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  1. #1

    Wink Bzdelik

    Welcome to the new Wake Forest coach.

    Can someone do a phonetic spelling of Bzdelik for me please?

    Or will he be referred to as Coach B?

    I understand that if Coach B has good success his first season that Huck is going to change the spelling of his name to Williamz.

    Coach Dub?

    hud

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Northern VA
    Interesting hire.

    I doubt that he's got a lot of East Coast contacts, but comes with a good rep as a bench coach.

    Credit Wake with getting it done pretty quickly - which will help in retaining that excellent recruiting class they have coming in.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Quote Originally Posted by hudlow View Post
    Can someone do a phonetic spelling of Bzdelik for me please?
    Haven't seen anything in any of the articles I've read. Until I see or hear differently, I'm going with "Bizdelik". I've read he's Polish, so no way is that correct
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Per The Baltimore Sun, the phonetic spelling is buzz-Del-ick.

    There are going to be a lot of frustrated Wake fans. There isn't a lot of proven head-coaching success here. I'm not saying it's a bad hire... just that it doesn't look compelling on the surface.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    raleigh
    Lotsa coaches on the market....this doesn't seem to be an earth shaker, but we shall see...

    Welcome to the ACC, coach...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Winston-Salem, NC
    Hope AD Wellman didn't put all his eggs in the Stevens basket with the timing of Gaudio's firing and is in some ways settling here. Remember just a few years ago Air Force was stylish pick to make some noise in the NCAA tourney. They had good teams there for stretch. Like previous posts have stated we has an excellent rep as a bench coach but recruiting will be the biggest question mark. His NBA experience may be a plus for some recruits. Retaining a good incoming class will be priority one.

    Welcome to the ACC coach B! Good luck!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Delaware
    Any indication on how he'll do in holding on to Wake's recruits for this year? That had a pretty good class coming in.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Bethesda, MD
    Maybe not a huge name, but I think he is a very good basketball coach. Will be interesting to see how he recruits though.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chapel Hill
    I checked out his picture. He sure has a long neck, bless his heart.
    Love, Ima

  10. #10

    bzdelik

    I'm not a Wake fan, so maybe I don't have a right to comment. But let me say that as an ACC fan, I think this is a terrible hire. If I WERE a Wake fan, I'd be outraged.

    Let's break down the hire:

    -- Bzdelik is 57 years old. That's pretty old to start building something at Wake. It's not too old for an established coach, but I would hardly rate this guy as an established coach.

    -- Bzdelik has built his career on the Princeton offense -- when he was successful at Air Force, he ran an extreme version of it -- they were one of the lowest scoring teams in the nation. I'm not saying that can't work -- Georgetown has had success with that style and Herb Sendek has had at least some success with it -- but it makes it very difficult to recruit. Few top prospects want to play that style. Bzdelik (like Sendek) has tried to sell the idea that when he gets talent, he'll run a faster version ... that pitch didn't work at Colorado ... maybe it will at Wake.

    Throw in that this guy has spent the last decade in the Mountain West area -- hardly a prime recruiting ground for Wake Forest. Like Tony Bennett, he's going to have to scramble to establish his credentials in the East.

    -- When Wellman fired Gaudio, he talked about Dino's postseason meltdowns. Well, Gaudio has more NCAA wins than Bzdelik -- 1-0. Think about that -- this is a 57-year-old coach who has never won an NCAA game! Not sure what his record is in conference tournaments (but he definitely didn't win the Mountain West Tournament at Air Force). At Colorado, I'm pretty sure he's never won a Big 12 Tournament game. He did have a run to the NIT Final Four, if you want to hang your hat on that.

    -- When you look at his record, you see two great seasons at Air Force (24-7, 26-7). That's good, but remember that two years before his arrival, Air Force won 22 games and the Mountain West Conference title (something Bzdelik never did) under coach Joe Scott. Bzdelik won with Scott's players, then left before the impact of his own recruiting became evident.

    -- At Colorado, he inherited a tough situation -- a program coming off a seven-win season. BUT it's not hopeless -- two years before his arrival, Colorado won 20 games. They played in the NCAA Tournament twice in the 10 years before his arrival. It's not like it's impossible to win there. Bzdelik did improve the program slowly -- to 12 wins to nine wins to 15-16 last season. Did they finish strong (one of Wellman's requirements)? That depends on how you figure it -- they did win three Big 12 games in a row late, but they also finished the season 5-10, including a first-round loss in the Big 12 Tournament.

    That's not exactly turning it around at light-speed.

    -- To me, the most impressive thing on his resume is his brief stint with the Denver Nuggets. He did improve the team a lot ... or maybe it had something to do with adding a rookie named Carmelo Anthony (plus adding a foreign star named Nene). But if he was so great, why was he fired to quickly? It's a bad sign that the Nuggets have actually been better since Bzdelik left.

    Frankly, I don't understand this hire. I understand that records can be misleading -- I still remember the guy from Army with the losing record that Duke hired three decades ago. But there's a big difference between hiring Coach K as a 33-year-old and hiring this guy as a 57-year old.

    I've always respected Ron Wellman, but this hire doesn't make sense. Wake Forest is a good job. Gaudio's teams have melted down late, but he's also got a strong recruiting class coming it. If you've got a great hire in your pocket, fine ... let him go. But to fire Gaudio to hire this aging clown???

    I hope I'm wrong. I hope Bzdelik comes in and does a great job -- I think the ACC needs strong coaches behind K and the Williams Brothers. I just don't see it in this case.

  11. #11
    strange hire. were this duke, i would be angry.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by moonpie23 View Post
    Lotsa coaches on the market....this doesn't seem to be an earth shaker, but we shall see...

    Welcome to the ACC, coach...
    Do you think people at Duke said this when they hired a skinny little guy with a not so great winning percentage and hadn't proven himself... yet?

  13. #13
    as has been pointed out, our skinny guy was only 33 years old. not to say the guy can't coach, but i'd never be too happy if my school hired anyone who i though was likely to retire in less than ten years. to me, the joy of watching duke these past 30+ years has not just been the success; it's been watching the greatest coach in the history of the college game grow and adapt as the game changed, while producing wonderful teams, and turning kids into outstanding young men.

    granted, any coach could leave any program, and there is no guarantee that anyone will stay. there is no guarantee of a legacy, but as a fan, i'd hope for the possibility of one.

    i could eat my words a few years from now, and i hope that i do.

  14. #14
    On a toss ball reationships carry the day...at the end of the day (take note all job seekers). Build your network. AD, Ron Wellmon and Bzdelik worked together at Northwestern for several years when Wellmon was the head baseball coach and Bzdelik was an assistant basketball coach. They are old friends. He may be a great hire for Wake. I certainly hope so.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by dukeimac View Post
    Do you think people at Duke said this when they hired a skinny little guy with a not so great winning percentage and hadn't proven himself... yet?
    IRRC, some did!!!!!!!!!!!

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Southern Pines, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by dukeimac View Post
    Do you think people at Duke said this when they hired a skinny little guy with a not so great winning percentage and hadn't proven himself... yet?
    Tom Butters got a recommendation from Bobby Knight, a very good one. It turned out well, don't you think?

    Bzdelik at Wake? 57 years old? Losing record at CU for his last 3 seasons? Should the ACC have a rule against this?

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Baltimore
    Some background (taken from a comprehensive post from the Wake forum)

    Colorado
    2009-10
    Freshman Alec Burks was named to the Freshman All-America team. He was the top scoring freshman in the league and was the first CU player ever voted Freshman of the Year in the Big 12. He was also a member of the All-Rookie team and honorable mention all-Big 12 and set the school record for scoring by a freshman. The only freshman in the nation to score in double figures in every game he finished. (Came out of one game early with a sprained knee).
    Burks and Cory Higgins each scored more than 500 points, marking just the third time in school history that two players had scored 500 or more points in the same season.
    Colorado was the only school in the Big 12 with two players among the top seven in the league in scoring.
    Three players named to the Academic All-Conference team in basketball, the most ever by a CU basketball team.
    Swept Nebraska for the first time since 2003-04
    All five starters were Bzdelik recruits (2 juniors, 2 sophomores, 1 freshman)
    CU committed its fewest turnovers since 1997-98
    Led the Big 12 in free throw percentage for the first time ever
    Finished third in the nation in free throw percentage
    Marcus Relphorde earned Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors, the first CU player to do so since 2004

    2008-09
    Freshmen and sophomores (all Bzdelik recruits) accounted for 72.3 percent of the team scoring
    Held opponents to 67.5 points per game marking the first time since 1979-81 that CU held opponents to less than 70 points in consecutive years

    2007-08
    Bzdelik guided Colorado to a 91-84 win over Baylor in the Big 12 Championship, the first 12 seed to beat a 5 in Big 12 history.
    Colorado improved in every shooting category-field goal, 3-point field goal and free throw percentages-from its effort in 2006-07, the year before Bzdelik arrived
    Nine of 20 losses were by an average of 4.8 points.
    Defense held opponents to 64.4 points per game, the fewest points allowed in 46 years.
    Committed 13.4 turnovers per game, the fewest in 28 years
    Second year at Colorado (2008-09), 11 of 22 losses were by single digits, an average of 4.5 points per game
    His first signed recruit at Colorado was Cory Higgins, the son of former NBA player Rod Higgins. Higgins, who will be a senior next year, has scored 1,391 career points and ranks ninth on the school’s career scoring list.
    Inherited a team that had gone 7-20 overall, 3-13 in the Big 12 and finished in last place

    Air Force
    Record of 50-16, the best two-year record in school history
    The only Air Force coach to win 24 or more games in back-to-back seasons.
    Went 31-1 at home including 15-0 his first year and 16-1 in 2006-07

    2006-07
    Led the Falcons to the 2007 NIT Final Four.
    Set a school record with 26 victories
    Led the Mountain West with 316 three-point field goals (also a school record)
    Led the league in free throw percentage at .783
    Set the school record for field goal percentage at 49.03
    Had the second-best free throw percentage in school history at 75.5
    Posted double-digit wins over Wake Forest , Stanford , Texas Tech and George Washington
    Led AFA to a 17-1 start to the season
    Led the Falcons to a No. 18 national ranking
    Team was second in the nation in scoring defense (56.0 PPG)
    Team was second in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (10.3)
    Team was ninth in the nation in scoring margin (+13.0) and fewest fouls per game (15.0)

    2005-06
    Led Air Force to a 24-7 record and the school’s four appearance ever in the NCAA Tournament.
    Led the nation in scoring defense (54.7 PPG)
    Lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Illinois , 78-69
    Team won its final six games of the regular season
    Led the Mountain West with 276 three-point field goals and a .404 3-point percentage
    Fourth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.404)
    Fifth in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (10.8)
    Led the MWC in free throw percentage at .745
    Led the MWC in steals and steals per game (8.03)
    Air Force won for the first-time ever at UNLV
    Defeated two ACC teams ( Miami , Georgia Tech)

    Maryland- Baltimore County
    1986-87: cited by the Sporting News as having “One of College’s Biggest Turn Arounds” in the school’s inaugural season in Division I.

    Denver Nuggets
    Named head coach of the Nuggets in August, 2002. Inherited the youngest team in franchise history and shattered the franchise record for scoring defense by more than five points per game, giving up only 92.4 per game.
    Spent 15 seasons in the NBA as both a coach and scout; two and one-half seasons as head coach of the Denver Nuggets. Engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history during his second season in 2003-04, leading the Nuggets to the playoffs for the first time since 1994-95 while posting a 43-39 record. The 26-game improvement over the previous year was the sixth-best in NBA history.
    Became the first NBA coach, since the adoption of the 82-game schedule, to lead his team to the playoffs the year after winning fewer than 20 games
    In 2000, recognized by USA Today as one of the NBA’s top five assistant coaches
    In Sports Illustrated’s 1998 pro basketball issue, he was voted the best advance scout in the NBA by the league’s general managers
    “According to NBA coaches and GM’s, Bzdelik is the most thorough and perceptive scout in the business.” Sports Illustrated

  18. #18

    butters, knight and K

    Quote Originally Posted by Jarhead View Post
    Tom Butters got a recommendation from Bobby Knight, a very good one. It turned out well, don't you think?
    Pardon me for hijacking the thread, but I've been frustrated by the misunderstanding about the Coach K hire that has been perpretrated. While Butters certainly deserves credit for the choice -- it was his responsibility after all as AD -- the real moving force behind the hire was a former Duke player turned associate athletic director named Steve Vacendak.

    Vacendak played high school basketball for a guy named Jack Gallagher, who later worked as a scout for Bobby Knight. It was Gallagher who introduced Vacendak to Krzyzewski. Vacendak got to know Coach K and even sat in on a staff meeting to prepare for an Army-Navy Game.

    When Bill Foster stepped down, Gallagher called Vacendak and recommended Krzyzewski. Vacendak realized that he was the right man and went to Butters with the suggestion. Butters reaction was, "Let me get this straight. You're pushing me to hire a coach whose name I can't pronounce and has a losing record?"

    Vacendak kept pushing and Butters decided to call Knight ... for a second time.

    The thing is that Butters had already called Knight, first to ask him if he might be interested in the job (he expected a no and got it, but he had to ask), then to ask for any recommendations. Knight recommended Bob Weltlich, a former assistant who was at Ole Miss. After talking to Vacendak, Butters called Knight back and asked about Krzyzewski -- at that point, Knight gave K a glowing recommendation, calling him the best young coach in the country.

    It all flowed from there -- Vacendak hammering Butters to hire K, Butters unable to shake the idea that the young Army coach was the right hire, but worried about the numbers and the perception. Knight, who didn't recommend K originally (probably thinking that a school the stature of Duke wouldn't hire such an unproven young coach -- he was originally pushing K for the Iowa State job), pushing him strongly.

    Butters and Knight deserve the credit they get for the hire ... but Duke fans should understand the pivotal role that Steve Vacendak played in the decision and give him credit too.

    PS Hearing Bzdlick compared to K makes me laugh -- not only because of the difference between hiring a 33-year-old up-and-comer with a 57-year-old never-was. But it also reminds me of what I call the Burleson Theory -- back in the early 1970s, NC State hit the jackpot with a skinny, unpolished big man from the mountains of North Carolina. Post-Burleson, Norm Sloan brought in a parade of skinny, unpolished big men, hoping to hit the same jackpot -- from Mike Burma to Bill Lake to Glen Sudhop and a half dozen more. He found that Burleson was a once-in-a-generation find.

    I suspect that Coach K is a once-in-a-lifetime find ... and if you try to duplicate the magic, you're going to get burned.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Washington, DC
    From the article posted on the main page about WF retaining all five recruits:

    "The news follows a whirlwind tour by Bzdelik and his two remaining assistant coaches, Battle and Rusty LaRue."

    Wake sure is racking up some cool names. I'd play for Battle and Rusty LaRue. Although I don't think I could imagine having a coach whose name I couldn't pronounce...

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Quote Originally Posted by CrazieDUMB View Post
    From the article posted on the main page about WF retaining all five recruits:

    "The news follows a whirlwind tour by Bzdelik and his two remaining assistant coaches, Battle and Rusty LaRue."

    Wake sure is racking up some cool names. I'd play for Battle and Rusty LaRue. Although I don't think I could imagine having a coach whose name I couldn't pronounce...
    Nice

    At least this coach's name is easier to spell
    Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill

    President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club

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