The Confidential

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Archive for the tag “College Basketball”

02 Apr 2015
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Updated with Poll: The College Basketball Active Coaching Mount Rushmore

Update: As you may recall, we are trying to decide the active coaching Mount Rushmore (see below or click here).  So far, we have selected Coach K, Tom Izzo, and Rick Pitino.  We need help deciding the fourth member of the group.  We have had good arguments for Jim Boeheim, John Calipari, Billy Donovan, and Roy Williams.  We will decide via the following poll.  As they say in Chicago, vote early and often… ha ha ha.  Thanks in advance.

Thanks again!

Original article:

In the past, the Confidential had some fun with Mount Rushmores for each ACC school.  We picked three spots and let fans pick the 4th spot.  Today, the focus is on college basketball as a whole–specifically, the active coaches.  It should be pretty easy to guess a few of the names, but rounding out the 4th (and eliminating the others in the process) may be difficult.  In any event, here is the list… you can vote on who gets #4.

The first spot… Coach K.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel here.  This is how we described him over a year ago:

If it needs to be explained, you haven’t been following sports since Jimmy Carter was running the country.  You want longevity?  30+ years at Duke.  You want success?  The most wins of any mens’ basketball coach ever.  You want national titles?  How about four of them for Duke in his tenure.  Throw in some gold medals and the absence of serious controversy, and you’ve got yourself one of the easiest Mount Rushmore spots ever.

This applies to active basketball coaching as well.  More recently, he is now over 1,000 wins and is back in the running for another national title.

The second spot… Tom Izzo. 

Sure, this is a bit knee-jerk.  But Izzo just took a 7-seed to the Final Four.  “Only” one national championship, but how about seven Final Fours in 20 years of coaching.  And 9 Elite Eights and 13 Sweet Sixteens.  Other than Coach K, who else has that kind of resume?

Well, maybe the next guy.  The third spot… Rick Pitino.

Pitino has two championships, one with Kentucky and one with Louisville.  Pitino also has seven Final Fours, including one with Providence.  Like Izzo, there is a sense (well-founded) that Louisville will be a better team in March than December.

The fourth spot?  The Confidential will leave this to you.  Here are some names to consider voting for the 4th spot:

  • Jim Boeheim
  • Roy Williams
  • John Calipari
  • Billy Donovan
  • Bill Self
  • Thad Matta
  • Bob Huggins
  • Anyone else?

Anyway, let us know who deserves the 4th spot and why…

 

Posted by acaffrey in Mount Rushmore, Opinion, Poll and tagged , , , , , , ,
30 Mar 2015
11 Comments

The College Basketball Active Coaching Mount Rushmore

In the past, the Confidential had some fun with Mount Rushmores for each ACC school.  We picked three spots and let fans pick the 4th spot.  Today, the focus is on college basketball as a whole–specifically, the active coaches.  It should be pretty easy to guess a few of the names, but rounding out the 4th (and eliminating the others in the process) may be difficult.  In any event, here is the list… you can vote on who gets #4.

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Mount Rushmore, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , ,
27 Jan 2014

Confidential Bracketology

It is Super Bowl week.  With football coming to a conclusion, this means that basketball–particularly college basketball–takes center stage.  And that means the Big Dance, brackets, and more.  With the countdown to March Madness looming, who is already on the bubble?  Check out Confidential Bracketology below:

Read more…

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball and tagged , , ,
30 May 2013
2 Comments

Who Has Basketball’s Best Fan Base?

There are a lot of college basketball fans out there. There is no denying that Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky have large and crazy fan bases–but who has the best? There are several ways you can attempt to answer this question and not be wrong.

The Emory Sports Marketing Analytics released their top 10 list based on “fan equity.”  Number one on their list may come as a surprise to some, but not me, is Louisville. The ACC unsurprisingly leads the list with four teams in the top ten. Duke is third, North Carolina is fifth and Syracuse is eighth. What are your thoughts on the list?

See https://blogs.emory.edu/sportsmarketing/2013/05/29/college-basketball-recruiting-and-the-best-fan-bases/

Posted by lenvillecards in Basketball, Louisville Correspondent, Opinion and tagged , , , , , , ,
16 May 2013
4 Comments

Billboard Demands Removal of Wake Forest Coach, AD

We all have a pet project that consumes our time and money.  Some of us take it too far and wind up ignoring our significant others or forgetting meaningful moments in our lives.  However, some us take it a little further.

Yahoo! Sports is reporting that a new roadside sight along U.S. 52 near Winston-Salem is showing just how far some fans will go to vent their frustrations about college athletics.  According to The Dagger’s Jeff Eisenberg, a group of Wake Forest University fans have spent a load of money to erect a billboard blasting men’s basketball head coach Jeff Bzdelik and athletic director Ron Wellman’s performance at the school.

(Credits: WXII12.com)

(Credits: WXII12.com)

Wow.  Talk about not holding back.  Tell me what you really think, Wake fans.

WXII12.com is reporting the group of fans raised over $4,500 to fulfill their wish of bringing more public attention to the disaster the basketball program has become under Bzdelik and Wellman’s watch.  But the billboard is only the next chapter of their group’s efforts – they’ve also taken out newspaper ads and created websites like firebz.com.

Among other notables, the website keeps a rolling tally of the basketball team’s ventures – the Demon Deacons are 34-60 overall and 11-42 against ACC opponents under Bzdelik.

One Wake Forest fan who hasn’t disguised his displeasure with the basketball program is Fire Jeff Bzdelik Group fan Brian Stratton.  Stratton is on record as saying the billboard was a necessary step to take because the fanbase has been alienated by the athletic director’s actions.  He also took to Facebook to further explain the erection of the billboard.

“All would have been forgiven had [Wellman] done the right thing and fired Bzdelik at the end of the year,” Stratton wrote via the popular social media site.  “However, he boxed us into a corner and we had to take the next step.  Ron Wellman has clearly brought this on himself and needs to be relieved of his duties.”

Although this recent news is fascinating, fans weren’t too keen on Bzdelik’s hire even in 2010.  He was chosen by Wellman after going 36-58 at Colorado after three seasons and never ended a Big 12 season ranked higher than eighth in the conference standings.

As a Louisville graduate, I can certainly identify with fan malcontent over a sports coach who hasn’t performed.  The Steve Kragthorpe Era at UofL really tested the Cardinal fanbase.  Of course, our athletic director realized the error in his ways and put into motion the process of replacing him with up-and-coming star Charlie Strong.

No one wants a cloud of negativity to surround an athletic program for too long.  Wake’s brass leadership may wake up one day soon and realize that Bzdelik and perhaps Wellman have to go, if not for the athletic program, for the university image and relationship with fans and alumni.

Demon Deacon fans, you simply have to believe that better things will come.  The one thing Wellman can do to revive your trust is to make a stellar choice as the next head coach to lead Wake back to relevance.

And we wait.

Posted by MBenjAdams in ACC only, Basketball and tagged , , , , , , , , ,

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