Who Is The Best Men's College Basketball Coach of All Time ?

[The Professor]

I would vote for Wooden, just barely over Rupp.

Although Wooden's program had overwhelming amounts of talent, someone still has to take that talent and mold it into a champion. Wooden did tht consistently. Other coaches have also had overwhelming talent (D. Smith) but have not been able to win many titles.

But, with that said, I also want to add that I don't think there's any way that Wooden could win 10 championships (7 in a row) if the tournaments in the '60s and '70s had been set up like they are today. But I suppose that's another thread.

[ladiesbballcoach]

I would vote for Wooden, just barely over Rupp.

Although Wooden's program had overwhelming amounts of talent, someone still has to take that talent and mold it into a champion. Wooden did tht consistently. Other coaches have also had overwhelming talent (D. Smith) but have not been able to win many titles.

But, with that said, I also want to add that I don't think there's any way that Wooden could win 10 championships (7 in a row) if the tournaments in the '60s and '70s had been set up like they are today. But I suppose that's another thread.

That is a thread I would love to read. I have heard that the setup for the tournament in those days made a much easier road for the teams out West as it did for the East but I have never really seen any documentation or discussion on that.

 

My understanding was that there were 8 or 16 teams and if you were an Eastern team you played in the Eastern bracket. Meaning St. John's, UNC, KY, etc, etc, were ALWAYS on the same side of the bracket.

 

The strength was overloaded on the East while the West had a much easier side.

 

If that is accurate still the final result was UCLA beating the best the East had to offer for many, many years.

[LSURock]

At first I was going to go with Dale Brown, then I sobered up and picked Wooden.

[Hatz]

Based upon results on the court only,

John Wooden is number 1.

Bob Knight would be 2.

Adoph Rupp 3

Dean Smith 4

 

If you are talking about coaches who affected the game much, wasn't it Hank Iba at Kansas that Dean Smith, Bob Knight, Adolph Rupp could all trace a huge influence on them?

 

 

 

Actually you are referring to Kansas coach Phog Allen who coached Rupp and Dean Smith at KU. Knight was influenced by Hank Iba who coached Oklahoma A&M (later State) during Rupp's era. Iba was a master of slow down and defensive basketball. Rupp was the "run and gun" guru of his day and his teams always sought to run and shoot.

 

I don't know if you can narrow "Greatest" to one coach but the ones mentioned have pluses and minuses on their resumes.

[Hatz]

At first I was going to go with Dale Brown, then I sobered up and picked Wooden.

 

:laugh:

 

Classic Bob Knight story. In the 1987 Regional Final IU trailed LSU by 11 with about 3 minutes to go. The Hoosiers came back to win and go on to the NCAA title. Asked if he was ever worried late in the game with that deficit Knight responded, "I was for a moment. Then I realized who was on the other bench and felt okay after that."

[LSURock]

:laugh:

 

Classic Bob Knight story. In the 1987 Regional Final IU trailed LSU by 11 with about 3 minutes to go. The Hoosiers came back to win and go on to the NCAA title. Asked if he was ever worried late in the game with that deficit Knight responded, "I was for a moment. Then I realized who was on the other bench and felt okay after that."

 

Wasn't that the game where coach Knight slammed the phone down on the scorer's table and got away with it? Name another coach that could have pulled that stunt? Knight is a great coach but if the officials would have a pair and toss him a little more often maybe he wouldn't be such an you-know-what. JMO.

 

 

Dale Brown... Never has so little been done with so much.

[Hatz]

Wasn't that the game where coach Knight slammed the phone down on the scorer's table and got away with it? Name another coach that could have pulled that stunt? Knight is a great coach but if the officials would have a pair and toss him a little more often maybe he wouldn't be such an you-know-what. JMO.

 

 

Dale Brown... Never has so little been done with so much.

 

 

That was the game. :thumb:

 

He got away with murder. If I was going to name another coach that did it would have been Wooden in the '75 title game. When Dave Meyers was called for a Tech late in the game Wooden went balistic and was on the court in the face of the referee calling him a crook and everything he could without swearing. No ref was going to call a T on the old man in his last game.

[ladiesbballcoach]

That was the game. :thumb:

 

He got away with murder. If I was going to name another coach that did it would have been Wooden in the '75 title game. When Dave Meyers was called for a Tech late in the game Wooden went balistic and was on the court in the face of the referee calling him a crook and everything he could without swearing. No ref was going to call a T on the old man in his last game.

Are you my father?

 

I hear that same story about 6 times a year. How the refs gave that game to UCLA instead of UCLA beating UK. How Meyers should have never been in the game towards the end.

[TubbyCAT]

Adolph Rupp, John Wooden, Robert Montgomery Knight, Dean Smith are all great coaches who left their mark on the game.

 

Rupp was one of the first coaches to really use a fast-break style of basketball. His career winning % is .845, every 10 times the guy won 8.5 of the time, that is amazing! Gotta love those stylish brown suits as well.

[The Professor]

That was the game. :thumb:

 

He got away with murder. If I was going to name another coach that did it would have been Wooden in the '75 title game. When Dave Meyers was called for a Tech late in the game Wooden went balistic and was on the court in the face of the referee calling him a crook and everything he could without swearing. No ref was going to call a T on the old man in his last game.

I agree 100%. Anyone else does that and it's a big T, but not Wooden in the last game of his career. AND, UK didn't get many calls either. Their two freshmen centers, Robey and Phillips, were called for walking seems like everytime they touched the ball......almost like they were LOOKING for something to call. I guess I'm biased being a UK fan and all, but I didn't agree with some of those calls.

No way UK could be allowed to win the game. That made for a bad national story. Wooden's last game of a storied career and the game in UCLA's back door in San Diego.

That was my junior year of college and I took losses a lot harder then than I do now, but I still have a few sour grapes.

[Frances Bavier]

...Dale Brown... Never has so little been done with so much.

I agree - and the opposite side of that coin is Pete Carrill. He took Princeton to unheard of heights, without ever having had a "loaded" team. If he had one or two good players in a given season, that was a lot for Princeton.

 

I shudder to think what he could have done with some of the talent that Kentucky has had over the course of my lifetime (50 years).

 

Obviously, Wooden, Rupp, Smith, and Knight all have tremendous records. Of that group, Knight probably got the most out of the least talent, but even the Indiana teams were far more talented than anything Carrill ever had.

 

 

Frances

[Frances Bavier]

...That was my junior year of college and I took losses a lot harder then than I do now, but I still have a few sour grapes.

 

You have to let it go, Professor. Just let it go.

 

 

Taking my blood pressure medicine,

Frances

[Hatz]

I agree 100%. Anyone else does that and it's a big T, but not Wooden in the last game of his career. AND, UK didn't get many calls either. Their two freshmen centers, Robey and Phillips, were called for walking seems like everytime they touched the ball......almost like they were LOOKING for something to call. I guess I'm biased being a UK fan and all, but I didn't agree with some of those calls.

No way UK could be allowed to win the game. That made for a bad national story. Wooden's last game of a storied career and the game in UCLA's back door in San Diego.

That was my junior year of college and I took losses a lot harder then than I do now, but I still have a few sour grapes.

 

 

I saw a replay for the first time since that year on ESPN Classic. It was when they were celebrating Wooden's 125th Birthday or something like it. :lol:

 

Watching the replay I still have a hard time seeing how UK was branded as so physical and yet Drollinger, Washington and others wearing pastel were above such. Still, it hurt me more to see Kevin Grevey miss those two FT's that would have put UK ahead. :cry:

 

Sidestory, Grevey said he once told Wooden at a dinner, "If I had hit those FT's we probably would have won."

Wooden replied, "If you had played a little defense Kevin, you would have won."

[Hatz]

Are you my father?

 

I hear that same story about 6 times a year. How the refs gave that game to UCLA instead of UCLA beating UK. How Meyers should have never been in the game towards the end.

 

Luke, I am your father ! :lol:

[Frances Bavier]

Luke, I am your father ! :lol:

 

Was it just me, or did anyone else hear the hissing of air when he said that just now?

 

 

Long ago and far away,

Frances