RIP Coach Chuck Daly 1930-2009

[roywhite]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4153982

Got his start in college coaching as an assistant at Duke. Was successful at four different levels of basketball coaching---high school, college, NBA, and Olympics.

[blueprofessor]

who beat the Dream Team in a scrimmage. Wonder who the point guard was on that college scrimmage team?
Six years as a Duke assistant...what a formidable coaching staff (Hubie Brown) with the very great Vic Bubas!

God bless you and your family,Coach, and thanks for coaching Duke.
Best---Blue " Bubas should be in the HOF as a coach" Professor :)

[weezie]

God bless Chuck Daly. He deserves every accolade. A gracious gentleman, a fierce competitor and a truly outstanding, generous and kind human being.
One of the very best....he was adored in Detroit.
I'm sorry to see him shake loose these mortal coils but I'm happy that his painful struggle with pancreatic cancer is over.

I will be lifting a glass to Chuck tonight. Godspeed, Coach!

[ehdg]

He was a true Gentleman and a great Coach. Very sorry to hear of his passing this morning!!

[jimsumner]

A good man.

Most of the media forgot his Duke years but he never did. He always was very appreciative of the chance given him by Vic Bubas.

RIP.

[BobbyFan]

One of the greatest coaches of all-time.

RIP.

[cspan37421]

Chuck Daly was to Detroit Pistons basketball what Terry Francona has been to Red Sox baseball - bringing titles to cities long-starved for them.

[blazindw]

Chuck Daly was to Detroit Pistons basketball what Terry Francona has been to Red Sox baseball - bringing titles to cities long-starved for them.

I see what you're saying, but as a native Detroiter, that wouldn't be my comparison. Chuck Daly was more than a basketball coach to us. He was our family. He was Daddy Rich. He was a legend walking the earth. To say he was beloved in the city of Detroit is an understatement. To me, he defined basketball when I was growing up. I remember going to my first basketball game (Pistons-Celtics regular season game back in the 80s). I see Chuck Daly come out in this killer blue suit with grey pinstripes. I asked my dad who that was. My dad simply said "That's Chuck Daly, the Six Million Dollar Man. He's the best coach in basketball." And he wasn't lying.

Chuck Daly will always and forever be one of the greatest coaches ever to me. He brought us 2 championship teams, but he brought a style of play, a hard working, defensive toughness with a touch of swagger that defined an entire movement of the 80s in the NBA. There was Showtime (Lakers), there was Bird and the Celtics, and there were the Bad Boys. And Chuck Daly was the CEO and the General.

Rest easy, Coach. You will forever live on every time the Pistons step foot on the court.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I see what you're saying, but as a native Detroiter, that wouldn't be my comparison. Chuck Daly was more than a basketball coach to us. He was our family. He was Daddy Rich. He was a legend walking the earth. To say he was beloved in the city of Detroit is an understatement. To me, he defined basketball when I was growing up. I remember going to my first basketball game (Pistons-Celtics regular season game back in the 80s). I see Chuck Daly come out in this killer blue suit with grey pinstripes. I asked my dad who that was. My dad simply said "That's Chuck Daly, the Six Million Dollar Man. He's the best coach in basketball." And he wasn't lying.

Chuck Daly will always and forever be one of the greatest coaches ever to me. He brought us 2 championship teams, but he brought a style of play, a hard working, defensive toughness with a touch of swagger that defined an entire movement of the 80s in the NBA. There was Showtime (Lakers), there was Bird and the Celtics, and there were the Bad Boys. And Chuck Daly was the CEO and the General.

Rest easy, Coach. You will forever live on every time the Pistons step foot on the court.

His legacy may be associated with Detroit, but he will always be one of our coaches. Coach Daly arrived at Duke when my class entered. He coached the freshman team that year and joined Hubie Brown as an assistant for Coach Bubas. How fortunate we were!

[77devil]

I am reposting this vignette I wrote about Chuck Daly in an earlier thread.

Chuck Daly was head coach at Penn when it was still a major Division 1 contender. My high school team played the Penn freshman team in 1972 at the Palestra before a Big 5 varsity game. It was a great game although Penn prevailed. Chuck came to our locker room after the game and could not have been more gracious to everyone.

He later became an assistant to the Kangaroo Kid with the Philadelphia 76ers, demonstrating that Duke and UNC can sometimes coexist. I went to a Sixers game earlier this year and the ticket contained a picture of Chuck on the bench during the late 70's. You would not believe the hairdo, a big bowl of curls.

Rest in peace Chuck.

[bill brill]

when vic bubas was the duke coach, the assistants started a tradition of having a party at one of their homes after home games. i guess it started with bucky waters and fred shabel. I was luckt enough to attend a bunch of them, including when chuck daly and hubie brown were the assistants on what is easily the most honored staff of all time, anywhere. I learned more basketball at those functions, which vic never attended, than I ever learned anywhere. chuck was an absolutely prince of a guy who had worked his way up through the high school ranks. he wasn't making any money but his -- and my -- friend al newman in danville made sure he dressed to his (chuck's) standards. he may be the only coach I never heard a negative word about. the last time I saw him was when duke had its 100th anniversary party before a home game in cameron and he insisted on my signing my anniversary book, which he had purchased. I'd find it impossible to say enough good things about chuck and his family. he started at the bottom and got to the very top doing everything the right way.

[roywhite]

when vic bubas was the duke coach, the assistants started a tradition of having a party at one of their homes after home games. i guess it started with bucky waters and fred shabel. I was luckt enough to attend a bunch of them, including when chuck daly and hubie brown were the assistants on what is easily the most honored staff of all time, anywhere. I learned more basketball at those functions, which vic never attended, than I ever learned anywhere. chuck was an absolutely prince of a guy who had worked his way up through the high school ranks. he wasn't making any money but his -- and my -- friend al newman in danville made sure he dressed to his (chuck's) standards. he may be the only coach I never heard a negative word about. the last time I saw him was when duke had its 100th anniversary party before a home game in cameron and he insisted on my signing my anniversary book, which he had purchased. I'd find it impossible to say enough good things about chuck and his family. he started at the bottom and got to the very top doing everything the right way.

Thanks, Bill; that was a very nice tribute.

Question for you, if you don't mind...just how did Coach Bubas manage to pluck him out of Punxsutawney, PA? That's hardly a traditional basketball hotbed. Was there some prior connection?