Mack is the extreme favorite...

[KingHenry_X]

He may be a great coach and even a great person but there's just something about the guy I don't care much for. I can't really put my finger on it either.

Frustration.

Every coach or system has an Achilles heel. I watch their defense and cannot help to think its specifically designed to counter the motion offense. I’m not a coach, but I have to think that a well-executed high-post would cause them fits. They flank the screener and jump the screen trapping the ball handler and cutting off passing lanes on the apex. If the screener would drop back to the foul line, wait for the post defenders to come up, and pass to a cutting player on the baseline it would cause them to back off their aggressiveness at the top of the key.

 

[zipp]

Another comparison for Bennett if you're old school... He comes as close to Bobby Knight WITHOUT the baggage as any coach I've seen. Those coaches personify the adage of beating you with his players, then swapping teams and beating you with your own guys.

I'd be really curious what he could do with a little more talent. Those kinda players couldn't play for Knight...

 

[Cue Card]

Frustration.

Every coach or system has an Achilles heel. I watch their defense and cannot help to think its specifically designed to counter the motion offense. I’m not a coach, but I have to think that a well-executed high-post would cause them fits. They flank the screener and jump the screen trapping the ball handler and cutting off passing lanes on the apex. If the screener would drop back to the foul line, wait for the post defenders to come up, and pass to a cutting player on the baseline it would cause them to back off their aggressiveness at the top of the key.

Maybe that's it. I do get frustrated when watching UVA play the Cardinals.

Personally, I think Denny would have mopped the floor with that guy. Denny's high-low offense versus Bennett's defensive scheme? I'll take Denny Crum each and every time.

 

[zipp]

It's kinda funny that FOUR HOF coaches in the same conference couldn't figure out how to beat UVA. Tells me there's more to the job than something simple...

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Another comparison for Bennett if you're old school... ...

Another comparison, and more accurate one, would be Jaime Dixon.

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Pittsburgh Panthers (Big East Conference) (2003–2013)
2003–04 Pittsburgh 31–5 13–3 1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2004–05 Pittsburgh 20–9 10–6 5th NCAA First Round
2005–06 Pittsburgh 25–8 10–6 T–4th NCAA Second Round
2006–07 Pittsburgh 29–8 12–4 T–2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2007–08 Pittsburgh 27–10 10–8 7th NCAA Second Round
2008–09 Pittsburgh 31–5 15–3 T–2nd NCAA Elite Eight
2009–10 Pittsburgh 25–9 13–5 T–2nd NCAA Second Round
2010–11 Pittsburgh 28–6 15–3 1st NCAA Third Round

 

[MikeMcCammon]

LMAO, odd that you arbitrarily chose the last 9. Why would that be? Because if you went to 10, it drops your number to 50 percent and that tenth year ago the champion was...Kansas.

I think you have to look at the approximate period that the Nike system of cheating was in effect. Go ahead and say the last 10 years if it makes you happy. So you actually think it bolsters your argument that the big 3 Nike schools only won 50% of the NCAA titles? Wow. I mean, how much clearer can it be?

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

I believe the relationship with NIKE and the NCAA goes back longer than 10 years?

 

[Rockfly78]

And how many championships does UK own since our last in 2013? There is no question they have compiled more “talent” than anyone else in college basketball. How is that working out for them in March?

Again you are acting under the assumption that UK, Duke, UNC, et al will not be affected by the FBI case. They will. They know it. That is why UK has hired an NCAA defense law firm and why the NCAA is conducting this review with Rice. The problem is systematic and Nike’s monopoly or conspiracy as you believe it will be rendered null and void.

When is the last time you checked Cals tournament record at UK? March is a pretty fruitful time of year. It’s wildly unrealistic to expect a title every year and I don’t care how much talent you have. So yeah, March is pretty cool and everyone covets our recruiting

 

[zipp]

I would qualify Jaime Dixon as a poor man's Tony Bennett. Not quite the same league. Bennett simply has to figure out the NCAA jinx, and he's got plenty of time to do that...

 

[zipp]

When is the last time you checked Cals tournament record at UK? March is a pretty fruitful time of year. It’s wildly unrealistic to expect a title every year and I don’t care how much talent you have. So yeah, March is pretty cool and everyone covets our recruiting

I'll handle the slapd!ck...

Lite's been successful, but he hasn't been elite. You don't take the talent he's had and win one championship in a decade.

Not to mention, we don't yet know how many of those postseason runs the FBI/NCAA are gonna allow you to keep...

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

I would qualify Jaime Dixon as a poor man's Tony Bennett. Not quite the same league. Bennett simply has to figure out the NCAA jinx, and he's got plenty of time to do that...

I think Jaime Dixon is underrated - and was unappreciated - and I think Pitt's demise and TCU's rise may be a little evidence of that.

My point is, they both win with mostly defense - and they both won at a high level in a brutal league - let's not forget how tough the Big East was during the Dixon era. He finished 1st or 2nd five outta ten times....


But neither has broken through in the NCAAs with their "brand" - now, you can argue it is very early in the Bennett/UVA relationship....

The similarities are quite striking.

I'd compare Bennett to a guy with the similar resume rather than comparing him to a guy with multiple titles. I know you're covering more ground than end game results though.

That said, I am not feeling this comparison of Bennett to one of the best to ever coach the game man!

 

[zipp]

I didn't say Bennett is the reincarnation of Knight yet. And he may never get there. But Knight is regarded as maybe the best ever in the game at coaching up his talent. I'll take someone close to that ability without any crystal ball of what the future holds...

 

[Rockfly78]

What happened to our posts Zipp?

Eh no matter. It’s another discussion for another day that I’m sure we will have

 

[KingHenry_X]

Maybe that's it. I do get frustrated when watching UVA play the Cardinals.

Personally, I think Denny would have mopped the floor with that guy. Denny's high-low offense versus Bennett's defensive scheme? I'll take Denny Crum each and every time.

I have no doubt. Bennett’s scheme is designed to trap you high and trap you down low, but the high post makes that impossible because you have to pull one of your trappers to guard the man at the foul line. If they pull one from down low, you cut the wing on the opposite side of the key from the remaining low-post defender. When he moves to defend the cutter and commits, you either attempt to draw the foul or you have four options: pass to the other frontcourt player, the foul line player, the point who has moved to your spot on the wing or throw the outlet pass to the player on the opposite wing if there isn’t a defender in the passing lane. You need wings (2Gs/SF) who arent afraid of contact (Alvin Simms would be my prototype). If they don’t commit a low-post defender then the foul line player either takes the jumper or touch-passes back to the player running point.
This also has an added advantage of making the defense run more and expend energy. I would couple that with a 1-2-2 press into a 2-3 halfcourt to really take their legs out by late in the game.

 

[KingHenry_X]

Bennett has had great success because of the popularity of the motion offense. That’s just my opinion. Kinda like why Paul Johnson’s offense in football give teams far more talented than his fits. Its a good scheme that requires discipline and execution that if done right negates a talent gap.

 

[KingHenry_X]

I think you have to look at the approximate period that the Nike system of cheating was in effect. Go ahead and say the last 10 years if it makes you happy. So you actually think it bolsters your argument that the big 3 Nike schools only won 50% of the NCAA titles? Wow. I mean, how much clearer can it be?

Nike has been doing this since Pitino was at UK and we were in Converse.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

I didn't say Bennett is the reincarnation of Knight yet. And he may never get there. But Knight is regarded as maybe the best ever in the game at coaching up his talent. I'll take someone close to that ability without any crystal ball of what the future holds...

IU had a crap load of talent during the Knight era. He had so much of it, he purposely ran guys off to Evansville, etc.

I'm not really seeing the comparison if we just forget March honestly. But that's okay man.

 

[LouisvilleKid79]

Bennett has had great success because of the popularity of the motion offense. That’s just my opinion. Kinda like why Paul Johnson’s offense in football give teams far more talented than his fits. Its a good scheme that requires discipline and execution that if done right negates a talent gap.

Agree

 

[zipp]

IU had a crap load of talent during the Knight era. He had so much of it, he purposely ran guys off to Evansville, etc.

I'm not really seeing the comparison if we just forget March honestly. But that's okay man.

Not sure about "crapload", but Knight had some players in the 70s. I just recall a group of guys in the latter half of his IU career that Knight wouldn't have had teams without. No one else could play for him.

And I'm not sure how many of Bennett's players other good teams recruited...

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Not sure about "crapload", but Knight had some players in the 70s. I just recall a group of guys in the latter half of his IU career that Knight wouldn't have had teams without. No one else could play for him.

And I'm not sure how many of Bennett's players other good teams recruited...

His last top team had Damon Bailey, Alan Henderson, and Eric Anderson. Bailey was arguably one of the top players to ever play at the HS level. Henderson and Anderson were top recruits I believe. They had another guy Kirk Haston that was a first round NBA draft pick.

Kind of a random list - they always had talent. He wasn't doing it with nobodies. He just kind of made the program all about him - so it's hard to remember the fact that they had some great players come and go.

 

[KingHenry_X]

Bailey was arguably one of the top players to ever play at the HS level.

Bailey was great, don’t get me wrong. But the key word there is “HS level”. Damion Fishback and JR Vanhoose were great HS players, but that doesn’t always translate to great in college. Just as great in college doesn’t always translate to great in the pros. I really wish people would stop putting so much emphasis on players who’ve never played a college game.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Bailey was great, don’t get me wrong. But the key word there is “HS level”. Damion Fishback and JR Vanhoose were great HS players, but that doesn’t always translate to great in college. Just as great in college doesn’t always translate to great in the pros. I really wish people would stop putting so much emphasis on players who’ve never played a college game.

Yeah my only point about Bailey is he was a high end recruit every top program wanted - and he ended up at Indiana. It wasn't a program of just scrappy players nobody wanted. Most years they had some high level talent - even his teams in his later years.

I totally get it doesn't always translate from HS to college. And I'm not selling Knight's coaching short either - he warrants his place as one of the greats.

 

[KingHenry_X]

Hey Mikey, you were saying...?

 

[CardRon]

After reading a majority of the posts in this thread, I’ll try & make reply short.

IMO, there’s no way a former Pitino asst., friend, or protégé would ever look to become the head basketball coach @ U of L. They all saw what this current board of trustees did to him & they don’t want anything to do with them.

zipp, I don’t understand your fascination with Tony Bennett maybe getting the job @ U of L. He’s the polar opposite of what Peck Hickman, Denny Crum, & Rick Pitino were here. You may like how he wins but it’s a bore fest. It’s been proven albeit by a 16 seed, the right players & the right game plan, they can be taken down. I agree with much of the things you post but not on this.

Shaka Smart? Mediocre @ VCU. Still the same @ Texas. They can keep him.

I can always hope because my top choice is Jay Wright. I think he would do amazing things here. Second choice would be Chris Mack. I don’t agree with all the negative things posted about him.

One thing many of maybe losing sight of is the tradition that the University Of Louisville basketball program has. I might be few years off but only 3 or 4 losing seasons in some 70+ years. Also, that was with just 3 coaches. The 3 I previously mentioned.

Regardless, we’ll get a great coach if IAD Tyra can pull this off. If not, it’ll be a clown show like zipp has been saying.

 

[zipp]

...zipp, I don’t understand your fascination with Tony Bennett maybe getting the job @ U of L. He’s the polar opposite of what Peck Hickman, Denny Crum, & Rick Pitino were here. You may like how he wins but it’s a bore fest. It’s been proven albeit by a 16 seed, the right players & the right game plan, they can be taken down. I agree with much of the things you post but not on this...

Thanks, but I'll continue to go back to the point that's hard to refute... Bennett consistently beats team with equal or better talent than he has. In the ACC, that's pretty important.

And when they start keeping records for style points, I reserve the right to change my opinion...

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Bennett consistently beats team with equal or better talent than he has in the regular season.

FIFY

 

[zipp]

FIFY

I'm good with examining those stats with postseason results dumped in there too. You can't JUST focus on the postseason...

 

[Thecycle27]

You can focus on just the post season if your coaches post season is a complete disaster at this point in his career. The only time college basketball matters for 90% of the country is March. Good or bad that is the reality.

You are assuming he is going to figure the tournament out even though his body of work says other wise. The other factor with Bennett is his system is completely reliant on referees allowing them to play physically. That is a wild card in the NCAA tournament.

Mack has had success in the regular season and post season, but Bennett is better because he has been good in the ACC and terrible in the NCAA tournament.

I agree Bennett has been terrific but Louisville hiring Mack is not settling or being lazy.

 

[Chapman123]

HE'LL NO to Tony Bennet.

Go all in on Mack. Get that man to Louisville

 

[Majestic Red]

Via Facebook.

 

[zipp]

You can focus on just the post season if your coaches post season is a complete disaster at this point in his career. The only time college basketball matters for 90% of the country is March. Good or bad that is the reality.

You are assuming he is going to figure the tournament out even though his body of work says other wise. The other factor with Bennett is his system is completely reliant on referees allowing them to play physically. That is a wild card in the NCAA tournament.

Mack has had success in the regular season and post season, but Bennett is better because he has been good in the ACC and terrible in the NCAA tournament.

I agree Bennett has been terrific but Louisville hiring Mack is not settling or being lazy.

Mack is the easy hire. Nobody else is competing for his services because he's not good enough for a bidding war--at least not yet in his career. His resume isn't worth what Tyra's probably gonna pay him.

Bennett is past the point where Mack is which is why Bennett's the better hire, and it's really not even close. Like most coaches, Mack is probably gonna struggle in the ACC. The competition is much tougher night after night than he's used to. The Big East was Snow White (Nova) and the Drarfs (everyone else). Unless you can manage the ACC, you can kiss a meaningful postseason goodbye.

I ain't predicting failure for Mack anymore than I predict it for Tyra. They're each a wildcard; no guarantee of success. U of L is a better job than that for an AD, and it's for damn sure better for a basketball coach. We're just filling the jobs and overpaying the lucky guys occupying them...

 

[Chapman123]

I'm praying Tyra gets the permanent job and then he hires Mack and extends Jeff.

DREAM SCENARIO. I'm a big fan of Tyra

Get it done Tyra.

 

[Knucklehank1]

For anyone that wonders what Jurich would’ve done, please note that Chris Mack was his guy had Pitino resigned after the Powell stuff. Mack has been on the Louisville radar for a couple years. So in that sense, maybe it is an easy hire because Jurich had already laid groundwork with Mack.

 

[Thecycle27]

Mack is the easy hire. Nobody else is competing for his services because he's not good enough for a bidding war--at least not yet in his career. His resume isn't worth what Tyra's probably gonna pay him.

Bennett is past the point where Mack is which is why Bennett's the better hire, and it's really not even close. Like most coaches, Mack is probably gonna struggle in the ACC. The competition is much tougher night after night than he's used to. The Big East was Snow White (Nova) and the Drarfs (everyone else). Unless you can manage the ACC, you can kiss a meaningful postseason goodbye.

I ain't predicting failure for Mack anymore than I predict it for Tyra. They're each a wildcard; no guarantee of success. U of L is a better job than that for an AD, and it's for damn sure better for a basketball coach. We're just filling the jobs and overpaying the lucky guys occupying them...

Every coach is overpaid, but the market dictates what coaches get paid. Would Pitino be consider a great coach if he never made it to the Final Four? I am not surw why you are ignoring the fact Virginia has been a train wreck in the NCAA tournament. Now if you were stumping for Donovan or Wright I would agree 100%.

My biggest concern in this hole thing is it turns into a Tennessee football hire disaster. This is a tough situation for a coach to walk into for multiple reasons but the main one is there are a ton of people that don't want Louisville to hire the right guy. There literally are only a couple coaches that would be viewed by everyone as a homerun hire. Everyone else is going to have warts. It is a very unique environment right now. The Louisville brand has been beat up nationally and locally.

 

[sword9mm]

I'm praying Tyra gets the permanent job and then he hires Mack and extends Jeff.

DREAM SCENARIO. I'm a big fan of Tyra

Get it done Tyra.

i'm good with it.

ol' tom might not be (or whoever zip is) but yeah; VT looks to be a good AD and Mack looks to be a good fit.

i don't have enough foil to wrap around my head like zip has so i'll go with the flow. continue on with the conspiracy theories though.

 

[zipp]

For anyone that wonders what Jurich would’ve done, please note that Chris Mack was his guy had Pitino resigned after the Powell stuff. Mack has been on the Louisville radar for a couple years. So in that sense, maybe it is an easy hire because Jurich had already laid groundwork with Mack.

I've asked you in another thread for that documented somewhere...

 

[HRTheCard]

I've asked you in another thread for that documented somewhere...

Document us how this is an easy hire for Tyra. Document us all these conspiracy theories you throw out.

 

[CardRon]

I'm praying Tyra gets the permanent job and then he hires Mack and extends Jeff.

DREAM SCENARIO. I'm a big fan of Tyra

Get it done Tyra.

Then, you probably like this BoT & what Bevin has done. SMDH

 

[zipp]

Every coach is overpaid, but the market dictates what coaches get paid...

That's true in general. If Mack was worth, say, $5 million a year, he'd already be paid that and other schools would be offering him that. Has he even been mentioned in connection with another job opening?

...Would Pitino be consider a great coach if he never made it to the Final Four? I am not surw why you are ignoring the fact Virginia has been a train wreck in the NCAA tournament. Now if you were stumping for Donovan or Wright I would agree 100%...

Any evaluation should be based on body of work. And you don't heavily weight a crapshoot basketball tournament for a coaching hire, good or bad. Is Leonard Hamilton suddenly a good basketball coach this year if he reaches the Final Four?

I'm fine with recruiting any other elite coach. Some people simply started picking on Bennett being on the list of those coaches and wanted to debate him. You can find a reason to debate any one coach.

...My biggest concern in this hole thing is it turns into a Tennessee football hire disaster. This is a tough situation for a coach to walk into for multiple reasons but the main one is there are a ton of people that don't want Louisville to hire the right guy. There literally are only a couple coaches that would be viewed by everyone as a homerun hire. Everyone else is going to have warts. It is a very unique environment right now. The Louisville brand has been beat up nationally and locally.

I don't disagree, but I don't share any paranoia about a "ton of people..." This is the part of the job that has to be managed by a competent AD. In that regard, you may have a valid concern. But that's an AD issue, not a coaching search problem. You don't dummy down the job so Tyra can do it...

 

[zipp]

Document us how this is an easy hire for Tyra. Document us all these conspiracy theories you throw out.

Name the other schools with open coaching positions who have Mack on their list of candidates. I haven't seen anyone else competing for his services except the one he's at. If you're Louisville, Xavier shouldn't be formidable competition...