Coach K

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Some of you people really don't understand how difficult it is to win a national championship.
You don't realize how lucky we are.
Winning 6 do or die games in a row against the top teams in the country is an extraordinarily difficult feat.

 

[temery]

Yeah I understand your point. Coach K is ok.
You can not discount the ridiculous amount of ringers he and Calipari get.

Here's a question: How many one and dones have played for championship teams?

 

[Palatine]

He's also done more than almost any coach in history.

Bull spit. He doesn't even do his own recruiting, Vital does it, has for decades.

If Dickie V recruited for UConn like he did for Duke, Calhoun wins more NC than Geno.

 

[McLovin]

This x1000. The story is still being written. I saw him play live this season in the St. John’s game and it was like he was a different species than the other players. I have no idea what the future holds for him as a pro but he was so obviously on a different plane than the other players that it was almost freakish.

This x1000. The story is still being written. I saw him play live this season in the St. John’s game and it was like he was a different species than the other players. I have no idea what the future holds for him as a pro but he was so obviously on a different plane than the other players that it was almost freakish.

Like I said. Unbelievable athlete, maybe one of the best pure athletes the the world. Basketball skills are lacking. Can he develop them? Sure. Will he? Who knows. But to hear even during UConn games all about Zion and how great his is, I was expecting more.

 

[tzznandrew]

Yeah I understand your point. Coach K is ok.
You can not discount the ridiculous amount of ringers he and Calipari get.

Of course. Unlike Calipari, he's earned it. People talking about Vitale recruiting for him as if these kids give a crap about what that fossil says. People want to play for K because he built Duke into a brand that people care about. And he coached the US National Team. And he's won more games than anyone else. Etc.

Calipari is a great salesman and a good manager. But UK had a history he walked into and he'll never live up to.

 

[Horatio]

Yeah, he's one of the best coaches of all time. Also true: the last 20 years of his career, though he has as many titles as Calhoun's whole career in them, are less impressive than the first 20. He's had more talent (by and large) and bigger flameouts.

I’m just more impressed with coaches that do it with less talent. That aspect is ignored in MCBB.

 

[tzznandrew]

Some of you people really don't understand how difficult it is to win a national championship.
You don't realize how lucky we are.
Winning 6 do or die games in a row against the top teams in the country is an extraordinarily difficult feat.

This thread is a great insight into future posts, and tells you how quickly these people will turn on any coach if they aren't winning at a clip higher than the greatest coaches of all time. I mean, what happens if Danny Hurley takes this team from where it is now to three straight E8s and makes a Final Four, but no title? Then they get upset early the next year? They'll be calling for his head.

 

[Horatio]

Of course. Unlike Calipari, he's earned it. People talking about Vitale recruiting for him as if these kids give a crap about what that fossil says. People want to play for K because he built Duke into a brand that people care about. And he coached the US National Team. And he's won more games than anyone else. Etc.

Calipari is a great salesman and a good manager. But UK had a history he walked into and he'll never live up to.

Your right. Calipari does nothing with 8-10
Ferrari’s a year.

 

[Horatio]

Here's a question: How many one and dones have played for championship teams?

I can’t think of one.

 

[McLovin]

Like I said. Unbelievable athlete, maybe one of the best pure athletes the the world. Basketball skills are lacking. Can he develop them? Sure. Will he? Who knows. But to hear even during UConn games all about Zion and how great his is, I was expecting more.

Remember a guy named Stanley Robinson? Definitely not even in the realm of Zion, but maybe the most athletic / natural talent UConn has ever had at the college level. Guy could jump through the roof and was built like a man. Closest he ever got to an NBA court would be paying for court side seats.

 

[tzznandrew]

Your right. Calipari does nothing with 8-10
Ferrari’s a year.

I didn't say that. In fact, I'd kill for UConn to have the success going forward in the tournament that he has. His team has been in the E8 7 out of his 10 years, and the Final Four 4x. He's got a title.

Actually, in the last 10 years he's had consistently deeper runs than K has (though K has the extra title from 2010 before he turned into someone targeting 1-and-dones.)

 

[intlzncster]

Calhoun had a great eye for talent, and he was able to convince many talented players to want to come to UConn.

JC had an eye for talent, because he had to. If he could have gotten K's All American's, he would have taken them.

It's kind of the reverse for programs like Duke, UNC, and Kentucky. Talent comes to them.

I get that, why does K get all that talent? Because he's the draw. And the brand he built. It's not like AA's were lining up at Duke's door before K got there. Talent comes to them because he made it so.

I think JC is one of the best of all time. Even at recruiting, and finding diamonds in the rough, etc. But K's just been flat out better than everyone not named Calipari his entire career.

 

[nychuskyfan]

it just shows, loading up on a team of one and done is not really a recipe for success

This.

It really only has a chance to work when you have a special talent like Anthony Davis, Karl Anthony-Towns or Zion Williamson. And then it's no guarantee. I wonder if the Dukes of the world would be better off recruiting more from maybe the 10th-50th ranked players - guys who will stay 2+ years - and then going for only one one-and-done each year. Although turning away those guys is easier said than done.

 

[tzznandrew]

Remember a guy named Stanley Robinson? Definitely not even in the realm of Zion, but maybe the most athletic / natural talent UConn has ever had at the college level. Guy could jump through the roof and was built like a man. Closest he ever got to an NBA court would be paying for curtsied seats.

What did Stanley Robinson do as a freshman in the Big East?

Now compare that to what Zion did as a Freshman in the ACC.

Not only is Zion a better athlete, but he averaged almost 10 ppg more as a freshman than Stanley did as a Senior. Come on...

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Bull spit. He doesn't even do his own recruiting, Vital does it, has for decades.

If Dickie V recruited for UConn like he did for Duke, Calhoun wins more NC than Geno.

It is literal fact that Coach K has done more than almost any coach in history.
There is literally nothing to judge coaches on other than ability to recruit, win, and do both consistently.

 

[polycom]

This is one of the worst threads in history of this forum. So many incredibly misinformed takes it’s unreal.

 

[tzznandrew]

Here's a question: How many one and dones have played for championship teams?

NBA or NCAA?

Because the NBA list is long.

The NCAA list is

2012 Kentucky
2015 Duke

 

[intlzncster]

He’s starting to look like a Sith Dark Lord

Got a ways to go before he reaches Pitino in that dept.

 

[McLovin]

What did Stanley Robinson do as a freshman in the Big East?

Now compare that to what Zion did as a Freshman in the ACC.

Not only is Zion a better athlete, but he averaged almost 10 ppg more as a freshman than Stanley did as a Senior. Come on...

"definitely not even in the realm of Zion". I wasn't comparing them apples to apples. I was comparing their natural / raw athletic potential. You can't doubt that sticks was one of the best athletes ever to walk through our doors. My point was that pure athletic talent doesn't guarantee success in professional sports. I'll say it again so you all understand. Zion is a freak athlete but is not a good BASKETBALL player. There is a difference and I was trying to make a point with Sticks.

 

[Fishy]

K is a great coach - not a good coach, a great coach.

He’s got five rings, probably over a dozen ACC regular season and tournament titles, a few Olympic gold medals...at some point, you look like a freaking moron pretending that this guy is not one of the best ever.

 

[Travelman6]

Right now I have no opinion about k or Cal but if you want the ultimate example of doing more with what you have (I hate to say "less" because it sounds so demeaning), well, not to be biased, but Calhoun.

 

[intlzncster]

Yeah and when LeBron was a rookie at 19 in the NBA he averaged 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Thats against NBA talent. Zion can hardly do that against college competition. Is Zion a great athlete? Absolutely. Is he a great basketball player? Lmao no.

The media hyped this guy as a generational basketball player. Generational basketball players don't get blocked multiple times and have 5 turnovers in the game their team loses 2 "rounds" short of the finals.

LeBron is not a 'generational talent'. LeBron is an All Time talent. There's only a handful of guys in that conversation.

 

[Fishy]

"definitely not even in the realm of Zion". I wasn't comparing them apples to apples. I was comparing their natural / raw athletic potential. You can't doubt that sticks was one of the best athletes ever to walk through our doors. My point was that pure athletic talent doesn't guarantee success in professional sports. I'll say it again so you all understand. Zion is a freak athlete but is not a good BASKETBALL player. There is a difference and I was trying to make a point with Sticks.

You just need to stop watching basketball if you don’t think he’s a good basketball player.

And you definitely need to stop posting about it.

 

[Scoe]

NBA or NCAA?

Because the NBA list is long.

The NCAA list is

2012 Kentucky
2015 Duke

03 Melo
05 Marvin Williams
2012 UK and 2015 Duke were a team of one and dones
Charlie V and Jeremy Lamb were close to declaring for the draft after their fr year.

 

[McLovin]

LeBron is not a 'generational talent'. LeBron is an All Time talent. There's only a handful of guys in that conversation.

Fair, but they have already anointed Zion to that group. I guess its the world we live in these days. Everything has to be "GOAT" or bust. Miss the days when people called it like they saw it.