For weeks now I've been waiting for the chance to post a slobbering, gross, awful, ass kissing post about Syracuse Men's Basketball Coach Jim Boeheim passing Bobby Knight on the all-time NCAA wins list. I was going to ignore the fact that College Basketball basically sucks now. I was going to ignore the fact that Syracuse had their deepest and most talented squad since I was five years old last year and rather shockingly screwed the pooch as hard as one could in last year's NCAA Tournament. I was also going to ignore the knee jerk firing of Bernie Fine by a petrified Cuse Administration.
And then this happened.
POINT NUMBER ONE:
"But, even while he surpasses Knight, let’s not forget that when Boeheim faced Knight head to head for the 1987 National Championship, the better coach, working with less naturally talented players, came through when it mattered."
First of all, never mind the absurdity of judging a man's 50 year career in College Basketball by judging 26 seconds of a game in 1987, let's get down to dirt: don't go ahead and make it seem like Knight's 1987 Hoosiers squad was the fucking '99 Gonzaga Bulldogs. This was the defending Big Ten Champs, 1 Seed, never-ranked-lower-than-a-5-seed-in-the-80s Bobby Knight coached Indiana Hoosiers. This was the team that the year before was the subject of the most read sports book of all time. Indiana SHOULD have won that game. Syracuse wasn't even projected to win the Big East that year (which they didn't...they lost to G-Town in the tournament...fucking G-Town). Both of those teams had some phenomenal players. This wasn't George Mason vs. UConn, it was Indiana vs. Syracuse.
POINT NUMBER TWO:
"Why is Syracuse Freshman Derrick Coleman at the line? You are up 1 point in the NCAA title game and a freshman forward is handling the ball? Wtf?"
That's an outrageously easy question to answer: Derrick Coleman was their best player on the court. Derrick Coleman may be their best player ever. Derrick Coleman is Derrick Fucking Coleman. He was a power forward who shot 70% from the line. I have no issue with him taking the front end. That he missed it is just basketball. Shit happens.
POINT NUMBER THREE:
"After Coleman misses the front end of the one-and-one, Knight does NOT call time out. This was one of Knight’s signature moves (and one I’ve always favored). When your team is well prepared…it’s just another basket. It puts more pressure on the defense. But it takes discipline."
That is very impressive. I will admit to that. Coming down the court down by one and not calling a timeout and treating it like just another basket is ballsy borderline genius coaching. Not many in college basketball would ever do that. That takes a tremendous level of discipline by your players. I'm sure if Jim Boeheim assaulted his players verbally and physically on a consistent basis like Knight, Derrick Coleman would have hit the free throws and we wouldn't be having this discussion.
POINT NUMBER FOUR:
"Yea yea, I know Bob Knight is a menacing asshole. I know he was abusive, but c’mon, Boeheim is “sketchy” in his own way so we’re even, right? You see, Knight is the Buddy Rich of coaches, and like Buddy, he thought he was the best ever. True or not, on the biggest stage, game on the line, he succeeded and Boeheim fell…Chan-Jauron style."
Well I can't blame you for not going out on a limb. Here goes:
Boeheim may have flaunted the absurd archaic rules of the NCAA, which is slowly sending college sport into irrelevance and turning them into the equivalent of pre-Curt Flood sports slavery (wait, it's worse and already is), but he NEVER ASSAULTED HIS PLAYERS. Any list you can come up with (from a historically SU hating blog) I can come with one better (from none other than Sports "all of this has to be verified" Illustrated). So no, in that respect, we're not even....at all. Also, Neil Peart beats Buddy Rich every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Also, watch at 2:00 of the video below of Boeheim demonstrating the greatest asset a coach can have: adjusting after mistakes. Notice how he defends the baseline jumpers to win the National Title. Thanks for playing. Go Orange.