when Cal took the job those big time bball programs were still in the C-USA (although maybe he knew it was coming?). i think he saw a bball school in a recruiting hot spot. i'll look it up, but i dont think theyre program was too down. my point is that Cal is supposed to be a topnotch coach. bball programs can be turned around in one season because of small # of players. he recruited great from day one. its been many, many years and you could say he still hasnt produced.
well, highlights will do that to the losing team. in the first half, couldnt hit shots whether open or forced. Ark (especially weems) hit most (even the bad shots). second half--LSU started hitting shots, generating turnovers and scoring off of them. but it didnt last long enough. weems was shut down by GT though. the obvious difference in the game was their guard play. they have at least 3 quick guards that can drive---ervin, beverly and weems. tigers really have none. thornton and spencer dont seem to quite have the top end quickness. the commentators kept saying how LSU would pass the ball too far out in the O set. and they did, but its because there is one post player (and it appears he doesnt have O skills). thing is, Ark never passed the ball in the post either, so clearly it isnt necessary to win a game.
He is a top toch coach, 7 seasons in Memphis, 7 20-win seasons...By your standards then Rick Pitino and Billy Donovan are not a top notch coaches.
All take any of the for mentioned names. Anything above a half retarded beaver would be an improvement.
7 yrs in memphis and 0 final fours. 20 win seasons arent too hard to come by in the new and improved C USA. i do think he's a good coach, but he's had more talent and done less than cjb. by what criteria do you think i dont think billy d is good? he is truly one of the best. pitino on the other hand is a different situation. i wouldnt want lsu to pay a chunk of change to get him. he's been quite underwhelming at UL.
Seems to me that you're implying that top notch HC's turn programs in one year, so I assumed that was your criteria, but now you've changed it to being in the Final Four which I guess makes JB a top notch HC.
i think top notch HC can turn a program around in one year, but doesnt need to to be a top notch HC. to be a top notch coach i dont think you have to have taken a team to a FF, but its the easiest measure. certainly, getting to a FF doesnt make you a top notch coach---should LSU get the george mason coach? again. i think cjb has most of the attributes of a top notch coach. his weakness is management. i have no doubt that if he were to remain the lsu coach for several more years there would be at least one lsu team dominant in the sec and likely to make a deep ncaa run.
This is were I disagree with you cause I think that what makes a top notch coach is to consistently have winning seasons, be ranked, and make the NCAA tournament...The key word is consistency and Brady fails miserably at that...Turning programs around takes more than a year, a HC can come in and be succesful in one year but that doesn't mean he turned the program around...In Calipari's case, the two seasons prior to him coaching Memphis the team was under .500 and the worst he's done since 2000 is 22-16 and he knew nothing of Conf-USA becoming weak since those teams left for the 2005season. Based on my criteria I think that Coach K, Roy Williams, Bill Self, Billy Donovan, Ben Howland, Bo Ryan, Mark Few, Gary Williams, Jim Calhoun, Thad Matta and Jim Boeheim are top notch coaches...Crazy thing is that based on my criteria Rick Barnes fits in this category but it just doesn't feel right. Feel free to disagree.
Just look at what Billy Donovan has done with his Florida team that has lost its top 8-9 scorers from this past season and view that as proof of what a good coach can do. A lesser example is to look at what Tubby Smith has done at Minnesota. 12-6 and 2-4 in league isn't impressive, but considering the circumstances and where that program was, I'd say that's pretty dog-gone work.
