Is coach K cheating?


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  • @DoubleDD I ran across that Yahoo copy yesterday & while it likely is somewhat of a slight advantage for coach Konsanonts, it probably is no more so than for Boheim or Donovan or whomever his assistants are or will be. Journalism can sometimes be about as unethical profession there is. So many people out there looking to be the next big thing. Look what happened to Ray Rice the second time around. Not to say he doesn’t have it coming, but TMZ is the one that bought the elevator video from a Vegas hotel. Doubtful TMZ will ever get an Emmy.


  • Banned

    @globaljaybird Don’t underestimate TMZ. Ask Ray Rice about them. 😉 No I know what your saying. Personally I don’t really have a problem with it, but I thought it would make for an interesting topic. 🙂



  • I don’t begrudge him for milking his 15 minutes of opportunity for all it is worth. Every other coach in the country would do the same thing. Next summer KU gets to represent the USA in the World University games and Coach Self and KU should get a lot of exposure…nothing wrong with that.



  • @JayHawkFanToo

    Self and KU will get some exposure, but he’s using only KU players. No opportunity to recruit players to the program with that role.

    Coach K has been opportunistic with his role. I think any reasonable person would have to agree that his position as the head coach provides him unique opportunities and he has seized those.

    I think the question is: has he crossed some line? Has he done anything unethical? Has he violated any rules or bylaws?

    To my knowledge, he’s been shrewd and that’s about it.

    Now Calipari is also shrewd and his comments backing up Coach K appear to be self-serving – No doubt his name is in the mix as a possible successor, so his comments come off as defending the role so that he may enjoy the same benefits.


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    @bskeet Do you think Calipari is shooting for Coach K’s job?

    YES

    Do you think I’m reading too much into it?


  • Banned

    Bskeet how am I supposed to respond when you wield that kind of power? 🙂 LOL No I don’t think your reading too much into it. Actually I think your on to something. 😉

    I couldn’t even fav your response.



  • Yikes! I hit the wrong button and edited your note!!!

    I will say, there is something about the interface that makes it too easy to do that… but sheesh… I really didn’t notice until you called my attention to it!



  • Ha! I’ll fav your note!



  • @bskeet

    He will access to the best foreign amateur/college players in the world. Maybe the next Svi or Embiid or Wiggins will decide to transfer to KU. Can you imagine how impressed foreign players will be, seen KU represent the top basketball county in the world? He might not be able to recruit American players in that role but the will hit the mother lode of foreign players.



  • @JayHawkFanToo If that happens, then fabulous! That’s a much bigger pool of potential talent, so theoretically that sounds great. However, it’s pretty clear that the overwhelming majority of high-quality basketball players in the world are germinating in the US. We’ll see how it plays out…

    He’s done pretty well finding some international talent so far without having that position… so maybe this will amplify his ability to attract foreign stars.



  • @bskeet

    A lot of top players come from overseas. The top two players at KU last year were foreign, The last 2 years, the #1 pick in the NBA draft were foreigners, several first round picks were also foreigners; in the last dozen or so years, foreign players Bogut, Bagnani and Yao Ming were also #1 picks in the NBA draft.

    I would not mind if KU can establish a steady pipeline of top Euro players; all we need is a couple per year.



  • It’s funny how the mind works…

    When I read the title of this thread:

    “Is coach K cheating?”

    While I clicked my mouse to get the details my brain already decided this was an article about Kalipari cheating! Did anyone else have that happen to them? When the topic turns to college coach cheating my brain fast forwards to Kalipari!

    I guess for one day I’ll connect the dots Kalipari … “Coach K.”

    It is ridiculous for anyone to NOT see the advantage this gives Coach K in recruiting. This gives K another season of ball every year to sell the “Coach K” brand, and the “Coach K” brand follows him wherever he goes, and it just so happens the benefactor is Duke. And he is out meeting with top foreign talent, too.

    It FEELS corrupt when he defends it all as not an advantage. What utter BS! I try to maintain a high level of respect for K… but it dwindles every time I read a story like this and he really floats BS out there (and gets away with it).

    I’m pretty sure if that was CS in his position he wouldn’t defend himself, he would flatten the story out with a famous Bill Self comment starting out with… “I don’t know… but I can say it doesn’t hurt our recruiting. Does it help? I don’t know… maybe… I guess you could argue that.” Self might even throw in a “really really” statement… like… “Does it really really help our recruiting?”

    Here is another “funny thing:”

    Every time Self makes a statement full of simplified “I don’t know…” statements I think of the Sheriff in the book “Pop 1280” by Jim Thompson. BTW: I heavily recommend that read to everyone. Very hard to find humorous westerns!



  • I don’t think the Yahoo article holds much water. After all, Coach K is working almost exclusively with the senior national team, which is made up of NBA guys. He can’t recruit those guys, so no advantage there. He gets the extra exposure, which I’m sure helps, but he doesn’t gain a recruiting advantage as far a contact is concerned.

    The U19 team was coached by Billy Donovan (Florida), Tony Bennett (Virginia) and Shaka Smart (VCU). Some of those players were in college, some were still in high school. Is that an advantage?

    The U18’s were coached by Donovan with Ed Cooley (Providence) and Sean Miller (Arizona h/t @JayHawkFanToo ). Those are all high school guys. Is that an advantage?

    The U17’s and 16’s are both coached by high school or AAU coaches because that would violate NCAA rules to have college coaches in contact with non juniors.

    If anything, I think Coach K gains an advantage from a strategic standpoint. The international rules make you think about things a little differently. Having Boeheim there specifically to help coach against zones, and having two NBA coaches there to help install the defensive principles, I’m sure he’s added some things to his coaching toolkit over these last 8 years.

    To me, that is where he would stand to benefit the most because he has a zone expert (Boeheim), the best defensive coach in the NBA (Thibodeau) and a very good matchups guy in Monty Williams. He also has access to a lot of other NBA coaches, as many of the teams who have guys participating will send along either the head coach or an assistant to observe during camp. It’s basically a huge basketball brainstorm that could help Coach K gain a tactical advantage that most college coaches won’t be able to match.



  • image.jpg

    Saw this tweet from Lamb. I’m assuming you all know this is about Kentucky.



  • @Crimsonorblue22 I am always careful not to throw stones on this stuff as there is a chance that we live in a glass house …



  • @HighEliteMajor I usually say “knock on wood”!



  • both are wise… just don’t knock glass houses…



  • @justanotherfan

    I agree with your conclusions. Donovan, Bennett, Smart, Cooley and Miller would seem to have the bigger advantage since they work with HS players. I think Mark Few used to be an assistant on the U19 team but was replaced by Sean Miller. By the way, Sean Miller “played” at Pitt. but currently “coaches” at Arizona; Jamie Dixon is the HC at Pitt. and I don’t believe they have any assistants named Sean Miller. 😞



  • @JayHawkFanToo

    You are correct about Sean Miller. I typed it and was thinking it wasn’t right, but then forgot to go back and correct it.



  • @Crimsonorblue22

    The sad fact is that many athletes are smoking. I knew of several athletes when I was in school that would smoke in season but not drink (they thought it disrupted their conditioning to drink). Whether that is still a thought that is around or not I don’t know, but it was 15-20 years ago.



  • @Crimsonorblue22 That name, I applaud him for his audacity to tweet this, but, I can still see him draining dagger threeballs in the Superdome. He shot them to the championship that night and I’ll never forget, although I wish I would.



  • @JayHawkFanToo

    “By the way, Sean Miller “played” at Pitt”

    Was he a “baby linebacker?”



  • @drgnslayr

    LOL. He was the starting PG and a very good 3 point and free throw shooter with great knowledge of the game and a natural leader. Not surprising he ended up coaching.


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