Bob Knight

January 2nd, 2007, 07:26 PM

Got to say i agree. He's Bobby Knight. He is unique in that he is just who he is.

January 2nd, 2007, 07:32 PM

Since we are on the topic, how great is college basketball? I myself prefer the 80's and 90's scence a lil more due to the guys staying longer, but it is still great. Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan, I loved the time period of The Big East, when St Johns, Seton Hall and Georgetown were all just beasts. Guys like Terry Dehere, Chris Mullin, Rex Chapman and guys like that, I can still remember well those games, all good stuff.

**gcdevil22** · January 2nd, 2007, 07:47 PM

he did have those guys, but honestly look at those guys and say which of those were the athletic high-flyers who could shoot and handle the ball well...or were they simply products of his system and coaching

for a couple it's probably a little bit of both, but the mere fact that we can only name 7 or so of his most gifted athletes is a testament to his coaching skills

heck i can name 4 or 5 players on the UNC team from 2 years ago who were further along in terms of sheer talent than any of those guys on Knight's list (save Thomas)

January 2nd, 2007, 07:54 PM

I think we may be sayin the same thing, but different ways. Henderson was the board man and played defense down low, Cheney could score buckets, sweet left handed J. Bailey use to break Kentucky's back, on a constant basis. They all could play, but they were dominate enough to be superstars in the NBA, Henderson and Cheney both had careers in the NBA nothing great but still.
Knights system thrives on players like that. Sorta like the Nebraska option offense, where you would have guys with alien style numbers in college and sorta not be able to make it in the pros, some do.. some dont.
I wouldnt say sheer talent, atheleticism maybe, but Knights players and the players he recruited were fundamentally sound, something you rarely see these days, pass, handle the ball and shoot ..(consistent and well).
It was always fun to see though, he may not have got the blue chip players, he still got real good players.

**gcdevil22** · January 2nd, 2007, 07:59 PM

yeah i wasn't necessarily disagreeing with you, just overstating my point i guess

Knight wanted players who knew the game and didn't make mistakes, he took every facet of the game and tried to fit his personnel in his system, he didn't have to change his system to fit his personnel

someone who is very much like Knight and I'm surprised didn't send more players to Indiana (or Texas Tech) is Bob Hurley Sr. in Jersey City, NJ...his son Bobby at Duke embodied everything Knight wanted in a player (which isn't a surprise that he went to Duke with Krzyzewski being a Knight disciple)

January 2nd, 2007, 08:00 PM

On another note, my dad is a huge Kentucky fan. We have the Kentucky Bakstball years books since they're creation. They always have recruiting reports in them, like 150 pages of reports, its always funny to look at them from the back in the day style and see names like, players to watch Freshmen Jason Kidd, it has all these highschool stories on people like ZO, Shaq and others who were at the Nike ABC camps and Adidas camps, show Kobe as a highschooler, very interesting stuff. I think the oldest one came out in 80?

January 2nd, 2007, 08:03 PM

Nahh I got you.

Hurley coached at St Anthonys didint he? I know that a couple of players went to UK from St Anthonys.
I use to be so into college basketball, I sorta just lost most my interest around 2000 or a lil after that.

**imported_mega** · January 2nd, 2007, 10:52 PM

Knight while a great teacher of the game is still hard to respect and has not always been "right". Really, how in the world do you run Larry Bird off.

Theres alot of coaches that respect Knight as a coach but not as a person. Lou Henson(a 700 win coach) always said that Knight was a bully. Lute Olsen doesnt care much for him either, he never has put Knight's teams on his schedules since leaving Iowa. Arizona has played every big 10 team but Indiana since then too. Bill Freider, when he was at Michigan, along with Steve Fisher didnt care too much for Knight either. Id call Knight a great coach, but not a great human. Heck, look at his relationship with Alford as the perfect example. I like Knight because hes animated but I think Id find it hard to call the guy a friend.

and to the knucklehead that put Pat Summitt in John Wooden's league, go ahead and kill yourself. 6 championships dont equal 10. Auriama has 5 himself. Its pretty debateable who the all time greatest womens coach is.

**NotSoSilentBob** · January 2nd, 2007, 10:55 PM

I think the thing with Knight is that he demands complete and total devotion. If you waver, he'll be on you like a dog on a three-legged cat.

He does tend to exude a certain arrogance and his ego is second to none in the sports world (save for perhaps Bill Parcells).