K on Colin Cowherd

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

K was on CC today, who I usually wouldn't listen to. Found myself radio surfing, heard him promo it. Came home, gave it a listen. It was a great, far-ranging interview. He hit on MJ, Kobe, LeBron, the times he nearly went to the NBA, Jerry Tarkanian, his greatest players and what they have in common, and other topics. The last five to ten minutes are spent on Fauci and COVID-19. K gets very emotional in discussing the virus and healthcare workers.

Definitely worth a listen. Colin stays on pretty good behavior, from my perspective.

Sorry I can't find link, I'm sure it will be up soon.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

K said that Laettner was one of the top 5 "winners" ever in college basketball and was the best player he coached at Duke. Called him a "point center."

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

K said that Laettner was one of the top 5 "winners" ever in college basketball and was the best player he coached at Duke. Called him a "point center."

Yes. And put him in the same group as Kobe and LeBron in his ability to "see the bigger picture" in terms of the right play to make teammates better. Didn't hedge on naming Laettner the best he ever coached.

Also, found it interesting that he said it's impossible to have the same level of relationships with players today as he once had, for obvious reasons.

He also lamented the lack of a spokesperson for the game and the players, which I've heard him address previously.

[brevity]

Sorry I can't find link, I'm sure it will be up soon.

The full video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmngbTeHdZo):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmngbTeHdZo

Fox Sports Radio Twitter also has a 3-minute clip here (https://twitter.com/FoxSportsRadio/status/1248320523852853249) about Zion.

[jimmymax]

Sorry, you lost me at Blowhard.

[weezie]

K said that Laettner was one of the top 5 "winners" ever in college basketball and was the best player he coached at Duke. Called him a "point center."

Watching the old games, our Christian was a great dribbler and passer. I'm with K, point center.

[luvdahops]

Watching the old games, our Christian was a great dribbler and passer. I'm with K, point center.

I don't know if I quite agree with point center, but Laettner's ability to face up and drive from 15-20 feet was definitely one of the things that made him such a tough matchup, even for the likes of Shaq and Chris Webber.

[richardjackson199]

K starts off by telling Cowherd that he strongly disagrees with a few of CC's stances. I'd love to know exactly which opinions K was talking about.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

K starts off by telling Cowherd that he strongly disagrees with a few of CC's stances. I'd love to know exactly which opinions K was talking about.

Probably the idiotic ones that distill all sports into big city markets and warm weather locales?

[gep]

I thought it was a very good interview... Cowherd only asked questions, setting up Coach K for his "dissertations"... :cool:

[chrishoke]

Absolutely great interview. Thanks for posting. I highly recommend listening to the entire piece.

[Troublemaker]

K starts off by telling Cowherd that he strongly disagrees with a few of CC's stances. I'd love to know exactly which opinions K was talking about.

I've only listened to the first couple of minutes so far. It's more precise to say that Coach K began by saying the he "loved" Cowherd's "perspectives," agreed with "a lot" of them, but also made a point to say that he disagreed with some. Overall, the impression the viewer/listener gets is that these two are simpatico. Not surprising since Cowherd probably is the most pro-Duke and pro-K of all the national sports talk blowhards.


Probably the idiotic ones that distill all sports into big city markets and warm weather locales?

Probably not those takes since they overlap with player empowerment -- e.g. it's okay for Lebron to want to play and live in Miami or L.A. instead of Cleveland.

My guess would be Coach is covering for himself for any takes where Cowherd has criticized one of Coach K's players, either on the USA team or at Duke. So, for example, if Cowherd has criticized James Harden or Kyrie harshly, Coach K wouldn't want Harden or Kyrie to think that just because he came on Colin's show that Coach supports those takes.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I've only listened to the first couple of minutes so far. It's more precise to say that Coach K began by saying the he "loved" Cowherd's "perspectives," agreed with "a lot" of them, but also made a point to say that he disagreed with some. Overall, the impression the viewer/listener gets is that these two are simpatico. Not surprising since Cowherd probably is the most pro-Duke and pro-K of all the national sports talk blowhards.



Probably not those takes since they overlap with player empowerment -- e.g. it's okay for Lebron to want to play and live in Miami or L.A. instead of Cleveland.

My guess would be Coach is covering for himself for any takes where Cowherd has criticized one of Coach K's players, either on the USA team or at Duke. So, for example, if Cowherd has criticized James Harden or Kyrie harshly, Coach K wouldn't want Harden or Kyrie to think that just because he came on Colin's show that Coach supports those takes.

I don't want to derail this thread into a discussion of Colin Cowherd, but my issue with his comments over market size and weather have nothing to do with player empowerment. It's the utter absurdity that you can distill down the future of franchises by media markets and winter temperatures. It's so insultingly oversimplified.

I also don't like when he says "you SAY you want to see Team X and Team Y in the championship" but the numbers say otherwise! Give me a break. Don't tell me what I do and don't want.

Anyways, he seems quite genuinely engaged with K, and K seemed to mostly tolerate Colin (complete admission of my own bias showing through).

I also enjoyed when they touched on Jerry Tarkanian. I was surprised to learn that K and Tark were close for a time. Their programs just seemed so... different (again, my bias might be on display).

[Troublemaker]

I don't want to derail this thread into a discussion of Colin Cowherd, but my issue with his comments over market size and weather have nothing to do with player empowerment. It's the utter absurdity that you can distill down the future of franchises by media markets and winter temperatures. It's so insultingly oversimplified.

It depends on the sport and I suppose also the specific argument he's making (I'm not *that* familiar with his takes so can only speak from the 30,000-ft view). It would be crazy for him to think that's the case in the NFL (and so I would agree with you if he makes the argument there), but wouldn't he be largely correct in the NBA and, I believe, baseball? I mean, I'm a small-market rooter in the NBA (and we could be fellow travelers there), and it's heartbreaking to see the Lakers basically do almost everything wrong in the past several years and then all of a sudden fall into being a contender with Lebron and AD just because it's in Los Angeles. The bar to succeed in a small-market just seems to be so much higher. You basically have to have extremely good luck (e.g. winning the lottery when Tim Duncan, the greatest PF ever, enters the draft) and extremely high competence (e.g. Pop being arguably the best coach ever).

[throatybeard]

Probably the idiotic ones that distill all sports into big city markets and warm weather locales?

You must blah blah before Mtn Devil gets more sporks.

[Nugget]

I also enjoyed when they touched on Jerry Tarkanian. I was surprised to learn that K and Tark were close for a time. Their programs just seemed so... different (again, my bias might be on display).

It was interesting to hear Cowherd relate how Tark told him how much it meant to him when Coach K complimented Tark for how hard the Vegas teams played.

John Feinstein's book A Season Inside had a similar anecdote from Jim Valvano in 1988 talking about how hard Duke played for Coach K and that he wished he could get his uber-talented team (Charles Shackelford, Chuckie Brown, etc.) to do so.

[jv001]

It depends on the sport and I suppose also the specific argument he's making (I'm not *that* familiar with his takes so can only speak from the 30,000-ft view). It would be crazy for him to think that's the case in the NFL (and so I would agree with you if he makes the argument there), but wouldn't he be largely correct in the NBA and, I believe, baseball? I mean, I'm a small-market rooter in the NBA (and we could be fellow travelers there), and it's heartbreaking to see the Lakers basically do almost everything wrong in the past several years and then all of a sudden fall into being a contender with Lebron and AD just because it's in Los Angeles. The bar to succeed in a small-market just seems to be so much higher. You basically have to have extremely good luck (e.g. winning the lottery when Tim Duncan, the greatest PF ever, enters the draft) and extremely high competence (e.g. Pop being arguably the best coach ever).

I agree with you regarding the small market comments Colin has made. Many people put the St. Louis Cardinals in the list of small market teams but they draw over 3 million fans almost every season. They are able to draw fans from all over. I think St. Louis is one of the best baseball franchises in the sport. I guess the list would be: Yankees, Dodgers, Cardinals, Red Sox, and SF.

GoDuke!

[-jk]

I agree with you regarding the small market comments Colin has made. Many people put the St. Louis Cardinals in the list of small market teams but they draw over 3 million fans almost every season. They are able to draw fans from all over. I think St. Louis is one of the best baseball franchises in the sport. I guess the list would be: Yankees, Dodgers, Cardinals, Red Sox, and SF.

GoDuke!

I think "small market" refers to ad revenue for TV, not ticket sales.

-jk

[jv001]

I think "small market" refers to ad revenue for TV, not ticket sales.

-jk

In that case they're(St. Louis) a small market team.

GoDuke!

[wsb3]

The full video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmngbTeHdZo):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmngbTeHdZo

Fox Sports Radio Twitter also has a 3-minute clip here (https://twitter.com/FoxSportsRadio/status/1248320523852853249) about Zion.

Thank you so much for sharing. I really enjoyed this interview. I listened while labeling some Duke Game Discs I had ordered. Seemed appropriate.

I got a kick out of Coach mentioning Michael Jordan was not even High School Player of the year for NC. Buzz Peterson was. I am one of the more senior posters here I suppose and I am from Wilmington so I was very familiar with what is maybe a little bit of trivia for our younger fans of college basketball.

[Faison1]

I'm not sure why people are ripping on Cowherd. This was an excellent interview, where Colin obviously shows great respect for Coach K and College Basketball in general. Coach K is reciprocal, in my estimation.

Coach K's honesty (missing the relationships he had with 4 year players), especially with his historical viewpoint are awesome. His stories about watching talented players play against his teams are fascinating (Grant Hill guarding Stacey Augman being the difference between 1990 and 1991). I could have listened to this interview for hours.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I'm not sure why people are ripping on Cowherd. This was an excellent interview, where Colin obviously shows great respect for Coach K and College Basketball in general. Coach K is reciprocal, in my estimation.

Coach K's honesty (missing the relationships he had with 4 year players), especially with his historical viewpoint are awesome. His stories about watching talented players play against his teams are fascinating (Grant Hill guarding Stacey Augman being the difference between 1990 and 1991). I could have listened to this interview for hours.

I'm in agreement that this interview was very good. And also, I can't stand CC usually. Kudos to him for a solid interview.

[Steven43]

I don't want to derail this thread into a discussion of Colin Cowherd, but my issue with his comments over market size and weather have nothing to do with player empowerment. It's the utter absurdity that you can distill down the future of franchises by media markets and winter temperatures. It's so insultingly oversimplified.

That’s Cowherd’s shtick. He oversimplifies virtually everything. And he loves to repeat things, always returning to the same themes — the brilliance of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the Patriot Way; LeBron James; the Dallas Cowboys dominating television ratings and the media whether they win or lose; the aforementioned big advantage to warm weather schools in college football recruiting. It’s what he does.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

That’s Cowherd’s shtick. He oversimplifies virtually everything. And he loves to repeat things, always returning to the same themes — the brilliance of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the Patriot Way; LeBron James; the Dallas Cowboys dominating television ratings and the media whether they win or lose; the aforementioned big advantage to warm weather schools in college football recruiting. It’s what he does.

I'm well familiar. He also equates Duke basketball and Notre Dame football, which seems to have outlived it's appropriateness.

I find his whole schtick absurd. You nailed the description: overly simplistic. Who needs that?

But, again, good interview with K.

[Troublemaker]

That’s Cowherd’s shtick. He oversimplifies virtually everything. And he loves to repeat things, always returning to the same themes — the brilliance of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the Patriot Way; LeBron James; the Dallas Cowboys dominating television ratings and the media whether they win or lose; the aforementioned big advantage to warm weather schools in college football recruiting. It’s what he does.

To be fair, I think that's true of most long-form radio shows. I say "most" but I'm actually not aware of any radio show running for 3+ hours for 5 days a week that isn't repetitive and doesn't explain events in a simplified manner that conforms to the host's worldview or ideology. To be sure, within that framework, there is still a wide range in quality between radio hosts; there are certain people I could listen to forever and there are others that would force me to flip the dial right away. But even for the radio people I like, I have to admit that they repeat and simplify.

[wsb3]

I'm well familiar. He also equates Duke basketball and Notre Dame football, which seems to have outlived it's appropriateness.

I find his whole schtick absurd. You nailed the description: overly simplistic. Who needs that?

But, again, good interview with K.

Wasn't Cowherd a Duke basher before meeting Coach K? It seems to me that he was one of the believers in a conspiracy theory that Duke got an easy bracket in 2010 because the NCAA wanted them in the Final Four.

Am I remembering this incorrectly?

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Wasn't Cowherd a Duke basher before meeting Coach K? It seems to me that he was one of the believers in a conspiracy theory that Duke got an easy bracket in 2010 because the NCAA wanted them in the Final Four.

Am I remembering this incorrectly?

CC maintains that the NCAA gives preference to big programs like Notre Dame football and Duke basketball for the purposes of TV ratings. Everything boils down to money in his book.