Jump to content

SL Xpress

Full Members
  • Posts

    3,735
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by SL Xpress

  1. Yeah, that SBU shit is a known factor for a long time. The military also has issues with Russian sympathizers/loyalists, but it was never as ubiquitous as in the SBU. Both services had their history as part of the Soviets, and then even after independence there was a lot of interoperability and cross communication. But with the SBU and the FSB it was far greater. Every time Yanukovych took power he strengthened the SBU with huge budgets, increased manpower, better equipment, while leaving the AFU to rot for the most part. Given that he was pretty much a Russian stooge, of course there was a huge propensity for the people hired - and certainly promoted - to be sympathetic, if not outright cheerleaders, for Russia. The article talks about 2010, but it's fairer to say that was the case right up to Yanukovych's departure in February 2014. I'd say this and Ukraine's endemic corruption - which they're also trying to fight all while prosecuting a massive war in their own territory - are the two big issues for Ukraine internally that aren't directly related to the military. I don't see any reasonable way to eliminate either one, but if they can just be seen as fighting it and making examples of people, hopefully that will help.
  2. I keep reading on twitter that Spain is going to send 53 older Leopard 2s. The A4 variant, versus the A6 variant Germany and Poland are sending. Here's the best article I could find about it: https://www.madridmetropolitan.com/spain-to-send-leopard-tanks-to-ukraine/ Honestly, it's not as clear cut as I want it to be based on the article, but at least there's some indication for a pretty healthy donation coming Ukrainians' way from Spain if they move forward with this.
  3. I simply don't know that that's true. There aren't a whole lot of test cases to go by. I do know there have been coaches fired for less. I'm glad Texas fired him, but I'm not lauding the administration for being something special for doing so.
  4. Maybe. I just can't think of many situations where a head coach was arrested for felony domestic abuse and yet kept his job. If you can think of any, it would help me with the narrative that Texas has a higher standard. I'd argue Texas simply has the standard all other schools do in this situation, until somebody proves me wrong. I do feel like Texas had a higher standard at one point on any number of fronts. But the reality of competing in big time athletics has chiseled away at nearly all of them. At this stage of the game I'd say Stanford is competitive for the most part while still maintaining a legitimate student athlete environment, but I don't know how many others could say the same. And they aren't able to be competitive at a high level consistently in football and men's basketball. I certainly do not feel like firing Chris Beard is an example of UT's higher standards. And ask bitterwhiteguy about UT's higher standards regarding player behavior. I have never agreed with his stance, but he's certainly been passionate about it.
  5. You have a nice night as well. It's been a bad decade. Plenty of more talented players. Really crappy coaching. I'd like to see a different head coach than Rodney Terry in place at the end of the season, whatever that takes. Hey, enjoy the season. Maybe put me on ignore, either literally or figuratively. The bitchassedness isn't going away. My posting volume on this board has gone down considerably since the arrest. That's the best you're going to get.
  6. On paper I thought they'd be a national championship contending team. Then I saw them on the court. Like I said before, if you're unathletic, you don't have anyone who can take their defender off the dribble, you don't have any kind of reliable 3 point shooting, you're not a good rebounding team, what's left? You slow the game down, win the turnover battle, and be more efficient on the offensive end than the opponent. Which is what Texas did. A la, maximizing their potential. Citing preseason accolades as a basis for them not reaching their potential is silly. It was all based on the transfers coming in and what they'd done at their previous school. Like I said last year, it's as if in the NBA you were able to form an all star team made up of the best players who had never made the playoffs. I'm not saying it couldn't be a really good team, but there's a reason their teams didn't make the playoffs. I can't even believe you're trying to bring up Marcus Fucking Carr as evidence last year's team underachieved. Part of the reason he's thriving this year is because of the work he put into his game under Beard. And this team would be WAAAAAAAAAY better if Hunter was still performing the role he had at the beginning of the season rather than the shell of himself he's become. I also feel like this team is way too dependent on Carr, just like Pittsburgh and especially Minnesota were. It's not a better team because Carr has been unleashed. In my opinion it's a worse team. I absolutely believe Beard was an Xs and Os wizard last year. I said as much on the regular throughout last year while most fans were loudly complaining, so it's not like this is coming from out of the blue. I also feel like he was doing more of the same this year prior to getting arrested and then fired. He's not a perfect coach, but he was a great fit for Texas and it's going to be tough to find a near equivalent.
  7. I get it. It's problematic for me. But there's still a sense of innocent until proven guilty. If the court system drops the charge, the fiancee continues to spout the narrative it was all a huge mistake on her part, he didn't do anything wrong, she never should have called the police. He comes out with faux apologies for any decisions he made which put everyone in a bad position, without actually apologizing for anything specific he did. He's really gifted at coming across as a "straight shooter" while pushing out bullshit. The key thing is if he's ever involved in anything like this again. He will always be viewed under a different microscope now. But people love a comeback story. Including Texas. Sarkisian was fired for literally being drunk at a football practice. Regularly. That's not the same as domestic abuse, but the difference is there's no one disputing that's exactly what happened. If the only two people who were at Beard's house eventually insist nothing ever happened like what was alleged in the charges, and that Beard was wrongfully arrested, there's way more wiggle room. People are going to believe what they want to believe, and a lot of times what they want to believe is what's in their best interests. My biggest point is that there's a different standard for the school where events transpired, than there is for the school that subsequently hires him. That's just the way it is. Texas would have fired Sarkisian under the same circumstances, just like USC did. USC basketball would have fired Beard. But USC basketball is just as likely to hire Beard if he's completely exonerated as Texas was willing to hire Sarkisian. It's just how things work.
  8. I don't think of it as a false narrative. Terry has been around the program for a long time. He was an assistant under Barnes during our great run from 2002-2008, finally leaving after the 2011 season for the Fresno State gig. I had this opinion of him as an assistant, and nothing he did at either Fresno State nor UTEP changed my mind. Not to mention what I'm seeing on the floor since he took over. You are more than welcome to keep an open mind. I, on the other hand, already have a good feel for what we have in Terry, regardless of the eventual results of this season. If he wins enough, particularly a deep enough run in the tournament, you have to keep him. Certainly a Final Four run would cement things, but as has been alluded, even an Elite Eight or Sweet Sixteen run would be impressive for the program in its current state. But regardless of the reasons, I'm not going to be happy with Terry as our head coach moving forward. That's my prerogative. Everyone else, including you, are welcome to have a more open mind about it and push back against "false narratives" as you're putting it. I also am not in favor at all of keeping a guy just because of a recruiting class. Either he's the right guy or not. I'd rather get someone else in who could be the right guy, than to keep someone who most certainly isn't. Someone else posted a few days ago you keep him on a one or two year contract. That's not how it works. If we keep Terry he's going to get at least 4 years. 3 years even if things go completely sideways. I'd prefer to roll the dice now, rather than wait 4 years to roll it then. I want a hall of fame level coach here. I know they don't exactly grow on trees, but it's all we're really lacking (although actually Barnes has a good chance of making it in based on career win totals alone). We've taken the steps in my lifetime to get there. We just need that last missing piece. Terry is not that last missing piece.
  9. I couldn't disagree more. It was an unathletic team with nobody who could take a defender off the dribble consistently and no reliable outside shooting. It's like we agree about the team but then you say it wasn't ever firing at 100% of its potential. I think it was. Beard got them to buy in to a slow down offense with virtually no fast break points and then be tough on defense and win the turnover battle. Given what Beard had when he walked on to campus it was incredible. That's not even counting what he did off the court in starting to create a home court advantage and a robust student section. Tre Mitchell wasn't used effectively. He's averaging 12.6/5.8 per game while hitting almost 40% of his 3 point shots on 56 attempts for West Virginia. Just wasn't a good fit for Beard. You could say something similar about Jaylon Tyson. He's always going to get a lot of those.
  10. Wow, that’s a stretch. There’s not any part of me that thinks we should have kept Beard. There’s also not any part of me that thinks this team is better off on the basketball court with him gone. Last year I felt Beard did a great job of maximizing the pieces he had. This year I felt like he had better pieces. In the future I feel like he was about to create some really special rosters. Rodney Terry doesn’t have that ability. He’s doing the best he can with what he has, and so far it’s been enough to put together a very good record. But the fact is the future isn’t as bright with Terry in charge. That’s not about wanting to keep Beard. That’s about being angry and bitter that Beard made all the choices he did which led to this.
  11. Honestly, I’d question if Texas would give a fuck if the shoe were on the other foot. We don’t know how all this ends up. But if Beard appears to be completely exonerated and he handles the PR aspects better than he has without the consequences of the legal system hanging over his head - which I feel like he will - then there’s going to be a redemptive aspect to all of this that will be very appealing to many. Especially if you’re starved for a future hall of fame coach (my opinion) to take over your basketball program. Which frankly, we are. That’s not to say I’m against firing him. It felt necessary to me. Just that there’s a different standard for the school he’s at when it all transpires, versus the next school after everything has run its course. There’s this impression he’s only going to get his next opportunity at a program that simply doesn’t care about any of this, when I feel like his options are going to be extremely broad. Of course, if the Kentucky job becomes available, then it’s the best of all possible worlds for him.
  12. It's never that fast. This could go on for another year in a worst case scenario. Even best case for Beard it can easily last months. In any case, you won't need to ask, because the thread/board is going to be full of people talking about it when it does happen. Just as an example, Arterio Morris was charged at the beginning of the summer, and we still don't know the disposition of his case. It's not apples to apples, but it is a domestic violence charge where the victim seems likely not to cooperate with the prosecutor, so that's a big similarity.
  13. This is why I refrain from posting for the most part when I start getting really negative. People don't want to hear it, especially when ostensibly the team is doing well. Which they are. The key difference for me in the defense Beard and post Beard, is that Beard's defense simply didn't give up many 3 point opportunities. It often wasn't the percentage of shots the opponent made from beyond the arc. It was the fact they shot so much fewer of them than they were used to. It's funny. They call it the no middle defense, and there are good reasons for that. But when I watch Beard's defense what I think of as his priorities are 1) don't give up transition points. He will sacrifice about anything not to give up transition points. In particular offensive rebounding. But simply the way the guys rotate in and out on offense, there's a focus on getting back in transition even while players are attacking the hoop off the dribble. Beyond that, it's 2) not to give up easy shots from the perimeter. It's a big reason why he recruits the way he does. Sure, a huge part of it is to defense pick and roll and screening action, but it's also to aggressively defend the perimeter. The other thing he emphasized was 3) shutting down half the court and make the the other offense make difficult skip passes to the open man with a guy flying out to his face as soon as the ball rotation came. I don't see the same smoothness nor intensity on defense with Terry as the head coach. Also, the substitution patterns don't make as much sense to me. I just feel one of Beard's huge strengths was managing the roster - from year to year, game to game, and within a game. I'm not saying he was perfect. But Terry doesn't have the same feel for when to go to his bench and why. It's being covered somewhat in my opinion by roster construction. motown makes the comment Derka sounds like someone who has been dumped. It's more like the woman I loved beat a child in front of me with a closed fist, or something equally horrific. I'm the one who did the dumping. But man, I really wish they hadn't done what they did. Anyway, I'm glad for all of you who are getting joy out of this season. The players deserve our support. Heck, Terry and the rest of the staff deserve our support. They didn't ask for any of this. But I have a fear that Terry will be the next head coach, and it prevents me from an unadulterated joy regarding the team's success this year. That's not your problem. That's my problem. In any case, perimeter defense isn't nearly as aggressive or effective. It's not as much about percentage of makes, and more about how many shots on goal from the beyond the arc opponents' are attempting.
  14. Help me understand how to do that. If the ride is good enough, we're hiring Terry. It's debatable what "good enough" is, but it's not debatable if the season goes well enough, he's our coach for the next few years.
  15. Right. I don't think I've argued anything different. My point is that him acceding to allow Sweden into NATO is not fait accompli. I'm not saying he won't agree. I'm saying he's fully capable of being intransigent on the issue because it serves his purposes. And that's because he's way more aligned with the Muslim world, specifically in the Middle East (with all its complications and shifting "an enemy of my enemy is my friend" alliances), than he is with the Western world. Another illustrative point is the S-400 purchase. It was a big middle finger to NATO and the US, and even after extensive sanctions and a dramatic pullout of the F-35 program that cost Turkiye industry billions, they went forward with it. Then once they get the two systems on their soil, they put them in storage, and have put on hold the delivery of the additional systems and missiles they purchased. He continues to try to play one side against the other in an effort to show his independence from the west, but he also backs down. He's not a reliable partner, but Turkiye is too important geographically not to cater to. I just wish they still had a government completely intent on being secular. But that's gone by the wayside.
  16. For sure. I do not agree with you regarding Erdogan's strategic thought process, however. I feel like you're underestimating him. The main thing here is how does Erdogan and Turkiye respond to events in Ukraine? What is their motivation? What do they seek? And the answer is inevitably, "It's complicated," just as nearly any issue in the middle east is. We all know about the Turkish drones that were used to such effectiveness by the Ukrainians in the early part of the war, and the unabashed support of the manufacturer for Ukraine's cause. We also know about Erdogan negotiating for the transfer of Ukrainian grain, and the subsequent enforcement of that agreement even when the Russians made noises they wouldn't honor it any more. But this idea that Turkiye would like to see the Russians knocked down a peg or two is not true. What they really need is for Iran to be knocked down a peg or two, more than Russia. Russia is not a realistic threat to Erdogan's ambitions for Turkiye to be the leading figure in the Islamic world. Iran is. Yes they're on opposite sides of the conflict in both Syria and Armenia/Azerbaijan (well, Russia is ostensibly neutral there, but Turkiye is Azerbaijan's number one supporter). But Iran's support for proxies in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon is the real danger. Not to mention successes from the Houthis also increases Iran's prestige in the region. My guess is that Erdogan will try to remain as neutral as possible, while being a little equaler towards Ukraine. He'd like to be a central figure in whatever cessation of hostilities eventually occurs. He'd like for his country to be a significant source for legitimate Russian fossil fuel exports after the conflict is over. He'd also find it important that Turkiye have some say over any kind of naval negotiations in the Black Sea and Mediterranean, particularly if Ukraine somehow manages to take control of Sevastopol. As far as Sweden, we'll see what happens. But this idea that Erdogan is just going to roll over regarding letting Sweden into NATO because enough money is thrown at him is not really how he works. If he thinks there's enough mileage in terms of how he's perceived in the Muslim world, and especially among his base in Turkiye, he'll keep the wrench in the spokes. Look at how intransigent he's been on the Cypriot issue. That's not completely an apples to apples comparison - because Sweden to NATO is much much bigger - but the fact remains he's willing to sacrifice economic advantages to prove his points. He'll be seen as a central figure in the international news cycle for as long as this goes on, and that's definitely going to increase his standing among rank and file Muslims. That's important to him. As far as your points regarding collaboration, I couldn't agree more. People get frustrated at the inefficiencies of building coalitions and coming to a common agreement. Rightly so. There's nothing efficient about it. And at a time when we're all watching the conflict in Ukraine with very set opinions about good and evil, it's beyond frustrating to see the delays because of only one or two countries putting the kibosh on things. Ukrainians are dying, the country is being devastated. It's already facing terrible demographic pressures that are going to be exacerbated to virtually unprecedented levels from the mass exodus. We all know the sooner Ukraine can expel the Russian forces, the better the outcome for everyone. Heck, I'd even argue that's the best outcome for Russia, for that matter. But Orban is bad news. That's for sure. I hate seeing him in power. Azerbaijan
  17. You and I have very different conceptions of what is or isn’t a true dictatorship. History is replete with dictators who put on a show of elections as a way of legitimizing their reign in various ways. I’d say the vast majority of them in the last 100 years or so. If there’s no real chance of a peaceful transition of power and one person is ultimately responsible for the whole kit and caboodle, it’s a dictatorship. The reason why there’s a war in Ukraine right now is because the Ukrainian people came out in massive protests for months on end - twice! about a decade apart - when Yanukovych tried the same thing there. That said, Erdogan’s base is within the Muslim community. He can survive protests - and has, massive ones - from the secular part of population. He will have a much tougher time if the Muslims feel like he is betraying them and their faith. I’m not as convinced that Sweden’s path to NATO is as smooth as massive bribes after the May election. Erdogan sees he and his country’s future firmly ensconced as a leader of the Islamic world, not western. Tūrkiye is another lost opportunity for the west to bring a majority Islam country into the Western fold, and has been since Erdogan’s purges of the military and the subsequent failed coup a few years later from an emasculated secular officer corp. It’s a bummer seeing Ataturk’s dream die.
  18. Well, Europe only has itself to blame. Back when Erdogan was trying to get into the EU the leaders there said Turkey has too many coups. You have to reform the military so it no longer interferes in domestic politics. Erdogan was only too happy to do so, purging the Turkish military of virtually all senior officers, and thus cleaving the military's historic responsibility as handed to it by Ataturk to ensure the government remains secular. Now they have a ruler for life, and the secular forces in Turkey have been on the defensive ever since. To me it's similar to Carter's approach with the Shah of Iran, the entire Arab Spring fiasco (have you seen what's happening in Libya these days?), and of course most spectacularly, installing a democratic government of all things in Iraq and Afghanistan. To "spread democracy." Unintended consequences. Now we've got Erdogan gumming up the works in all kinds of ways as his number one foreign policy objective is to restore the Ottoman Caliphate to whatever extent he can. Which is limited, for sure, but it's far more important to him to be seen as the most important leader in the Muslim world than to increase his prestige in the West. We're just fortunate it didn't work in Egypt.
  19. I hope it's not a Leopard. Or they got permission from Germany before using it.
  20. Literally the only reason to give the Ukrainians the gas guzzling, high maintenance, expensive logistics nightmare Abrams is to compel Germany to give permission on the Leopards. That's it. Germany doesn't even have that many Leopards themselves, so they'd be a minor direct exporter at best. The manufacturer isn't prepared to build Leopards either for Ukraine or to backfill other countries supplying them with any kind of alacrity. It's literally just compelling the German government to give foreign governments the go ahead to do what they want to do already. Several of them such as Poland already indicating they're going to do it anyway with or without permission.
  21. I thought for sure Russia was going to roll over Ukraine like they did back in 2014 when the Ukraine government did manage to put together an armed force to go deal with the separatists. The UAF was doing really well until the Russian army crossed the border and completely annihilated them. Add in air support by what I thought would be a first world air force, I thought Ukraine's best chance was an elongated guerilla warfare that exacted too big a price on Russia for them to stick around. I completely overestimated Russia getting results over the past dozen years by modernizing their core armed force units into extremely well equipped, well trained, highly mobile force multipliers. I underestimated the insidious effect of putting a higher priority on loyalty and not being a potential threat to the "emperor" which was first made clear to me in Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Same kind of dynamics at work. The corruption is endemic, starting at the top. The internal security is valued more highly than the military. And people who don't parrot the orthodoxy according to Putin can have their lives ruined or ended. Now I just want Ukraine to get a chance to finish this thing. I'm very hopeful we'll see some breakthroughs versus the Russian defensive lines if the UAF has access to enough armor, and then we'll see how the demoralized Russian troops respond. There are a bunch of countries all willing to give 14 Leopard 2's apiece to Ukraine. Enough to just about add up to 100 or more. It's not the 300 they're asking for, but that's a good start in any case. Boy, this thing is going to be a logistics nightmare this spring and summer with all these various western systems coming into the theater. I don't see how they can feasibly maintain and repair all these different systems effectively.
  22. There has never been the investment in men's basketball that exists today. Never. What you see as a lack of greatness, I see as a steady rise in improvement. From Abe Lemons, and then the horrible stretch under Bob Wetlich, to Tom Penders, to Rick Barnes, to the horrible stretch under Smart, to what looked like it was going to be the golden fairy land of basketball Valhalla under Beard. It didn't work out that way, but it's not because of incompetence with the hiring process or the support given. I have no idea if the next guy will be the right guy. It's a fucking roulette wheel in many respects, especially when all that's going to be satisfying ultimately is a Hall of Fame level, top ten in the country type of guy. What I can say is that the program has never been in a better position to hire that guy than they are right now, nor have they ever been in a better position to give him the support necessary to win at the highest level. What I can tell you is that if he doesn't work out, they try someone new. Same as everyone else. Same as North Carolina with Doherty. Same as Kentucky with the end of Hall's reign, the firing of Sutton, the dismissal of Smith, and the disaster of Gillispie. Same as UCLA with their list. It's hard to find the right guy. The only ones with the secret sauce right now is Kansas, who is now on their third Hall of Fame hire in a row. There's no magic eight ball. You do the best you can and hope for the best. But UT has done an outstanding job of putting an infrastructure in place in virtually every way that matters to help the men's basketball team to succeed. Let's see who they get, and how they do. I'm not ready to write the next guy off until I see what kind of product he puts on the court. I remember last year on this board there were a multitude of complaints about Beard's team, his approach, and the results. All I saw was a crazy bright future. I'd like to have that feeling again. Without a doubt it's possible, regardless of how likely or unlikely it remains.
  23. Depends on who they get. One thing I know is that Shaka Smart is gone. If the next guy performs at that level, he'll be gone, too. Hopefully he doesn't perform at that level. It could go either way. I'm excited to see who we get.
  24. Is Marquette falling upwards? Because I don't think it is. It's still a pretty impressive job given his resume over the past 6 years, that's for sure.
  25. It's definitely a decent job. But they won't pay what Texas will, and they'll have some limitations on who the head coach can recruit academically. Transfers will be tougher to get in, too, and the NIL program for basketball isn't as robust. I'm not arguing with you. You already said, "I don't know that we will be competing with Notre Dame for a coach...." Just clarifying in basic ways why the Texas job is better. Regardless of history or anything else, Notre Dame hasn't been willing to compromise as much to compete in sports overall as much as Texas has been willing to.
×
×
  • Create New...