While I'm in agreement with the assertion that one doesn't have to have been good at doing something to tell someone else how best to do that same thing. There's a reason, after all, why Coach K was never throwing down nasty dunks in the lane or zipping crazy passes a-la Nash in the league. He just wasn't good enough. That wasn't his skillset...coaching was.
Anyway, interesting that Mitch McGary notes the Duke/big-man perception in his blog..http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/...os-d-day-looms
It's unfortunate that the perception exits, but it does. As he says, "The con for Duke would be the perception that all their big men do is set screens and rebound and that they don’t get a lot of touches. "
My apologies if that had been posted already. The perception is there whether we like it or not. It seems to me that the argument shouldn't be about whether Wojo can coach that spot but about how best to allay the concerns (right or wrong) of any current and future recruits.
On a side note, my mother is convinced that Shelden Williams tore my retina in a summer pick-up game. I don't think so but, whatever the cause, we contributed an awful lot to the Duke eye center that year.
I know the Coach K faithful don't want to admit that Wojo is not the perfect big man coach, but maybe he isn't. Not every big man is enamored by becoming a rebounder/scorer for a guard dominated lineup. Thankfully, Coach Capel will hopefully change that perception. Already we are seeing Mason, Miles, and Kelly all regularly scoring in double digits. I don't think there were many games last year that even one of them, let alone two scored in double digits.
Except that doesn't have anything to do with the big man coach. It has to do with the composition of the team.
How can Coach Capel change things when Wojo (and not Capel) is still the big man coach? Since Wojo is actually coaching our big men (and not Capel), why are you attributing Mason's, Miles's, and Ryan's exhibition game scoring totals to Coach Capel and not Coach Wojo?
And, finally, why should Jeff Capel change perceptions when he was a point guard, too?
It has nothing to do with the composition of the team. There is a great article about Mason Plumlee that I read a week ago that talked about how at the beginning of last year in the locker room the coaches were stressing to get Mason the ball, we want him to score and to get touches, but by the end of the year the vibe was totally different, it was all about screening and rebounding. Mason just wasn't prepared to be that type of player. Already this year there have been major improvements. Mason is 14/14 and looks dominant at times. In fact Kelly, Mason, and Miles all look good and all deserve to start and that has nothing to do with the composition of the team.
Also great point about Coach Capel not coaching the big men. I'm sure he's just goofing around all day with Collins and Spatola playing Coaches vs Alumni games.
There will be that perception rumored about as long as there are those who have a vested intesrest in perpetuating it -- whether they come from competing recruiters/coaches, or competing fans or just old Duke 'haters.' Not that you have to be one of those groups to have that opinion, but there are certainly folks in those groups trying hard to perpetuate it.
If you had to be good at something before you could opine and eduacate others on it, then about 99% of sports media personnel would be out of jobs! (and over half of coaches!) BTW, anybody know how tall the UNC big-man coach is, and how much front-line play he had? Hint: shorter than Wojo and he had significantly fewer rebounds! But perception is still perception, whether true or not. Bunda is right - it is the perception that needs to be addressed somehow.
I think we should go out and get George Muresan as the big man coach. Or maybe Shawn Bradley. Let's get the tallest man possible just so we can prove once and for all that there is no correlation between height and big man coaching skills.
Super "Either would be more tolerable than Elmore" Dave
My understanding is Coach Capel is coaching the big men approximately the same amount Chris Collins is coaching the big men -- they're both coaches but when it comes time to work on big man stuff, Wojo is the guy.
Here's what I don't get about your stated position: you say our big men have improved (and they have), but why are you attributing that improvement to Coach Capel and not Coach Wojo (who, after all, is the big man coach)?
Finally, you still haven't explained why you think Jeff Capel, a former Duke point guard, is a more acceptable big man coach than Steve Wojciechowski, a former Duke point guard? Because of all that posting up Jeff did while playing point at Duke?
I agree with this. "Perception" is certainly something that can be changed. Having one of our current or future bigs get a lot of press through consistent stellar play would certainly help. (Even though all of us would point to Williams, Boozer, Brand as a pretty incredible string of big men). Having another Duke big man find significant success in the NBA would contribute. I imagine having Capel on staff has helped.
I also seem to remember Coach K making an effort in recent years to make the program and the team more accessible to combat the rampant (and absurd) Duke hate. This certainly suggests that Coach and the staff are cognizant of the impact of perception and are forward thinking enough to counter it. It's hard to imagine them recruiting for any other reason than because a kid fits the program needs but it certainly could on some small level explain the extra effort Coach has been pouring into guys like Parker.