Well does this mean K is a greater coach, since he takes these players and gets the most out of them?
Duke has a lot of slower white stars too...Dunleavy, Alarie, Hurley, Laetner, Reddick, a the typical trait to be a great NBA player or good one even.
Brand, Johnny Dawkins, Deng (has great potential) Jason Williams (would have ben a great pro) Maggette (jury still out)
Duke has a lot of slower white stars too...Dunleavy, Alarie, Hurley, Laetner, Reddick, a the typical trait to be a great NBA player or good one even.
Brand, Johnny Dawkins, Deng (has great potential) Jason Williams (would have ben a great pro) Maggette (jury still out)
Coach K looks great because he gets 4 or 5 of the top 50 recruits each and every season. That is what it takes to look like a genius in colleges. Not so easy at other levels.
Reddick isn't as bad as advertised, that range and his tendency to vary his choices will keep him in the NBA awhile at least. Most of these guys who are great shooters can't create their own shot, but Reddick does because he isn't predictable. He takes a 25 footer one possession, then fakes a shot and drives for a 10 foot pull-up jumper next time down. Most of these college guys are one-trick ponies, especially the shooters, but Reddick and Morrison definitely have a lot of tricks in their bags.
Reddick isn't as bad as advertised, that range and his tendency to vary his choices will keep him in the NBA awhile at least. Most of these guys who are great shooters can't create their own shot, but Reddick does because he isn't predictable. He takes a 25 footer one possession, then fakes a shot and drives for a 10 foot pull-up jumper next time down. Most of these college guys are one-trick ponies, especially the shooters, but Reddick and Morrison definitely have a lot of tricks in their bags.
WildBill said:
He didn't get those players when he first started at Duke, and the Duke program was not at the top of the ACC, Bill Foster took Duke to the finals in 1978 , after that Duke had slipped back into the middle of the ACC , it comes with the territory of winning year in and year out, no team has won like Duke has in K's time at Duke, no one is even close...obviously the guy does a helluva lot more right than almost any coach ever has.
p.s. I hate Duke.
Journeyman said:
Getting kids to succeed in college is very different from getting kids ready for the NBA. We see these conflicts in the minor-leagues of baseball all the time - the minor league manager tries to win games while the big league club wants their prospects to develop. The Red Sox have now told the managers of their farm teams that developing talent is what they will be graded on - not wins/losses.
So if Duke kids don't make it in the NBA, we can say that K simply doesn't develop talent, but you can't blame him for it because he's not a farm club - he is paid to win games for Duke.
Think of any pro-sports team - now give them 5 of the top ten draft picks EVERY year. They will be what Duke is getting.
These days, USC is to college football what Duke is to basketball. I heard Carroll once say that their problem is not in trying to get a recruit to commit, but in getting the BEST 25 recruits from the pool of hundreds of players who are dying to go to USC.
That is college coaches can't succeed in the pro level. Rick Pitino was used to getting 3-4 Top 25 recruits every year at UK. He goes to the Celtics and now he's getting 1 out of 30 draft picks.
Winning on an even playing field is a lot more difficult than it seems.
I just typed a small book out and went to send and lost it! grrr
Wanted to mention this too...John Wooden's players didn't make the greatest NBA players either.
Lew Alcinder and who else really? Bill Walton had a good career but didn't exactly live up to his potential (even though injuries killed him) Marques Johnson and Keith Wilkes and thats about it really, for all those titles you would think they would have more greats as well.
Duke has limitations with higher standards to get into Duke too, and not to mention his players graduate, it goes both ways...
Cincy , Duke does not get 5 of the top 10 players every year.
Wanted to mention this too...John Wooden's players didn't make the greatest NBA players either.
Lew Alcinder and who else really? Bill Walton had a good career but didn't exactly live up to his potential (even though injuries killed him) Marques Johnson and Keith Wilkes and thats about it really, for all those titles you would think they would have more greats as well.
Duke has limitations with higher standards to get into Duke too, and not to mention his players graduate, it goes both ways...
Cincy , Duke does not get 5 of the top 10 players every year.
