In 7 years as the coach of a Division I program in one of the nation’s power conferences, Coach X has compiled a 162-59 (.740) record despite being geographically limited in his ability to recruit the bluest of chips. He’s won 2 conference regular season championships and 1 conference tournament title and made the NCAA tournament every year he’s been on the bench. His teams have racked up a 50-3 conference mark at home during his tenure (with a 103-7 overall home record), again in one of the nation’s preeminent leagues. That’s John Wooden good, Coach K good. Most coaches can only dream of that in-conference home record. (Though John Calipari says hello. Right before he goes out and tramples Lenoir-Rhyne in yet another conference walkover.) Before he got to his current destination, our guy won 4 Division III National
Championships in 16 seasons and turned around a dreadful D-I program in 2 years. Before this season began, his .769 career winning percentage was second only to the aforementioned Roy Williams among coaches with more than 500 wins. For good measure, he looks just like his school’s mascot.Why, then, does Bo Ryan not get more love as one of the nation’s very best leaders? If Wisconsin grew tobacco, he’d be a household name.
Hey, Eddie Munster!
ReplyDeleteand, to mgl, sorry for the big conference love. though i consider ryan a little guy at heart.
ReplyDeleteLike you mentioned, he cut his (badger) teeth at a DIII school for-ever.
ReplyDeleteanyone see this story about mike wise? holy crap:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0208/494361.html
anyone other than me and teejay see stephen curry put up 41 last night to lead davidson back from a 15-pt halftime deficit against uncg?
ReplyDeleteMASN: Bringing you games every single night that absolutely no one cares about.
ReplyDeleteJane Fonda dropped a "c u next tuesday" live on the Today show this morning? Nice.
ReplyDeleteFonda's always been a classy lady.
ReplyDeleteHanoi Jane? Yep, that bitch is the best.
ReplyDeleteNo motor in the back of that Honda.
ReplyDeleteRob,
I would be interested to get you thoughts on this morning's inauspicious letter issued by W&M's interim dean.
And by you I mean you're. . .or whatever.
ReplyDeletehe said what he had to say. the guy's in a no-win position, especially if it's true that he's friends with nichol. and moving on is really the only option at this point. gene nichol isn't walking through that door. thomas jefferson isn't walking through that door. paul verkuil isn't walking through that door.
ReplyDeleteWhere is my horse? Where is Caractacus?
ReplyDeleteVitali Potapenko for W&M President?
ReplyDeleteShouldn't Whitney be bragging about Wales? This 2-week period might be the high water mark of the entire country.
ReplyDeletejesus, jerry, that's some historicalizing there.
ReplyDeleteGo figure - I thought Jerry was making a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang reference.
ReplyDeleteMan, here I thought I'd go through the entire life of this blog without once getting in a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang reference. My life is complete.
I think Mark Few might have something to say about the coaching claim. His numbers to date are extremely impressive for a guy who looks like a mash-up of Mark Price and a leprachaun.
ReplyDeleteThrough the 2007 season, he compiled a win-loss record of 211-52. He's had three Sweet 16 appearances and he's produced several NBA players. He also plays a solid out-of-conference schedule every year. The Zags are 18-6 so far this year.
I realize the Mountain West ain't the Big Ten, but Big Ten baskeball has not been very deep in recent years. Indiana, Michigan, Purdue, Iowa and Michigan State have been up and down this decade. PSU and Northwestern generally sucked (no offense to the Crispin brothers).
I take points away for Few beingso harsh on shrooming players, but his body of work (unlike his child-like body) is impressive.
All good until you got to the Mountain West part...they're in the WCC.
ReplyDeletenice pull, rhymo. few's in the conversation for undersung coaches, for sure.
ReplyDeleteAnyone think Mike Montgomery sorely regrets his decision to leave Stanford?
ReplyDeletewho?
ReplyDeleteWhere is my hat? Where is it?
ReplyDeleteOh pirate.
I think playing in the WCC severely hinders Few's argument. That conference is worse than C-USA which is constantly talked about as one of the reasons Memphis isn't a real contender.
ReplyDeletemark, please tell me you saw hasheem thabeet's pterodactyl block and a notre dame three-pointer last night.
ReplyDelete"on" a notre dame three-pointer. it's just that i was so excited by it.
ReplyDeleteEverything west of the Rockies is one big conference to me....
ReplyDeleteThey're all teams I watched (and fell asleep to) in the old days when I would stumble home after midnight and watch whatever ESPN was showing at that hour.
This whole "check your facts before submitting" is too much work anyway. It's probably why I never got a juicier beat with the Flat Hat than "1992 Men's Golf Preview" article.
Jerry, it's a nice pair of wins for the Welsh, but it's not the "high-water mark" for the entire nation's history. Seriously, that would definitely be the stretch of years in the 1970's when they were the best side on the planet. This could be a close third place behind the ascension of Tom Jones to godlike status among panty-collecting crooners.
ReplyDeleteI cheered for the Welsh at the IRB Sevens tourney this past weekend. Had to pull for the ol' US of A when they squared off in the Bowl final, however; naturally, the Americans lost. (A squeaker when they couldn't convert the kick after a last second try.) Exciting stuff.
The All Blacks are making an impressive march this year. 4 Cup wins in 4 tourneys. I went beer for try with them on Saturday but waved the white flag on Sunday after they walloped the Kenyans.
um, how 'bout we turn that into a g:tb post, mmmkay?
ReplyDeleteRob, I did see Thabeet's block last night. It was both ridiculous and impressive. I honestly thought he'd never be much more than seven ft. of fouls (his lack of agression was vexing) but he's developed rapidly at both ends of the court in the last month or two. I'm intrigued by his pro prospects at this point.
ReplyDeleteI watched that 7's thing for a while on Saturday. I found it to be somewhat entertaining and a little confusing. The West Indies put in an effort that wasn't worthy of a drunken Pi Lam B soccer team.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the consensus from our seats was that the West Indians were very, very stoned. We were handicapping games for wagering purposes, and by the end they were consistently 40-point dogs or worse.
ReplyDeleteThat Gene Hackman voice-over for Oppenheimer Funds that starts "having six players doesn't make you a team"? The ad sounds like a cheesy, hokey bastardization of a Coach Dale speech. It bugs me and should be outlawed (by regulations that have no legal foundation whatsoever).
ReplyDeleteAnd that's not even mentioning that the name of the company evokes thoughts of the atomic bomb. Sheesh.