Top 20 Coaches ESPN

[CallMeBruce]

would anyone be surprised if they left Ollie out of the top 50?

after all, they can say "he's only been coaching for two years and he won it with Calhoun's team"

I think those bozos are capable of anything

They already cited the coaches who didn't make the list, and he wasn't on it. Yes, I would be surprised if Ollie wasn't on the list. It's a list of who the best coaches are *right now*, and he just won the national championship.

 

[tzznandrew]

They already cited the coaches who didn't make the list, and he wasn't on it. Yes, I would be surprised if Ollie wasn't on the list. It's a list of who the best coaches are *right now*, and he just won the national championship.

By beating, in order: Martelli-Wright-Hoiberg-Izzo-Donovan-Calipari...none of whom we were favored against except maybe St. Joe's (although we were the trendy upset pick).

It would be stupid not to be on that list.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Ok, it's a slow day so here goes. Obviously the longevity aspect is crucial to the rankings:

1. Ollie
2. Donovan (On track to be one of the greats and still relatively young)
3. Fred Hoiberg (Ollie-lite, which is still pretty darn good)
4. Bill Self (Amazing regular season dominance, slightly disappointing in the late rounds of the tourney so far)
5. Sean Miller (Hitting his recruiting stride, can he overcome his Pitt roots and make a final 4?)
6. Shaka Smart (Has his own style, which is a plus, and is getting recruits - now we'll have to see if the style lends itself to consistent tourney runs)
7. Pitino (getting up there but has shown he can implement his style and win quickly)
8. Gregg Marshall (impressive program builder, in the context of this list the loss to Ky makes me nervous and keeps me from putting him higher)
9. Thad Matta (strikes me as a very good coach, but not a great coach)
10. Tony Bennett (great job this year and at Wash State but should have done more in weak ACC before this, plus not sure the style lends itself to consistent top success)
11. John Beilein (getting up there but has proven he can implement style and win quickly, plus his teams are always entertaining)
12. Izzo (getting up there but could probably give a good decade of results)
13. Roy Williams (seems to have answered recruiting concerns with what they've got coming in, I was impressed how he adapted to his team this year)
14. Mark Few (has certainly proven he can keep a program at a certain level, can he get above that level? Probably not)
15. K (he's 67, he's only won the ACC twice in the last 10 years, he's been upset in the 1st round 2 of the last 3 years)
16. Boeheim (70 with unique style, no thanks)
17. Steve Fisher (older than dirt)
18. Bo Ryan (old with unique style that usually bores me to tears, no thanks)
19. Jay Wright (seriously? he's a handsome man, I'll give him that)
20. Calipari (I despise him - sue me)

After watching Jay Wright in the 2/3 rd I couldn't help but laugh at the impeccably dressed and coifed coach. It brought back memories of Rollie Massimino.
Hair messed, shirt out ,ranting like a mad man. Boy did Nova do a 180.

 

[Rocktheworld]

would anyone be surprised if they left Ollie out of the top 50?

after all, they can say "he's only been coaching for two years and he won it with Calhoun's team"

I think those bozos are capable of anything

Have more than 50 coaches even won a championship? There's no way.

 

[tcf15]

Thad Matta in at #20: http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/top50coaches20/no-20-ohio-state-thad-matta

 

[aceboon]

surprised Matta is that low

 

[huskies20]

before today I would have had KO at around 10 maybe a bit lower, but seeing Thad Matta at 20 and rereading the criteria at the top of todays article in this ranking KO should be number 1. CURRENTLY he is the best coach because he will have a 2014 championship ring and that is that. Obviously if we were talking about legacy or career it would be a different story, but the way this list is set up the coach who won is at the top of the mountain and the rankings. It really doesn't make any difference and obviously this is just a way for the college basketball writers to pass the summer, but being ranked number 1 still feels good!

 

[banshee]

20 is way too low for Matta.

 

[amory]

Man, doing a single writeup each day for the top 25 coaches is a little ridiculous.

25-10 should have come out on the same day and had a paragraph for each of them, then do 1 a day with a full article for the top 10.

 

[CL82]

Man, doing a single writeup each day for the top 25 coaches is a little ridiculous.

25-10 should have come out on the same day and had a paragraph for each of them, then do 1 a day with a full article for the top 10.

Well it is causing me to go to their site at least every other day, so maybe it is actually pretty smart.

 

[willie99]

Have more than 50 coaches even won a championship? There's no way.

I'm with you, but

 

[willie99]

I concur with what everybody says about Ollie being on the list, but the modern day media is a funny cast of characters, we're not exactly beloved to this day, and they could reason he's only been coaching two years

how long does it take an unranked UConn team to move into the top 10? but we sure do drop fast

if I had to make a prediction, I'd say he's on the list, but bigger mistakes have been made and they have an out (experience)

just playing devils advocate here boys

 

[elduderino]

20 is way too low for Matta.

You're using your first post on that?! Seriously, delete it and start over please!

 

[CallMeBruce]

I concur with what everybody says about Ollie being on the list, but the modern day media is a funny cast of characters, we're not exactly beloved to this day, and they could reason he's only been coaching two years

It's very specifically a list of how good the coaches are now. He's the reigning national champion. He's on the list.

how long does it take an unranked UConn team to move into the top 10? but we sure do drop fast

Didn't we go from unranked with no votes to #7 in one week after the Maui Invitational a few years ago? So that's how long it takes.

if I had to make a prediction, I'd say he's on the list, but bigger mistakes have been made and they have an out (experience)

He's on the list. There's 0 question about it. They included a list of coaches who missed the cut. You don't think that Kevin Ollie, the head coach of the current national champs, would have warranted a mention there? They don't have an out, because "experience" isn't all that relevant when you've specifically said that legacy isn't driving the rankings.

Beyond that, this is a ranking based on votes by over 100 guys. You're telling me that most of 100 writers could have omitted the current national champion head coach from a list of the current best coaches? Really? That seems plausible to you?

just playing devils advocate here boys

You're posting easily refutable nonsense. That's not the same thing.

 

[willie99]

It's very specifically a list of how good the coaches are now. He's the reigning national champion. He's on the list.



Didn't we go from unranked with no votes to #7 in one week after the Maui Invitational a few years ago? So that's how long it takes.



He's on the list. There's 0 question about it. They included a list of coaches who missed the cut. You don't think that Kevin Ollie, the head coach of the current national champs, would have warranted a mention there? They don't have an out, because "experience" isn't all that relevant when you've specifically said that legacy isn't driving the rankings.

Beyond that, this is a ranking based on votes by over 100 guys. You're telling me that most of 100 writers could have omitted the current national champion head coach from a list of the current best coaches? Really? That seems plausible to you?



You're posting easily refutable nonsense. That's not the same thing.

okie dokie, thanks for the advise

sorry I offended you, have a great day

 

[tcf15]

Jay Wright at #19: http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/top50coaches19/no-19-villanova-jay-wright

 

[aceboon]

I don't get how Wright is ahead of Matta

 

[tcf15]

I don't get how Wright is ahead of Matta

They are putting a lot of weight into the 2013-2014 season, which has to put Kevin Ollie at least in the top 5.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I don't get how Wright is ahead of Matta

When you have more to say about the suits the guy wears and his attitude than his actual winning history, usually it's consolation compliments to some loser. But in this case, it's the marker of a top 20 coach.

 

[Rocktheworld]

They are putting a lot of weight into the 2013-2014 season.

Yeah Wright above Matta pretty much confirmed this. It's been 5 seasons since Nova was in the FF, they've done nothing since, while OSU was in the FF just two seasons ago. Then one coach gets kicked out of the second round as a protected seed (2) as opposed to the first (as a 6 seed) and now somehow he's doing better "right now." I was practically expecting the writer to say he's better because his team lost to the eventual national champions as opposed to Dayton.

 

[elduderino]

I don't get how Wright is ahead of Matta

I like Matta over Wright too, but I do give Wright a lot of credit for the numbers of wins he puts up without ever seemingly having a standout big.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Jay Wright #19

 

[Rocktheworld]

THIS JUST IN FOLKS

Jay Wright #19

 

[tcf15]

Steve Fisher in at #18: http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/top50coaches18/no-18-san-diego-state-steve-fisher

 

[Gurleyman]

My guess is they'll have Ollie around No. 12. We did win a title yes (I have a dozen t-shirts for proof), but they'll have excuses to leave him further back - finished fourth in our conference, seven seed going in, no home run recruiting successes yet, etc. I wouldn't be surprised to see the lazy "has to prove he can win with his own players" line resurface.