03-30-2012, 11:02 AM
This NIT run has the pessimist in my thinking (well, that's not exactly true, as the pessimist/skeptic in me is always grumbling about something) what happens if next year's Stanford team ends up in the top 4 in the league and an invite to the tourney. Is Dawkins as good as gone at the next decent opportunity to join a "traditional basketball power conference" at a school where fans show up to your games, even if you're battling for middle of the conference? Coming from Duke, it's got to be tough for Dawkins to put together a decent team and not have it supported by the community. And per some of the posts yesterday, the conventional wisdom is that there are 10-15 schools where one could win an NCAA championship, and Stanford probably is not on that list in most people's minds. (not saying I don't think we could, but that conventional wisdom is that you need to be at Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana... etc.)
Clearly, I'm creating problems that don't yet exist, but it goes to the root of why I never liked the Dawkins hire. I hope he proves me wrong by building a winner with the Cardinal and spurning advances from Big East/ACC/B1G/SEC teams, but I have my doubts.
Clearly, I'm creating problems that don't yet exist, but it goes to the root of why I never liked the Dawkins hire. I hope he proves me wrong by building a winner with the Cardinal and spurning advances from Big East/ACC/B1G/SEC teams, but I have my doubts.