Best college coaches at prepping players for the NBA

[HooperScooper]

From our favorite ESPN college basketball writer. Unfortunately it's an Insider article.

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/jeff-goodman/post?id=3703

Obviously KO doesn't have enough of a resume to be on the list. But anyone who follows Goodman on Twitter you should ask him where Calhoun would be on here if he were still coaching. I'd love to hear the response.

1) Billy Donovan, Florida Gators

2) Ben Howland, TBD

3) John Beilein, Michigan Wolverines

4) Tom Izzo, Michigan State Spartans

5) Fred Hoiberg, Iowa State Cyclones

6) Mike Krzyzewski, Duke Blue Devils

7) Bill Self, Kansas Jayhawks

8) Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech Hokies

9) Rick Pitino, Louisville Cardinals

10) John Calipari, Kentucky Wildcats

11) Sean Miller, Arizona Wildcats

12) Tony Bennett, Virginia Cavaliers

 

[7774]

LOL @ Hoiberg being #5. I think he's a very good coach, but has he sent anyone significant to the NBA besides a guy who is afraid to fly on airplanes? Am I just missing someone?

 

[Jerry1714]

This list is awful.

 

[James]

LOL @ Hoiberg being #5. I think he's a very good coach, but has he sent anyone significant to the NBA besides a guy who is afraid to fly on airplanes? Am I just missing someone?

Nah KO should be higher than hoiberg on this list. Goodman doesn't get it, but i bet if Greenberg or Fran wrote this KO would be top 5. Those two in particular always bring up the league when discussing KO, but as the tourney wore on guys noticed alot of things KO brought from the league. KO's defense is equal to the great schemes implemented by Hoibergs passing teams.

Player development, he doesn't have the guys in the league, but KO's abilty to take raw material and assemble a player is intriguing. See Nolan, Tsam, brimah... Facey and purvis will speak to this next year. If he can get purvis + brimah first round selections then he is top 3 easily.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I'm not sure how you could put Ollie on the list when he has yet to have a player go to the NBA. Unless you want to talk about how well he prepared himself for the NBA.

 

[HooperScooper]

LOL @ Hoiberg being #5. I think he's a very good coach, but has he sent anyone significant to the NBA besides a guy who is afraid to fly on airplanes? Am I just missing someone?

5) Fred Hoiberg, Iowa State Cyclones: The Mayor played in the league and was also in the front office for the Timberwolves, so he’s taken plenty from the NBA and utilized it in Ames. Hoiberg’s calm demeanor helps, and while he hasn’t necessarily produced a ton of pros yet, both DeAndre Kane and Melvin Ejim have a chance to get drafted this year. “He puts guys in NBA situations and as a result has changed the game offensively in college,” said one NBA executive. “He runs NBA sets.”

I don't know how those comments equate to number 5 but it's Jeff Goodman, what do you expect? I guess you could put Ollie here at #5 for running NBA sets and sending Napier and Daniels to the draft!

 

[CallMeBruce]

5) Fred Hoiberg, Iowa State Cyclones: The Mayor played in the league and was also in the front office for the Timberwolves, so he’s taken plenty from the NBA and utilized it in Ames. Hoiberg’s calm demeanor helps, and while he hasn’t necessarily produced a ton of pros yet, both DeAndre Kane and Melvin Ejim have a chance to get drafted this year. “He puts guys in NBA situations and as a result has changed the game offensively in college,” said one NBA executive. “He runs NBA sets.”

I don't know how those comments equate to number 5 but it's Jeff Goodman, what do you expect? I guess you could put Ollie here at #5 for running NBA sets and sending Napier and Daniels to the draft!

Yeah, this is pretty stupid. I'd think that, if you wanted to see which coaches prepared their guys well for the NBA, you'd have to look at guys who had actually sent players to the NBA, and then evaluate the performance of those players. JTIII would be in that conversation. Fred Hoiberg and Kevin Ollie would not.

 

[HooperScooper]

Nah KO should be higher than hoiberg on this list. Goodman doesn't get it, but i bet if Greenberg or Fran wrote this KO would be top 5. Those two in particular always bring up the league when discussing KO, but as the tourney wore on guys noticed alot of things KO brought from the league.

Hoiberg is a really really good offensive coach though, his teams pass really well. But as far as i'm concerned KO changed the game with his PNR coverage; based on effort not a gimmick zone d. Our offense executed pretty well , numbers would look better if we had finishers at the 4/5.

Ollie has only been coaching 2 years and has been a head coach for nobody in the NBA yet. So I don't know how you judge a body of work that has nothing.

Wouldn't Calhoun have been #1 on this list? That's why I'm curious to hear what Goodman would say about Calhoun if asked based on JC being a no brainer top 3 and Goodman's detest for JC. Someone please ask him the question on Twitter.

 

[aceboon]

Surprised at Izzo being #4, I saw a media member from NJ state during the tourney that no coach does more with less, which was laughable. Izzo gets his fair share of 4 star and even 5 star guys who end up staying all 4 years and then not even make the NBA. I think because guys see him with a roster of 4 year players that he is pulling in Jamie Dixon type talent and that's not the case at all. Pitino is also an interesting case based on his tenure at Louisville, dude has been there quite awhile and really hasn't put much in the league. How pro ready were Reece Gaines, Earl Clark, and Terrence Williams? If it wasn't for that short burst playing for D'Antoni, Clark would probably be out of the league just like Gaines and Williams. Stan Van Gundy said on Dan Leba*rd's show that he flat out couldn't play him in Orl because he had no clue on how to run plays in a structured offense.

 

[James]

the hype train that had KO 'nearly out the door' to the nba , that should put him on this list. He's a commodity to the pros,a culture changer at every level of basketball. Hoibergs resume isn't really that much better than KO's, two more seasons with one 16-16 .

 

[upstater]

Tony Bennett developed one player, that's it: Mike Scott.

 

[7774]

5) I guess you could put Ollie here at #5 for running NBA sets and sending Napier and Daniels to the draft!

It does seem like they should both be on the list, or neither should be on the list, but like you said, it's Goodman. I'm impressed he could actually count to 12.

Thanks for providing the info so I didn't have to click on one of his links.

 

[Inyatkin]

I'm no Calipari fan, and I know he gets a lot of guys who would be pros in any event, but No. 10 seems dumb.

 

[tcf15]

I asked Goodman about Calhoun's place on the list, but he is really emphasizing that this list is not his opinion since he is basing this list off of what he was told by 40 NBA execs. I asked him about Calhoun:

‏@tcf_15 49m
@GoodmanESPN If Jim Calhoun were still coaching, would you put him on this list? If so, where? Not trying to flame, just genuinely curious.

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 49m
@tcf_15 He was mentioned by several NBA guys.​

@tcf_15 22m
@GoodmanESPN Do you think he was mentioned enough to make it on the list?​

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 2m
@tcf_15 No, because he's retired -- so most NBA guys didn't even consider him when talking to me.​

 

[CallMeBruce]

I asked Goodman about Calhoun's place on the list, but he is really emphasizing that this list is not his opinion since he is basing this list off of what he was told by 40 NBA execs. I asked him about Calhoun:

‏@tcf_15 49m
@GoodmanESPN If Jim Calhoun were still coaching, would you put him on this list? If so, where? Not trying to flame, just genuinely curious.

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 49m
@tcf_15 He was mentioned by several NBA guys.​

@tcf_15 22m
@GoodmanESPN Do you think he was mentioned enough to make it on the list?​

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 2m
@tcf_15 No, because he's retired -- so most NBA guys didn't even consider him when talking to me.​

As usual, he's lying. No NBA guy said "yeah, Fred Hoiberg produces NBA talent," because no such players exist. Goodman is absolutely shameless.

 

[HooperScooper]

I'm no Calipari fan, and I know he gets a lot of guys who would be pros in any event, but No. 10 seems dumb.

If you buy the argument below then it's not. I can buy this.

By the way, I've heard NBA guys mention this about UConn also. The experience of playing in front of many passionate fans and continually dealing with a horde of media definitely is good experience for the NBA. No question about it.

10) John Calipari, Kentucky Wildcats: He has no peer when it comes to recruiting, and while many NBA guys don’t feel as though the players improve as much on the court, they feel as though the experience off the court prepares them for the move. “Cal’s guys are all ready for NBA life,” one NBA executive said. “Media, attention, 24/7 news cycles. That’s where he does a great job.”

 

[intlzncster]

Nah KO should be higher than hoiberg on this list. Goodman doesn't get it, but i bet if Greenberg or Fran wrote this KO would be top 5. Those two in particular always bring up the league when discussing KO, but as the tourney wore on guys noticed alot of things KO brought from the league. KO's defense is equal to the great schemes implemented by Hoibergs passing teams.

In other news, world still round...

 

[intlzncster]

If you buy the argument below then it's not. I can buy this.

By the way, I've heard NBA guys mention this about UConn also. The experience of playing in front of many passionate fans and continually dealing with a horde of media definitely is good experience for the NBA. No question about it.

10) John Calipari, Kentucky Wildcats: He has no peer when it comes to recruiting, and while many NBA guys don’t feel as though the players improve as much on the court, they feel as though the experience off the court prepares them for the move. “Cal’s guys are all ready for NBA life,” one NBA executive said. “Media, attention, 24/7 news cycles. That’s where he does a great job.”

Agreed. There are a lot of different factors when considering "prepping players for the NBA". Some guys are great at coaching guys up and developing their game for the NBA.

Thing about Cal is, he doesn't play a lot of guys that need much coaching up. So that part is almost irrelevant for him, at least in terms of his top players. The experience of UK definitely prepares kids, and Cal has definitely increase/enhanced the level of that "pro" experience.

I would frankly have him higher, as much as I despise the guy.

EDIT: In general, Ben Howland? Is he better than average or at least good? Perhaps, but def not #2 on the list. Beilein? Ok I guess, but again, not #3. I don't have insider so I can't see Goodman's reasoning*, and can't really critique the choices as a result.

*Are Goodman and reasoning (rationality) a mutually exclusive pairing?

 

[elduderino]

I asked Goodman about Calhoun's place on the list, but he is really emphasizing that this list is not his opinion since he is basing this list off of what he was told by 40 NBA execs. I asked him about Calhoun:

‏@tcf_15 49m
@GoodmanESPN If Jim Calhoun were still coaching, would you put him on this list? If so, where? Not trying to flame, just genuinely curious.

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 49m
@tcf_15 He was mentioned by several NBA guys.​

@tcf_15 22m
@GoodmanESPN Do you think he was mentioned enough to make it on the list?​

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 2m
@tcf_15 No, because he's retired -- so most NBA guys didn't even consider him when talking to me.​

Was there any sort of objective criteria for the list at all? Years coaching, players in the league, correlation between top 100 recruits and draft placement, anything at all? IMO it looks a lot like Goodman just phoned this garbage in. If I were a paying Insider, this sort of stuff would piss me off.

 

[Walker11]

The whole premise and article seem made to flame UK fans. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a multiple page thread on Rupp Rafters already.

 

[JaYnYcE]

I opened this thread expecting to see Kevin Ollie, Jim Calhoun and Hugh Greer.

 

[elduderino]

I opened this thread expecting to see Kevin Ollie, Jim Calhoun and Hugh Greer.

You must get this all the time but, your avatar genuinely skeeves me. Congratulations, my hats off to you.

 

[JaYnYcE]

 

[elduderino]

Its from my favorite Eddie M flick, but that thing has mona lisa eyes. As for the remix, no words...

 

[intlzncster]

I had a brown t-shirt with a white cursive "S exual Chocolate" on it.

 

[dante]

Pitino? Buzz Williams? Tony Bennett? Fred Hoiberg? there seems to be something missing oh yeah "Jim Boeheim" ok now i get this joke.

 

[SubbaBub]

It's still Calhoun, 2 years after retiring. He was that badass.

 

[David 76]

They should correlate ranking coming out of high school with draft order. If you take a #99 kid and turn him into a number 10 draft pick it should mean a lot.

 

[intlzncster]

They should correlate ranking coming out of high school with draft order. If you take a #99 kid and turn him into a number 10 draft pick it should mean a lot.

The ranking services already have too much credibility as it is. Lord knows they've been dead wrong with a lot of our guys (thankfully). No need to give them more juice.