As our fans on this board go back and forth with each other through the ups and downs of the season, I ask for some patience to be shown with this team and this coach. Specifically I ask that we give the Coach the credit he deserves for what he has done so far even though we expect much more. He is just in his fourth season.
I will remind some of another coach at the beginning of his career at Duke. Duke went to the NCAA's in 1978,1979 &1980 - They made the Elite Eight in 78 & 80 - The Final Four & Championship game in 1978 lose to Kentucky who had Jack "Goose" Givens, Kyle Macy & Rick Robey. They were a national program. Head Coach Bill Foster leaves to go replace Frank McGuire at South Carolina. & Duke hires Coach K. He leads his team to the NIT quarterfinals with Bill Foster's players including Gene Banks. He fails to make any tournament the next two years. In his fourth season, he does make the NCAA's. They lose their opening game to Washington.
A number of our fans would have been screaming to the rafters to fire Coach K as was a lot of Duke fans. His starting five was Johnny Dawkins, Tommy Amaker, Jay Bilas, Mark Alarie & Dan Meagher with David Henderson coming off the bench. Some could tell his program was coming together from his players. He was not fired and the rest is history. Now compare the first four years of Coach Gott to Coach K's - Winning seasons and 3 NCAA berths(Gott) - Two losing seasons and one NCAA berth (Coach K). Yes Gott's first year was won with players inherited but so was Coach K's. The second year still some carryover. Third year we struggled but peaked at the right time to make NCAA's. This year we go forward without TJ but still have a good chance to make the NCAA's. But the most important factor is the base of this team. Solid players in the freshman and sophomore class makes the future look bright while we have plenty to play for this year. This team has a solid base just as that Duke team in 1984. I like this team now and I like them even more in the future. Let's not pass judgment on our Coach or this team as the season still has plenty to play out. Go Pack!
This post was edited on 2/17 11:39 AM by Hawkeye
This post was edited on 2/17 11:41 AM by Hawkeye
I will remind some of another coach at the beginning of his career at Duke. Duke went to the NCAA's in 1978,1979 &1980 - They made the Elite Eight in 78 & 80 - The Final Four & Championship game in 1978 lose to Kentucky who had Jack "Goose" Givens, Kyle Macy & Rick Robey. They were a national program. Head Coach Bill Foster leaves to go replace Frank McGuire at South Carolina. & Duke hires Coach K. He leads his team to the NIT quarterfinals with Bill Foster's players including Gene Banks. He fails to make any tournament the next two years. In his fourth season, he does make the NCAA's. They lose their opening game to Washington.
A number of our fans would have been screaming to the rafters to fire Coach K as was a lot of Duke fans. His starting five was Johnny Dawkins, Tommy Amaker, Jay Bilas, Mark Alarie & Dan Meagher with David Henderson coming off the bench. Some could tell his program was coming together from his players. He was not fired and the rest is history. Now compare the first four years of Coach Gott to Coach K's - Winning seasons and 3 NCAA berths(Gott) - Two losing seasons and one NCAA berth (Coach K). Yes Gott's first year was won with players inherited but so was Coach K's. The second year still some carryover. Third year we struggled but peaked at the right time to make NCAA's. This year we go forward without TJ but still have a good chance to make the NCAA's. But the most important factor is the base of this team. Solid players in the freshman and sophomore class makes the future look bright while we have plenty to play for this year. This team has a solid base just as that Duke team in 1984. I like this team now and I like them even more in the future. Let's not pass judgment on our Coach or this team as the season still has plenty to play out. Go Pack!
This post was edited on 2/17 11:39 AM by Hawkeye
This post was edited on 2/17 11:41 AM by Hawkeye
