Temper Flares, Bob Knight Slaps Player ?

[collegehoopjunkie]

Despite the spin, Bob Knight clearly slaps the kid unexpectedly right in the face. Beware of those who'll come to Knight's defense and say this is just the way he coaches....baloney!
The guy is a meltdown waiting to happen.

"TV Catches Texas Tech Coach's Slap"

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061114-105246-9718r

"Knight Strikes Player..."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/111406dnspotechhoops.33d1415.html

(this link includes the video)

"Knight's temper flares as he slaps player's chin"

http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.php?id=39276&adid=news

[BUBraves06]

I'm not going to defend him by any means, but if this was any other coach in the country this wouldn't even be an issue.

[patrick_o'brian]

next. This is a non-issue. he was trying to straighten the kid out. the kid and his family are fine with it. we should leave it at that.

[phyneous_j_whoopie]

GARBAGE!! When is it ever acceptable for a coach to hit a player?

What if you're boss slapped you at work tomorrow just because he wanted to get the best out of you?

[Bravesfan]

GARBAGE!! When is it ever acceptable for a coach to hit a player?

What if you're boss slapped you at work tomorrow just because he wanted to get the best out of you?

In certain jobs you don't slap the employee. But coaching is a different story. Look, hitting someone is not my style personally, and by no means should anyone break someone's neck, but this was no big deal.

Personally, if teachers were allowed to slap students, we wouldn't see the complete chaos that occurs in so many schools. Just my opinion though.

Btw, welcome to the boards phyneous! Say hello to Tennessee and Chumley for me!

[Bravesfan]

next. This is a non-issue. he was trying to straighten the kid out. the kid and his family are fine with it. we should leave it at that.

Agreed (see my previous post)!

[collegehoopjunkie]

In next season's edition of the reality show "Knight School"
will the walk-on contestants be required to wear hockey-style face masks for protection?

[beamer1]

Another basketball reality TV show gets shot down.

http://www.theindychannel.com/entertainment/10323333/detail.html

[meth]

When Knight passes Dean Smith, I will still consider Smith the best coach ever, since he just doesn't have this baggage.

[tornado]

Wow, here's an interesting perspective on Bob Knight.

http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/new/story/knight_fall_does_bobby_knight_matter_anymore14577

"Knight Fall: Does Bobby Knight Matter Anymore?"

Is Bob Knight at Texas Tech, sorta like Willie Mays playing for the Mets?
Is it time for him to retire?

"Does the greatest coach of my lifetime no longer matter nationally?"


"It???‚¬?„?s been well over a decade since one of his teams achieved anything close to greatness. You have to go back 13 years to find a Knight-coached team that climbed to No. 1 in the polls. And wasn???‚¬?„?t he supposed to turn Texas Tech into a juggernaut? The General???‚¬?„?s Red Raiders haven???‚¬?„?t finished better than third in the Big 12. Who would???‚¬?„?ve thought that one of the most legendary figures in the history of the coaching profession would be jealous of the success at Gonzaga? Or, for that matter, Wichita State?"

"His players haven???‚¬?„?t fared any better.

While Knight is endlessly praised for his unmatched ability to teach, his lessons may no longer be getting through. What worked for Mike Kryzewski, Scott May, Kent Benson, Quinn Buckner, and Steve Alford, seems now only to work for reality television executives.

Isiah Thomas is the last of Knight???‚¬?„?s players to make an NBA All-Star team and he retired from the league in 1994. In fact, it???‚¬?„?s been so long since Thomas played professionally that Zeke???‚¬?„?s already owned the CBA, coached two teams, and bypassed George Steinbrenner as the most controversial sports executive in New York. And, by the way, Isiah only played two seasons under Knight.

In the quarter century since Thomas left Knight???‚¬?„?s tutelage, the best pro players he coached were Calbert Cheaney and Alan Henderson. By comparison, Jim Calhoun???‚¬?„?s UConn team from a season ago sent five players to the NBA. Two of them ???‚¬??? Rudy Gay and Marcus Williams ???‚¬??? will likely make a bigger impact by next season than Cheaney or Henderson ever did."

[Biff]

Ridiculous opinion- If every coach who hasn't reached #1 in the polls, or coached an NBA All Star should retire and get out of the way, then 99% of the nations coaches would be lining up for their retirement pay.

I suspect Bob Knight doesn't coach to try to put players in the NBA. He has struggled a little the last couple years, but has some pretty high rated recruits coming. He just turned 66 years old, I'll bet he stays around a while longer.

[tornado]

I think they do make one point that's valid.
While Bob Knight had lots of players going to the NBA in the 80's, he's had very few in the last decade, certainly not many who lasted very long or had great impacts.
I think the success of Knight in his first 20 years at IU was largely due to the caliber of recruits he was able to land.
He had a stable of McD All Americans every year.
Lou Henson never had that benefit, and still built a career of nearly 800 wins, less than 100 shy of Knight, in essentially the same number of years!
Not saying he isn't a great coach-- his record stands for itself.
But they are pointing out that if his entire career were at a place like Texas Tech, he would not as likely have built such a legendary career.
In the absence of those quality recruits over the past decade or so, he isn't having the same success....that's all their saying.

[RocketWatcher]

GARBAGE!! When is it ever acceptable for a coach to hit a player?

What if you're boss slapped you at work tomorrow just because he wanted to get the best out of you?

What if the whole country became a bunch of sissies like those down in Florida who fired a police chief because he called his officers jelly bellies and told them to get in shape?

Can't take the heat get out the kitchen.

[Biff]

I think they do make one point that's valid.....that's all their saying.

Naw, this is just a ridiculous article by some guy named Adam Stanco (who works for ESPN and Comcast sports) who has to find enough to write about to fill an article once in a while. So he heaps onto a favorite target of ESPN, Bobby Knight. ESPN single-handedly tried to drag out the slapping incident into a worldwide crisis when nobody else cared. They were still breaking into sports events for a week after the incident with updates every 15 minutes. What a joke!
Now this guy, who probably couldn't make a basket in ten tries from the layup position, feels like ripping on Knight because he doesn't turn out enough All Americans or win national championships for this guy's liking.
The title of the piece is- "Knight Fall: Does Bobby Knight Matter Anymore?"
Who is he to decide this? These media people think they are all so much smarter than the rest of us that they have to tell us who matters and who doesn't. When in fact, the IQ of these journalism types is significantly lower than people who end up making a living in most other areas of life other than sports and journalism.
Tell me... did the last coach at Texas Tech win any national championships or have any NBA All Stars playing for him? Oh, but his name wasn't Bobby Knight. So then it's OK.
If Bobby Knight is irrelevant, than why is he about to become the winningest coach of all time? Was Dean Smith irrelevant the last 4 years he coached at UNC and didn't win a national championship??

[Chico]

I agree with you Biff. Would Dean Smith have all those wins if he was coaching Texas Tech?