You know no one even realized he was 5/5 until he was 7/7...lol Is that a Pitino quote? lol Congrats to Louisville but this was probably one of the worst officiated Championship games in history... Absolutely unbelievable some of these calls and non calls... both ways I might add.
Pitino too. First guy to win titles as coach at two different schools. I have a hunch John Calipari won't be calling with congratulations.
What a fun game to watch. Flow was great. I just wish they let Burke block on Siva go for excitement factor. But man Spike and Luke traded shots in the 1st. The Luke added a couple big buckets in the 2nd. Russ Smith is also a roller coaster ride to watch. #21 on Louisville just dominated the boards on that play.
It's games like these you wish it was best of 5!! Absolutely fun to watch but waaaay too many head scratching moments from the officials for a championship game... I couldn't believe we weren't going to TH jr. down low.. he had a mismatch all night.
Michigan should have been going inside all game. I don't know if it was coaching or just the player's decisions, but it was bad decision making that cost them the game. on the flip side, they were only in it, and had that big lead, because of Albrecht's shooting in the first half and some deep threes, which were just bad decisions even though they went in, in the second. minus that, and Louisville runs away with this game in the second half.
Michigan's only inside player is really McGary. Head scratcher as to why Beilein kept him on the bench all season. They played a four guard lineup all year. Their biggest starter aside from McGary is 6'6. The part I kept hearing about after the game was that Michigan kept Burke on the bench too long. Had Burke played more, they would've lost those shots from Spike.
The big question is where does Pitino rank all time? He's taken 3 teams to the FF, won a title with 2 and has I think 7 FF appearances. I think there are other coaches who could accomplish the same thing. It's silly to think had Dean Smith coached at another school he wouldn't have had similar results or K or Boeheim couldn't take other schools to the FF. For me as far as current coaches go I would probably rate him behind K (only because K has 4 titles) but ahead of Roy, Self, Donovan and Calipari.
I don't take too seriously the "two different schools" thing either - you don't penalize coaches like Wooden, K, Calhoun, and Crum for not moving around. You have to put him behind K, but he's right there with the others.
he is certainly ahead of all of those, but had Roy fielded a legitimate championship threat the last few years I would have had him ahead of Pitino. as it stands, though, Pitino gets the nod.
ftr, I think the player of the game was Siva... Guy played his ass off every single minute, had a nice stat line...
He's ahead of Self, Donovan and Cal but he's not ahead of Roy who has been the most successful coach since the turn of the Century. Pitino has coached 27 years in CBB, has a .738 win %, made 7 FFs, won 2 championships Roy has coached 25 years in CBB, has a .795 win %, made 7 FFs, won 2 championships and has lost more players early. Roy is so underrated it is ridiculous.
w/o Hancock UL doesn't win that game, that 14 pt run by him changed the game. They made the right decision.
huh? he had the best team in the Country before key injuries in 2012 and still made the elite 8. He made the elite 8 two of the last three years. even w/ all the injuries they had if Kendall Marshall doesn't go down in rd 2 against Creighton the Heels likely win it all or at least get to the title game. They nearly beat KU w/ a 4th string walk on PG in the elite 8.
sure, some guys will lie to their players to get them to come back(see K) and others look out for the best interest of their players(Roy). He could convince guys to come back if he wanted to. I love that he doesn't do that and that he follows Dean's lead by putting the interests of the players before the program.
I sent him a tweet two days ago saying he should join. I like to think I took part in sealing the deal Big pick up MParty. SJU should make tourney next season
UNLV found themselves in this situation last year with Moser, he probably would have been drafted but it didn't look like he was a 1st round guy. He also was working very hard to get his degree and it meant a lot to him. Rice did what he could to help and in the end he came back to UNLV for a very disapointing senior year. Rice was on the air the other day and he said he told Mike that if he decided to go pro he would do all that he could to help him out but mutually they decided he would come back to school. SDSU had a situation with Marcus Slaughter and Steve Fisher tried to get him to stay for his senior year but he went early, didn't get drafted and is playing in Spain however Kawhi Leonard was a much different situation and Fish practically pushed him out the door. I think any coach who tried to get a kid he knows will be a 1st round pick to come back is a scumbag and selfish. It's different if you know he is a 2nd round pick or won't get drafted.
It's one of the reasons I love Carolina basketball, it sucks to lose guys early but I never get mad at a player for making that move to the NBA. Before Michael Jordan became the Jordan we know today he wanted to go back to UNC for his Sr year, Dean told him to go. he easily could have had him back, Dean was losing players early as early as the 70s. He obviously had amillion NBA contacts and he'd do research for the players and recommend to stay or go based on that research. The only player to go against his wishes was Jeff McInnis who wound up leaving after the '96 season and going in rd 2. Dean still supported his decision unlike K who bashed William Avery when he went against his wishes. Roy isn't Dean, Dean was one of a kind but Roy does do many things the same including the way he researches for underclassmen in helping them make a decision. He's going through that right now w/ MacAdoo, hairston and Bullock. It sounds like all 3 may be back but if they are projected 1st rd he will tell them to go and then he will wait to see what they decide. The rumblings are Hairston and MacAdoo are back and Bullock is waffling.
