They hired a former player who only had experience as an assistant, albeit under Coach K. They have made it to the sweet 16 and have next years top rated recruiting class.
So what did Duke do for a new coach?
- Thread starter RexShepcat
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Former players rarely work out as head coaches. I would hope they are able to beat two double digit seeds.
I hoped we would have the past 5 years
He did mentor under K.
I think Tyler Ulis is going to make a great coach one day.
I think Tyler Ulis is going to make a great coach one day.
Maybe, but I’d love to see him learn under a better coach.
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Same with UNCheat and Davis, same with UConn and Hurley, same with Kansas and Self . You do your damn job as AD and identify someone and hire that person. Ask for help if you need to. Form a damn committee . It doesn’t have to be someone with multiple deep runs in tournament already , like some of the dumbasses on here believe.
Totally different situation than what we are facing. They had a succession plan and a peaceful transition.
We didn’t beat our double digit seed (2 out of 3 years now)
Did you forget who our head coach is?? No comparison.
Huge difference between K and Cal. K surrounded himself with talented assistants who have gone on to successful head coaching jobs. Cal? He has to surround himself with less talent and those who acquiesce.
Seemingly however there is only a list of 4-5 coaches in the world that is suitable to coach here and if we can’t get them we are better off losing to the double digit seeds with cal.
When I see so many believe you’ve got hire a guy with 100 final fours it floors me. If a coach wins at doormat programs he will probably win big here. Gillispie was a rare situation that usually doesn’t happen at a program like this. We shouldn’t even bring him up in discussions.
With the resources of Kentucky, it’s not hard to win here. Blue bloods are blue bloods because they win with just about anyone. Look at what Tubby did here vs. his other stops for example.
For all we know Mark Pope would win big here. He’d want to win bad and he’s already doing well at a program with limited resources and recruiting disadvantages. I’m not saying hire him or even give him a call, I’m just saying he’d probably do pretty good over 10 years.
It’s easy to win at blue bloods. This isn’t as hard to figure out as so many make it. The harder part is identifying which coach would win the most out of the group. But just finding a coach who can win to a decent level here is not hard to do. Oats, Beard, Drew etc would “win” here. But which one on the list might be a two or 3 time champ? I don’t know why anyone thinks you need someone that’s running out of fingers for all the rings.
Well coach K is who made them “talented assistants “ . Cal doesn’t have that ability, lol .
Blue bloods are blue bloods because they hire the right coaches. When they don't they turn into UCLA or Indiana. When they do the continue on like Duke, Kansas, UNC, and UK.
Indiana hasn’t made hires that resemble the same look of a blue blood. Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, UNC. You can make a bad hire at these, but it’s easier to win than anywhere and it’s not normal to do so. A halfway competent coach can win there. Cal has been running this program with self inflicted disadvantages and we were a 3 seed. Tubby went to 5 elite’s here. Scheyer just took over and already has a sweet 16 and still playing. Bill Self had no final fours before Kansas.
Obviously, some programs will come and go. But these 4 programs mentioned aren’t going anywhere. And it’s not that hard to put together a solid decade at these programs.
I’m really not so sure Indiana even puts effort into their basketball program the way UNC Duke Kentucky Kansas do. UCLA definitely doesn’t because it’s not the focus of their area. For example none of the 4 programs mentioned would have hired Cronin around the time UCLA did. It’s just not the same situation as us.
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Anyone can win at a blue blood, but not everyone can win at the level a blue blood expects. Everyone keeps saying everyone can win here, but if we bring in a guy who gets to one Final Four per decade it's not going to fly. You still need at least a very good coach and those don't grow on trees.
Bill Self had zero Final Fours before Kansas but had an Elite 8 at both Tulsa and Illinois. The guy is a top 5 coach and that's not because he's at Kansas. He was actually more successful in his last three years at Tusla than he was his first three at Kansas.
Being at UNC didn't really help Davis his first two years. Yes he had a miracle run to a title game, but that wasn't due to any special magic of being at a blue blood, and he missed the tournament last year. But he's figuring it out and has actually been a great floor coach this year. On top of a veteran team that's a recipe for success.
The jury is still out on Scheyer. Juwan Howard looked like he had it figured out at Michigan when he first started with an Elite 8 and Sweet 16 his second and third years and we know how that turned out. But I believe Scheyer will succeed in no small part to Coach K still being there to mentor him, they speak fairly often. Same thing with Roy and Hubert.
Tubby won a title with Pitino's players and never got back to the Final Four. It was basically slow decline because he just wasn't that great of a coach. UK elevated him a bit, but he was never going to win at the level expected here regardless of being at a blue blood. Billy G was a disaster, blue blood be damned.
Cal's recruiting classes didn't come here to play for UK, they came to play for Cal. Coaches are the name of the game right now. Cal's gotten higher seeds because talent wants to come and play for him, not UK (with the exception of the Kentucky kids). The last four years at Memphis Cal had NCAA tournament seeds of 1, 2, 1, 2. Whatever he did at UK he would have continued to do at Memphis.
In the '80s and '90s I would agree with you. But not in 2024. It's a completely different game nowadays and if you want to win at an elite level you need an elite coach.
Of the 351 Division 1 head coaches today, some posters do not believe a single one could be successful at UK! I guess that when COW does leave, the program will be terminated and the lights at Rupp Arena can be turned off permanently. Then maybe we will appreciate his greatness. Perhaps give him a nice cash parting gift so he will fondly remember the fans he came to love. It will be a solemn and emotional day.
Not sure if you have noticed, but none of Cal's assistants have actually set the world on fire in the coaching world, which tell us something about Cal.
Please God no. Nobody associated with Cal. His tree is a straight pole, no branches.
Agree anybody can get lucky and win some in tournament Cal even did that years ago
Worst case scenario, I’d be patient enough to see what Ulis could do with a 3-4 year deal at $2.5 million base with incentives. However, I don’t think he could apply due to lack of a degree.
This may be the craziest take I have seen yet. If UK ends up with coach number 6 then they will never make it out of the first round again?
And you gotta think that a handful of coaches that would be able to do the job are already in a position they would not consider it, say like a Brad Stevens, Billy Donovan, bill self. That leaves according to you 2 coaches that if we miss out on our ceiling is first round exit?
I'm not sure how many UK players really got into coaching, even assistant coaching at this level.
You got Pope, who looks to be a solid mid major coach. He was never an assistant here, which isn't necessarily a must, but it would most likely help.
Masiello didn't pan out as an HC, now on bench with Pitino again.
Jury is still out on Scheyer, that's not a knock on him, he's just young and only a few years in. Will see if he can keep it going. A lot of coaches, former players or not, can start out hot at Blue Bloods. K has a couple former players who haven't really worked out at other stops.
You got Pope, who looks to be a solid mid major coach. He was never an assistant here, which isn't necessarily a must, but it would most likely help.
Masiello didn't pan out as an HC, now on bench with Pitino again.
Jury is still out on Scheyer, that's not a knock on him, he's just young and only a few years in. Will see if he can keep it going. A lot of coaches, former players or not, can start out hot at Blue Bloods. K has a couple former players who haven't really worked out at other stops.
I mean we will see. Duke got JMU to go to the Sweet16, a game that saw one of their best players get 2 fouls in the first few minutes. They didn't do anything last year, and yet they "convinced" a lottery player to come back in Flip. They merely did OK in a pretty crappy ACC. And as per usual, had a great whistle helping them.
If UK next year:
Returns Reed.
Plays in a down SEC that only puts 4 teams in the tournament.
Gets a 12th seed in the 2nd round,
Gets Duke's +7 for free throw rate (as opposed to our -3 this year),
Yeah, I think a lot of coaches could take that, get a 4-seed, and fall backwards into a Sweet 16 lol. Maybe Cal could as well haha.
If UK next year:
Returns Reed.
Plays in a down SEC that only puts 4 teams in the tournament.
Gets a 12th seed in the 2nd round,
Gets Duke's +7 for free throw rate (as opposed to our -3 this year),
Yeah, I think a lot of coaches could take that, get a 4-seed, and fall backwards into a Sweet 16 lol. Maybe Cal could as well haha.
Yeah not my take, I’m on record saying I don’t care if we get a high school coach looking to break into the college ranks, just get Cals ass out of here. My post is in gest of those who Continue rearranging the deck chairs on our sinking ship and would rather roll with cal and take our chances if we can’t get a homerun hire which is an extremely small list.
Granted they did something we didn't do but to be fair Duke has not looked good this year and they beat a 12 & 13 seed to get to the Sweet 16.
Yeah I mean Duke's coach tried like hell this year AND Got helped.. while our coach tries to sabotage us and purposely play the wrong lineups, and we have weird calls cost us wins.. and we will STILL have finished with just about the same results, assuming Duke bows out to Houston, which I think could be a beat down.
Just gotta find the next coach.
Hate it but they did look good yesterday against JMU. They hit 14/28 from 3 and were in control from the beginning. I could be mistaken but I think they start their best players 🤷♂️. Houston will be a tough matchup for them however as they are an extremely physical ballclub. Duke hasn’t had to play many teams this year like them. Houston should win and end the dukies season which is always my favorite part of the tournament.
More often than not "keeping it in the family" and hiring a former player, especially one who has not already been a successful head coach, does NOT work out.
Not saying the ACC was great from top to bottom but man; they are tearing it up in the tourney.
Haven’t looked good but yet #5 offense and #19 defense, never lost by double digits and most losses were within two possessions. They haven’t been bad either. I don’t think there is a single team in the tournament that HOPES they get to see them
