On the surface this may seem out of the blue, but pay close attention, not to the differences, but the similarities. Both coaching at a top five college basketball program, both following a big coaching star (Roy Williams, Rick Pitino), both not getting to the Final Four despite being projected to do so at least twice during their tenure.
Tubby Smith's redeeming quality during his long career at Kentucky was the One Ring in 1998. Championship is the panacea in sports and that bought Tubby about an extra five years before the "divorce" this spring.
Bill Self's redeeming quality is all-burger recruiting, with tons of touted and sought after recruits choosing KU. He has brought an impressive list of touted players. And that also buys a coach some time.
Both have Elite 8s to show for, but when you coach at UKKU (UK, KU) you are expected to deliver Final Fours and occasional Rings, not Elite 8s. For example if Tubby Smith has the same record at the TimberGophers as he had at Kentucky, they will build statues for him and probalby name the court after him if he retires there.
Both have asterisks in their records, Bill Self went to the Elite 8 with Roy's players, Tubby Smith won the national championship with Pitino's players. Now, I'm not discounting their achievements during their first seasons, but it is a fact that they both inherited the programs in pretty good shape, Kansas off a Final Four, Kentucky off an overtime National Runner-up.
So if you take the first Elite 8 out, Bill Self has two first round exits, and one Elite 8 to show for. The pipeline of recruits almost automatically silences the complaints, but how long does Bill Self have to deliver a Final Four run before he gets on the hot seat and become the next Tubby Smith?
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Future Talk: Is Bill Self the next Tubby Smith?
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4 comments:
I'm not sure I'll ever understand why Tubby's name gets tossed around like this. Not many NCAA coaches have a ring, or the accomplishments Tubby has had.
Bill Self would be lucky to be the next Tubby Smith, that would mean he'd have a ring.
That's what I was trying to point out, that when one is coaching at a place like UK, KU, UNC, winning alone is not enough. Final Fours and Championships are expected. While Tubby had a solid record on and off the court, he didn't make it past the Elite 8 after Year One. Year One was a team assembled by Pitino, coming off two back to back NCAA Championships.
Granted, it still takes a great coach to step in such a situation and coach a team to the Championship, but he wasn't able to go back to the Final Four since then.
Bill Self's "redeemer" is the all-burger recruiting pipeline.
Tubby Smith gave us the longest stretch without a final four appearance in Kentucky history, and if you follow UK basketball you'd know that we weren't anywhere close to remedying that situation. The Vitale's of the world can point out his win percentage, but that doesn't matter to us when we are lucky to make it to the sweet sixteen.
Tubby's on the court record also included a six game losing streak to Florida and four game losing streak to Vandy. That may be one reason his name gets tossed into the conversation.
As for tournament success. Tubby still has not signed a player that played in a final four. Unless Gillispie can get UK there before AJ Stewart graduates, I don't think it will happen.
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