80]

Bringing this back to the top to see if anyone has an answer.

Greg Hansen is the Arizona Star reporter who has had his conflicts with Lute, but I would like to hear or find the story referred to on the front page.

BTW, Hansen's take on Lute's presser, it is not pretty:

http://www.azstarnet.com/sports/232496

Hansen calls Lute Captain Queeg. My favorites:

I've had some notable bumps with Olson, never been a fan of the way he treats people and especially subordinates, but on Tuesday I almost could not bear to watch as Olson pulled a Bob Knight, minus the cussing.
For the good of this community, for all of the feel-good days he has provided over a quarter-century, my wish is for Olson to go out on top, smiling, handing off his treasured program to an appointed successor.
But on Tuesday, Olson arrogantly said that choosing a successor is "not something that needs to be done.''
Perhaps he'll coach forever. ...

Nothing else is as important to the long-term health of UA hoops as the young men Olson signs in seven months. It is the first time since the spring of 1983 that the UA's ability to recruit effectively has been in doubt.
You wonder how he will be received in the living rooms of high school superstars, or if he'll have to fall back and pursue players headed to Iowa State and New Mexico instead of Kansas and UCLA.
Olson has talked about a new contract once his deal expires in 2011. Who knows? Joe Paterno is 81, pumping out Top 25 football teams at Penn State and, good Lord, compared to ol' Joe, Lute comes off as Vin Diesel.
But this is no longer about Lute's considerable physical presence. His blood pressure count and his GQ looks betray the real issue here: For the last several years, he has been overseeing a sinking program in which players have failed to fully develop and his personal demands have bit into the spirit and the financial well-being of the athletic department.

[BD80]

I found this blurb:

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Cu...?oid=oid:54224

1988: When interviewed by the Weekly during that amazing season, Olson reflected on how he loved Tucson and how he almost left early on, because of a series of defamatory articles that ran in the Arizona Daily Star, in which financial misconduct was alleged. People at the Star ended up getting fired, and Olson stayed around. When asked if he read the Weekly, Olson said, "Yes, sometimes. I read that article about Sean."

"Yes, sometimes," is a quantum leap over "No, not really." The Weekly had arrived and was a part of the consciousness of the gem of the Sonoran Desert.

(Olson later was said to have stopped reading The Star altogether after columnist Greg Hansen wrote a piece claiming that Olson uttered a string of expletives after a gut-wrenching loss to UNLV in the Sweet Sixteen of the 1989 NCAA Tournament.)

[weezie]

Ya know, the L Dog should be a little more appreciative of O'Neill. Kevin might know more than he's saying about the mysterious Luther's time out this past season.
Maybe that's at the root of Luther's fussiness over Kevin's contract.

[BD80]

I tried to find something on the Internet, but the best I could find were offhand comments in response to Hansen articles suggesting that Hansen had reported that there was a fight between the coaches after a game between Arizona and UNLV. Anyone know why Lute is so pissed with Hansen?

[dkbaseball]

I tried to find something on the Internet, but the best I could find were offhand comments in response to Hansen articles suggesting that Hansen had reported that there was a fight between the coaches after a game between Arizona and UNLV. Anyone know why Lute is so pissed with Hansen?

The report I'm getting from a friend in Tucson is that sometime around the late '90s Hansen wrote a column in which he said that Lute had been arrogant and non-responsive at a press conference, so Lute banned him from the locker room. The ban stayed in effect for quite a while, despite Hansen's best efforts at brown nosing. He eventually got back into Lute's good graces, but with the latest situation the old animosities have been re-kindled, and Hansen apparently has lost all fear.