Where does Bobby Knight rank among the all-time greatest college basketball coaches? Would you want to play for him? Why or why not?
Cimorelli’s Question of the Day
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We talked about this before. As far as where he actually ranks, top 5 for sure. Would I want to play for him – he’s the number one coach I’d want to play for.
Ya, Smitty, we have had this discussion before, and I could not agree more. Of all the coaches that I have seen in college hoops in my lifetime, there is no one that I would rather play for than Bobby Knight. including Even the great John Chaney (who is a true “hero” to me). No one that I have seen would make me a better person as well as making me a better basketball player. There is no doubt that guys like Tom Izzo, Coach K, Mike Montgomery would teach me the X’s and O’s as well as anyone. And, I am convinced that Chaney would have made me a MUCH better human being, but Coach Knight combines the two better than anyone I have ever seen. Discipline on and off the court, combinged with a true, genuine love for his players. What a man, what a coach…
Yeah, he has to be Top 5. An amazingly awesome basketball coach. A lot of coaches are known for great teachers of defense, a lot are known as great teachers of offense, Knight taught both about as well as anyone. But I’m surprised you guys rate him #1 as coach you want to play for? His negative reputation is way overblown. He’s not the monster he’s portrayed to be and he’s actually a good guy that really cared about his players. But you can’t deny his flaws as a person. I would think he regrets A LOT of the decisions he’s made and things he’s done, and if he doesn’t, he really should. A great guy, but a more flawed guy than a lot of coaches out there that I would pick over him: Chaney, Coach K, Wooden. Pretty suspect that Knight decides to walk away rigth after picking up win #900, too. Don’t you owe it to your players to finish the season you started with them?
Wow, good point Doogan. I think it’s pretty weak to get his record then ditch his squad. Like what Rob Smith said, this is a conversation we’ve had before, and I know I am on the opposing view as to playing for him. I think he is a great coach, an innovator, and that his negative rep was overblown. But what I was thinking about this morning…at what point does all the Knight BS, the overplayed old clips, the reality TV show with walk-ons, the fact that it is always ALL ABOUT Knight…when does that become a negative to the program? When was the last time he had a team advance anywhere in the Big Dance? Second weekend? Elite Eight? I dont even know. Seriously, I know basically every year his team will get there (which is an achievement, I am not taking that away) but every year I pick against him in the first round and I feel like with that one I am always right. A great coach, a legend, but to me the negatives inherent in his personality take away from the game and his team.
Certainly a polarizing figure, I saw this on dimemag.com and heard about it on FAN and although I know it’s not like Mark Jackson speaks and the world listens or anything, it was in the vein of what I/we posted yesterday:
Nets analyst Mark Jackson went on a rant about the way Bobby Knight left Texas Tech. Jackson said that for a coach who stresses doing things the right way, he walked out on four seniors and the rest of a team whom he’d asked to trust him. Jackson said he would never let his son play for that kind of coach, and that Knight’s shady departure would be a bigger story if Knight’s “buddies” in the media weren’t constantly covering for him.
The other thing was that puff piece interview on Sportscenter this morning made it clear he isnt retiring, he is ditching Texas Tech to set up his son and get himself a bigger, better opportunity. The better question should be now that he has rehabbed his image by “behaving” at Texas Tech which big program brings him in next season?