NCAA Mens hoops - pick a coach, any coach....

from JoeUser Forums
Heard some discussion about this today on the radio, and thought it might make for a good topic for the sports forums here at JoeUser (a nice diversion away from the Politics forums for a change).

Here's the setup - you have a team that is in the final four, with a good chance of going to the championship game and winning same. With this mythical team, who would you want to have as your coach so that your team would have the best chance of winning?

Pick any coach you wish, active or retired, living or passed on. Who would be "the man" for you if you wanted the best chance of winning the game(s).

Please defend you decision and offer your reasons why you'd rather have your pick instead of someone else, and feel free to point out why you wouldn't take someone else's choice.

If you want, include several coaches from past championship caliber teams that you would most definitely not want as your coach -- coaches you think are over-rated or who were cruising on the backs of the talent they had instead of their own coaching skills.

My own choice will follow shortly.
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Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
My choice:

Please note that it is killing me to type this information out, as I do live and die with my beloved Terps (Go Maryland!) and really like Gary Williams as a coach. He's one of the best in the business, and I'm really, really happy he's at Maryland. There are few others that I would take over him as a coach, and the information below will give that information away.

I look at an argument like this one -- picking the best coach for winning a championship -- and surmize that I need to pick the person that gets the best from his players, and puts his players into a position to win. Such a coach has to be willing to adjust his system to his players, and should be able to win championships with many different versions of a team. It's easy to look at some teams and see that they have been put into position to compete because they have star players. Players that can almost single-handedly, or in some cases absolutely single-handedly win. Coaches that are lucky enough to get such players can have a long career if they wish simply enjoying the ride. Some might point to Phil Jackson in both of his championship runs (with the Bulls, and later with the Lakers) in the NBA and easily identify such a coach.

There's been a few coaches in the history of the NCAA (while I've been following) that have enjoyed similar gifts from the basketball gods. The coach of the Fab 5 as an example, where the players clearly made the team, and the coach wasn't so much responsible for the wins as the players were.

Even my favored local coach, Gary Williams, has done a little of this, riding the hard work of one of the most dedicated ball-players ever, Juan Dixon, to a championship.

So, as I sit and think of great coaches that I have seen, and what a difference I thought those coaches have made to their teams, I come up with a fairly short list.


My own choice, as much as it pains me to type it out, would be Coach K. He of the hated ACC rival, Duke Blue Devils.

I remember a few seasons back when Coach K had back problems and was away from the game for an entire season. At that point in time, Maryland was struggling. They (the Terps) finally, without Coach K there, were able to start to win a little against the hated Dukies. That season taught me just how valuable Coach K was to that team. You see, without him the Dukies were just fodder along the way. The following season, with virtually the same team, Coach K came back and took his team well into the post season. A swing of double digits in the win column (or so it seemed).

For that reason, I can point to Coach K and defend him easily as the coach I would take if I had a team on the cusp of winning.

I might be able to point to a Bobby Knight or even a Dean Smith as also rans for the position, but to me those coaches are not quite at the same level as Coach K. He wins no matter who is on the court, and his teams consistently perform up to and above their expectations.

As much as I hate him when he is coaching against the Terps, he's the one guy I would turn to if I really wanted to win.


So, to Coach K, at least from my side - /salute
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top

I'm from Michigan, Although not a huge Michigan State Fan, I have to Go with the IZZO!

I think he will get it done this weekend.  I like a coach who is hardnosed and knows how to prep his/her ball players and Izzo does that very well.

At this point in the season, even before the tourney started, a coach needs to convince his ball players that they will be doing something special in the tourney and you also have to prep them in that manner as well.

If you've watched MSU's games this tourney you can definately tell that they are playing with purpose and tons of confidence.  Now i know that MSU has some pretty good players, but they haven't performed to their potential during the season, but are really clicking right now.

You can tell that they are just well prepared with a game plan that makes the other teams play in a way they aren't used to.  Izzo is good at finding a team's weakness and exposing it to it's fullest. 

So basically, Izzo prepares his ball players well, and game plans even better.  I think that is the killer combo especially during tourney time, actually, any time!

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