The Official Coach K for 2012 ACC COY Thread

[wgl1228]

I think its time we discussed coach of the year. I know great arguments can be made for Hamilton and Bennett but if Duke beats Wake and finishes out UNC I think you have to give it to him. Given the players we lost and in my opinion limitations of this team, it would be a pretty amazing thing to win the ACC. UNC is almost a pro team and to beat them twice would amazing. Additionally, I'm not knocking our team by saying we have limitations its just true. As has been discussed our D is a league worst. Our coach and team just have that will to win.

[cspan37421]

COY (both ACC and National) tends to go to a coach who has exceeded expectations significantly. Coach K has set such a high bar that it's very difficult for him to ever do this, no matter how well he leads our Blue Devils. Moreover, even though this team has overcome some "alarming" deficiencies - and, very recently, started to play pretty solid defense - they are ranked pretty close to where they were in the preseason. Before the year started, we didn't know how much we would have to overcome. Midway through the year we saw very significant challenges, and we're rising to meet them. Now that we're meeting them, we're starting to earn our way to our preseason expectations. In the end, I doubt many people will give Coach K credit for dramatically improving a team that had greater shortcomings than anyone realized. It's the expectations game.

Seems to me our defense has significantly strengthened post-UNC, but that hasn't exactly been against a murderer's row of opposition. Yes, FSU is really good, but if you believe Lunardi there's not a tournament team among the rest of them. Because of beating FSU in FL, I am cautiously optimistic our defensive improvement is genuine and not a function of our schedule. But there's quite a bit of caution there.

[cptnflash]

I totally agree. I think you can make a legitimate argument for NCOY, and conference COY would be a shoo-in if it was anyone else. Coach K probably won't win either award because he's being measured against his own record, but this year's team has totally overachieved, and it's because of him. This team isn't perfect from a personnel standpoint, but he's found ways to make it work nonetheless. Our point guard situation has been unsettled all year. We don't have a traditional small forward that is ready to play at this level. Our most talented player was also our least efficient player for the first half of the season. We appeared at times earlier in the season to have chemistry issues. And yet somehow, with a week to go in the regular season, the guys have totally come together, we're in control of our own destiny for the conference title, and we're in the conversation for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. He has done a truly amazing job this year.

[davekay1971]

If UVa had managed to pull out that win yesterday, with a depleted roster, I think Bennett would have it sewn up. With UVa fading some (granted, once again, injuries are a major factor there), I see the following legitimate candidates (not in any particular order):

1) Bennett - obvious reasons to be a candidate, not a lock due to some fading down the stretch

2) Gottfried - again, with State fading (4 ACC losses in a row) he's not as good a candidate as he was. State needed to hold out and beat us at Cameron to help out both their NCAA chances AND Gottfried's cause for COY. They seem to have really unravelled since that crushing loss, although they showed more fight yesterday than they did against FSU or UNC. Still, even if they win their last 2, at this point, they're on the outside looking in at the NCAAT, and Gottfried's probably 2nd tier for COY discussion

3) Hamilton - FSU has had their fair share of stinkers this season, but, with the notable exception of BC, that was mostly earlier. They're a defensive force and have developed enough offense to be a legitimate contender. He's really done a fantastic job with this team. All that being said, they were considered to be the probable number 3 team in the ACC with a chance to contend with Duke and UNC for the ACC regular season title...they really peaked in the week they killed UNC and escaped Cameron with a win...and now they're looking like the probable number 3 team in the ACC.

4) Coach K - As stated in the OP, K has done a phenomenal job with this team. Duke lost 2 senior leaders and a guy who would have, if he'd come back, be the best player in the ACC, to the NBA. We have no true point guard. We had, coming into the season, no go-to guy. We had no obvious on court leader. We had talent, but it was relatively inexperienced, with nobody who'd taken a leading role prior to this season. We had a phenomenal freshman talent who needed to learn how to maximize his gifts at the highest level for the team, rather than just score. Now we're in serious contention for the regular season title and an NCAAT 1 seed. And that freshman talent, for the last 3 weeks, has been one of the best players in the ACC...and looks to be the team leader. That's no accident - just ask Austin and Doc, who both point to K as the reason for Austin's tremendous growth.

So my vote goes to: (drum roll)

Jim Larranaga.

Coming into the season, Miami was supposed to be godawful. They sure looked like they'd be godawful at the beginning of the season. They were supposed to compete for the bottom 4 in the conference and be on the outside of the NIT looking in.

Now: Miami is 7-6. They're a tough day at the office for anyone. They've got Duke's scalp. Today they have FSU at home, and if they add FSU's scalp to their collection they're definitely on the inside of the bubble. And with a reeling NC State and then BC to close the season, they COULD end up as the 4 seed in the ACCT with a first round bye.

There's a lot of ifs there, starting with the FSU game today. Then, assuming NCSU doesn't completely collapse, the trip to Raleigh will be a tough win for the Canes. So Miami could finish the season anywhere from 10-6 to 8-8, in the NCAAT to out of it.

But, as of today, Larranaga has done a remarkable job with Miami. Hats off to him!

(Addendum: Coach K deserves about 3 times as many ACC COY awards as he has won. He's a victim of his own success. Duke starts each season with such high expectations, that winning the ACC regular season, ACCT, and getting a high NCAAT seed are just expected)

[miramar]

There's no question that the coach of the year tends to exceed expectations, so that's hard to do at Duke. But at the very least Coach K is currently tied in the standings with a guy who has four certain NBA first rounders,

http://nbadraft.net/2012mock_draft

and even a possible five:

http://www.mynbadraft.com/2012-NBA-Mock-Draft

While Duke has two possible first rounders on some of these mock drafts, one is listed because of his potential and the other is a freshman who is only beginning to find himself. Needless to say, I hope both players will return, but there is no doubt that ol' Roy has a huge talent advantage that Coach K has managed to negate.

[Albert]

With our much-noted crop of talented incoming coaches this year in the ACC, I would find it odd if Coach K were to take this particular palm.

Of course I agree that, even where he makes the biggest difference as a coach in the conference, sort of akin to an MVP standard, he generally won't be awarded COY. That said, FSU came around to meet expectations after an extremely uneven start. I think Bennett and Larranaga are good bets.

[Wander]

Can you have the coach of the team that finished last in the ACC win COY? I'm somewhat sorta half-serious.

[Sgt. Dingleberry]

Can you have the coach of the team that finished last in the ACC win COY? I'm somewhat sorta half-serious.

I've been reading this thread and I am stumped as to who I would vote for (If I had a vote). Your suggestion is as good as any. An award of some sort should be given to Donahue solely for the fact that he coached that team to a win over FSU. BC has to have the least amount of talent I can remember seeing in the ACC and they somehow do have 3 wins.

However, one thing is for sure. Ol Roy deserves no consideration, at all, for the award this year.

[oldnavy]

I do like the Larranaga vote but its too soon to decide IMO. Also, I have to say I really love what Ol Roy is doing with his team.

[davekay1971]

I have to say I really love what Ol Roy is doing with his team.

Doing with...or doing to? It's always hard to tell with Roy.

[cspan37421]

(Addendum: Coach K deserves about 3 times as many ACC COY awards as he has won. He's a victim of his own success. Duke starts each season with such high expectations, that winning the ACC regular season, ACCT, and getting a high NCAAT seed are just expected)

I totally agree and originally had that in my post, but hit the "back" button on the wrong tab, lost it, and forgot it! But mark me down for "he deserves many more." But it's the nature of the award - they want to reward those who exceed expectations, and that's just plain hard to do when you're fielding and coaching a top 10 team nearly every year.

[-jk]

Frankly, I suspect K prefers various Championship banners to COY awards.

-jk

[davekay1971]

jk - I'm sure you're right, but as fans we like to see our man's skillz recognized!

I just went back and looked at K's ACC COY years: 84, 86, 97, 99, 00.

Interesting. Four of the five years he won the award were years in which Duke's success (or the degree of their success) probably came as something of a surprise to the media. 84, 86, and 97 all involved significant improvements in ACC regular season record compared to the year before, while in 00 a fall-off was expected but didn't happen (16-0 in 99, 15-1 in 00). 99 we were supposed to be monsters and we were. I'd be interested to see the COY record of other coaches and don't have time to search for it now, but I suspect that trend holds up. Coaches don't get much credit for their role in building a successful team, they get credit for exceeding the expectations the media has for their team. That's understandable, but it probably minimizes the recognition of the importance of a coach in many parts of putting a successful team together - from recruiting to retention to building player's skills over the course of their college career.

Maybe we need to change the award to the ACC Coach Who's Team Most Surprised Us Media Types In A Good Way Award.

[-jk]

jk - I'm sure you're right, but as fans we like to see our man's skillz recognized!

I just went back and looked at K's ACC COY years: 84, 86, 97, 99, 00.

Interesting. Four of the five years he won the award were years in which Duke's success (or the degree of their success) probably came as something of a surprise to the media. 84, 86, and 97 all involved significant improvements in ACC regular season record compared to the year before, while in 00 a fall-off was expected but didn't happen (16-0 in 99, 15-1 in 00). 99 we were supposed to be monsters and we were. I'd be interested to see the COY record of other coaches and don't have time to search for it now, but I suspect that trend holds up. Coaches don't get much credit for their role in building a successful team, they get credit for exceeding the expectations the media has for their team. That's understandable, but it probably minimizes the recognition of the importance of a coach in many parts of putting a successful team together - from recruiting to retention to building player's skills over the course of their college career.

Maybe we need to change the award to the ACC Coach Who's Team Most Surprised Us Media Types In A Good Way Award.

Frankly, as a fan, I want to see Championship banners, too. That's "skillz" recognition enough for me.

-jk

[Edouble]

Frankly, as a fan, I want to see Championship banners, too. That's "skillz" recognition enough for me.

-jk

If they're handing out awards and our guys are deserving, we should get them.

[Duvall]

So my vote goes to: (drum roll)

Jim Larranaga.

Coming into the season, Miami was supposed to be godawful. They sure looked like they'd be godawful at the beginning of the season. They were supposed to compete for the bottom 4 in the conference and be on the outside of the NIT looking in.

I agree that Larranaga has done a fine job with Miami this season, but Miami was picked fifth in the preseason.

2011-12 ACC Preseason Predictions
ACC Operation Basketball, Charlotte, N.C.
59 Ballots
Team Finish:
1-North Carolina (57) 706
2-Duke (2) 649
3-Florida State 560
4-Virginia 463
5-Miami 455
6-Virginia Tech 411
7-Clemson 403
8-NC State 316
9-Maryland 264
10-Georgia Tech 176
11-Wake Forest 109
12-Boston College 90

Actually, if you compare the the current league standings to the preseason predictions, they look pretty much on, with one notable exception. (Honestly, it might make sense to split the award eleven ways and give a piece to every coach that isn't Seth Greenberg.)

There really isn't a team that dramatically overperformed expectations at any spot in the conference. Maybe that will free the ACC media to do something crazy this year like voting for the best coach.

[Sgt. Dingleberry]

(Honestly, it might make sense to split the award eleven ways and give a piece to every coach that isn't Seth Greenberg.)

I don't know if you saw it, but there was some fantastic schadenfreude yesterday during the broadcast. They showed a montage of Greenberg's reactions to all of the close losses VT has had this season. I can't lie, I thoroughly enjoyed it, I might have even let lose a chuckle or two...

[Olympic Fan]

Duvall, I was going to post the same thing -- the idea that Miami was supposed to godawful is rdiculous. They returned a veteran backcourt and are one of the most athletic teams in the league. The feeling was that they had massively underachieved under Frank Haith and that a quality game coach and teacher like Larranaga could turn them around.

The only reason they were picked as low as fifth was the uncertainty due to Reggie Johnson's knee surgery. He was (and is) their ownly true post player. When he returned in mid-December, that allowed Kenny Kadji to move out of the post, where he was overmatched and move outside, where he became a matchup nightmare.

That's not to say I don't think Larranaga has done a bad job, but if you judge it on expectations -- he's got Miami right about where we expected them to be.

Now, I could still see him getting COY, if the 'Canes finish strong -- and that includes a victory today over Florida State.

I would lean to Bennett -- who has had to deal with late-season injuries (Sene was a killer and Harris' hand problems hurt badly). But he could easily end the year on a three-game ACC losing stfreak ... I don't think I'd vote for him if Virginia is 8-8.

I'm not sure who I would vote for. Bennett and Larranage are certainly in the mix. Gottfried was doing a very good job until his recent collapse. I like the job Turgeon was doing -- he's also have some devastating injuries -- but the loss to Georgia Tech Saturday hurt.

How about Brownell -- if he finishes .500 in the ACC with this bunch, I'd be impressed.

K, if he wins out, wow -- that would be hard to top.

I guess I'm saying there are a lot of guys who have done a good job this season.

PS Maybe the ACC should give its COY award to Frank Haith. We all thought he was a good recruiter, bad coach ... he's certainly doing a great job this year at Missouri.

[jv001]

If we beat unc and I think we will, I believe he wins COY. The heels were the clear choice to win the regular season and if we earn that distinction, I believe Coach K will be COY. Go Coach K and GoDuke!

[1 24 90]

If we beat unc and I think we will, I believe he wins COY. The heels were the clear choice to win the regular season and if we earn that distinction, I believe Coach K will be COY. Go Coach K and GoDuke!

I agree with your sentiment. Last year, Ol' Roy won ACC COY by defeating the preseason pick on his home court in the last game of the season to go 14-2 in the league and this year Coach K's team can do the exact same thing. I can't remember if unc was the preseason #2 pick last year or not. Granted, they had more rebuilding to do last year from 2010 than Duke has had this year but if Roy can still win COY with his talent, then Coach K should be able to win it too.