John Wooden: 10
Mike Krzyzewski: 4
UCLA: 11
Duke: 4
Everyone hates Duke, but everyone knows they are jealous. I abhor Derek Jeter, but if he were on the Padres, he'd be my favorite baseball player. Coach K does things the right way. He recruits players who can handle Duke's rigorous academic requirements. His players graduate. He wins championships. I have a lot of respect for Coach K, even though I hope he loses every year. This is to recognize his achievements and give credit where it is due. Congratulations Blue Devils.
But he's still can't hold John Wooden's jock strap.
First off, go UC for placing 2 branches in the top-25 (top-2 public universities) of the 2008 US News & World Report Top Universities. We rock.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, much commentary has been made over the past few days that the one-and-done system is hurting schools more than helping. These pundits generally bring up 2 examples: a) (arguably) the most talented team in the country (Kentucky) didn't win due to all the freshman on its roster, and b) North Carolina, last year's champs, didn't even make the big dance due to some of its players leaving early. Now, the 2nd example is ludicrous as UNC lost a whole bunch of juniors and seniors (not exactly one-and-doners). However, the 1st does bear some exploration.
My thoughts: I think there is some merit to the 1st example. Outside of Florida in '06 which won on the shoulders of sophomores, and Syracuse in '03 which won on the shoulders of freshman Carmelo Anthony, all recent champions have been junior/senior laden teams. However, using Kentucky as an example of this doesn't seem to work, since I would argue that the one-and-done rule affects the following season more than the current season. Your thoughts?
I despise the one-and-done rule. I would be in favor of a rule that allowed players to go straight from high school, but if they go to college, they need to commit for at least two years. Unfortunately, that rule was created by the NBA and the NCAA can't influence it in any way. Guys leaving early for the NBA took UCLA from three straight Final Fours to under .500 two years later. From a Colin Cowherd* perspective this volatility makes the sport more interesting. Much like the NFL, where a team can go from last to the playoffs in one year, a good recruiting class or a single star recruit can take a team from .500 to the Final Four and back to .500 again.
ReplyDeleteColin Cowherd has a few mild personal team preferences. As a radio talk show host, he cares more about interesting stories and generate ratings and pure number of emails. The Yankees, the Lakers and Duke all drive ratings up, even if most of the talk is hate.