On Saturday, Duke University played terribly against NC State but managed to come from behind to squeeze out an 87-86 victory. What would have otherwise been just another tight ACC win was so very much more on this day because the win gave coach Mike Krzyzewski his 800th career victory. Krzyzewski is only the fifth coach in NCAA history to top the 800 win plateau and puts him only 106 games behind his mentor, Bobby Knight, for the most wins all time. I am an unabashed Duke fan and a Coach K disciple and I will not pretend to hide that. What Coach K has accomplished is remarkable and historical, second, in my opinion, only to Coach John Wooden’s string of championships with UCLA in the 60’s and 70’s. To be able to keep a program as competitive and relevant as Coach K has over the last 22 years during in an age that lends itself to parity is incredible, a feat that even the great Coach Wooden would struggle to accomplish.
Since his first Final Four at Duke in the 1985-86 season, Coach K has guided Duke to 3 titles, 7 championship game appearances, 10 Final Fours, and 17 Sweet Sixteen appearances. In that time, Duke has failed to advance past the first round of the NCAA tournament only three times, and missed the Tournament only once, a season that saw Coach K miss the majority of the season because of back surgery. He has created a program that gets the best recruits every single year, that almost always competes for the top spot in the best basketball conference in the nation, and that expects to win a championship every single season. Compare his longevity and success to that of the coaches at the other legendary programs in the country over the same time period:
UCLA: three Final Fours, one championship, and four head coaches
North Carolina: six Final Fours, two championships, and four head coaches
Kentucky: four Final Fours, two championships, and four head coaches
Kansas: six Final Fours, one championship, and three head coaches.
Coach K’s run is something even the cream of the crop cannot emulate. In all that time and through all that success, Coach K has represented the game with the utmost class and respectability and without a hint of impropriety. It has been a fantastic reign and here’s hoping for another 200 or 300 wins!
2. Randy Moss Resigns with New England
Well it was a dicey situation for a while there but today it was reported that record setting wide out Randy Moss has agreed to a new deal with the New England Patriots. The contract is for 3 years and 27 million dollars. This is a great move by both parties, though it did not come immediately. Moss had the best season of his illustrious career playing with Tom Brady but the Patriots are notorious for short changing their free agents and pressuring them to accept a home town discount. I think it was evident from the get go that Moss wanted to remain with the Pats but that he also wasn’t going to play for free.
You have to understand where Moss was coming from: he’s 32 years old and this is very likely his last contract. In the NFL’s world of non-guaranteed contracts, he is one big hit from being thrown into the gutter. He had to get big money one last time. And no matter what their philosophy is, it would have been foolish, nay, INSANE for the Pats to try to short change Moss and let him run to another of the NFL’s elite teams. Put aside the fact that Moss set the NFL record for most touchdowns in a season last year (23) and reasserted himself as perhaps the best receiver in football. For the first time in his career, Tom Brady found out what it was like to play with top-notch receivers in ’07, and he would have been incredibly upset to see his best teammate walk away. Brady has very rarely complained about the Pats way of doing business in the past but I have a hard time believing he would have towed the company line after a move like this. The bottom line is the deal has apparently been finalized and the NFL will be treated to another year of the Brady to Moss hookup.3. John Wooden Hospitalized
Late last week, legendary coach John Wooden was admitted to the hospital with injuries sustained during a fall in his home. Coach Wooden broke both his wrist and his collarbone and has had to undergo blood transfusions over the last five days. According to his daughter, he is in stable condition and will be released from the hospital before long.
Coach Wooden took UCLA to 10 NCAA championships in the 60s and 70s, setting a record that will never be broken. He has been the face of college basketball at times and as respected a man as has ever stepped onto the court. Wooden is a class act of the highest order, a man who exudes integrity and compassion. His health has been deteriorating over the last few years and at age 97, he doesn’t have many more years on this earth. But for right now, it appears Coach Wooden will be around for a while longer and the world is a little better place for having him in it.
4. Michael Beasley is a BEAST! But…
Michael Beasley, a freshman phenom who plays for the Kansas State Wildcats, has captured the attention of the nation by putting up absolutely absurd statistics all season long. He is third in the nation in scoring, first and rebounds, and first in double doubles. He is essentially a one man team, at times outscoring the rest of his team.
He has scored over 30 points in a game 12 times this year, a feat that has been accomplished only three times TOTAL by every other player in the Big 12. He is a beast of a man, a guy who has every measurable an NBA team would look for in a franchise player and there is little doubt that he will be the first player taken in the NBA draft this summer. I’ve been able to watch Beasley play a few times this year, including Saturday night’s blowout loss to Kansas in which Beasley scored 39 points. There is no questioning his freakish athleticism or ability; he has the complete package. But…
If I was an NBA GM, I’d be very wary of anchoring by franchise to the guy. I get a bad feeling about him. Though I am not the first to say this, Beasley reminds me far too much of former number one pick, Derrick Coleman, whom the Nets tagged as their franchise player in 1990. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with being compared to Coleman. Coleman was an amazing athlete for his size, a guy who could run the floor, pound you on the block, step out for a long jumper, and pound you on the glass. During his first five years in the league, Coleman averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block and a half per game. He was an All Star twice in that span and a member of Dream Team 2.
And then his career crashed.
The decline started with an injury but Coleman never seemed to make an attempt to truly recover. He went from a freakish athletic body to out of shape to downright fat. He was unmotivated and quite content to collect a FAT paycheck for doing next to nothing for the majority of his career. His attitude was always an obstacle and Coleman feuded with just about every coach and teammate he had during his career. A malcontent who never came close to living up to his potential, Coleman ranks 17th on Sports Illustrated’s “Biggest Draft Busts.”
When the comparison between Beasley and Coleman was pointed out to me, I laughed it off. And yet every time I watch him play, I am reminded of Coleman and how frustrating he was to watch. Beasley’s body is cut and strong right now, but he is so young and his metabolism has yet to slow down. He has the look of a guy who could potentially gain a LOT of weight if he isn’t careful. Right now he is far and away the most athletic player in the nation and you have to wonder how he will respond when there are so many more talented and athletic players at the next level? In addition, I have to question Beasley’s attitude. In each of the K State games I have watched, at some point Beasley has come close to blows with an opponent or picked up a technical foul. I don’t think he is the malcontented jerk that Coleman always was; rather, I think he has trouble controlling his emotions. There are plenty of young athletes who have trouble staying in control under intense conditions. Some of them mature and grow out of these problems, but many do not. I question how well he will be able to handle a much more physically and mentally abusive game in the NBA. How will he respond to the likes of Rasheed Wallace physically beating on him and saying things about his mother for 82 games a year? He seems to be a player who is fragile mentally and who depends too much on his athleticism rather than his skill.
I think Beasley could be a very good, if not great NBA player. If he is able to mature and develop a strong work ethic, there is no question that he will make a strong impression on the league. But for me, there are a lot of question marks surrounding him that would make me wary of naming him a franchise player.
5. Bill Simmons Runs For GM
Bill Simmons, also known as “The Sports Guy,” is my favorite national sports writer. This is probably true because he doesn’t really write SPORTS, at least not in the way that most media types do. He’s a funny guy and a witty writer but most importantly, he is a fan. Simmons is that lucky son of a gun who grew up watching sports with fanatical attention and just happened to become a writer.
Recently he launched a campaign (only half jokingly) to become the next general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks. Current GM Larry Harris has done a miserable job putting the team together over the last few years and Bucks fans have become increasingly disinterested with the franchise. Apparently Simmons has received a lot of support in his mock-campaign and has put together a great column on the subject.
Vote Simmons '08
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