Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Tinkle Town. Welcome to the Conference of Champions, Wayne Tinkle. You are the third former Montana head coach to join the Pac (according to my research department). One is in the Hall of Fame, the other is only an inch shorter than you. And please note, I’m not going to harp long on OSU’s new coach’s last name. My surname is tease-able, too, and I may have some emotional scarring from grades K-2. You’d be surprised how damaging it is to be called “butt.” Speaking of butts, Oregon State is going to finish at the very ass bottom of the Pac-12.
Why I love them:
Change and nothing about this lineup. Look I’m terrified of change – I’m a millennial male – but I can appreciate it. Sometimes you gotta have it. Complacency sucks, the status quo doesn’t win, and while I advocated for Craig, I like what the Beavers have done. Welcome Wayne Tinkle. Furthermore, they’ve got the Tinkle child committed and another staffer’s son joining him: top-100 recruit, Stephen Thompson Jr. (senior is now an assistant Beaver). My love here is big picture because if we’re looking at this year’s team, it could be one of the worst. But they do have Gary Payton’s kid – The Mitten. Oh, and, most importantly, Wayne Tinkle is six-feet-ten inches tall. WHERE YOU AT LARRY K??? Oh, he’s at the top-half of the conference standings? Gotcha.
Why I hate them:
Everything. OK, I don’t really hate everything, I’m not Larry David, I’m an optimist. But what’s remaining on this roster is wildly limiting when it comes to winning basketball games. Oregon State is going to try to win basketball games. They will be limited in their ability to win basketball games. They lost their top-5 scorers which accounted for 81% of the points Oregon State scored last season. Things don’t look good – for now.
The stat you must know:
3
Number of NCAA tournament games that Wayne Tinkle has been a head coach in. That’s equal to the number of NCAA tournament games coached – at any school – by Oregon State coaches stemming back to 1990. Consequently, 1990 was Oregon State’s last dancing session. 2015 will not yield an invitation.
Top 5 Basic Ice Cream Flavors
- Mint chocolate chip
- Chocolate chip cookie dough
- Rocky Road
- Cookies and cream
- Vanilla
Mountain High (best possible season)
Things really get flowing in Tinkle Town. A solid stream of confidence from the team. The complexities and uncertainty of what defense they’ll be playing for Craig has been relieved. Coach Tinkle dilutes the system, simplifies it. And it’s not a system to run like a racehorse. His teams have consistently ranked 300+ in adjusted tempo. The Beavers minimize their accidents. They don’t lose every game – that can’t happen, right? – and they don’t pull a 2012 Utes, winning just six games and ranking 297th in KenPom.
Rock Bottom (worst possible season)
Aren’t we already there?