Calling BS on Bilas "ACC best collection of coaches ever"

[Marty Jackson]

At it's height, the Old Big East had:

Calhoun, Thompson, Boeheim, Carlesimo, Carnasecca, Massimino

Bilas is 'jumping the shark-tank'...

 

[Mr. French]

I don't know the reference or what was said, but looking at K-Pitino-Roy-Boeheim vs. Calhoun-Thompson-Boeheim-any others, that's a pretty tough to compete with, top heavy group of ACC coaches...

 

[donyell34]

Nah! Calhoun could take them all.

 

[NielsisGood]

Bilas is pretty unbearably sanctimonious these days but he's not wrong here.

 

[UConn990411]

I agree with Bilas here, but I disagree with the notion that the ACC today is better than the Big East in its prime.

Bilas has quickly faded as one of the best analysts out there, though.

 

[gtcam]

Pretty much a toss-up
As much as I would say JC is the best - he and K are a toss-up
J Thompson Sr and Pitino/Williams are toss ups
The picker is the picker
So that leaves Lou C and Rollie and Huggie Bear vs Williams/Pitino

 

[NielsisGood]

Pretty much a toss-up
As much as I would say JC is the best - he and K are a toss-up
J Thompson Sr and Pitino/Williams are toss ups
The picker is the picker
So that leaves Lou C and Rollie and Huggie Bear vs Williams/Pitino

Huggie wasn't even in the same era as Lou and Rollie. Either way I'd take Ol Roy and Slick Rick over any of those 3.

Bennett is also arguably the best under 50 coach in the nation.

Also, objectively speaking, and as much as it hurt me to say, it's pretty generous calling JC = with Coach K.

 

[Robertelamin]

They have a really good group of coaches. 10 years ago they had guys like Dino Gaudio, Oliver Purnell, Dave Leiato (sorry Dave!), Seth Greenburg, Frank Haith, Al Skinner, Sidney Lowe and a Gary Williams who quit trying 15 years ago. A true murderers row of terrible.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Clearly it was the addition of Pastner that put the conference over the edge

 

[MexicoHusky]

Pretty much a toss-up
As much as I would say JC is the best - he and K are a toss-up
J Thompson Sr and Pitino/Williams are toss ups
The picker is the picker
So that leaves Lou C and Rollie and Huggie Bear vs Williams/Pitino

K vs JC was answered by the Grayson Allen debacle. I still can't imagine a JC player ever having that kind of tantrum on the bench. It just would never happen. And if it did, JC would not just sit idle like K and his inept assistants.

 

[pj]

Also, objectively speaking, and as much as it hurt me to say, it's pretty generous calling JC = with Coach K.

Why?

 

[methodology]

Huggie wasn't even in the same era as Lou and Rollie. Either way I'd take Ol Roy and Slick Rick over any of those 3.

Bennett is also arguably the best under 50 coach in the nation.

Also, objectively speaking, and as much as it hurt me to say, it's pretty generous calling JC = with Coach K.

JC took a Yankee conference agricultural school and turned it into a national powerhouse borderline blue blood while winning 3 NCs. It's the single greatest program building job in college basketball history. He also did this in a conference that was arguably the best basketball conference going against the likes of Georgetown, Syracuse, Villanova, St johns, etc and without the top talent and consistent influx of McDonald AA like coach K.

K is an amazing coach but he would have never built UConn into what JC did or won 3 titles here while vice versa JC could have enjoyed similar success at Duke

 

[UConn990411]

I agree that Calhoun accomplished the greatest program building job of all time, and I'm not sure Coach K would've accomplished the same at UConn.

But K also has 5 National Championships and 12 Final Fours in an era that's far more competitive than the one Wooden coached in. I think Calhoun's on the college coach Mount Rushmore, but with 3 NCs and 4 FFs it's tough to argue he's better than K all time.

 

[ctchamps]

Things will be interesting for the ACC in the near future.

 

[NielsisGood]

JC took a Yankee conference agricultural school and turned it into a national powerhouse borderline blue blood while winning 3 NCs. It's the single greatest program building job in college basketball history. He also did this in a conference that was arguably the best basketball conference going against the likes of Georgetown, Syracuse, Villanova, St johns, etc and without the top talent and consistent influx of McDonald AA like coach K.

K is an amazing coach but he would have never built UConn into what JC did or won 3 titles here while vice versa JC could have enjoyed similar success at Duke

Sad that people can't look at things objectively. JC was clearly the 2nd best coach of his era, and a top 4 or 5 coach all time. Not sure why that isn't good enough for people like you.


Reciting and romanticizing JC's story doesn't change that.

 

[NielsisGood]

I agree that Calhoun accomplished the greatest program building job of all time, and I'm not sure Coach K would've accomplished the same at UConn.

But K also has 5 National Championships and 12 Final Fours in an era that's far more competitive than the one Wooden coached in. I think Calhoun's on the college coach Mount Rushmore, but with 3 NCs and 4 FFs it's tough to argue he's better than K all time.

Went to like this comment because I agree with the substance, then I felt dirty liking a comment speaking so highly of coach K. My apologies.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Sad that people can't look at things objectively. JC was clearly the 2nd best coach of his era, and a top 4 or 5 coach all time. Not sure why that isn't good enough for people like you.


Reciting and romanticizing JC's story doesn't change that.

Name a better program building job. Or, you could use head-to-head in the tourney. The distance between JC and K isn't very large at all, and I am not sure which I would put on top.

 

[methodology]

Sad that people can't look at things objectively. JC was clearly the 2nd best coach of his era, and a top 4 or 5 coach all time. Not sure why that isn't good enough for people like you.


Reciting and romanticizing JC's story doesn't change that.

When you constantly have top 5 classes and 3 mcdonalds AA coming in a year there a different measuring stick

 

[UConn990411]

When you constantly have top 5 classes and 3 mcdonalds AA coming in a year there a different measuring stick

No, it's not. Recruiting is a major part of the job, and Coach K is great at it. Calhoun was a great recruiter too, albeit in a much different way.

Not for nothing, but Coach K is a big reason why Duke recruits itself in 2017. They had some history before he got there, but he took that program to the next level.

I hate that you guys are making me defend K. Yuck.

 

[Walker11]

If you put up a poll for a national audience to determine the better coach, K or JC, I gotta believe it runs something like 95% - 5%.

 

[NielsisGood]

When you constantly have top 5 classes and 3 mcdonalds AA coming in a year there a different measuring stick

Being able to recruit well is part of the coaching skill set though. JC had some monster classes post-2000 as well.

 

[NielsisGood]

Name a better program building job. Or, you could use head-to-head in the tourney. The distance between JC and K isn't very large at all, and I am not sure which I would put on top.

Never said that there was a massive divide between K and JC, just that objectively speaking, it'd be generous to say JC=K.

 

[NielsisGood]

No, it's not. Recruiting is a major part of the job, and Coach K is great at it. Calhoun was a great recruiter too, albeit in a much different way.

Not for nothing, but Coach K is a big reason why Duke recruits itself in 2017. They had some history before he got there, but he took that program to the next level.

I hate that you guys are making me defend K. Yuck.

Duke was definitely in a much better place compared to UConn when they each took over the program, but Duke was hardly on the UK/UCLA level. Almost all of Duke's historical success has some under Coach K.

 

[upstater]

Calhoun--Jay Wright--younger Boeheim--younger Pitino--Huggins--Cronin
Coach K.--Roy Williams--older Boeheim--older Pitino--Larranaga--Tony Bennett

Seems to me the two conferences are pretty close, a very slight edge to the ACC.

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

There are also 67% more teams in the ACC now than there were during the Big East glory days.

I think this was the ENTIRE coaching roster for the 1987 Big East season:

Jim Calhoun (UConn)
Lou Carneseca (St Johns)
Jim Beheim (Syracuse)
John Thompson (Georgetown)
Rollie Mossimino (Villanova)
Rick Pitino (Providence)
PJ Carlisimo (Seton Hall)
Jim O'Brien (BCU)
Paul Evans (Pitt)

When your second worst coach is Jim O'Brien (who went to the Final Four as a coach), your coaching talent is ridiculous.

If you just compare the top couple of the old Big East to the top couple of the current ACC--there is a basis for comparison. But if you take the entire coaching roster of a conference, no one will ever rival what the Big East had in the glory days. Just look at that list. It is absolutely ridiculous!