Coaches on the Hot Seat

[RamblinRed]

Cook gets away with alot defensively.
Roy was really ticked they didn't call Cook off the ball guarding Paige in the last minute. He knocked him right to the ground.
There was also a great shot at the end of Winslow literally holding a UNC player trying to get a rebound. Had his arm completely wrapped around the UNC players left arm.

 

[ramblinwreck1378]

Agree - not to get off topic, but the Duke guards were mauling the Carolina backcourt last night. Not to mention the last play with the missed free throw where Winslow blows Paige into the first row going after the board.

 

[orientalnc]

Cook gets away with alot defensively.
Roy was really ticked they didn't call Cook off the ball guarding Paige in the last minute. He knocked him right to the ground.
There was also a great shot at the end of Winslow literally holding a UNC player trying to get a rebound. Had his arm completely wrapped around the UNC players left arm.

I watched that replay a dozen times where Cook tripped or pushed Paige (or was just standing next to Paige when he fell) and cannot tell what happened. Cook is a lot stronger than Paige and it might not have taken much effort to nudge Paige down if he was already off balance. A call there, away from the ball, is exactly the type call refs do not like to make. They want the players to make the plays in those final seconds of tight games. No ref wants his call to be the thing that decided a game. And, there was a ref about six feet from that play. But, the ball was moving to the other side of the court.

You are right about Cook's physical play. I have complained that he should have more of those hard hand checks called. Some of the time. But, in four years playing at Duke, Cook has fouled out twice, both times in the final minutes of losses in his sophomore year. Not once this year or last.

 

[Connell62]

@dtm1997 , I have a lot of respect for your point of view, but you & I have a very different definition of cheating. If you want to say UNC was cheating when they kept players eligible with the fraud courses in the AFAM department, I might agree with you. But saying Duke is cheating because officials do not call fouls or violations the same way you would call them is simply wrong. I saw Duke playing great position defense last night. They have eight wonderful basketball players who are in top physical condition. Duke is a good defensive team. I don't think Roy Williams complained about a single call last night. If he did, I missed it.

Not sure that I would say that Duke is a good defensive team. In the second half last night, UNC literally scored every trip down the court. Duke couldn't keep them out of the paint. That was primarily due to the fact that they were being called for fouls and sending UNC to the line. When Duke gets away with the physical play, their defense suddenly gets a lot better. That is why they wilt every year in the tourney. They get into competitive games and don't get EVERY call

 

[dtm1997]

Slight thread derailment, but from someone on the scene last night.


I got in late from dinner and only watched the last 6-7 minutes plus OT. Cook had his hands on Paige at all times except when shook by a screen. Any other player would have fouled out.

Being able to grab opposing players & their jerseys and getting away with it. That's the dook basketball way.

 

[RamblinRed]

Coaches with games tonight
Josh Pastner (Memphis) - home vs UConn
Archie Miller (Dayton) - home vs St. Joseph's
Mike White (LA Tech) - road against Charlotte

 

[orientalnc]

Slight thread derailment, but from someone on the scene last night.


I got in late from dinner and only watched the last 6-7 minutes plus OT. Cook had his hands on Paige at all times except when shook by a screen. Any other player would have fouled out.

Being able to grab opposing players & their jerseys and getting away with it. That's the dook basketball way.

I agree with you. My only disagreement about Duke is with calling that cheating.

 

[GTRX7]

Just a thought, but there are rumors that some guy at George Mason named Paul Huett (or something) may be getting fired soon. He is supposedly a good recruiter, but not a great coach. Given that Gregory seems to be an okay coach but poor recruiter, how about we keep CBG and hire this Huett guy as a co-head coach? Together, maybe than can both add up to a decent coach? Best part is, I hear Huett's old school's AD was so stupid that they are still paying his salary even today. Given that, we might be able to get that guy super cheap. Anyway, just a thought.

 

[AE 87]

Just a thought, but there are rumors that some guy at George Mason named Paul Huett (or something) may be getting fired soon. He is supposedly a good recruiter, but not a great coach. Given that Gregory seems to be an okay coach but poor recruiter, how about we keep CBG and hire this Huett guy as a co-head coach? Together, maybe than can both add up to a decent coach? Best part is, I hear Huett's old school's AD was so stupid that they are still paying his salary even today. Given that, we might be able to get that guy super cheap. Anyway, just a thought.

Tell me that guy coached a team to the final four, and ... nevermind. Don't even want to joke about it. Neither guy is good game-day coach.

 

[up state jacket]

Two names in that should never be uttered again at the Institute is Bill Lewis and Paul Hewitt. Both men almost single handed destroyed two major sports programs at GT.

 

[Connell62]

Two names in that should never be uttered again at the Institute is Bill Lewis and Paul Hewitt. Both men almost single handed destroyed two major sports programs at GT.

Thats absurd.. As much as he left a dumpster fire, he took us to the pinnacle of the college basketball world.

Say what you will about him or his coaching abilities, but he deserves acknowledgement for taking GT to the championship game..

No other coach in our basketball history can say that.

 

[GTRX7]

Thats absurd.. As much as he left a dumpster fire, he took us to the pinnacle of the college basketball world.

Say what you will about him or his coaching abilities, but he deserves acknowledgement for taking GT to the championship game..

No other coach in our basketball history can say that.

If you offered me a repeat of Hewitt's first five years out of the next coach, I would take that deal in a heart beat. The problem with Hewitt had more to do with his contract than with him. My understanding is that, once his assistants got hired away after we had the early success, he just couldn't coach up the guys he was recruiting. We were still getting guys like Favors, Lawal, Shumpert, Critt, etc., but he just couldn't coach. While that is his fault, it wouldn't have dragged on so long or gotten so ugly if it wasn't for the contract. That is the only real reason he isn't remembered fondly here IMHO.

That said, I was of course joking above!

 

[RamblinRed]

Hewitt's recruiting dropped off a fair bit late in his tenure.
He had 1 Top 25 recruiting class his last 4 seasons - Favors class. Now some of that was due to his job status late, but his recruiting did dive after about 6-7 yrs.

He certainly deserves credit for his first 5 years.

 

[GTRX7]

Hewitt's recruiting dropped off a fair bit late in his tenure.
He had 1 Top 25 recruiting class his last 4 seasons - Favors class. Now some of that was due to his job status late, but his recruiting did dive after about 6-7 yrs.

He certainly deserves credit for his first 5 years.

He never got another true point guard after Critt. That is what killed him IMHO. Udofia was very well regarded out of HS, but took a lot of time to develop and was never really an ACC leader.

 

[dtm1997]

He never got another true point guard after Critt. That is what killed him IMHO. Udofia was very well regarded out of HS, but took a lot of time to develop and was never really an ACC leader.

He got Moe Miller and he landed Udofia, who should have been developed in to a PG, but that all went by the way side because Shump had to play PG because that was gonna be his position in the league. So Miller sat & Udofia had a rapid loss of confidence when he should've been developing as a PG.

You can also point out that selfish guard play (read Shump) hampered our ability to feed TWO McDonald's All Americans in the post and underachieve as a team.

 

[Peacone36]

As an add I beleive Udofia played really up tempo in HS and then came to a poor, slow me up half court team. It was never a good match.

 

[ChasonBaller]

I want Mark Price to be our next coach with Kenny Anderson as an assistant. I think that would be awesome. And our team would actually be able to hit a jump shot.

 

[Ggee87]

Thats absurd.. As much as he left a dumpster fire, he took us to the pinnacle of the college basketball world.

Say what you will about him or his coaching abilities, but he deserves acknowledgement for taking GT to the championship game..

No other coach in our basketball history can say that.

I just can't bring myself to give Hewitt the credit. That team won games in spite of him IMO. We just had a ton of talent that year. Even our worst players on that team would probably be starting for us this year. Jarrett Jack was a true leader and floor general. Kind of like Peyton Manning... The coach doesn't matter because you basically have one on the field/court.

 

[GTRX7]

I just can't bring myself to give Hewitt the credit. That team won games in spite of him IMO. We just had a ton of talent that year. Even our worst players on that team would probably be starting for us this year. Jarrett Jack was a true leader and floor general. Kind of like Peyton Manning... The coach doesn't matter because you basically have one on the field/court.

Give his assistants the credit if you want, but you have to give that staff credit for some great coaching and putting together a true team. Only Jack and Bynum even turned into role players in the NBA. We had some nice college players, but that is likely one of the least NBA-talented teams to make the finals in the last 20 years. And we got to the finals without Elder for half the tournament. Man I loved that team!

 

[dtm1997]

@Ggee87 - it's pretty well documented that it was the departure of Keener & Warren that ultimately led to the downward slide in on-court action. They were also instrumental in assembling & coaching those players. Jarrett Jack, I believe, credits Warren with watching game film with him every day back then to prepare for his sophomore season and make the leap.

You can certainly blame Hewitt for being obstinate on the downslide and being a player's coach can cut both ways, but to not give him credit for the championship game run is sour grapes.

Now the fact that he didn't learn his lesson upon moving on to George Mason is another story.