One of the things that was mentioned on this board is that coaches improve just like players. And they still have bad games when they have established a great legacy(see Coach K and guys like Jim Boeheim, and Tom Izzo)...If you know the history of Coach K at Duke, you realize that it takes time to develop a program, even if it had recent success.
When Duke hired Coach K, coach Bill Foster had just led Duke to the 1978 national championship game against Kentucky, Duke lost but were led by Mike Gminski, Jim Spanarkel, probably the top freshman in the country from Philly named Gene Banks, and other good role players. Got beat by a Kentucky team led by Goose Givens, Rick Robey, Mike Phillips, James Lee, etc. SO Duke had experienced success right before Coach K got there. And Coach K had led a program that had one 20 win season but was declining for 3 years at Army.. Coach K had a rough first 3 years at Duke and the second and third years were just plain bad. Archrival North Carolina had put together a solid run and NC State was putting together a solid team as well. Both in-state rivals. Coach K had played and coached under Bobby Knight(coach K coached at Indiana as a grad assistant for a year) so he had a pedigree. He had Gene Banks to build with at Duke yet the team got worse. It took that 4th year before everything got turned around.. That is the type of thing it takes for a coach to build a program. EVEN COACHES IMPROVE AS DO PLAYERS.
RIchard P has a good pedigree with coaches he worked under with his dad and Billy Donovan. He has recruited at a high level in previous programs.... I think that it will take some time, as some have said, to get "his guys".. "His guys" means a style of play as well as guys that can handle his style of coaching. I would bet Pitino would be the first to admit he and the staff has to improve as much as the team, despite being under those great coaches. It is different when he is the decision maker and not an assistant.. He has the press conferences and the obligations, off the floor. He is the man that the alumni wants to speak to, the fans, administration. The press is sticking a microphone in his face, every time he opens his mouth. Whether in a good mood or bad, whether situations at home or with friends and family may not be good. Whether sick or healthy. You are having to 'put on the front and do it with enthusiasm and energy'. Not the same as being an assistant. That is why he makes the big bucks. Lots of pressure, all the time.
2-3 more years, then it is fair to see, IMO. Everyone wants to see wins, including me.. I will be frustrated as a fan as will most of you, during the process. There will be days that I will probably question him even being here, as well as everyone else. But I think a 5-6 year frame is what its going to take to get a good handle to evaluate how he is doing.
This post was edited on 3/1 10:08 AM by Vifan
When Duke hired Coach K, coach Bill Foster had just led Duke to the 1978 national championship game against Kentucky, Duke lost but were led by Mike Gminski, Jim Spanarkel, probably the top freshman in the country from Philly named Gene Banks, and other good role players. Got beat by a Kentucky team led by Goose Givens, Rick Robey, Mike Phillips, James Lee, etc. SO Duke had experienced success right before Coach K got there. And Coach K had led a program that had one 20 win season but was declining for 3 years at Army.. Coach K had a rough first 3 years at Duke and the second and third years were just plain bad. Archrival North Carolina had put together a solid run and NC State was putting together a solid team as well. Both in-state rivals. Coach K had played and coached under Bobby Knight(coach K coached at Indiana as a grad assistant for a year) so he had a pedigree. He had Gene Banks to build with at Duke yet the team got worse. It took that 4th year before everything got turned around.. That is the type of thing it takes for a coach to build a program. EVEN COACHES IMPROVE AS DO PLAYERS.
RIchard P has a good pedigree with coaches he worked under with his dad and Billy Donovan. He has recruited at a high level in previous programs.... I think that it will take some time, as some have said, to get "his guys".. "His guys" means a style of play as well as guys that can handle his style of coaching. I would bet Pitino would be the first to admit he and the staff has to improve as much as the team, despite being under those great coaches. It is different when he is the decision maker and not an assistant.. He has the press conferences and the obligations, off the floor. He is the man that the alumni wants to speak to, the fans, administration. The press is sticking a microphone in his face, every time he opens his mouth. Whether in a good mood or bad, whether situations at home or with friends and family may not be good. Whether sick or healthy. You are having to 'put on the front and do it with enthusiasm and energy'. Not the same as being an assistant. That is why he makes the big bucks. Lots of pressure, all the time.
2-3 more years, then it is fair to see, IMO. Everyone wants to see wins, including me.. I will be frustrated as a fan as will most of you, during the process. There will be days that I will probably question him even being here, as well as everyone else. But I think a 5-6 year frame is what its going to take to get a good handle to evaluate how he is doing.
This post was edited on 3/1 10:08 AM by Vifan
