And finally, mercifully, we get to the top ten.
10. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke (4-21-6-13-8): Coach K may live forever and coach Duke to more championships just to spite all of his haters. It seems improbable, but K may not be of this species. If that isn't true though, Coach K turns 68 next week. Duke is consistently one of the best teams in the country, but rarely the best anymore. Duke won conference regular season and tournament titles plus the NCAA championship in 2010, but in the last eight years, those accomplishments mark Duke's only conference titles and only Final Four appearances, compared to the 18 times Duke grabbed one of those honors in the decade prior. The program has also famously lost to Mercer and Lehigh in the first round in March in the past three years. Recruits still flock to Duke, but at this point it's a brand that sells itself. Not to diminish K too far, but his own personal cache as a coach likely doesn't translate 100% at a new school. You can't imagine the guy ever dipping below 25-10, but that's where we're at on this list.
9. Shaka Smart, VCU (42-38-20-17-20): Shaka is probably the hottest commodity in coaching. He's pledged his loyalty to VCU the past couple off-seasons, but almost every power conference job that opens will either a) generate news reports linking Smart to the opening or b) generate message board speculation that Smart is interested. Smart made his name going to the Final Four and then solidified his standing with continued winning and his trademark Havoc defense. He's great. But (and you knew there would be), he's never or shared a conference regular season title and has one tournament championship in five years. He's the same age as Josh Pastner and has a career record that's percentage points different. That's a simplistic comparison, but then Smart is so much higher. His teams are terrific, but I want to see a conference championship and a run back to the tournament's second weekend.
8. Tony Bennett, Virginia (99-33-40-4-2): I don't like Bennett's style. Slow and conservative is a good style when you're the hunter, but maybe not so much as the hunted. There's no denying the success that UVA has had the past two years under Bennett, though. They haven't been relevant since Ralph Sampson was on campus, and these teams have no Ralph Sampson. With only one senior Bennett is well positioned for a third straight outstanding team next year. Up now: deep runs in the tournament. Snagging a top recruit would be a good look, too.
7. Tom Izzo, Michigan State (46-3-9-9-23): Izzo's consistency is remarkable. 17 straight seasons Michigan State has made the NCAA Tournament, and in all 19 of his seasons as a head coach the Spartans have been .500 or better in league games. Six final fours and a national championship. Recruiting has tailed off a bit recently for Izzo. He's always had the rep of a "more with less" guy, but his current roster probably has no NBA players on it. That's a huge problem when we're this high on the list.
6. Sean Miller, Arizona (23-52-13-2-3): Quickly becoming the guy with the "best never to make a Final Four" tag, if he's not there already. It's mostly meant as an insult but the reality is that it says something about how good of a coach you are, especially in Miller's case where he's been to three Regional Finals, losing the last two at Arizona in heartbreaking fashion. Miller is a top three or four recruiter in college basketball, and his coaching acumen has never really been questioned. It's his time to break out.
5. Rick Pitino, Louisville (12-14-1-1-10): What is going on with Pitino's look? The white suit and five o'clock shadow isn't a good one. Imagine if Pitino didn't have those two stints in the NBA. Just getting back the four years after he left Kentucky and was out of the college game puts him over 800 wins and in position to get to 1,000 himself. Currently working on his 8th top 5 finish in adjusted defensive efficiency. Complaints? Maybe that following Russ Smith with Chris Jones as your lead guard is a bit much to avoid seasickness, but that's a reach. Eligible for AARP so I can't put him any higher.
4. Thad Matta, Ohio State (1-2-7-20-17): Matta's been around for ages, but he's still only 47. He doesn't have a championship yet, but he's played for one and taken two completely different groups to the Final Four. His teams have six #1 or #2 seeds. Matta has done work recruiting his immediate area. He grabbed Greg Oden from Indianapolis and D'Angelo Russell from Louisville. Both are about three hours west, and Matta has mostly landed his top players from within that narrow window. He'll win a title.
3. Billy Donovan, Florida (16-11-2-3-37): Billy the Kid is still just shy of 50 and still has the two championship rings on his fingers. Donovan built Florida basketball. He's probably the only guy on this list who can say that. Before he came to Gainesville, Florida there was nothing. You can measure their program accomplishments B.D. (before Donovan) and A.D. (after Donovan). Before: 3 NCAA tournaments, 7 tournament wins, 6 NBA players. After: 14 NCAA tournaments, 35 tournament wins, 19 NBA players. Went 36-3 and to the Final Four last year with a roster led by four seniors, none of whom were drafted last spring. Underrated.
2. Bill Self, Kansas (2-4-8-12-11): It was supposed to be a little bit of a down year for Kansas this year. Embiid and Wiggins left for the draft and maybe Bill Self and co. would take a second to reload. Nope. After some rough patches early, KU is set to get its 11th straight conference regular season title, this one in the consensus best league in America. I love that Self loads up Kansas' schedule every year in November and December. Even with one of the youngest rosters in college basketball, Kansas played the toughest early season slate by far. The losses to Bucknell and Bradley are a distant memory, but Self needs a couple more Final Fours to truly cement his place as an all-timer. He's only got two, and a 2-5 record in the Elite Eight won't excite many people.
1. John Calipari, Kentucky (5-1-67-11-1): Who else? Love him, hate him, whatever, he's on a different level. Cal is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. He's that guy playing three games of speed chess at once. He won't always win, and a disappointing 2013 followed by a disappointing 2014 regular season looked like it would expose cracks in his style, but UK roared back in last year's tournament. His talent level at Kentucky is absolutely obscene. There's not much more to be said about Calipari. Barring a scandal, Kentucky is the top dog for the foreseeable future by a lot, and Calipari reigns supreme.
No comments:
Post a Comment