Coach of the year in the ACC

[Saratoga2]

I believe a strong case can be made for coach K as coach of the year, although I doubt he is being considered as the top contender. Here is why I think a stong case can be made for him.

1. Leading the ACC with a 9 & 2 record and likely to extend that to the outright season championship.

2. Coaching through adversity with the loss of Henderson to the NBA and Williams to Memphis. These were two terrific athletes on a team lacking in sheer athleticism. To replace that loss, the coaching staff has done its best by bringing Dawkins(a young freshman with his own tragic story) and by the necessity of moving Singler to a new position. Who could have done better with the cards dealt, and there was never a hint of pity me in any of the communications.

3. Coach K has stuck with an awkward, oft injured, unathletic big man and developed him for 4 years, building on his strengths, which are size and intelligence. The results have been an impressive growth in Zoubek as a player and young man.

4. Coach K stuck with another young man who has played sort of a helter-skelter game of over aggressive foul prone, weak offensive player and the result is a player who is recognizing his value, cutting down his fouls and becoming a good fouls shooter and now can hit a mid range jumper. Thomas has come a long ways as a player on and for this team.

5. We have three talented big men who are young in experience. These players are gradually being incorporated into the team while still winning the majority of our games. We clearly are getting more and more from them and that is a testimony to the wisdom of the coach in his approach to developing players.

5. With a team without a clear point guard, coach K has recognized the talents of Scheyer and also Smith and has found ways for them to integrate them into the most accomplished back court in the ACC and with Singler, they are the highest scoring threesome in the country.

These are great items on his resume this year. Yes we have had a couple of bad losses, but if you look at all of the teams in the ACC, you will find similar tough losses.

[diveonthefloor]

I agree 100%. Unfortunately, the voters will prob choose Bennett. UVa has been so bad for so long, and Bennett is coaching with pretty much the same team that performed horribly last year. Both men deserve the award.

Just think about who might win the award if it were for "Worst Coach of the Year" in the ACC? (Only one candidate for that one!)

[gumbomoop]

I think maybe 5 coaches are still in the running.

1. K - likely winner if Duke finishes 13-3 or 14-2.
2. Bennett - if Duke falters to a 1st-place tie, and if Va doesn't falter badly, say to 7-9. If Va goes 10-6 (unlikely) or even 9-7 (I'm skeptical), it's Bennett, no matter what Duke does.
3. Gaudio, Williams, Greenberg - if one of these teams ties Duke for first; or maybe even if Duke goes 12-4, and one of these is alone in 2d at 11-5 (esp Va Tech).

Addendum: Every time I've posted a comment suggesting GaT will do well, several posters have replied, "Hewitt, not so good." You're right, I'm wrong.

[brevity]

Just think about who might win the award if it were for "Worst Coach of the Year" in the ACC? (Only one candidate for that one!)

While Roy Williams is certainly a leading candidate for WCOY, Paul Hewitt deserves some consideration for a Georgia Tech campaign that is fairly consistent in undermining expectations. A month ago we were merely afraid that Duke would be a bad road team; GT has followed through on that count.

[94duke]

10 days since this was visited, so I wanted to bring it BTT with a question.
UVa has lost their last 6 (and 8 of their last 10). They are currently 14-11 (5-7 ACC).
Is Bennett still in the running for ACC COY?
Are Seth Greenberg, Gary Williams, and Coach K the best candidates now?
What do you think?

[superdave]

Are Seth Greenberg, Gary Williams, and Coach K the best candidates now?
What do you think?

In the order you just stated.

[BD80]

... Are Seth Greenberg, Gary Williams, and Coach K the best candidates now?
What do you think?

They have to be the top three.

But there has to be a special award for ol' roy for holding it together throughout this disaster, and for being so supportive of the players

No one else has EVER gone through what poor ol' roy has gone though this year

[sagegrouse]

I agree 100%. Unfortunately, the voters will prob choose Bennett. UVa has been so bad for so long, and Bennett is coaching with pretty much the same team that performed horribly last year. Both men deserve the award.



Edit: Oops! I didn't read the date of your post or the subsequent messages. This comment is probably inapt.

This was my view a few weeks ago. The Hoos have now lost six ACC games in a row, and while they were competitive against Wake and VT, they have been blown out in the last four games. UVa is now playing the worst of any team in the conference.

The problem is on offense. I have read one analysis that puts the recent UVa offensive efficiency way below anyone else in the league. Teams have been concentrating on the gifted Sylvan Landesburg and daring the other players to score. Landesburg had a good game last night at Miami but the Wahoos still lost by double digits.

IMHO (when the Sage Grouse clucks, the H is usually silent) Dick Bennett is toast as a COY candidate.

sagegrouse

[airowe]

I know I'm biased, but I think they should be ranked like this right now:

1) K -- overcoming obstacles listed above to be the clear best team in the conference

2) Gary -- especially if they beat us in College Park (which I think they will) but mainly based on their perceived lack of talent (lack of McDAAs) minus Vasquez.

3) Roy -- for overcoming the tremendous obstacles put in front of him this year (7 McDAAs, #3 recruiting class, 2 Seniors, 1 Junior, a Sophomore Lottery Pick, and a Sophomore PG starting lineup, unfair negative press, and fans of other programs on his court.)

[CDu]

Edit: Oops! I didn't read the date of your post or the subsequent messages. This comment is probably inapt.

This was my view a few weeks ago. The Hoos have now lost six ACC games in a row, and while they were competitive against Wake and VT, they have been blown out in the last four games. UVa is now playing the worst of any team in the conference.

The problem is on offense. I have read one analysis that puts the recent UVa offensive efficiency way below anyone else in the league. Teams have been concentrating on the gifted Sylvan Landesburg and daring the other players to score. Landesburg had a good game last night at Miami but the Wahoos still lost by double digits.

IMHO (when the Sage Grouse clucks, the H is usually silent) Dick Bennett is toast as a COY candidate.

sagegrouse

I think if Bennett had taken this team to ~6 wins spread out over the course of the ACC season, he'd be a solid candidate for the award. He's working with a roster that most picked dead-last in the ACC before the season. So they're still outperforming preseason expectations.

The award usually goes to the coach whose team exceeds expectations the most. But the problem for Bennett is that, by doing so surprisingly well (albeit against a softer first-half of the schedule), UVa raised the expectation level going into February. And now that they've tanked, they have failed to meet the updated expectations. In reality, though, the team just isn't very good at all.

If Bennett had remained below the radar early in the ACC season and finished with 6 wins (including 2-3 wins in the second half), he'd probably be in the discussion.

[DukeUsul]

Whoever finishes in second between Greenberg and Williams gets it. Coach K will never win a COY of the year award again.

[Olympic Fan]

I think if Bennett had taken this team to ~6 wins spread out over the course of the ACC season, he'd be a solid candidate for the award. He's working with a roster that most picked dead-last in the ACC before the season.

Actually, N.C. State was picked dead last in the ACC ... Virginia was 11th in the media's preseaon poll, with 116 votes, finishing closer to 10th place Miami (135 votes) than to the last-place Pack (76 votes).

So far, Bennett has led Virginia to one more ACC win than Leito managed last year (UVa was 4-12). Is that a great improvement, considering that he inherited five returning starters? A year ago, Leito had to compete with an all-freshman starting backcourt ... it's kind of reasonable to think they might be better as sophomores.

A related topic -- listening to Adam Gold yesterday (I know, my mistake), they were talking about ACC POY and they ended up posting a five-player poll for that honor -- which Gold said was the almost-lock first-team All-ACC: Scheyer, Delaney. Vasquez, Aminu and ... Landesberg!

I think that just as Tony Bennett has gone from being a lock for COY, Landesberg has slipped from first team to second team All-ACC. I know he had 27 last night, but in the four previous games (all losses), he's averaged 11.5 points and 2.7 assists.

I'm prejudiced, but I think Singler has surged past him for the fifth spot on the team ... for the season, their scoring is very close (Singler has actually scored more in ACC games ... Landesberg has scored more overall). And of course, Singler is the much better defender and rebounder.

[jimsumner]

It's very difficult for the coach of the preseason (co) favorites to win COY. Any sport, college or pro. Tough to overachieve if you're picked #1 and voters like overachievers.

Not saying that's right, not saying that's wrong. Just the way it is.

I've always used 1992 as an example of this. Not only did Duke goes 14-2 and win the ACC by 3 games, but they also were ranked number one in every single national poll that season. Every single week.

ACC COY? Why, Pat Kennedy of course.

In case you're wondering, in 1991, when K replaced three starters and finished first in the ACC, the COY was Dave Odom. In 2001 his job of replacing Boozer and beating the Heels in the DES Center for a first-place tie finish was rewarded with an also-ran behind Paul Hewitt, who coached GT to an 8-8 conference mark.

[Highlander]

It's very difficult for the coach of the preseason (co) favorites to win COY. Any sport, college or pro. Tough to overachieve if you're picked #1 and voters like overachievers.

Not saying that's right, not saying that's wrong. Just the way it is.

I've always used 1992 as an example of this. Not only did Duke goes 14-2 and win the ACC by 3 games, but they also were ranked number one in every single national poll that season. Every single week.

ACC COY? Why, Pat Kennedy of course.

In case you're wondering, in 1991, when K replaced three starters and finished first in the ACC, the COY was Dave Odom. In 2001 his job of replacing Boozer and beating the Heels in the DES Center for a first-place tie finish was rewarded with an also-ran behind Paul Hewitt, who coached GT to an 8-8 conference mark.

I agree. COY always goes to the program that overachieved or defied preseason expectations. If Duke wins the conference by 2 games or more, however, it should be tight. I think Greenberg gets it personally.

[Duvall]

I think Greenberg gets it personally.

I hope so. We need to make sure that he still has more COY awards than NCAA Tournament appearances at VPI.

[gumbomoop]

I agree. COY always goes to the program that overachieved or defied preseason expectations. If Duke wins the conference by 2 games or more, however, it should be tight. I think Greenberg gets it personally.

For those who think - this now includes me - that K won't win, no matter what happens from here on out, I offer the following maybe, maybe-unlikely, but not wacky-idiotic scenario:

1. Duke finishes 14-2 [obviously means defeating @Md]
2. Md finishes 11-5 = Clem (W), @VT (L), Duke (L), @UVa (W)
3. VT finishes 10-4 = @BC (L), Md (W), NCSt (W), @GT (L)

Thus Duke clearly distances itself from everyone, but no matter, K comes in 3d or 5th [!] in voting.

I'd guess such a scenario is the only way K has a chance, but even then, it's GW or SG.

[camion]

I think the winner of the MD - Va Tech game gets it. I agree with others who pointed out that it's nearly impossible to exceed expectations if you're picked at the top. Duke would have to go 18-0 in conference play for K to get it.

Yes, I know we only play 16 conference games.

[oldnavy]

The good news about all of this is that I think Coach K couldn't care less about the COY award. He has always been focused on the team and his players much more so than a few of his fellow coaches. Therefore I propose that they give the award to Roy, because he cares much more, and has suffered so much this year despite coaching his little heart out. If only he had some talented players, imagine what he could have accomplished this year!

[hurleyfor3]

I3) Roy -- for overcoming the tremendous obstacles put in front of him this year (7 McDAAs, #3 recruiting class, 2 Seniors, 1 Junior, a Sophomore Lottery Pick, and a Sophomore PG starting lineup, unfair negative press, and fans of other programs on his court.)

Roy should be the runaway favorite. Unc's suckiness is all the players' fault, not his.

[BD80]

Roy should be the runaway favorite. Unc's suckiness is all the players' fault, not his.

Naw. ol' roy is setting us for next year.

Just think, if he gets to .500 in the conference and makes the NCAA's next year with the crappy players he has, he MUST be COY!

[UrinalCake]

Regarding the OP, while K's development of Lance and Zoubs is a testament to his coaching ability, I don't think their long-term progress factors into the discussion as only this year is relevant. That said, I think their development just within this season has been pretty amazing.

The talent that Coach K has this year is by no means superior to the rest of the ACC. I don't mean this as a slam against our guys, I just mean that other teams have talent too. Yet the expectations are so high for Duke that I just don't see him winning COY, unfortunately.