Posted by gillispie1 on 3/14/2020 5:47:00 PM (view original):
Posted by oldwarrior on 3/13/2020 1:24:00 PM (view original):
one of my pet peeves are people claiming Duke was nothing until Coach K arrived.
The three seasons before Coach K was hired they were ranked and made a Final Four in 1978. A 2-seed the following year.
I'll give you the early-mid 70's weren't impressive. But every program goes through 6-10 year poor stretches. Even Kentucky, and I don't hear people say they weren't anything until Calipari arrived.
In the 60's Duke probably were a top 2-3 team for the decade. 7 top 10's in 8 years between '61-'68. That also was a time when only the ACC conference tourney winner got a bid to the NCAA. Not unusual for a couple top 10 teams from the ACC not making the NCAA in given season. The ACC tourney was often played at a higher level than the NCAA's. The one bid per conf was a reason South Carolina left the ACC after failing to make the NCAA three straight seasons ranked in the top 6.
Duke was a nobody prior to the 60's. But that's more than 60 years ago and before the creation of the ACC.
i love claiming that, haha. i guess its a perspective thing, for me its more about hating duke than it is about them actually being 'nothing' before K.
but, bottom line, your example is terrible. before cal, kentucky had been the best program in country for 30 years under rupp, and had titles under 4 coaches - double any other program has to this day. they still had the best resume in the sport by most measures before cal, but were on a decade long slump - plus they'd just been team of the decade in the 90s, even with how good duke was in the early 90s. so of course nobody was saying it before cal.
duke had no titles and by your own description, which i won't really contest, 2 good title-less decades in their history before K came. i'll admit, they were definitely a good program before K - its been years since i looked at the numbers but they were definitely competitive, from what i saw, before he came along - but by no measure were they an elite one (correct me if i'm wrong there!). i just don't think that is a remotely viable comparison.
Why were they the "team of the decade" in the 90's? UK had, what, 2 National Titles, 1 Runner-up, and 1 other Final Four? Duke also had 2 National Titles and
3 Runner-ups. I'd say that calling UK the "team of the 90's" is open to some very serious debate.
UK went from 1978 until 1996 between titles, almost two decades between championships. But somehow I bet you don't consider them just "competitive" and a "good" program in that time frame, you probably still consider them "elite" for those 18 years, right? So if winning titles is the end-all-be-all of elite programs, what was Kentucky's "status" between '78 and '96? In fact, between 1979 and 1991, the "elite" UK basketball program only made it past the
first weekend of the NCAA tourney 5 times in 13 seasons. In fact, in 1979, they followed up their 1978 NCAA title......by losing in the first round of the NIT. Almost forgot, Calipari followed up his 2012 title........by losing in the first round of the NIT. Elite.
In fact, outside of Rick Pitino's brief tenure (and one season of Tubby Smith using Pitino's players), UK had been on the better part of a 30+ YEAR slump until Calipari arrived. Not saying much for such an "elite" program. Those that have been around long enough probably know that I'm a Duke fan (as if you couldn't tell from my posts anyway, ha) but even I have to admit for sustained success UNC is THE standard (this season notwithstanding. Oh, and Matt Doherty's debacle of a couple of seasons of a coaching "career").
At least UK has a good coach now though.
3/15/2020 3:54 AM (edited)