Top 5 coaches of the decade
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@Woodrow I agree - MOSTLY.
I used to detest Billy Packer and got to the point where I would not watch a game that he was working. Jay Bilas is quickly climbing my list of can’t stand to listen to announcers. By the way, his name is really spelled Jay BIAS.
But for the most part I try to ignore the anti KU remarks.
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The main reason I think we dislike the color guys is because they offer opinions. Many times their opinions don’t match our view of CBB. And certainly not when it comes to perceived slights against KU. That’s the main reason I think most dislike some of these announcers.
I do think Fran expresses things, like KU getting calls at AFH, that we don’t like hearing.
I differentiate that from bad or annoying color guys. In my book, most annoying/bad are Vitale, Walton, Dakich. They are distractions to me. I’m just kind of tired of listening to Fran. He’s informative but I’ve had enough.
I personally really like Bilas except for his anti NCAA, anti CBB, pro NBA/International BB monologues. That opinion thing. But for a Duke guy he isn’t slobbering all over them all the time.
Really liked the Fox crew for the Nova game. Always like Gus Johnson as the play by play.
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Fran is a sham. This is the way
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Bilas is probably the best in-game commentator. I think Jimmy Dykes is pretty decent too. Vitale is noise. Fran is okay but sometimes it feels like he’s officiating Kansas more than he is providing game commentary. Dakich tries to talk about the game but his opinions and insights are awful. Bill Walton doesn’t care about anything and is more of an experience. He appeals to the casual, weed-smoking viewers who are there to have a good time and be entertained, and not so much the die-hard fans who take the games more seriously.
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@BeddieKU23 this is the way
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@HighEliteMajor I think every team gets a few calls at home. I just hate how it’s big news when happens in Lawrence but not in Durham, Lexington or Chapel Hill.
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@HighEliteMajor You bring up a valid point with Walton…he is the only one that bothers me.
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Whenever Vitale or Fran gets on my nerves, I say to myself, “At least it ain’t Doug Gottlieb.” That man wouldn’t know good commentating if it formed itself into a fist and punched him in the gob.
I agree with the sentiments re Dakich. He throws things out just to get the reaction, and then rubs his hands together and chuckles with glee when people follow his train of thought right over a cliff.
Walton…saw a couple of funny Twitter posts about his calling of the game in Maui.
“Having Walton call a KU game must be phase one of the NCAA punishments.”
“Every time Walton opens his mouth, a hippy gets his weed.”
I’ll admit to wearing the Crimson-and-Blue headphones when it comes to commentators talking about my team. I want to only hear the good stuff, and I don’t want to hear about any other team being better than mine. And yet, I don’t, really. What I want to hear is the truth…even if it doesn’t line up with my perception of reality. I just want to hear it said in the most positive/KU slanted way possible!
On a different note, has anyone noticed that Bill Self and Brian Hanni don’t seem to have very good chemistry on Hawk Talk? Most every question Brian asks that isn’t from a listener seems to get panned by Self, and sometimes with more than a hint of exasperation.
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Then there’s this:
“Wright’s success on the outskirts of Philadelphia made him a runaway choice as men’s coach of the decade. He received 16 of 24 votes from a panel of Associated Press poll voters, well ahead of Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski with five votes. Gonzaga’s Mark Few, Kentucky’s John Calipari and Virginia’s Tony Bennett had one each.”
Wright, Coach K, and Calipari, I’m okay with them. But Mark Few and Tony Bennett?!
So Self had two Final Fours and countless Sweet Sixteens and Elite Eights. Oh, I almost forgot…a million consecutive Big 12 titles. And they’re more impressed with Mark Few and Tony Bennett? Heck, what about Roy and Izzo?!
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Wright won two national titles. One NC carries more weight than our relatively meaningless Big 12 titles (the streak made them interesting). I’ve said this for years. Duke won two NCs as well. We have zero. A decade of nothing as far as being a real champion. Other than the NCs, we’ve been the best school in my opinion. A vote for Few is silly.
Virginia won four ACC titles and UNC won five ACC titles in the decade. Much tougher conference at the top. Real NC challenging teams. The ACC won 5 of the 10 NCs - Duke 2, UNC 1, Virginia 1, and Louisville 1. Big 12? None.
Duke won 1 conference title and 2 NCs? I’ll take that over our 9 Big 12 titles (weak competition at the top) and no NCs any day.
Wright won two titles – largely by outcoaching Self in both of his title runs. Self wins that coaching battle, we likely have at least one. These were two games where the coaching victory was obvious and the key factor in the win. Wright is well deserving.
Maybe the 20s will be the decade of Self?
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I know I will anger some in here. But I can’t think of a reason why I would put any coach ahead of Wright in college basketball. He never has the creme recruits and he produces some startling results. His teams swarm on defense and when he draws up a specific defense, they do it. His players are well-coached not only for individual play, but also for team play and for game play.
Look at Wright’s interview after our game with them. And his PG, who mentioned that they always work on end game scenarios after every practice. Well it certainly paid off against us. We were lost. And then Self and players mention that they are now talking about end game scenarios. Talking means little. Practicing… that’s where you make gains. End of game practice should be required in D1. It’s ridiculous to think we aren’t doing this. Ridiculous. Go back through any season and see how many games end close. And then add in games that could be close, like an 8 to 10 pt conclusion. These are the games where end game scenarios are crucial. Crucial.
I have to admit I was shocked after hearing Wright and players talk about this, and then listen to our side and how we had a discussion about end of game strategy.
I’m a big Self fan… but we really need our guys to be coached up in other areas. The basics are still important. I’m not going to go off complaining again because everyone in here that has read my posts over the years knows what my gripes are.
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@drgnslayr Beard and Wright are both phenomenal. Both great guys that get it.
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@drgnslayr well gosh, I’ve seen a few pretty awesome games that were very well coached at the end of the game. If anyone has Twitter, they’ve been playing them this past week. There’s the last Mizzou game, 19 pts down, 3 ot ou game, and a great ot game against West Virginia. Some of the crowd had actually left. We actually came back against another West Virginia game-Perry got hurt when LL fell on him. Hurt him the rest of the season. To say we don’t practice end of game scenarios, might be a little selective. I saw all those games. Peace out. Rock chalk! Back to win the conference for a start! Then…
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@MNJayhawk I like hanni, I don’t notice any friction between them. I think he’s well prepared and does a great deal of research. I know a lot of people gripe about him on the radio. I like him.
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@Crimsonorblue22 I like Hanni too. Which is why I wondered about the way Self responded to him from time to time on Hawk Talk.
I think it’s hard to follow a legend like Bob Davis. Listeners’ comfort levels with Davis were high. As were expectations for his replacement.
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@MNJayhawk Hanni is a great guy, just not a fan of his voice. Bob Davis was one of the best to do it, maybe I’m bias but him and Max when I was a kid were easily the radio commentators I’ve ever heard. Not even a close second IMO.
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I hear you and agree with you. And I didn’t mean we don’t prepare for end game situations… I just don’t believe we do it at the level Nova does it. Definitely not this early in the year and it showed.
You know me… I always complain about players being under-coached. It must be built in to my DNA!
Happy New Year!
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@drgnslayr Devon just isn’t good yet, and no one is good enough to spell him, so he’s got to play. Hopefully he figured it out, but the clock is ticking.
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dylans said:
@drgnslayr Devon just isn’t good yet, and no one is good enough to spell him, so he’s got to play. Hopefully he figured it out, but the clock is ticking.
He was definitely tired at the end of the game yesterday but made the free throws at least. Trainer was stretching his left leg at halftime more then usual. Probably nursing something minor.
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@dylans Good is relative I guess. He’s the best player on the team and in the top 5 in the KP POTY race.
Very few guards I’d rather have but interestingly enough the team is going up against one on Wednesday with Haliburton.
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@BShark Good is the wrong word. Good enough? Great? Not yet.
Lots of potential and if Dok wasn’t a senior and Dot such a flight risk I wouldn’t worry.
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@dylans Next year is a bit of an odd roster. We have to hope Harris is at least a competent back-up PG (Garrett likely the starter). We will likely have a ton of 2-4 types Bryce, Ochai, Braun, Tyon and a couple more 3/4 guys in Jalen and Tristan. Then really just two bigs ready to play in Dave and Mitch.
We might end up very good, but it’s not “conventional” and ball handling could be the biggest concern.
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@BShark I think Silvio will be back too. I don’t feel he is a transfer risk and definitely not ready for the next level. He’s the biggest enigma on the team.
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Dotson would probably be better if someone would take some of the scoring load off his shoulders too. Too much pressure on that young man.
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@dylans Not sure on Silvio. If he isn’t going to play much anyway, maybe he gets more money to do so somewhere else.
That’s a big thing with Dotson, he knows he has to score and create. Garrett is getting better at creating and Braun shows promise. Ochai doesn’t have the ability yet and I don’t see him improving his handle enough to get there this year. Moss certainly not.
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I’m not happy w/d dot! Is he trying to show himself for scouts or is he putting the team on his shoulders? His decisions aren’t very good, imo. Can’t count on his throws, his missed 2 in a row at one time! Made poor shot selections in crunch time, AGAIN! I trust Marcus to make better decisions, hi bbiq! Not better ball handling, or better shooting. Bothers me I think this way.
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@Crimsonorblue22 if he wasn’t playing how Bill wanted there would be issues. Bill seems happy with him. I’ve said the same about wanting Garrett handling the ball in crunch time though. Exception would be if Dot has been putting the guy guarding him in the torture chamber all game.
