Bob Knight Trashes John Calipari

[SFP]

Again not a BK fan but I do enjoy him as a commentator. T did BK do something to you personally. I would not invite him to my wedding but the guy has never broken the law, except in Puerto Rico where he'll never be able to go again. He's an old crusty curmudgeon like a lot of folks on this board!

BTW...By now we know how you feel about the guy!

[Chico]

I don't really care what Bobby says about others. He did get quite a bit out of his teams.

Comparing how his players do in the pros has zero to do with defining a college coach's career IMO

Right on Lefty. He was hired to coach a college team, and was pretty successful at it, not to see how many of his players would make it to the NBA.

[SFP]

Right on Lefty. He was hired to coach a college team, and was pretty successful at it, not to see how many of his players would make it to the NBA.

I'm on this side of the fence. How many NCAA titles did he win? Who coached the last undefeated team in the NCAA? Plenty of coaches have probably gone a little too long in their profession but most of them have deserved that chance.

I'm also looking forward to someone picking up Bobby Bowdan for NCAA football next year!

[tornado]

and Bernie Madoff was once a fine investment broker...

[SFP]

and Bernie Madoff was once a fine investment broker...

and the relationship? You have completely lost me here but it did make me laugh.

[MacabreMob]

and Bernie Madoff was once a fine investment broker...

and the relationship? You have completely lost me here but it did make me laugh.

Huh? What?

Lost me too T.

LOL!

[real fan]

Right on Lefty. He was hired to coach a college team, and was pretty successful at it, not to see how many of his players would make it to the NBA.

It shows how good of a coach Bob Knight was when he didn"t have much NBA talent on his teams.
I didn"t agree with some of his tactics but he knew his X"s and O"s , he also got by far the most out of each players ability.

[afan]

Knight isn't prefect. But from my experiences with Knight, the guy isn't a monster. People will always have strong opinions on one side or the other, but off the court, he can show remarkable compassion at times, just as he can display a incredible rage, and fierce desire to win on the court. The guy isn't perfect, but in all honesty, if I was looking at who I thought would teach a son of mine more about growing up, i'd take Knight over Calipari in a heartbeat. It is simply a matter of opinion though. But from what I know of Knight, even with the choking mistake, he actually comes out on top as far as overall character over Calipari for me.

If you have kept up with Knight over the years you would know that the man was just plain mean and insulting to his players. Most of his infractions have never been reported. I saw one game where he hit his own son. You want your son to learn that type of behavior? And, do you think that Knight's compassion off the court balances his horrible character on the court? Yes, he graduated players. He graduated players as it was just another way for him to display his power and authority. His "co-workers" (the other Indiana University staff) couldn't stand him. How about when he was dating a cheerleader while he was married (he did marry her shortly after his divorce).
How many super stars quit Indiana because of Knight? How many super stars were never realized as a result of quiting Knights teams? We will never know. I would never want any of my sons to ever play for Knight. As you can clearly see his recruiting finally suffered as parents and players learned of his poor behavior. I have always believed that you get the most out of people by instilling a desire to want to succeed. Knights player played out of fear. With all that said I definitely agree with Knight in regard to his comments abvout Calipari.

[tornado]

others notice the same thing..

http://www.maysville-online.com/articles/2009/12/23/sports/doc4b32c19e82e91762779564.txt

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/313076-its-better-to-support-a-cheater-than-a-man-like-bob-knight

http://www.state-journal.com/news/simple_article/4733653

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/sports/ncaabasketball/21rhoden.html

http://www.bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/

[ChewaBrave]

"If you have kept up with Knight over the years you would know that the man was just plain mean and insulting to his players. Most of his infractions have never been reported. I saw one game where he hit his own son. You want your son to learn that type of behavior? And, do you think that Knight's compassion off the court balances his horrible character on the court? Yes, he graduated players. He graduated players as it was just another way for him to display his power and authority. His "co-workers" (the other Indiana University staff) couldn't stand him. How about when he was dating a cheerleader while he was married (he did marry her shortly after his divorce).
How many super stars quit Indiana because of Knight? How many super stars were never realized as a result of quiting Knights teams? We will never know. I would never want any of my sons to ever play for Knight. As you can clearly see his recruiting finally suffered as parents and players learned of his poor behavior. I have always believed that you get the most out of people by instilling a desire to want to succeed. Knights player played out of fear. With all that said I definitely agree with Knight in regard to his comments abvout Calipari."

I wouldn't immediately suggest i'm not knowledgeable simply because my opinion differs from yours. As I said, it is all a relative opinion - and yes, I do think that good deeds off the court go significantly further than than things on it. I was born and lived for many years in Indiana, been to an untold amount of games, follow the sports inclusive of bball and beyond that, have alumni parents, uncles, etc etc. I'm well aware of the state of Indiana Bball during knights tenure, and continued to follow it upon him leaving, just as I have done for past coachs of other schools I have interest in.

When a family member of mine was in dire straits the guy came through, and yes that shaped my opinion of him ten fold - but alas, thats the beauty of a personal opinion - it is mine, not yours, thusly I get to decide on to what it is based.

To the matter of basketball, no one forces you to play for knight. Now you can make the argument, that people didn't necessarily know what they were getting into, and I wont refute that, but well past the time when his demeanor became public knowledge, he still continued to get quality players to build a solid team.

I've never said he was the Messiah, or that he is the end-all, be-all - in the end, it was a statement of Calipari, or Knight. I'll still take Knight.

[afan]

"If you have kept up with Knight over the years you would know that the man was just plain mean and insulting to his players. Most of his infractions have never been reported. I saw one game where he hit his own son. You want your son to learn that type of behavior? And, do you think that Knight's compassion off the court balances his horrible character on the court? Yes, he graduated players. He graduated players as it was just another way for him to display his power and authority. His "co-workers" (the other Indiana University staff) couldn't stand him. How about when he was dating a cheerleader while he was married (he did marry her shortly after his divorce).
How many super stars quit Indiana because of Knight? How many super stars were never realized as a result of quiting Knights teams? We will never know. I would never want any of my sons to ever play for Knight. As you can clearly see his recruiting finally suffered as parents and players learned of his poor behavior. I have always believed that you get the most out of people by instilling a desire to want to succeed. Knights player played out of fear. With all that said I definitely agree with Knight in regard to his comments abvout Calipari."

I wouldn't immediately suggest i'm not knowledgeable simply because my opinion differs from yours. As I said, it is all a relative opinion - and yes, I do think that good deeds off the court go significantly further than than things on it. I was born and lived for many years in Indiana, been to an untold amount of games, follow the sports inclusive of bball and beyond that, have alumni parents, uncles, etc etc. I'm well aware of the state of Indiana Bball during knights tenure, and continued to follow it upon him leaving, just as I have done for past coachs of other schools I have interest in.

When a family member of mine was in dire straits the guy came through, and yes that shaped my opinion of him ten fold - but alas, thats the beauty of a personal opinion - it is mine, not yours, thusly I get to decide on to what it is based.

To the matter of basketball, no one forces you to play for knight. Now you can make the argument, that people didn't necessarily know what they were getting into, and I wont refute that, but well past the time when his demeanor became public knowledge, he still continued to get quality players to build a solid team.

I've never said he was the Messiah, or that he is the end-all, be-all - in the end, it was a statement of Calipari, or Knight. I'll still take Knight.

Very little of what I have stated is opinion. Most all of it is fact! And, you still want your son to play for Knight? Go for it!!!!

[That Guy]

Yes, he graduated players. He graduated players as it was just another way for him to display his power and authority.

IMO this argument loses some validity with this statement. Really? You're trying to turn his exceptionally high graduation rate into an ego thing, and hold it against him? Really? I thought graduating players was arguably the most important duties of a collegiate basketball coach.

[afan]

If anything, it shows just how great of an "x's and o's" coach he was. I would argue that he amost always had average to below-average players that he usually molded into a great team. I'm sure great players like Isaiah probably hated his system because (like Coach K and Dean Smith) team play often leads to lower individual stats.

I think Coach Knight was a great coach -- one of the best ever (time passed him by at the end of his career like so many other great coaches). He was, however, a real @$$hole of a human being.

For the most part I believe that Braves4Life has said it all. However, I would ask for a definition of a great coach. At what cost to his players did he achieve his winning results as a coach? It has been pointed out over and over that most of his players had very average personal carreers. I think that BK's personal achievements meant more to him than his players personal achievements.

[tornado]

...turn his exceptionally high graduation rate ....

and Elvis is still alive....

As I said elsewhere, if I had a nickel for every time I have seen someone claim, contrary to the actual facts, that Knight always graduated his players, I'd be very wealthy...so why does nobody seem to actually care to look at the data dispelling this myth??
I guess it's part of Bobby Knight worship...remain blind to the facts...

He did NOT have an exceptionally high graduation rate..in fact, he was below average most of all the time that there are numbers available to document this...and IU even lost scholarships because of bad NCAA academic data that covered some of the Bobby Knight era and involved a number of his recruits.
His numbers at Texas Tech are downright atrocious, as he no longer had the same recruiting prowess that he had at Indiana, where he could easily hand pick the players he wanted and be sure he always got the top players with no history of academic issues....


--For Texas Tech:
-- since 2002, basketball Federal graduation rate was 22% and GSR 50%
-- since 2001 Fed grad rate 38%, GSR 50% (this includes some of his predecessor's data)
-- all the numbers for IU back in the 1990's are right at the average or just under...
(60-80% Federal grad rates, 75-80% GSR's)

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?key=/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2009/division+i/division+i+graduation+rates+reach+all-time+highs_11_18_09_ncaa_news

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=79624#post79624

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=80132#post80132

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=15524#post15524

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=68109#post68109

Bobby Knight never did any better than anyone else and certainly did not "always graduate his players"...
BTW-- for every year since the late 90's, Bradley's numbers are better than Texas Tech's...where both Les & Knight were coaching in that era..

[SFP]

I'll stand by my first comment that BK was spot on with his comments regarding college basketball and John Calipari! Nothing more nothing less! Why this became a forum regarding BK and his personality when his statement is something we all should be taking to the bank perplexes me? Then again others just want a point to argue I guess regardless.