If Vitale pimped for Calhoun...

[Palatine]

the way he has pimped for K, JC would have ten national championships .

Yea, ten.

Given the amount of selling of the Duke program that happens on national television by ESPN and Vitale, K has under achieved.

Yea, under achieved.

K doesn't recruit, he selects. He can land virtually any recruit he wants because for the last 20+years, the world's largest sports network has acted as his personal public relations machine. The have literally been K's mouth piece.

And what has he done with this enormous advantage. National champions? K-4, JC-3.How about wins? K -903, JC-857.

Just imagine if UConn had been treated like the Duke program. If JC could have had any recruit he wanted. The real story this week should be how does JC do it? That's what is truly amazing.

 

[ctchamps]

the way he has pimped for K, JC would have ten national championships .

Yea, ten.

Given the amount of selling of the Duke program that happens on national television by ESPN and Vitale, K has under achieved.

Yea, under achieved.

K doesn't recruit, he selects. He can land virtually any recruit he wants because for the last 20+years, the world's largest sports network has acted as his personal public relations machine. The have literally been K's mouth piece.

And what has he done with this enormous advantage. National champions? K-4, JC-3.How about wins? K -903, JC-857.

Just imagine if UConn had been treated like the Duke program. If JC could have had any recruit he wanted. The real story this week should be how does JC do it? That's what is truly amazing.

I agree with you that coach K has received a tremendous benefit by the media, particularly Vitale, giving him the kind of exposure he was given.

I agree that JC has done a lot more relative to the limited exposure he has received.

This doesn't take away from K's accomplishments imo. It just floors me how much JC has been able to do with so little backing.

Of course I can say the same thing about Brad Stevens.

 

[Scot-e]

JC is not a good spooner. K and DV have spooned many times. (Gross I know) That is what you have to do to get love from the press.

 

[Palatine]

Coach K would have come nowhere near those accomplishments without Vitale and ESPN.

He has received an unfair recruiting advantage. Period.

 

[BigEastCT]

I actually give coach K more credit, because some of the great players he cant touch becase of their thug menatality, There have been some great big east players that could never have worn a Duke jersey that he had to skip over

 

[Druken Friar]

Coach K would have come nowhere near those accomplishments without Vitale and ESPN.

He has received an unfair recruiting advantage. Period.

You're a paranoid delusional nut.

Coach K earned it just like all the greats. He was nearly fired after his first 3 years at Duke. In today's instant gratification world he would have been fired. Coach Calhoun went through a similar thing, if you remember. It took 4 years to have any Big East or NCAA tournament success. Coach K got to his first Final 4 in his 8th year at Duke, Coach C in his 13th at UConn. The great John Wooden didn't get to a Final Four until his 14th year at UCLA. He eventually won 10 NCAA championships.

Do a little research. ESPN and Vitale didn't win any games for Duke. Recruiting sucess comes with winning and exposure which comes from winning. ESPN and Vitale don't coach any teams or prepare any teams.

For the record I hate Duke, but I have a lot of respect for Coack K and what he's accomplished.

 

[arnie3]

Well, where does this place Roy Williams? Between KU & UNC he has had more McD's than anyone, and yet he's been an incredible underachiever. He has seven McD's on his team this year, and I'll take my chances with JC on winning it all. I know that Dickie V has a big one for Coach K, but he also has a man crush for the entire ACC.

 

[cohenzone]

Before anyone could spell Coach K's name (well, I still can't without cheating) he was a big winner. I'm no Duke fan, and I get as annoyed by Dookie V's overdone Duke love as anyone, but this is a ridiculous thread. Vitale fell in love with K and Duke after they had established themselves. The post implies that every recruit on earth would fall into UConn's lap if only DV pimped for us and that Duke would be an also ran. In case it went by you, Uconn has had at least 3 pretty darn good teams that did not win it all, all of which had future NBAers on them and that Duke has hardly won every single year. For all we know, some recruits may have been turned off of Duke by DV's incessant shilling.

 

[jibsey]

the way he has pimped for K, JC would have ten national championships .

Yea, ten.

Given the amount of selling of the Duke program that happens on national television by ESPN and Vitale, K has under achieved.
Look, you only have to watch ESPN for 1 minute Vitale's broadcast before he starts waxing poetic for K. No program gets that advantage with all of their national broadcasts like Duke. There are no amount of phone calls and coaches visits that can match that.
I agree that he selects, and how many Burger Boys has he had compared to us?
It's kinda like he gets to shop at NIeman Marcus and others shop Macy's and some of course are at Ocean State Job Lot, but of course there are real bargains to be found there every now and then.
Yea, under achieved.

K doesn't recruit, he selects. He can land virtually any recruit he wants because for the last 20+years, the world's largest sports network has acted as his personal public relations machine. The have literally been K's mouth piece.

And what has he done with this enormous advantage. National champions? K-4, JC-3.How about wins? K -903, JC-857.

Just imagine if UConn had been treated like the Duke program. If JC could have had any recruit he wanted. The real story this week should be how does JC do it? That's what is truly amazing.

 

[businesslawyer]

the way he has pimped for K, JC would have ten national championships .

Yea, ten.

Given the amount of selling of the Duke program that happens on national television by ESPN and Vitale, K has under achieved.

Yea, under achieved.

K doesn't recruit, he selects. He can land virtually any recruit he wants because for the last 20+years, the world's largest sports network has acted as his personal public relations machine. The have literally been K's mouth piece.

And what has he done with this enormous advantage. National champions? K-4, JC-3.How about wins? K -903, JC-857.

Just imagine if UConn had been treated like the Duke program. If JC could have had any recruit he wanted. The real story this week should be how does JC do it? That's what is truly amazing.

K was, is and will be an all time great coach. That having been said, what Calhoun has accomplished at UConn, given what he inherited, is significantly greater than what K has accomplished at Duke with what he inherited. Not even close.

K restored Duke to national prominence. Any of us who the day Perno was fired would have said "our next coach will take UConn to three national championships (so far), and will catch up to Georgetown in Big East Tournament championships," would have been institutionalized on the spot.

 

[sparky]

Palatine, you are, pardon the expression, a flaming idiot if you think Dickie Duke had even a molecule of input on K's success at Duke. The boy can coach, and he recruits to fit the system. He changed his recruiting formula to accomodate the changes in the game. JC is a better bench coach and wins with more athletic kids that he can put into his system. He may not get the next Albert Einstein's, but he gets players who can play. K's kids always went to school for 2 or 3 years, before bolting for the pros, and JC has had to be on his toes every year. JC's kids stay in the league longer too and are more impactful. JC. JC will win it all again.

 

[Palatine]

Palatine, you are, pardon the expression, a flaming idiot if you think Dickie Duke had even a molecule of input on K's success at Duke. The boy can coach, and he recruits to fit the system. He changed his recruiting formula to accomodate the changes in the game. JC is a better bench coach and wins with more athletic kids that he can put into his system. He may not get the next Albert Einstein's, but he gets players who can play. K's kids always went to school for 2 or 3 years, before bolting for the pros, and JC has had to be on his toes every year. JC's kids stay in the league longer too and are more impactful. JC. JC will win it all again.

ESPN provides non-stop propaganda for Duke. To pretend this has had no effect on Duke's success is denial.

It's to the point where K doesn't recruit, he selects. Thsi is largely because Dick Vitale tell every one wathcing ESPN college broadcasts that Duke is thee best, K is the best, Jayson Williams is the best, J.J. Reddick is the best. The Duke fans are the best. Heck, it's practically brainwashing.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I actually give coach K more credit, because some of the great players he cant touch becase of their thug menatality, There have been some great big east players that could never have worn a Duke jersey that he had to skip over

I dont think that ESPN and Vitale deserve much credit for Duke's success, but they certainly are part of the reason that people believe nonsense like this.

 

[businesslawyer]

You're a paranoid delusional nut.

.

In other breaking news, it was announced today that Generalisimo Francisco Franco remains dead.

(I actually agree with the thrust of Palatine's point, if not his normal need to overstate everything, but I nonetheless found myself unable to resiste piling on here.)

 

[HuskyBballFan]

ESPN provides non-stop propaganda for Duke. To pretend this has had no effect on Duke's success is denial.

It's to the point where K doesn't recruit, he selects. Thsi is largely because Dick Vitale tell every one wathcing ESPN college broadcasts that Duke is thee best, K is the best, Jayson Williams is the best, J.J. Reddick is the best. The Duke fans are the best. Heck, it's practically brainwashing.

There are quite a few reasons why recruits go to Duke. They have a history of success, a Hall of Fame coach, a beautiful campus, phenomenal basketball facilities, great academics, one of the most unique fan bases and home court advantages in the country, they're part of the best college basketball rivalry in the country, etc.

I'm not sure where "Dick Vitale told me they're great" ranks on the list of reasons why kids choose Duke, but I doubt it's in the top 20.

 

[tzznandrew]

ESPN/Vitale didn't always pimp them. It started around 1998-9. By that point, Duke had been to the Final Four: 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, and had two titles: 1991, 1992.

I always marvel about this. they went to 5 straight Final Fours, and 7 in 9 years. No coach since Wooden did that, and ESPN/Vitale were not fueling that. That's K, before he could "pick" his recruits.

Since then, they've been to 4 Final Fours with 2 titles. If you want to argue that ESPN helped it, I'd say they might have played a part, but that was only possible by an insane run of post-season success that was bound to slow down (as it did).

 

[Palatine]

There are quite a few reasons why recruits go to Duke. They have a history of success, a Hall of Fame coach, a beautiful campus, phenomenal basketball facilities, great academics, one of the most unique fan bases and home court advantages in the country, they're part of the best college basketball rivalry in the country, etc.

I'm not sure where "Dick Vitale told me they're great" ranks on the list of reasons why kids choose Duke, but I doubt it's in the top 20.

Every other top team has almost exactly the same advantages. Few have ESPN as their non-stop public relations machine.

It's free advertising, babe, free advertising for Duke. And it works. Watch TV some time see how many companies spend their own money advertising. They do it because it influences behavior. Dude gets the benefit of it without spending a dime.

 

[cohenzone]

"Every other top team has almost exactly the same advantages. Few have ESPN as their non-stop public relations machine.

It's free advertising, babe, free advertising for Duke. And it works. Watch TV some time see how many companies spend their own money advertising. They do it because it influences behavior. Dude gets the benefit of it without spending a dime"

You can call it free advertising if it floats your boat, but if it has given Duke significant recruiting advantages, the pudding bears no proof. If anything, UConn's success counters you. Duke has a great program and has had a great history for at least 55 years, which DV has zero to do with. The fact that Dookie V is annoying in his praise of Duke doesn't give them any advantage. I note that UNCs program has wilted under the undying force of Duke's unimaginable bald salesman.

 

[jcf2000]

Mehhh, K 4, JC 3, We are on ESPN, CBS and ABC just as much. I'm glad we don't have Duke's rep or national following.

Part of the reason 99,04 were so wonderful was taking it right though Duke. Plus, who wants slow, soft, charge drawing McD's that go 54th in NBA draft in catch a nice seat for 2 years. I like our guys.

 

[Palatine]

"Every other top team has almost exactly the same advantages. Few have ESPN as their non-stop public relations machine.

It's free advertising, babe, free advertising for Duke. And it works. Watch TV some time see how many companies spend their own money advertising. They do it because it influences behavior. Dude gets the benefit of it without spending a dime"

You can call it free advertising if it floats your boat, but if it has given Duke significant recruiting advantages, the pudding bears no proof. If anything, UConn's success counters you. Duke has a great program and has had a great history for at least 55 years, which DV has zero to do with. The fact that Dookie V is annoying in his praise of Duke doesn't give them any advantage. I note that UNCs program has wilted under the undying force of Duke's unimaginable bald salesman.

Every basketball game that Vitale broadcasts is an infomercial for Duke. Watch one sometime.

This has a huge effect on high school basketball players.

 

[intlzncster]

Even if the original premise is a false argument, there are entirely too many people on Ks wagon in this thread.

 

[Palatine]

Vitale's love for anything Duke. He once proclaimed of Duke: 'There's nothing to criticize!!!'. During a game, (it doesn't matter if Duke isn't even playing) you often hear him praise Coach K, the Cameron Crazies, Jason Williams and Chris Duhon (best backcourt in America? Yeah Right) and Shane Battier.

I'm sure that has no influence on recruits during non-stop national broadcasts. LOL

 

[HuskyFan32]

Well, where does this place Roy Williams? Between KU & UNC he has had more McD's than anyone, and yet he's been an incredible underachiever. He has seven McD's on his team this year, and I'll take my chances with JC on winning it all. I know that Dickie V has a big one for Coach K, but he also has a man crush for the entire ACC.

The year UNC won the NIT (or lost in the finals, cant remember) they had seven MCD AA's. Ed Davis, 2 wear twins, Larry Drew, Zeller, Henson, McDonald. Not sure about Deon Thompson. But thats about as many MCD AA's on one team as weve gotten in the past 20 yrs and they didnt even make the dance. Talk about underachieving.

 

[Nully]

K is a good basketball coach, and a great brand-builder. A successful team of white guys and "safe" black guys is going to resonate a lot more with middle America than an all-black or close to all-black team. And it's worked. Maybe it's been detrimental to not go after a 4-star beast in the paint to clean glass and alter shots in lieu of a seemingly endless parade of terrible Plumlees, but the brand is more important than any one player.

Successful brand ---> more TV time ---> more exposure ---> better recruits ---> more wins. Recruiting is inherently unfair, there's no draft or cap on how much talent you can bring in.

 

[NHUConnfan]

I'm not going to say Dick Vitale is not biased. He certainly is, but when it comes down to it, he's just an ultimate sports fan. If anyone follows his twitter account, he comments on all sports and really has nothing bad to say. Yeah, he's a huge Duke homer, but when he's not calling Duke games, I find him very interesting to listen to. Hell, I'd really like to see him call a game between two mid-majors. He enjoys sports and the college lifestyle and since I've noticed this...I've really started to like his play calling.

When you really look at it, he usually has nothing bad to say. And when he does, it's something bad about a bad call by the ref (which he's usually on the correct side). Typically, he never has anything bad to say about college kids or coaches. So while he literally slobbers over Duke, he's just a fan of the game - and I can appreciate that.

In a way, he's like Gus Johnson's granddad. Hahaha!