he had some excellent teams in the 90s and reloaded on the fly after losing a ton of guys early. He had so many impressive records, made the sweet 16 13 straight seasons, had 27 straight 20 win seasons(when 20 wins meant something) and finished top 3 in the ACC 33 straight years when the ACC was the best conf 90% of the time and it was strong from top to bottom. people will compare his record to other coaches but keep in mind they didn't play anywhere near as many games and coached half his career when only a team or 2 made the tourney from each top conference. if he was coaching in this era he'd blow away the all time wins mark and every other record but again his success on the court was only part of it.
I love this image, this is from the game winning jumper from Michael Jordan in the final minute of the 1982 NCAA Championship Game. Look at the UNC bench and how calm the coaching staff is. Amazing.
If Dean Smith were still coaching today, he would easily build a dynasty. ACC isn't nearly as good as the days back then. They better have a 30 for 30 ESPN special for this guy. Have Eric Montross and Rick Fox talk about him for sure. Great HC for sure, with a great offense philosophy that spoke team ball.
Here is the sportscentury espn did on him about a decade ago. here is a clip, the original documentary was an hour long
He did lose a lot of games he was favored to win. I guess that's where the comparison came from. But all coaches have. Smith was a great coach, one of the best. I think you have to say there's Wooden and then everyone else though.
I'll rephrase my argument so you don't have to speculate about my agenda and get offended by comparing him to who many consider to be the greatest QB of all time. I compared him to Peyton manning not Trent Dilfer. But to the point. Dean Smith arguably underachieved as a coach in the postseason. His cross town rival won more in less time. Dean and coach K are comparable to Manning and Brady in their post season accomplishments. That can be discussed independent of Dean's social relevance.
Dean coached half his career where 1 or 2 teams made the Tourney from major conferences, K coached his entire career in the expanded field era. Dean was losing players early as early as 1972 which was less than 10 years into his career, K didn't lose a player early until after 1999, 20 years into his career Dean had the paid UCLA dynasty to deal w/ for the first 15 years of his career Dean lost key guys in the 1977 run to the final or he'd have another title Dean told James Worthy to leave after 1982 or he'd have another title Dean told Michael Jordan to leave after 1984 or he'd have another title Dean told Stackhouse and Wallace to leave as sophs or he'd have another title Dean retired leaving his longtime ass't the best team in the Country or he'd have another title(contrast that w/ what K did to longtime loyal ass't Pete Gaudet) Dean made 11 FFs Dean made 13 straight sweet 16s Dean never lost in the 1st rd of the 64 team era, something K has done often(this would be comparable to all of Manning's 1 and dones) including 2 of the last 3 years as a high seed. Dean never beat a mid major for a Nat'l title Dean always had tough scheds Dean coached when thee ACC was far and away the best and dominated the conference. Dean dominated K head to head after the US was robbed of gold in 1972 Dean took COLLEGE kids that he had for a month to Olympic Gold There is no Dean/K vs. Manning/Brady comparison. It was stupid to bring up and you know it.
http://www.si.com/college-basketbal...-sl-price-frank-deford-gary-smith-larry-keith http://www.wsj.com/articles/dean-smith-a-coach-ahead-of-his-time-1423434332
Problem with Dean was the Stackhouse/Wallace team underachieved and that's everyone's last memory of him as a coach.
Really? not rebounding from his first 0-3 start and winning the ACC en route to another Final Four in his final season? he's remembered b/c he didn't win back to back titles and didn't make a Sweet 16 in 1994 after 13 straight trips after his starting PG was knocked out of the game on a dirty hit? By the way, Stack and Wallace made the FF the next season, upset the overwhelming favorite Kentucky Wildcats in the heart of SEC Country in the Southeast Regional Final but yeah they underachieved.
Two NBA studs not winning it all is slightly underachieving. You are way too defensive about things. Why are you a North Carolina fan?
They played 2 seasons there and only one where they were leading the team and that season they made the FF despite Wallace being hurt and Stackhouse getting hurt mins into the FF game vs. Arkansas. I am not defensive, I like to discuss reality. It's hard to win championships
Well by that logic Coach K is arguably the greatest underachiever in the history of college basketball We could ignore that UNLV had the deck stacked against them in 91 (ironically also against Carolina in 77 and Tarkanian has admitted he made of his greatest coaching mistakes in that 77 game) but in 92 when Duke repeated there is absolutely no doubt that Latenner should have and would have been ejected if hadn't been playing for Duke when he stomped on Timberlake's chest. Fast forward to the year they beat Arizona and Corey Maggette admitted he received gifts from a booster before going to Duke (the same deal as Chris Webber) , then you have the Lance Thomas nonsense when they beat Butler not to mention one of the greatest screw jobs in the tournament when they played 8-5 against Baylor in the Elite 8. K has lost to Lehigh and Mercer 2 of the last 3 years in the NCAA Tournament and all this while having arguably the 2nd best talent of any coach in the game, I'm not even a Carolina fan but you bring up the Stackhouse and Wallace team but he did win it all in 93 with NBA bust Eric Montrose and average NBA player George Lynch and some guy named Henrick, Dante and Salvadori.
I agree- all of the great ones have bad losses. NYJUNC's post calling Dean the greatest of all time was just silly that's all. He was a great, great coach. As is K, as is Pitino...as was Bobby Knight. They all fit into that all-time great class. It's impossible to determine one of those guys as the best ever. The only one you could make the case for is Wooden because of the championships.
Even in death Dean Smith continues to teach us: North Carolina sports figures get upset in the postseason = winning is hard Non-North Carolina sports figures get upset in the post season = chokers
I BELIEVE Dean is the greatest for more than just wins and losses, his record is up there w/ anyone but what he did for the game I believe separates him. I am completely biased in this discussion. Wooden was great but he wasn't winning anything until Sam Gilbert started paying to bring in the best players.
#1 one is college sports, the other pro sports. #2- in college w/ loaded UT teams Peyton couldn't even contend for a title but the minute he left UT won a Nat'l title. #3- show me all the Dean and Roy one and dones in the expanded field era? #4-show me the great teams that completed choked in postseason compared to the great teams Peyton had that he would lead to quick exits? #5- show me the losing postseason record for Dean? every team gets upset now and then but w/ Peyton it is routine. NINE one and dones in 14 years, only 4 title game apps, only 3 SB apps but yeah they are comparable. Regular season records: Dean Smith: 818-229, 78% Peyton Manning: 179-77, 70% Postseason records: Dan Smith: 61-25, 71% Peyton Manning 11-13, 46%
No, I know what I am talking about. the comparisons are ridiculous as I have shown w/ my recent posts. Read on and learn.
