SLUWX Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Anybody else think this could be the worst career decision possible? http://sportsline.com/nba/story/7465406 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj_arete Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 Coach K knows exactly what he's doing. With only eight scholarship players returning next year with so many of his players opting for the NBA, he can see that maintaining the dynasty will be toughsledding. If the Lakers hire him, there's a good chance Shaq and Kobe will stay together. As long as those two are together, I can't see a better situation for a college coach. Even if you have one of the two, you have an ideal situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alameda bob Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 the Lakers offered the job to K, take your time deciding, just now on ESPN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 Boy, will this muddle the picture in college bb if he takes the Lakers job! Even though the team is not as stacked as it has been in the past--and it looks like Carolina will be loaded--this is still one of the top jobs in all of college basketball. My guess is that Coach K would lobby hard for one of his assistants to get the job but the school may want a big name--probably one with a Duke pedigree. if they hire away a big time coach then the merry go round will start like last year when Self went to Kansas. It will be very interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLURadioBoy Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 Anyone think "Pretty Q" is ready to take over his alma mater yet? I'm sure he's #1 on their list! "Praises we sing, to you our alma mater, Praise to the white and blue. Our hymn shall ring, in tribute strong to you, We hail Saint Louis U." Official Billikens.com sponsor of Andrew Latimer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 Guys, Kobe wants to be the only man in LA. He coughed a furball up in the finals, made sure that the best coach in the NBA walked away, and has totally alienated the most dominant center(when healthy) in the NBA. Any coach who thinks he can handle Kobe should practice shooting himself in the foot every night, so he will know the feeling when the Lakers hire him... Mizzou has a trial run this upcoming season with two former head coaches with many years of experience behing Q. I would be feeling awful crowded on the bench with two former heads babysitting me, but who knows. Maybe they will just be yes men like the last two under Q. Q should offer to coach Duke for free for a year in order to get hired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Chitwood Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 would be on Johnny Dawkins taking over for Coach K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSmetBilliken Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 While Dawkins would be a possibility, I would also have to consider Tommy Amaker and Mike Brey as possibilities as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 i heard last nite that the contract might be a $40 mill 4 year deal. it is hard for me to call that the worst career decision of a lifetime. i would call it winning the lottery. for the record, if i win the megamillions by myself tonite, i will step up on the biondidome and get this thing done. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 Coach K .... let's see ... Tim Floyd, Lon Krueger, Rick Pitino, John Calipari .. come to mind immediately. All were abject failures at the pro level. Jim O'Brien has never won either ... but he never really won at Dayton while in college. I don't beleive the college coach translates well at the pro level. Most seem to be either former players (Jackson, Wilkens, Jordan, Sloan, Tomjanovich, Riley) or guys who were essentially nobodies and can be perceived as tacticians (Van Gundy(s), Franks,). Or legends like Ramsey, Auerbach, Holtzman, etc. Personnally, I don't believe I'd want to do it. Why not? The guy has pretty much done all he can at the collegiate level and the Duke "mystique" is rapidly disappearing. Guys go pro at Duke now after one-and-done years which never used to happen there. The competition level seems to be evening out as well although its a lot easier to reload on Tobacco Road than elsewhere. Do you strip his name off the floor at Cameron if he leaves? A guy could do a lot with $40 million over four years. Take the money and run ... so what if it fails. Its a game for crissakes ..... if there is an idiot out there to pay that kind of bling-bling, take it and feel all the more fortunate. Pro ball. You can have it! I found the NBA Draft to be one of the most laughable shows on television this year. I either couldn't pronounce the East European name or never heard of the particular high school the kid was coming out of. You take a 5'9" high schooler with some sort of announced "street cred" over a 6'0" college player of the year!!!! Slobo Bobo who averaged 6 ppg and 3 rpg goes to Team X with the ninth pick!!! There is a "sport" where the game has truly become secondary. Buy my jersey. Buy my hat. Buy my shoes. Buy my paraphenalia. Kiss my a$$. But what a marketing concept ... global, baby, global. David Stern is working a gold mine, my friends. Its nice to know every gravedigger searching Bosnia will be clad in a yellow, throwback jersey with "The City" on it. Makes a guy proud. Isn't "NBA coach" an oxymoron now? Isn't it more like "NBA babysitter." Tracy McGrady doesn't want to play in Orlando so he takes his ball and goes home. Steve Francis ran an orchestrated deal to get his butt out of Vancouver on draft day. The Magic had to wine and dine his overpaid a$$ to accept coming to Orlando. Kobe wants Shaq out. AI doesn't bother with practice. The Wiz is all excited because the reunited Jameison with Hughes and Arenas in DC. Hello! Clue .. they never went to the playoffs when they were all together at Golden State three years ago either! The Lakers will win because of Jerry Buss' money and the glitz that brings players to LA. Ron Ekker could win in LA. All he'd have to do is make sure the right a$$es were properly wiped, buffed, and powdered. I sanction K's move on one ground .... they're dumb enough to give you the money, take it and run. I don't think there will be any more offers like this one in his lifetime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
former_d1 Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 I also liked Johnny Dawkins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 Today's post said 40 for 5 ... so 8 a year ... what was he making at Duke ... anyone got an idea ... Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 ..... just saw on ESPN that Vince Carter wants OUT of Toronto. Says he's not happy with the new GM or whatever appointment of Pete Babcock and does not like the "direction" the team is headed in. What can Toronto do? I think you have to move him or you get either nothing or a disgruntled crybaby not giving it his all. Again, the inmates are running the asylum. Duke replacement .... if it happens and Coach K goes LA dreaming ... I can't see them taking $nyder back right now. Guy is too close to the flames what with all the recent NCAA stuff. Duke is squeaky-clean and won't want that guilt-by-association stuff right now. If this was two years ago or two years down the road, then maybe. But Q is staying put in my estimation. I also can't see them going with Brey or Amaker. They haven't done much in proving themselves outside the Duke family tree. Both are coming off glorious NIT visits, nothing really much more. I think whomever cast the vote for Dawkins is right on. Johnny slides a seat over, Wojo does the same. Collins follows suit. Coach K has been there so long that the coronation would have to stay in the Dukie nation. And on my NBA Draft line .... and speaking of Brey ... does Chris Thomas get picked if he comes out? Are you telling me Chalmers of Xavier and Allen of Okie State and Antonio Burks of Memphis are all better points than Thomas? Raise your hand .... who had Burks as the ONLY CUSA guy to get drafted this year? And, as The Doc pointed out, final draft score was A-10 four, CUSA one. In case you missed it, Reece Gaines went with McGrady to Houston in the Francis deal. Wow! Didn't know Reece Gaines was even in the league. Did he play any games over the course of the year? Over on ESPN they are reporting something like a seven year deal. I don't know what he makes at Duke. As a private institution, they don't have to list things like state schools do. But I'm sure that wherever its short, camps and shoe contracts and radio/TV shows add a lot to it. Not that all that can compete with the NBA money. Frankly, I don't believe money matters. Its what he's up for and what he likes. He can go anywhere he really wants to. Money should be no object other than to cast the lure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 Coach K is pulling down $3 mil a year at Duke, with his contract running through the end of 2011. That is $21 million, and he is at his retirement job. He is to the point were his three former players are capable of doing almost all the work. His "coaching career" with the Lakers would be a "two and done" number, subject to the whims and vagaries of petulant stars making two to three times what he would be pulling down. Players fire coaches and orchestrate trades these days, and then don't show up to win in the NBA Finals(Kobe,) so K would be toats after two seasons. Final pay would be $16 large, with his reputation for being a demigod trashed. K would be insane to take the money with the Lakers, or any pro team. He is not the type of coach that would translate well to the pros, because he doesn't have a unique system or the instruction talent to elevate a PRO team above the pedestrian. He gets it done at Duke these days with sheer talent. If K has done all he can at Duke, and is tired, then he should have the sense to retire gracefully and enjoy a Woodenesque stature, riding into the sunset and watering a $1 mil contract to be a sage talking head on ESPN twice a month during the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 I think this decision will say a lot about Coach K. While I agree with Roy and it not being the worst decision of his life, considering the amount of money involved - I think there is more to it than that. Coach K does great financially and there are other coaches who are true basketball coaches and want to remain that way and have not opted for the NBA. There is a difference between being a basketball coach and an NBA coach. I've always saw Coach K as a basketball coach, but maybe he will prove me wrong. It was no surprise to me that Slick Rick and Callipari dabbled in the NBA, but I would be a little more surprised with Coach K. Then again, if he's just wanting a change and something new, then following this money may be the thing. I agree with Taj, Q will not be offered the job. That would be SO foolish on Duke's part. Like Taj said, too close to the flames. I think the Duke nation would be pissed in losing Coach K and then hiring a Coach who just drove a program to the ground. I disagree that Duke is squeaky clean, I just think they are the NCAA's baby and I think the NCAA would even stop Q from getting the job behind the scenes. It would look too fishy for them to keep covering up all of Q's messes. Should be interesting though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 great post taj. the fact is though, that no matter how many "great" college coaches fail in the nba, the fact they will be paid at least twice as much if not more for guaranteed long term contracts, who can blame them for taking the money and running. calipari, pitino krueger all easily had their pick of jobs when they did come back and came back being paid even more than they were getting before they left for their short term (with lifetime pay) babysitting job. if i was coach k, i would take the money and run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 Duke isn't squeeky clean ... they just have the rep. I don't remember the players names, but it has been talked about on this board. Players relatives were given jobs through boosters at much higher than the going rate. If anyone but Duke was caught doing this, I would suspect that if it isn't illegal it soon would be. If it isn't then it is stupid ... it is clearly taking care of a kid ... but this is the NCAA we are talking about Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 boozer and duhon both have parents that were paid 6 figure salaries while at duke for doing menial work jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 imo, Coach K will only take the Lakers job if both Shaq and Kobe come back. Again, imo, Coach K has become a custom to having the best college players on his team in nearly all his college games. Granted, he has built his empire and has rightly taken advantage of his success. I would really like to see Coach K anywhere in the NBA. The Lakers without Shaq would be interesting. The Lakers without Shaq and Kobe with really be interesting. Over the past two years, Coach Irons has had a serious losing record in the USBL. Does he know less about basketball in the USBL .... I don't think so. Does Coach Irons corner the market on the best high school players in greater St. Louis ..... yes,I think he does. Coach Irons wins big when he has the very best players. In the USBL, Coach Irons is just another coach. I would like to see what Coach K can do with average NBA talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.