Who do you like and who would you want?
Ok, I may be stirring the pot some, but lets have some fun. I recently sent Larry an e-mail on my views of Tubby and Rick and I had quite a bit of opposition especially when it came to Tubby Smith. I was definitely in the minority of the comments I received after he ran the article.
My question then is if you were on the hiring committee at the University of Kentucky who would you hire and why? Also be realistic if you think this person could be lured away to come to UK. Keep in mind that he could probably be the highest paid coach in college basketball.
I will stick to my guns and say I would keep Tubby right where he is. He is averaging 26 wins per year and I know the opposition is saying what has he done for me lately and my answer is win and win with class. Parity is at an all time high right now and there is no dominant team this year nor was there last year.
I recently read an article on the coach from George Mason (Jim Larranaga) and he puts it best. His job as a college coach is not winning at all cost, but to educate these young athletes for life after basketball. He asked his players to write their own obituaries, an exercise in evaluating their lives. Guess what? Not a single player wrote about basketball, they talked about wanting to be liked, about hard work and about giving it their all.
In my opinion that is what Tubby Smith is all about, teaching and preparing these young men for life after basketball. That is who I would want my son to play for and that is the way I look at it, not just from, can he win a championship?
That is my perspective in a nutshell, now what is yours? Keep in mind the pressures that go with the job at UK and who could handle it. Also keep in mind that I want to have fun with this and not create a monster.
Some of recent names I have gotten when this topic has been brought up is Mark Few and Gonzaga. Great coach and apparently can recruit, but my answer to that choice is the pressure level at Gonzaga is nothing compared to what you get at UK.
Remember that at Tulsa and Georgia the main thing everyone liked about Tubby was his ability to recruit. Now that UK, he can’t recruit? Lets’ face it, when it comes UK basketball we are talking about a different animal.
Few is just one of the coaches I have talked with people about and I am sure there are other coaches that would do a great job at UK, but could or would anyone represent the University in a more positive manner than Tubby Smith?
Until next week, keep your head up and shoot with confidence!
Coach Souder,
I agree with your case. Now my disclaimer is that I absolutely despise UK hoops and what it has traditionally stood for. However, my problems with UK have nothing to do with Tubby Smith and the players. Tubby is certainly a class act, as you stated. When I encounter individuals who think Tubby should be fired I ask the same question as you: Who could UK get that would do a better job? In my estimation there are very few coaches in the country that can even be considered to be better than Tubby.
1) Lute Olson-turned down the UK job before
2) Coach K-he ain’t comin’ and no one here would probably want him
3) Bob Knight-see Coach K, above
4) Billy Donovan- I am not sold he is better than Tubby, but why on earth would he want to leave Florida anyway
5) Jim Boeheim-he ain’t leaving Syracuse
**I just don’t know if there is anyone that UK could get that would have that WOW factor after the hire. Unless Pat Riley left the Heat to come back………..
I don’t think anyone will argue that Tubby isn’t a class act. He is. I don’t think anyone will atgue that Tubby isn’t a good coach. He is. I don’t think that anyone will argue that Tubby hasn’t brought good recruits to UK. He has. The argument is that this is Kentucky. This isn’t some program that once in a great while is known for doing something extraordinary. Extraordinary is the norm at Kentucky. Tulsa and Georgia might have been thrilled with a couple elite eight appearances, several sweet sixteen eliminations, mixed in with one or two second round losses in the tournament in 10 years but this is Kentucky. Kentucky under Coach Rupp practically invented the fast break; something rarely seen in Smith coached games. Kentucky in the 90’s became known for pressure defense and uptempo offense. Now we have ball line defense. Pack the post and make them take low percentage outside shots. Sounds great in theory but when you get deep in the NCAA tournament and run into teams that play uptempo, recruit the shooters that like that style of offense, and kill you from the arc…..ball line leaves a bit to be desired when your team is sitting their with towels over faces to hide their tears on national TV.
Again, Tubby is a class act, good coach, and brings in good recruits…..but this is Kentucky. Expectations are the highest in college basketball….but so is the pay.
The Herald-Leader had a great article not long ago about some of Tubby’s more overlooked accomplishments. I think people need to be more realistic. Tubby Smith is a class act and I agree he’s fine where he is.
The more overlooked accomplishments don’t hang banners in Rupp arena. Don’t we pay Tubby to win basketball games first and perform the more overlooked accomplishments second? UK fans are slowly being lulled to sleep by these “overlooked accomplishments”. Give me victories. But that’s just me I suppose.
Let me start this by saying there is no bigger UK fan than I am. Now I hear people say we want wins. Well we have wins, but that is not what they are meaning. They mean NCAA Championships. That is the only wins they are concerned about. Okay I want them also. I do not like it when we loose. I want to win it all too. However we have to face up to one thing. I think coach Rupp was the best to ever coach the game, however parity was not a word he ever had to here. There was Kentucky and then there was everyone else. None could keep up with us year in and year out back then. Parity is the one thing that most fans forget about. It is a differnt game now. There are 5 SEC teams in the rankings this year. There are probably 15-20 teams that with a break or two could win the NCAA this year. I also think we could be one of those by seasons end. Good article again Chris.
Coach Souder:
Interesting aticle. Being a UK alum and a huge UK fan myself, I find myself wondering this very thing every now and then. The only two names I ever come up with that I feel would do as well as Tubby and might actually have a shot at leaving where they are at to come to UK are Rick Barnes and Tom Izzo. I think Izzo is a push, because he has a wonderful thing at Michigan State. However, I really think that Barnes couod be sold. He has proven to be a wonderful coach and also a wonderful recruiter. If you disagree, watch a Texas game and see Kevin Durant take the game over. He is truly amazing. The selling point for Barnes would be the fact that he could coach at UK where basketball is king and not play second fiddle the football squad like he does in Austin, TX. Just my thoughts on the topic, but I truthfully hope Tubby stays at UK forever. Go Cats!!
Sorry to reply to this so late in the game, but I have to say that Matt put it very well. I would only add couple of comments. The first addresses the argument that perhaps we should keep Tubby b/c we don’t know who we would get to replace him. It gets back to the old saying that good is the worst enemy of great. Tubby hasn’t done such a poor job that it became obvious he should be fired. However, with the exception of the national championship year and the superb regular season of Fitch, Hawkins & Daniels’ senior year, there haven’t been many years of excellence. And the last 4 years, as a whole, have been rocky at best. What I’m saying is this: we shouldn’t stick with an average performer simply b/c we’re not sure who we could get if he leaves. Hey, take a chance - do something even if it is wrong.
Granted, it is a huge amount of pressure, but he’s certainly being paid for it.
Lastly, I likewise think Tubby is a great gentleman and a good person. If he were a coach at a lower level making a moderate salary, I’d be much more tolerant. He’s not; he’s one of the highest paid coaches in D-1 men’s basketball, and you don’t get that kind of bucks for being a nice man