No, it makes perfect sense
From time to time, I love to talk basketball, specifically the college game, and more specifically UNC basketball. Politics are not the only place where the battle between good and "evil" may be played out. (Just as conservatism is only "evil" in the sense that good - progressivism - needs an opposite, Duke is only "evil" in the sense that UNC needs an arch rival. Unlike certain public figures, I don't need such a dichotomy to stir my coffee.)
So expect to hear about college basketball here. But why in July? Well, stories are flying now that Duke head Coach Mike Krzyzewski has been offered a job with the Los Angeles Lakers. (This made NPR's "the-one-sports-story-we're-going-to-indulge-in" spot!) And, there is a pretty strong feeling, not surprisingly among college coaches and pundits, that K would be crazy to leave. I don't think so. And I make this suggestion as someone who appreciates Coach K's talents, even though I am not nearly as impressed with them as the media seems to be and, for obvious reasons, not a fan. Larry Brown, the UNC Alum and Dean Smith protege, has shown Coach K the way.
You see, I think that after all the recent changes to the college and pro games, Coach K's talents might be better used at the NBA level. What are those talents? Instilling defensive fundamentals and creating a very devastating perimeter oriented offense, then utilizing a cleared out paint area to cut and get dribble penetration to get to the line. This in short, seems very similar to the system that Larry Brown used to beat the Lakers senseless in the Finals. The Pistons' guards could all knock down open threes, as well as Rasheed Wallace. And the big men for the Piston's were undersized and athletic, something Coach K likes a great deal. It's not hard to imagine that K could, with the right players, create the same thing in LA.
And the Lakers may be dealing with the personnel issue. It looks like the Lakers are going to make a responsible decision and dump aging Shaquille O'Neal (possibly for the younger Dirk Nowistki) and keep Kobe (at least free Kobe) as well as lose Karl Malone to retirement. This is good, because Dirk is in the style of big man Coach K likes, and Coach K hasn't been happy with two solid post players since Jay Bilas and Danny Meagher helped him into his first NCAA Finals. The Lakers wouldn't want many big people around earning big salaries to sit in the "Greg Newton/Eric Meek/Casey Sanders chair".
The Lakers next year may be smaller, less dependent on a dominant post game, and able to take advantage of K's spread offensive sets. They will need some kind of inside defensive presence (like his native Germany, Dirk has a history as an offensive threat, not as a great defender) and they may need to pick up some three-point bombers, but after that K will just need to convince them to buy into his defensive concept. And the Lakers, of all teams, have the best reason to take his message to heart.
A lot of people will cite K's record as a "teacher" and the difficulty of "teaching" pro players as the best reason why he shouldn't leave, but I don't really buy this. K is a great basketball coach, and a great teacher, but he's not a teacher like a Dean Smith. K teaches teams, Smith taught players. Smith taught teams as well, but his focus was to instill team chemistry by proving to his players that he was focused on their individual development - the team became Coach Smith, and every player would die for Coach Smith, because he was teaching with more of an individual focus. Coach K, I believe, cares more about the team result rather than player development. It's not that I don't believe he cares about his players as individuals. But his coaching more often uses language such as, "you need to do this to make us a better team", whereas Coach Smith might say "this will make you a better player." As evidence, I'd cite that Carolina's great teams were much deeper than Coach K and Coach Smith was much quicker to use his full bench than Coach K seems to be, even though his great recruiting lands some pretty great bench warmers.
Of all the complaints about NBA players, and there are many, I think the greatest problem is that NBA teams are not really teams at all. They are focused on being players first. They don't need an individual teacher as much as college players do (college players don't know the fundamentals, NBA players ignore the fundamentals). Sure they need someone to sit them down or trade them if they aren't willing to things, as Larry Brown's calls it, "the right way." But what they need more than anything is someone that takes control, focuses the team, and gets every player clear about their role. That's what I think Coach K has done very well over the course of his career.
And what's left at the college level? I don't think much. It's not that K has proven he can conquer the highest mountain, but rather, that K isn't going to enjoy another 7 years like the last 7 years. Early NBA defections have crippled his last two recruiting classes. The ACC went against both Duke and UNC's strong objections to a football oriented expansion, which dilutes the strength of the ACC basketball schedule. And at the same time, the neighborhood is decided tougher than the ACC was from 1998-2004. Carolina and Wake Forest are done transitioning through coaching changes and are on very solid ground. NC State is also back as a nationally prominent program. Maryland is the most recent NCAA title holder in the conference, and may finally be a modern version of the UCLA of the East that Lefty Driesell once envisioned. Georgia Tech is a returning Final Four team with a great coach. And even Florida State is headed in the right direction. In short, Duke's first ACC final loss in 6 years this past March was less an aberration than it was a game of Russian Roullette that ended as it always would. Duke's starting lineup next year might not be in the top four in the conference, and recruiting isn't getting any easier.
Finally, if it's really about relationships, K's got to note that his college players (especially the best ones, the ones that reportedly he dotes on the most) are also the ones least likely to be bound to their scholarship commitments. In the NBA, you sign a guy to a four-year contract, he stays for four years unless you trade him, in college, that's not the case. The other problems K might have with pro players might very well pale in comparison with this problem with his college players.
He's now lost 3 players to the NBA or unconsummated recruitments - Luol Deng and Shaun Livingston will be Chicago Bulls next year, Chris Humphries decided last summer to bail on his commitement to Duke and go to Minnesota instead. As much as K loves players like Steve Wojokowski, he's got to see that the Christian Laettners and Grant Hills are a thing of the past. And even the Jason Williams are probably distant memories. K can definitely compete in this new atmosphere, he may even benefit from it. But it's pretty clear he doesn't like it.
The NBA may be a challenge, Coach K will be a college coach in the NBA, whereas Larry Brown has been a pro coach for a very long time and is probably one of the two or three most respected NBA coaches. It is quite simply impossible to quantify how much less Coach K's NBA players would respect (and fear) him than his college players do. But it was a challenge when he took over Duke, and Duke didn't have Kobe, Luke Walton, Gary Payton and possibly Dirk Nowistki.
What happens to Duke if K does leave....Well, it's too early to consider that. Though I admit it is fun (Karma, my Duke friends, is a very dangerous thing.)
So expect to hear about college basketball here. But why in July? Well, stories are flying now that Duke head Coach Mike Krzyzewski has been offered a job with the Los Angeles Lakers. (This made NPR's "the-one-sports-story-we're-going-to-indulge-in" spot!) And, there is a pretty strong feeling, not surprisingly among college coaches and pundits, that K would be crazy to leave. I don't think so. And I make this suggestion as someone who appreciates Coach K's talents, even though I am not nearly as impressed with them as the media seems to be and, for obvious reasons, not a fan. Larry Brown, the UNC Alum and Dean Smith protege, has shown Coach K the way.
You see, I think that after all the recent changes to the college and pro games, Coach K's talents might be better used at the NBA level. What are those talents? Instilling defensive fundamentals and creating a very devastating perimeter oriented offense, then utilizing a cleared out paint area to cut and get dribble penetration to get to the line. This in short, seems very similar to the system that Larry Brown used to beat the Lakers senseless in the Finals. The Pistons' guards could all knock down open threes, as well as Rasheed Wallace. And the big men for the Piston's were undersized and athletic, something Coach K likes a great deal. It's not hard to imagine that K could, with the right players, create the same thing in LA.
And the Lakers may be dealing with the personnel issue. It looks like the Lakers are going to make a responsible decision and dump aging Shaquille O'Neal (possibly for the younger Dirk Nowistki) and keep Kobe (at least free Kobe) as well as lose Karl Malone to retirement. This is good, because Dirk is in the style of big man Coach K likes, and Coach K hasn't been happy with two solid post players since Jay Bilas and Danny Meagher helped him into his first NCAA Finals. The Lakers wouldn't want many big people around earning big salaries to sit in the "Greg Newton/Eric Meek/Casey Sanders chair".
The Lakers next year may be smaller, less dependent on a dominant post game, and able to take advantage of K's spread offensive sets. They will need some kind of inside defensive presence (like his native Germany, Dirk has a history as an offensive threat, not as a great defender) and they may need to pick up some three-point bombers, but after that K will just need to convince them to buy into his defensive concept. And the Lakers, of all teams, have the best reason to take his message to heart.
A lot of people will cite K's record as a "teacher" and the difficulty of "teaching" pro players as the best reason why he shouldn't leave, but I don't really buy this. K is a great basketball coach, and a great teacher, but he's not a teacher like a Dean Smith. K teaches teams, Smith taught players. Smith taught teams as well, but his focus was to instill team chemistry by proving to his players that he was focused on their individual development - the team became Coach Smith, and every player would die for Coach Smith, because he was teaching with more of an individual focus. Coach K, I believe, cares more about the team result rather than player development. It's not that I don't believe he cares about his players as individuals. But his coaching more often uses language such as, "you need to do this to make us a better team", whereas Coach Smith might say "this will make you a better player." As evidence, I'd cite that Carolina's great teams were much deeper than Coach K and Coach Smith was much quicker to use his full bench than Coach K seems to be, even though his great recruiting lands some pretty great bench warmers.
Of all the complaints about NBA players, and there are many, I think the greatest problem is that NBA teams are not really teams at all. They are focused on being players first. They don't need an individual teacher as much as college players do (college players don't know the fundamentals, NBA players ignore the fundamentals). Sure they need someone to sit them down or trade them if they aren't willing to things, as Larry Brown's calls it, "the right way." But what they need more than anything is someone that takes control, focuses the team, and gets every player clear about their role. That's what I think Coach K has done very well over the course of his career.
And what's left at the college level? I don't think much. It's not that K has proven he can conquer the highest mountain, but rather, that K isn't going to enjoy another 7 years like the last 7 years. Early NBA defections have crippled his last two recruiting classes. The ACC went against both Duke and UNC's strong objections to a football oriented expansion, which dilutes the strength of the ACC basketball schedule. And at the same time, the neighborhood is decided tougher than the ACC was from 1998-2004. Carolina and Wake Forest are done transitioning through coaching changes and are on very solid ground. NC State is also back as a nationally prominent program. Maryland is the most recent NCAA title holder in the conference, and may finally be a modern version of the UCLA of the East that Lefty Driesell once envisioned. Georgia Tech is a returning Final Four team with a great coach. And even Florida State is headed in the right direction. In short, Duke's first ACC final loss in 6 years this past March was less an aberration than it was a game of Russian Roullette that ended as it always would. Duke's starting lineup next year might not be in the top four in the conference, and recruiting isn't getting any easier.
Finally, if it's really about relationships, K's got to note that his college players (especially the best ones, the ones that reportedly he dotes on the most) are also the ones least likely to be bound to their scholarship commitments. In the NBA, you sign a guy to a four-year contract, he stays for four years unless you trade him, in college, that's not the case. The other problems K might have with pro players might very well pale in comparison with this problem with his college players.
He's now lost 3 players to the NBA or unconsummated recruitments - Luol Deng and Shaun Livingston will be Chicago Bulls next year, Chris Humphries decided last summer to bail on his commitement to Duke and go to Minnesota instead. As much as K loves players like Steve Wojokowski, he's got to see that the Christian Laettners and Grant Hills are a thing of the past. And even the Jason Williams are probably distant memories. K can definitely compete in this new atmosphere, he may even benefit from it. But it's pretty clear he doesn't like it.
The NBA may be a challenge, Coach K will be a college coach in the NBA, whereas Larry Brown has been a pro coach for a very long time and is probably one of the two or three most respected NBA coaches. It is quite simply impossible to quantify how much less Coach K's NBA players would respect (and fear) him than his college players do. But it was a challenge when he took over Duke, and Duke didn't have Kobe, Luke Walton, Gary Payton and possibly Dirk Nowistki.
What happens to Duke if K does leave....Well, it's too early to consider that. Though I admit it is fun (Karma, my Duke friends, is a very dangerous thing.)
posted by SebbyMan at 4:55 AM
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