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Brad Stevens is the best coach in college basketball

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by what, Mar 26, 2011.

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  1. what

    what Member

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    I read an article that said part of his success is identifying the potential in the guys that aren't highly recruited but he molds into big time players. Brad excellence is finding these guys.

    Look, Gordan Heyward and Shelvin Mack were both 2 star recruits. Matt Howard and Nored weren't even listed as even 1 star on scout.com.

    He turned Hayward into a lottery pick and Shelvin Mack is possibly going to be a first round pick in the mid to late part of the draft.

    And to take both of these teams to the final four is amazing.
     
    #21 what, Mar 27, 2011
  2. what

    what Member

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    Check that, nored was a 2 star recruit. My bad.
     
    #22 what, Mar 27, 2011
  3. Major

    Major Member

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    I think it's a combination of this and his focus on statistical analysis (but as a coach, not a GM). And having players who are smart and willing to spend multiple years learning his system, etc.

    The counter to all this is that we know he's great using this mid-level talent. If he went to a Texas or Kentucky or UNC or whatever, fans would not be happy recruiting that type of player - they'd be getting the 4 and 5 star guys that have NBA dreams. Does what he is good at translate to that level of talent? You can teach Matt Howard that when some opposing forward makes move X, he'll do Y 82% of the time and use that to his advantage; can you make Kevin Durant or Jordan Hamilton to do the same? I don't think any of us know the answer.

    A parallel that we'll get to see play out next year is Bryan Harsin - Offensive Coordinator for Texas, formerly OC of Boise State. He's the OC equivalent of Brad Stevens to me - the smartest offensive mind in football. But so far, he's only done it with middle tier athletes. It's going to be fun to see if his smarts and strategies can translate to top tier players.
     
    #23 Major, Mar 27, 2011
  4. what

    what Member

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    Can he handle the egos? I think that there are guys like a shane battier, grant hill, guys that Coach K goes after every year. So year, I think Brad can handle it, partly because Brad is after a certain kind of mindset in a player, regardless of their talent. Brad Stevens might be the next Coach K in that regards, recruiting high character guys.
     
    #24 what, Mar 27, 2011
  5. kaleidosky

    kaleidosky Member

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    makes sense to me. If 2 trips to the final 4 can get those high caliber recruits to start coming, things could really start looking up.

    I really tend to believe him that he's gonna stay at Butler regardless for the next 10 years
     
    #25 kaleidosky, Mar 27, 2011
  6. Carl Herrera

    Carl Herrera Member

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    Good point.

    Besides staying right where he is and keep playing his niche, one move I can see Stevens make is to go to a place like Stanford, where he can leverage the high "brand name" value of a high-ranked academic university to recruit players whose abilities are a notch above that of Butler's current talent pool and are, nevertheless, inclined to stay multiple years at the school and work toward earning a degree.
     
    #26 Carl Herrera, Mar 27, 2011
  7. ubigred

    ubigred Member

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    Shaka Smart > brad stephens
     
    #27 ubigred, Mar 28, 2011
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