Hahaha. Damn, I set you off, huh... Ok, do you want to compare Tech to the top teams in one of the top 2 conferences in the nation or to where they were in college basketball generally speaking? In the Big XII, they still aren't in the top 4, but nationally he's taken them pretty far compared to where they were a few years ago. Do you know what kind of talent he had to work with? I love your burnt orange take on Texas and Tech's win's and losses. The bottom line is that Texas had to have a buzzer beater to even get to overtime. Meaning, they BARELY won. They also BARELY beat Nebraska, Providence and got their asses kicked by Duke and Arizona. They lost to OSU and didn't exactly dominate Missouri. So...that's one quality win--Wake Forest. ONE. Now, I don't think Texas sucks, but you can interpret any schedule like, oh that win doesn't mean much because the Big X sucks, and that win doesn't mean much because... Texas lost to Tech last year if I recall right and BARELY beat Baylor. Lost to Colorado as well. What's the point? Knight's done an impressive job with Tech and is only in his third season. Keep in mind he doesn't have all the advantages in recruiting that a Texas, Kansas, Mi$$ouri, or OU would have.
I'm sorry the man threw a tantrum at the salad bar that continued into the parking lot. The chancellor tried to walk away but Knight would not let it go. Sounds like it was a one sided argument, don't you think? Last month he snapped at an ESPN reporter. Is it everyones fault except Knight? Taking no action shows you how desperate Tech is. They need Knight more than he needs them. He threatened to resign and they dropped their meaningless punishment.
I'm always curious to know why Duke-haters hate Duke? Is it just the fans? Or just the complete the domination year after year? Surely it can't be the coach or the players.
Well, so much for the resignation....and the suspension. Texas Tech's leadership has no cajones whatsoever.
It's crystal clear who wears the panties at Tech. The Chancellor should be so proud of the way this was handled. Saladgate...what a legacy. D R
One quality win? You think Providence isn't a quality win at Providence. They just went in to Storrs and beat Uconn. And I never said UT played well against Nebraska and Baylor, but at least against Baylor, I can say UT still beat them by 20 or so. And weren't tied at halftime with them, at home. And yes, UT was lucky last year at the Ferrell Center. As far as Colorado in Boulder last year is concerned, it was a hell hole for any visiting team last year: they had an unbelievable home mark. That was not that bad a loss. You also can take whatever you want out of the game in Lubbock, but in my opinion Texas sucked(as I mentioned Boddicker and Ivey didn't score the entire 1st half) and a supposed big 12 contender Texas Tech lost at home. And yes Tech's defense was part of it. But overall, when Kenton Paulino is the leading scorer for UT in most any game against decent competition, I venture to say UT loses the majority of the time, especially on the road. He is probably the worst or next to worst player on UT's depth chart. Texas lost to Tech in the big 12 tournament last year, true. It's a freaking conference tournament, where Tech was playing for its NCAA tourney life, and UT was guaranteed a good seed already. Texas beat Tech when it mattered both times in conference play. And since you mentioned recruiting, do you know that Knight has never ever been a big time recruiter? He is a system coach. He did the same thing at IU. Do you really think his Indiana teams were that talented? He doesn't recruit that way, and probably never will so being at Tech doesn't affect him much. Also Knight has said Andre Emmett has the potential to be the most talented player he has ever coached. In my estimation emmett is good, but nothing special. He certaintly isn't on my list for the Wooden Award finalists. Outside of Isiah Thomas, I wouldn't say Knight has had any unbelievably good players, and don't tell me Indiana doesn't recruit itself. In fact his best team was led by Steve Alford, one of the least talented champions in NCAA history, but they fit his system. There is one problem now. Basketball has much better athletes at this time, and the three point shot has become a deadly weapon in games. Knight doesn't believe in threes as evidenced by his motion offense and he doesn't get the best athletes because he thinks he doesn't need them or he can't get them to buy into his team concept so his Tech team isn't blessed in either area, and that's a huge weakness. You also want to know something else: Knight's predecessor at Tech, James Dickey, at least made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament, which Knight hasn't done at IU or Tech in a long time. I'll buy that Bob Knight has helped Tech basketball nationally. But honestly, can you justify keeping a guy who hasn't won an NCAA tourney game in almost a decade, who continually puts your school and your program in a bad light? I couldn't, and I would say the same thing if it happened at Texas. My whole point on this issue is that Knight's peformance compared to his attitude and the effects on the university he represents doesn't equal out. His attitude and persona outweighs his success on the court, and thus I would let him go if I was in charge. But I also don't think he is that great an overall coach anymore, and notice I said overall, because Recruiting is a big part of coaching nowadays. I don't see Knight changing his philosophy anytime soon, and thus I don't see Tech breaking into the upper tier of the conference for awhile, if ever. And right now the reason Tech seems closer to the top this year is because of all the defections of great players from UT(Ford), OU(Price, Ere) and Kansas(Hinrich and Collison), it's not because they are that much better than last year. And it surely doesn't hurt that Missouri is being run by the incompetent coach Quin Snyder and is dramatically underachieving. All I was trying to say in the original post was Knight's horrible behavior outweighs his contributions to the basketball team at this point and thus I would fire him if I was in charge. And yes, if he was winning at a very high clip in the regular season and tournament play, I could see Tech justifying keeping him on board, but he isn't.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2386602 Knight stays on bench Tech opts for reprimand instead of suspension By JEROME SOLOMON LUBBOCK -- Texas Tech reprimanded basketball coach Bob Knight on Tuesday for his part in a verbal confrontation with school chancellor Dr. David R. Smith. Knight gave a detailed account of the incident following the Red Raiders' 83-63 win over Baylor on Tuesday night. In the five-minute speech, after which he did not field any questions, Knight took responsibility for his role in the situation, but in his description said Smith "came after me pretty hard." Knight, who received a minute-long standing ovation from the crowd following his pre-game introduction, admitted there was discussion about a suspension, and as unhappy as he would have been about that, he would have accepted it out of respect for Tech athletic director Gerald Myers. Knight said he and his wife, Karen, discussed the options Monday evening after news of the altercation spread and school officials discussed possible punishment. "We decided (Monday) night that if that's the way it went (suspension), I would go through whatever means were available to fight that, but I would have stayed through the suspension because I feel so strongly about this situation, this school, this community and these kids," Knight said. "And that would not have been easy for me to do, but I would have done it." A source close to the situation said early discussion among school administrators had Knight facing as much as a five-day suspension. By Tuesday afternoon, the decision was made to simply reprimand the irascible coach for the incident that occurred while Knight and Myers were about to eat lunch around noon Monday. Knight said he was at the salad bar inside a United Supermarkets, having already loaded lettuce into his bowl, when Smith approached him. "This is pretty much verbatim," Knight said. "He said, 'Bob, you've really been doing well lately. You've done a very good job lately.' I simply said, 'David, I think that as long as I've been here for the most part -- I didn't say all, believe me, I didn't say all -- but for the most part,' I said, 'I think I've done pretty well.' "Then I moved around to go on and fix my salad." Knight said by his measurement, he was a good 15 feet away when Smith came after him "pretty hard" and said, "You've got issues. What are they?" "Right then is where I think I was at fault," Knight said. "I should have just shook my head, walked away or done a lot of other things. "I didn't. I went on to to tell him what one of those issues was and then it got back and forth a little bit. "But the one thing there was, that I absolutely did not instigate anything." The school did not offer any details of the incident, but Myers and Smith were quoted in a statement released by the school on the issue. The statement describes the reprimand as "appropriate personnel action." "This is a misunderstanding and has now been rectified," Myers said. "The matter has been resolved in the best interest of the university." Smith, who according to a reporter who covers Tech athletics literally ran across a parking lot to avoid fielding media questions Tuesday afternoon, apparently was not at the game. "I applaud the efforts of (school) president Jon Whitmore and athletic director Gerald Myers in resolving this issue," Smith said in the statement. "We look forward to the continuation of what is already a successful season." Knight said Tuesday night that because of the stressful situation, he did not eat for 48 hours and "didn't sleep much either." "Everything's behind us and I hope we can go on from here," Knight said. Tech players said Knight has taught them to focus on the game and not be distracted by off-the-court situations. "We try not to deal with too much drama, we just try to keep it on the court," senior Mikey Marshall said. "To us it was (drama) because it's something that could have hurt our team. But, as you can see, it didn't." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Let me first say that I am a Bobby Knight fan. I was surprised by reading this thread that so many people hate Bobby Knight. Not that they just didn't care for him but they had seem deep feelings of hatred towards the man. Yes Coach Knight has had some tirads over his days. And yes he threw a chair out onto the court about 20 years ago. But what makes people hate him so much? If another coach got into an arguement at a grocery store would it make national news? The front page of the Chronicle Sports section had a list of "Anger Mismanagement" of BK since he has been at Texas Tech. After reading over all the "incidents" they really don't seem that bad. Here they are: Dec 2001: Exchanged words with Compaq Center GM Jerry McDonald after Knight complained about the size of Tech's locker room. Wow he "exchanged words" and its considered an temper flare Feb 2003: Kicked in a TV screen during a halftime victory over Nebraska. My high school coach on 2 seperated occassions kicked over a full trash can across the room and ripped a chalk board off the wall during halftime. And beleive me we were motivated for the second half. Happens all the time. Feb. 2003: Called a reporter an idiot after he was questioned about suspending two players who mised a team shootaround He called someone a name and that is another "incident." Dec 2003: Gave a profanity-laced interview while by ESPN How many coaches have you ever seen upset on an interview? And while I may see the dislike of Coach Knight for being an occasional hot head. I don't see why anyone would vehemently hate him. Many players that have played for him and are close to him love the man. His turnaround of the basketball team at Texas Tech along with the financial benefits he has brought to the school far outweigh any of the above "incidents" the Chronicle listed above.
I should add that I was disgusted with UT's play versus Baylor and Nebraska at home, but even playing like crap against Baylor in the 1st half they managed a 10 point lead.
Maybe it is because he is an egomaniac or that he acts like a jerk or he seems to be the type that always needs his ego to be stroked. You see Matador, if he got upset once or twice in the past, then we can say that those were isolated incidents and that he really doesn't have any issues or problems. Yet, the man has a history of going ballistic - he is like a walking time bomb. So, we know due to the numerous incidents in the past that the man DOES have some problems and issues. But other than what Brand did to him at Indiana, he has NEVER been held accountable for his actions (for the most part and sorry but I don't consider "reprimands" or "apologies" that are not sincere to count). And I don't know about other people, but it pisses me off that he seems to go by a different set of rules from everyone else. As DVauthrin pointed out, when was the last time any of his teams got out of the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament?? Yet, most of the time, the people around him act like he is the coach of some perennial NCAA Tournament champion. And even though, I would still have problems with the way Knight acts even if his teams were winning the NCAA Tournament every other year, I could at least understand why he would get away with stuff. But that is not the case. I will say though, that until this incident, he had been doing a decent job of not acting out of control at Tech (funny, but I think that is what essentially the Chancellor said to him that set him off but it is true).
Well, it kinda started when one of my best friends growing up loved them, so I just didn't like them to piss him off. Then, the whole UK/Duke/Laettner last shot thing that the NCAA hails as the greatest thing ever when the ******* (which is very ironic because I've liked him in the pros) should've been ejected earlier in the game for deliberately stepping on a UK player on the floor. Plus, they always seem to get the majority of calls in every game. Knight defenders, please answer me this. Would you have a problem with a student-athlete yelling at their coach/professor/dean, etc. with nothing but a worthless reprimand as punishment?
Bobby - "The only reason I came to this steamin meadow muffin on the plains anyway is that I figured if I gave'em a real basketball team they would leave me alone to do my job. But nooooo! The chancellor had to get all up in my face. Well I can just call up the jet and leave town anytime and this program will be be sprouting mushrooms before the wheels are up. So unless you alumni want to end up toting the bills for Tech basketball, again,you best talk this chump in to backing down"
i was gonna ask the exact same thing. i've been a Duke fan since '92, and cant quite understand why so many people hate them - UNC fans not withstanding. oh well, i guess it has to do w/ having one of the finest coaches in college b-ball history, All-American players w/o the All-American ego, awesome fans, and complete dominance as of late...
To me, the bottom line on Bob Knight is you get what you pay for. He's been exactly what Tech expected (or should have expected) when they hired him. A damn good coach who's also a world-class a-hole to anybody and everybody. What he's done so far at Tech is mild compared to what he did at Indiana, to be honest. Don't tell me anybody thought he was going to change overnight. That's like bringing in Moochie Norris to play point guard and then being surprised when he sits there and dribbles the ball for 23 seconds of the shot clock.
Does anyone know what Bob Knight's wife is like? Is she an ******* like him or a complete saint (would have to be to put up with him)? I have always wondered about that..
Did you see that commericial during the superbowl about the referee and his wife that b****es at him constantly. I picture it like that except his wife is the one who's learned to tune him out.
DV- I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on whether what Knight did with a bottom level basketball program is impressive. I do agree with your take on him being a system coach. And spin, spin, spin about UT's impressive seasons and Tech's unimpressive seasons. What was UT' score at halftime vs. UTA? It doesn't matter. I guess I just try to be more objective even though I go to UT.
