JOANNE BOYLE
Virginia officially hired Joanne Boyle, the Cal women's coach, last Saturday to lead the Cavaliers after the resignation/forcing out of Debbie Ryan as coach. Boyle was the coach of the Golden Bears for six seasons, compiling a 137-64 record. She made four NCAA tournament appearances and won the NIT in 2010. In 2009, Boyle's Bears knocked UVA out of the second round of the Big Dance. Before Boyle arrived at Cal, the program had endured 12 consecutive losing seasons.
Prior to coaching the Bears, Boyle coached at Richmond starting in 2002. She compiled a 67-29 record with the Spiders and won at least 21 games every year there.
Boyle played college basketball at Duke and graduated in 1985. When she finished her career, she led the Blue Devils all-time in scoring and assists. Interestingly enough, Boyle earned a master's degree from Duke's hated arch-nemesis, UNC, in 1989. From 1993-2002, Boyle was an assistant coach at Duke.
I don't know if this hire is a home run, but I think Boyle should certainly elevate Virginia women's basketball back closer to what it used to be. She is known as having great recruting skills, so that should help Virginia bring in more in-state talent.
Debbie Ryan was a great coach, but she undoubtedly has lost an edge the last several years, so Boyle should be a good shot in the arm for the Cavs. Boyle has been a winner everywhere she's been, and she played basketball at one of the most successful women's basketball programs in the ACC. Duke has also been a player on the national stage as of late. It is also impressive how Boyle turned around a Cal program that was in the toilet bowl. Virginia has been mediocre the past couple seasons, but not flat out bad--and the program is still pretty fresh off gaining national exposure and earning NCAA tourney berths with Monica Wright, one of the best players in the nation during her time at UVA. I don't think Boyle should have trouble getting a foothold at UVA wit her track record and her familiarity with the state of Virginia and the ACC.
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NBA
The NBA playoffs kickoff Saturday with four Game 1s: Chicago hosts Indiana, Philly travels to Miami, Atlanta visits Orlando, and Dallas plays at home against Portland. On Sunday, four more Game 1s will be played: San Antonio hosts Memphis, the Lakers play at home against New Orleans, Boston takes on New York in Boston, and Denver travels to Oklahoma City. I was awful at picks for the NCAA tournament, so here's hoping these go better. And I'll only pick round-by-round. If I picked the entire playoffs, I don't know if I'd have any teams left in the finals.
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Bulls vs. No. 8 Pacers--Bulls 4-0
No. 2 Heat vs. No. 7 76ers--Heat 4-1
No. 3 Celtics vs. No. 6 Knicks--Celtics 4-2
No. 4 Magic vs. No. 5 Hawks--Magic 4-1
Western Conference
No. 1 Spurs vs. No. 8 Grizzlies--Spurs 4-2
No. 2 Lakers vs. No. 7 Hornets--Lakers 4-2
No. 3 Mavericks vs. No. 6 Trail Blazers--Trailblazers 4-3
No. 4 Thunder vs. No. 5 Nuggets--Thunder 4-3
Virginia officially hired Joanne Boyle, the Cal women's coach, last Saturday to lead the Cavaliers after the resignation/forcing out of Debbie Ryan as coach. Boyle was the coach of the Golden Bears for six seasons, compiling a 137-64 record. She made four NCAA tournament appearances and won the NIT in 2010. In 2009, Boyle's Bears knocked UVA out of the second round of the Big Dance. Before Boyle arrived at Cal, the program had endured 12 consecutive losing seasons.
Prior to coaching the Bears, Boyle coached at Richmond starting in 2002. She compiled a 67-29 record with the Spiders and won at least 21 games every year there.
Boyle played college basketball at Duke and graduated in 1985. When she finished her career, she led the Blue Devils all-time in scoring and assists. Interestingly enough, Boyle earned a master's degree from Duke's hated arch-nemesis, UNC, in 1989. From 1993-2002, Boyle was an assistant coach at Duke.
I don't know if this hire is a home run, but I think Boyle should certainly elevate Virginia women's basketball back closer to what it used to be. She is known as having great recruting skills, so that should help Virginia bring in more in-state talent.
Debbie Ryan was a great coach, but she undoubtedly has lost an edge the last several years, so Boyle should be a good shot in the arm for the Cavs. Boyle has been a winner everywhere she's been, and she played basketball at one of the most successful women's basketball programs in the ACC. Duke has also been a player on the national stage as of late. It is also impressive how Boyle turned around a Cal program that was in the toilet bowl. Virginia has been mediocre the past couple seasons, but not flat out bad--and the program is still pretty fresh off gaining national exposure and earning NCAA tourney berths with Monica Wright, one of the best players in the nation during her time at UVA. I don't think Boyle should have trouble getting a foothold at UVA wit her track record and her familiarity with the state of Virginia and the ACC.
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NBA
The NBA playoffs kickoff Saturday with four Game 1s: Chicago hosts Indiana, Philly travels to Miami, Atlanta visits Orlando, and Dallas plays at home against Portland. On Sunday, four more Game 1s will be played: San Antonio hosts Memphis, the Lakers play at home against New Orleans, Boston takes on New York in Boston, and Denver travels to Oklahoma City. I was awful at picks for the NCAA tournament, so here's hoping these go better. And I'll only pick round-by-round. If I picked the entire playoffs, I don't know if I'd have any teams left in the finals.
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Bulls vs. No. 8 Pacers--Bulls 4-0
No. 2 Heat vs. No. 7 76ers--Heat 4-1
No. 3 Celtics vs. No. 6 Knicks--Celtics 4-2
No. 4 Magic vs. No. 5 Hawks--Magic 4-1
Western Conference
No. 1 Spurs vs. No. 8 Grizzlies--Spurs 4-2
No. 2 Lakers vs. No. 7 Hornets--Lakers 4-2
No. 3 Mavericks vs. No. 6 Trail Blazers--Trailblazers 4-3
No. 4 Thunder vs. No. 5 Nuggets--Thunder 4-3
I'm interested to hear why you think the Boyle hire "wasn't a home run." Is there another coach we could've hired that you think would've been a better fit?
ReplyDeleteAs for the NBA picks, they seem to be mostly in line with the CW. I think I mostly agree with them... the top seeds are just too powerful so I don't think we'll see any upsets in the first round. Although given the results we saw today (Pacers taking the Bulls to the wire, Sixers giving the Heat a scare), I think there could be some mild surprises in the second round. Celtics beating the Heat and Bulls maybe?
No, I dont have enough knowledge of womens college basketball to know who else is out there. I just dont think shes one of the best coaches in the game today, but maybe Im wrong. Like, when I think of elite coaches, Im mainly thinking of Auriemma, Summitt, Mularkey (the Baylor coach) and the Stanford coach (forget her name). Could just be a case of those teams having better players as opposed to coach though. Of course, all great teams have both once they prove to be a top team for years and years like UConn and Tennessee have.
ReplyDeleteWhats CW? And I still def think the Celtics are capable of anything, including winning the whole thing.
Yeah, but we were in no position to hire any of the coaches you mentioned... I think she's one of the best out there that we had any shot at getting, was my only point.
ReplyDeleteCW means conventional wisdom... I borrowed that from my favorite blogger and I guess it hasn't caught on yet. Lol.
Yeah, after seeing the C's sweep New York, my faith in their flipping a switch in the playoffs is restored. I'm especially heartened by the play of Jermaine O'Neal. We don't sweep the series without him, and he may be at least a reasonable facsimile of Kendrick Perkins, enough to get us to the title.