Coach K and 1000 wins
- Thread starter Tilted
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Larry Gude
Strung Out
It makes him the greatest college basketball coach of all time. Including Wooden. Smith. Et al.
Tilted
..
How does the accomplishment compare to, e.g., Don Shula's 328 wins or the the achievements of the NBA's winningest coaches?
Tilted
..
Indeed. Especially considering the limited number of games they play in college each year and the constantly cycling talent (i.e. players) that they have. He won those games with many, many different players - and no one group of players accounts for more than a small percentage of the games he won, no two or three or four different groups of players account for the majority of them.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
Oh, gosh.
The interesting thing, and the real lesson here, if there is one, is this; A Don Shula, a Mike Kzsheshefsskkfjdsfgfiiii would have no chance, were they starting out today given how they started their careers; numerous bad years to get the thing going. So, are we losing out on the next Shula, the next Coach K because of the immediacy of today or does that sort of person simply not even exist anymore as whatever developed them then is no longer in evidence today for a young up and coming coach? I think the former more than the later.
So, short story long, I'd put those two in the same Rushmore of coaching as they both have been integral and not just some sort of Bear Bryant figure head with assistants who did everything in the latter years.
I have a hard time counting the NBA. It's just this weird thing where a Gene Shue is a legend and has 154,875 wins but also has 154,874 losses.
It's not fair to compare professional teams to collegiate teams. College must recruit where the pros have to develop and draft. It's close but not the same. A great college coach can cherry pick players when they are winning national championships and/or going to the NCAA tourney every year. Pros have a limited number of draft picks and are limited(thankfully) by a salary cap. Who wants to see the NFL become like the MLB where the have teams buy up all the talent.
Interesting observation about Gene Shue with roughly a .500 career win percentage. Just like Reggie Jackson with 563 career home runs and 2,584 total hits but he also had 2,597 career strikeouts.
Interesting observation about Gene Shue with roughly a .500 career win percentage. Just like Reggie Jackson with 563 career home runs and 2,584 total hits but he also had 2,597 career strikeouts.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
College ball is making itself less relevant. One of the enormous problems with the NBA has long been that it is WAY too many games. Same with hockey. The NFL is tops because it doesn't have too many games so, most every one is pretty important. College B ball needs to be under 30 games a season so that each one pretty much matters.
SoMD_Fun_Guy
Do you like apples?
Oh, gosh.
The interesting thing, and the real lesson here, if there is one, is this; A Don Shula, a Mike Kzsheshefsskkfjdsfgfiiii would have no chance, were they starting out today given how they started their careers; numerous bad years to get the thing going. So, are we losing out on the next Shula, the next Coach K because of the immediacy of today or does that sort of person simply not even exist anymore as whatever developed them then is no longer in evidence today for a young up and coming coach? I think the former more than the later.
So, short story long, I'd put those two in the same Rushmore of coaching as they both have been integral and not just some sort of Bear Bryant figure head with assistants who did everything in the latter years.
I have a hard time counting the NBA. It's just this weird thing where a Gene Shue is a legend and has 154,875 wins but also has 154,874 losses.
Good point. Similar to Brett Favre QB statistics (# TD, # INTs). Kobe Bryant (# points, # misses). If you are in the sport long enough you are bound to have some incredible stats (both good and bad).
Rather than just looking at the number of Coach K's wins, look at other stats as well:
The breakdown of his Wins and Losses (pct) for each year of his career.
The number of his players that went on to the next level (NBA, etc.).
The high school ranking of his incoming recruits.
etc....
Including these other stats might give a greater insight into how he has developed as a coach and his impact on his players.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
I judge him by his coaching, what happens on the court, only. As a Terp fan, an ACC fan, or, used to be, even when he beat you, you had to admire how hard his kids played defense, how they did all the little things right, how they would win having good players who played great.
Part of me wishes for that perfect world where I want every kid to stay for 4 years so, I appreciate how often he tends towards kids who do and less so the Calipari model but, Duke does it too and that is the world they live in, the one and done thing but, Duke, it seems, still has that thing where you can get to know a kid some over several seasons.
In any event, I think, as he is perhaps as good now as ever, I think he can be called the greatest college B ball coach ever.
PeoplesElbow
Well-Known Member
And to think there were actually quite a few that wanted him fired after just a couple seasons back in the mid 80's.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
Yup.
In any event, I learned, or was reminded, Boeheim and Knight are also in the 900 win club, Jim some 40 wins back and Knight nearly 100 and retired.
I always liked Knight, too. Boeheim has to be a good coach too, but, he tended to always find amazing talent. To that end, Knight has a place in the debate because he seemed to get the most out of good players but not the level of talented kids those other guys always seemed to have.
Maybe the master is better than the pupil?
PeoplesElbow
Well-Known Member
Plus Knight was not afraid to throw down with anyone, even at a salad bar.