McRoberts a goner

dlb · 03-18-2007, 07:47 AM

Local news in NC is reporting that Josh McRoberts is done with Duke and will declare for the draft in a matter of days. Krzyzewski has two good forwards coming in next year - Kyle Singler and Taylor King - but if the McRoberts rumors are right, his departure would put the cap on a bitter brew of season-ending losses.

There is one other possible loss to consider: the retirement of Krzyzewski himself. The guy is in his early 60s and has nothing left to prove. If you look at the careers of other older coaches (Olsen and Knight being the best current examples), there comes a time when climbing to the heights just gets harder, maybe because age and success have diminished the desire to rise above all others again and again.

Now would be a good time for Krzyzewski to leave Duke, as it would allow him to focus entirely on winning in the '08 Olympics. For his last run to be a successful recapture of the Gold would be a fitting end to a fine career. Overseeing the slow and all-but-certain decline of Duke basketball would not.

I'll be surprised if he announces his retirement before the start of next season. If I were a friend of his, though, I'd tell him to give it some serious thought.

BMW · 03-18-2007, 08:51 AM

Personally, I don't care if McRoberts goes at all...but I can't see Krzyzewski retiring at all. I'm willing to bet that he truly means it when he says that this was the most fun he's had coaching in a while. Sure they didn't do as well as normal, but it's a whole different coaching style and coaches are in it for the challenge of it. That's the fun of being a coach is facing different challeneges with how to motivate and teach each kid...so I believe he is farther from retirement than he was going into this year.

dlb · 03-18-2007, 10:39 AM

I agree that Krzyzewski will probably stay for selfish reasons, but it may be best for the program for him to step aside and let a younger, more energetic coach take over.

Zen653 · 03-18-2007, 11:16 AM

He should have accepted the Lakers job and taken his chances with the NBA. Why not challenge yourself with a different experience? He turned down the Celtics job years ago, but that was before he had won an NCAA Championship. Walking away now would be different.

dlb · 03-18-2007, 12:35 PM

There are very few coaches who can win at both the collegiate and pro levels, in any sport. The only recent example I can remember is Larry Brown.

From what I read in Art Chansky's book, Blue Blood, it was Dave Gavitt who unintentionally talked Krzyzewski out of the Celtics job. He asked, "Who do you think you can have more influence over, a bunch of 18 year old kids or a group of 35 year old millionaires." Krzyzewski thought about that and decided that he'd take his chances with the kids.

BMW · 03-18-2007, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlb

I agree that Krzyzewski will probably stay for selfish reasons, but it may be best for the program for him to step aside and let a younger, more energetic coach take over.

WOW! Personally, I think this statement is absurd. You're suggesting that there is a better coach available than Coach K. For the sake of USA Basketball and NCAA Basketball I hope you are wrong.

dlb · 03-18-2007, 08:07 PM

He's in the twilight of his career. This year's team was not an assemblage of nobodies; it was chock full of highly sought recruits. Last year's team had two consensus All-Americans and couldn't get past the Sweet 16.

He can hang on and bleed to death slowly, or he can recognize that his time has come and step aside. He will probably do the former. He should seriously consider the latter.

By focusing more closely on his obligations to USA Basketball, he has a chance to go out a hero. NCAA basketball doesn't need him.

BMW · 03-19-2007, 09:23 AM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but these highly sought recruits were highly sought before kids weren't allowed to go to the NBA anymore, right? Meaning that they really aren't amazing recruits at all, they are the best of what was left compared to the kids that would be going straight to the league that are now filling out the rest of college basketball.

dlb · 03-19-2007, 10:06 AM

I'm not sure whether the current freshmen and sophomores could have gone straight to the NBA. However, it doesn't really matter. No other college coach had any recruiting advantage in relation to players who could have gone pro. Krzyzewski got his share of the available crop, and all he could produce with them was a .500 record in the ACC regular season, and one-and-done cameos in the ACC and NCAA Tourneys.

If you want additional evidence of K's slow collapse, look at his last graduating class. This included J. J. Redick and Shelden Williams, two players who regularly made All America teams, one of whom (Redick), was co-POY in his senior year. They got to the final four once, in 2004. Other than that, they had trouble making it past the Sweet 16 after seasons in which they were favored to win it all.

Krzyzewski built his legend by going deep into the NCAA Tourney with talent that was considered to be at best on par with the better programs. He took a little dip in the mid-90s, then strongarmed Duke president Nan Keohane to relax the standards a bit, loaded up with good players and had another strong spurt at the change of the millenium. Since then, he's underperformed. I don't see things getting any better for him as he continues to age.

fellow59 · 03-19-2007, 03:37 PM

It's going to take more than 1 bad year for me to think Krsyzswskzski is finished.

dlb · 03-22-2007, 03:43 PM

It's official:

FOX Sports - COLLEGE BASKETBALL - McRoberts leaving Duke for NBA draft

03-18-2007, 07:47 AM	#1 (permalink)
dlb Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4,575	McRoberts a goner Local news in NC is reporting that Josh McRoberts is done with Duke and will declare for the draft in a matter of days. Krzyzewski has two good forwards coming in next year - Kyle Singler and Taylor King - but if the McRoberts rumors are right, his departure would put the cap on a bitter brew of season-ending losses. There is one other possible loss to consider: the retirement of Krzyzewski himself. The guy is in his early 60s and has nothing left to prove. If you look at the careers of other older coaches (Olsen and Knight being the best current examples), there comes a time when climbing to the heights just gets harder, maybe because age and success have diminished the desire to rise above all others again and again. Now would be a good time for Krzyzewski to leave Duke, as it would allow him to focus entirely on winning in the '08 Olympics. For his last run to be a successful recapture of the Gold would be a fitting end to a fine career. Overseeing the slow and all-but-certain decline of Duke basketball would not. I'll be surprised if he announces his retirement before the start of next season. If I were a friend of his, though, I'd tell him to give it some serious thought.

03-18-2007, 08:51 AM	#2 (permalink)
BMW Moderator Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Cape Coral Florida Posts: 830	Personally, I don't care if McRoberts goes at all...but I can't see Krzyzewski retiring at all. I'm willing to bet that he truly means it when he says that this was the most fun he's had coaching in a while. Sure they didn't do as well as normal, but it's a whole different coaching style and coaches are in it for the challenge of it. That's the fun of being a coach is facing different challeneges with how to motivate and teach each kid...so I believe he is farther from retirement than he was going into this year. __________________ BMW Green Bay Packers 14-4

03-19-2007, 09:23 AM	#8 (permalink)
BMW Moderator Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Cape Coral Florida Posts: 830	Correct me if I'm wrong, but these highly sought recruits were highly sought before kids weren't allowed to go to the NBA anymore, right? Meaning that they really aren't amazing recruits at all, they are the best of what was left compared to the kids that would be going straight to the league that are now filling out the rest of college basketball. __________________ BMW Green Bay Packers 14-4

03-18-2007, 10:39 AM	#3 (permalink)
dlb Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4,575	I agree that Krzyzewski will probably stay for selfish reasons, but it may be best for the program for him to step aside and let a younger, more energetic coach take over.

03-18-2007, 11:16 AM	#4 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,720	He should have accepted the Lakers job and taken his chances with the NBA. Why not challenge yourself with a different experience? He turned down the Celtics job years ago, but that was before he had won an NCAA Championship. Walking away now would be different.

03-18-2007, 12:35 PM	#5 (permalink)
dlb Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4,575	There are very few coaches who can win at both the collegiate and pro levels, in any sport. The only recent example I can remember is Larry Brown. From what I read in Art Chansky's book, Blue Blood, it was Dave Gavitt who unintentionally talked Krzyzewski out of the Celtics job. He asked, "Who do you think you can have more influence over, a bunch of 18 year old kids or a group of 35 year old millionaires." Krzyzewski thought about that and decided that he'd take his chances with the kids.

03-18-2007, 08:07 PM	#7 (permalink)
dlb Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4,575	He's in the twilight of his career. This year's team was not an assemblage of nobodies; it was chock full of highly sought recruits. Last year's team had two consensus All-Americans and couldn't get past the Sweet 16. He can hang on and bleed to death slowly, or he can recognize that his time has come and step aside. He will probably do the former. He should seriously consider the latter. By focusing more closely on his obligations to USA Basketball, he has a chance to go out a hero. NCAA basketball doesn't need him.

03-19-2007, 10:06 AM	#9 (permalink)
dlb Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4,575	I'm not sure whether the current freshmen and sophomores could have gone straight to the NBA. However, it doesn't really matter. No other college coach had any recruiting advantage in relation to players who could have gone pro. Krzyzewski got his share of the available crop, and all he could produce with them was a .500 record in the ACC regular season, and one-and-done cameos in the ACC and NCAA Tourneys. If you want additional evidence of K's slow collapse, look at his last graduating class. This included J. J. Redick and Shelden Williams, two players who regularly made All America teams, one of whom (Redick), was co-POY in his senior year. They got to the final four once, in 2004. Other than that, they had trouble making it past the Sweet 16 after seasons in which they were favored to win it all. Krzyzewski built his legend by going deep into the NCAA Tourney with talent that was considered to be at best on par with the better programs. He took a little dip in the mid-90s, then strongarmed Duke president Nan Keohane to relax the standards a bit, loaded up with good players and had another strong spurt at the change of the millenium. Since then, he's underperformed. I don't see things getting any better for him as he continues to age.

03-19-2007, 03:37 PM	#10 (permalink)
fellow59 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2,271	It's going to take more than 1 bad year for me to think Krsyzswskzski is finished.

03-22-2007, 03:43 PM	#11 (permalink)
dlb Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 4,575	It's official: FOX Sports - COLLEGE BASKETBALL - McRoberts leaving Duke for NBA draft