Duke addition of Jeff Capel on the coaching staff

[Lord Ash]

Not doubting you LA, but do you have specific examples of these comments?

The coaches spoke about players not totally buying into the system, about players not using time off to prepare, and about not knowing how to motivate the guys and trying every trick.

The players have spoken multiple times about everyone not buying into the system and certain people playing more for themselves.

It has been a pretty consistent thread this year.

[David]

So last spring/summer Coach Capel was added to the staff following two losing seasons at OSU. I wondered at the time how that would affect the synergy of the coaching staff...what would Capel bring and what would Duke lose with Nate James no longer being on the court. Any thoughts? Is it a good thing that Capel sits mid-team on the bench? How has he effected the coaching and how has that impacted the 2011-12 Blue Devils?

I am reminded of a quote that has been attributed to Nobel prize winning economist George Stigler, "The plural of anecdote is data." How could any of us tease out the "Capel Effect" from all the other variables impacting the 2011-12 Blue Devils? I think coaches generally need to be evaluated over a longer run.

No one's position is sacred at Duke and Coach K will review everyone's performance (including his own). However, it would be very difficult for any of us to say how Capel impacted the 2011-2012 Blue Devils.

[kingboozer]

I like Christian quite a bit. His toughness, intensity, knowledge of big man play, will to win, and intelligence are, I think, at a very high level. Yes, he has some difficult times ahead with the legal issues, but if he gets those resolved amicably I would like to see Duke attempt to hire him. Yes, he is a polarizing figure, but so is Coach K.

His real estate mess will get worked out with time but I think he's worth a shot if the opportunity arises. I agree that both he and K are polarizing figures but that works well since we are such a polarizing program. To a lot of fan bases, Duke is the villain and their are folks out there that love to see us lose. Laettner embraces that, he loves being hated and I think that would be the perfect shot in the arm this program needs to get back some of that old Duke swagger of years past.

[Cameron]

I just did a google image search for "Duke bench 2012" and guess who I saw?

Don Cheadle?

[subzero02]

So last spring/summer Coach Capel was added to the staff following two losing seasons at OSU. I wondered at the time how that would affect the synergy of the coaching staff...what would Capel bring and what would Duke lose with Nate James no longer being on the court. Any thoughts? Is it a good thing that Capel sits mid-team on the bench? How has he effected the coaching and how has that impacted the 2011-12 Blue Devils?

Capel was the head coach at Oklahoma... Not Oklahoma State

[NSDukeFan]

I just did a google image search for "Duke bench 2012" and guess who I saw?

So this google thing... You just type something in and it shows you what you want to see? What are they going to think of next? You'll be able to look up stuff from your phone?

I hardly think having Jeff Capel sitting in this year has been a problem. I do think the Duke coaching bench is in desperate need of some fresh blood. The entire staff comes from the K-School and while that is a great institution it is not the only one. A different perspective is just what this group needs to keep it at it optimum performance. If I were Coach K, I would pat Wojo and Chris on the head and push them out of the nest. If Jeff wants to stay on another year that's great but otherwise I would hire someone that will challenge the system. I don't get that at all from Wojo or Chris. They have only seen things one way in their careers.

Remember the year that Jim Boeheim (excuse my spelling) assisted K with the Olympic team? We actually used a zone defense on occasion.

I agree that having Jeff Capel has not been a problem this year. I am curious as to why the most successful basketball program in the NCAA would be in desperate need of some fresh blood though. I don't know that one loss should cause the program to get rid of what I assume are two of the best assistant coaches in college basketball.

So last spring/summer Coach Capel was added to the staff following two losing seasons at OSU. I wondered at the time how that would affect the synergy of the coaching staff...what would Capel bring and what would Duke lose with Nate James no longer being on the court. Any thoughts? Is it a good thing that Capel sits mid-team on the bench? How has he effected the coaching and how has that impacted the 2011-12 Blue Devils?

I thought this may have been the best answer of the thread in my opinion.

I am reminded of a quote that has been attributed to Nobel prize winning economist George Stigler, "The plural of anecdote is data." How could any of us tease out the "Capel Effect" from all the other variables impacting the 2011-12 Blue Devils? I think coaches generally need to be evaluated over a longer run.

No one's position is sacred at Duke and Coach K will review everyone's performance (including his own). However, it would be very difficult for any of us to say how Capel impacted the 2011-2012 Blue Devils.

I think it would be very difficult to prove the effect of an assistant coach. Did he bring some good ideas to the staff this year? Did he offer a different perspective after coaching in the big 12 for a few years? Did he teach the players well individually? Did he have some good ideas for drills that could be incorporated? Did he have some good ideas about how to attack or defend a particular opponent? I doubt very much we will get answers to any of these questions. At this point I choose to believe that adding a young coach with over 150 wins who is very well spoken and appears to be very well respected was likely a great thing for the coaching staff.