Bob Knight Hall of Fame

[Buck Futler]

As most of our country's population, I am certain that this board has differing opinions of "The General", Bobby Knight.

In case you're dumb, illiterate, or live under a rock, Coach Knight was inducted to the NCAA Hall of Fame Class of 2011 today. I am just curious what your thoughts on Mr. Knight might be.

Best coach ever? Angry maniac? Out of line? Chair-tossing champion? Whatever comes to mind, I am sure this will bring about some good talk.

[XU 87]

Great coach? Angry maniac? Out of line? Chair-tossing champion?

All of the above.

[Frambo]

All of the above.

Agree! As a young coach, I went to a few of his clinics and camps. I've never seen anyone breakdown things the way he did.

[MCXU]

I would gladly pay him $100 just to punch me in the face.

I think it would be a great story for the Grandkids.

[MADXSTER]

Great question....

Pros
BK is a great floor coach.
BK players improve as the season goes on.
BK players improve as their college career moves forward.
BK graduates his players and/or sends them to the pros.
BK gets the most out of his players.
BK gets his players to play team ball.

Cons
BK bullied his way around.
BK tough love approach is over the top.
BK my way or the highway is over the top.
BK is horrible, disrespectful and extremely rude in interviews.

As far as basketball goes he is a "Great"
As far as everything else he is sub-par at best.

Bottom line - If my kid could play for any coach, I would not send him to to BK. Coaches are/should be mentors to their players. There are other coaches who do everything that BK does but also act in a much more meaningful manner towards others.

[Xavier]

He loves the shot fake and white players.

[Anti-Homer]

Pendulum swings way to the left (negative).

Positives: great coach

Negatives:

Rude
Boorish
Egomaniac
Abusive
Vindictive

Homer for Big 6 teams. Too bad his mediocre coaching job at TT didn't alter his perspective as a self proclaimed winner.

[Juice]

He belongs in the Hall of Fame for this halftime rant alone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw7KijRfU-c

[MADXSTER]

DAMN that was HARDCORE

[wkrq59]

BK is horrible, disrespectful and extremely rude in interviews. Madxter.

Xter,
You are partially right on that negative. however, there is a caveat I would add. Bob Knight will never suffer fools, or help a lazy ass reporter or TV-radio interviewer do his job. Asking Bob Knight: "Coach, you just lost to Purdue. Your thoughts?" He'll tell that reporter, male or female, his thoughts on their ability to do their job, much less their right to exist. However, if you ask an intelligent question, you have nothing to fear. To wit: Coach, you are famous for man defenses,. What made you switch for three defensive plays to a match-up zone? The questioner was immediately interrupted by radio reporter and ridiculed for asking such a stupid question. When he finished and stuck a mic in Knight's face, Knight exploded.
"You know what young man? You're a damned rude son-of-a-bitch. You interrupted the man before he could finish his question, because he was ready to ask "Why was that matchup so successful and why didn't you go back to it? But before he could finish, you showed your absolute ignorance. I seriously suggest you sit down with this gentleman and let him, if he'd be so kind, explain to you what the hell he was talking about. And to the questioner, he said, Most people wouldn't recognize a match-up zone if John Chaney diagrammed it for them. It was very effective, but it's also very difficult to play right, and it was time to throw something different at them again. Please see me after we finish here,"
I was the one who asked him the zone question and later he asked me if I had ever talked to John Chaney about it, and I got, with blackboard explanation, a great lesson in basketball, why the man generally was better than the matchup, what it's weaknesses were and how he attacked it any time his kids faced it. He also let me know that David Minor, the young man who had played on his last national championship team, was transferring back to Cincinnati and Xavier. In all, I find it hard to rip Knight as many do, because I've seen both of his sides, and I've seen more Dr. Jeckyl than Mr. Hyde. Besides, Mr. Hyde makes better copy and that's what the lazy sensationalists like. Sorry for the rant. :D

[GoMuskies]

Knight is a POS and a terrible broadcaster.

Obviously could coach, though.

[MADXSTER]

Agree, there were alot of stupid questions and many times I ended up thinking they were just bating him. However, many were just young guys trying to learn the ropes. He came across as a guy who would just rather hang you with that rope.

Thanks for the letting us see the other side of the fence. Doesn't change my opinion about him though.

[Xavier]

Weren't their a few posters who wanted Xavier to hire Knight after Miller left?!?! LOL- that would have been horrrrible.

[X-band '01]

He belongs in the Hall of Fame for this halftime rant alone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw7KijRfU-c

This wasn't a halftime speech; this was a pre-practice speech if I'm not mistaken during the early 90s. Coach Knight (who knows if he reads this board or not) referred to an upcoming game at Purdue in the speech and a game they played the night before.

[SkyWalker]

Best coach ever!. He was old school and ran into some issues with modern day political correctness. Perhaps a little anger management would have helped along the way. But as a coach, teacher of basketball...The Best.

[xubrew]

i feel that it is worth noting that his biggest detractors are not his former players or assistants. many of his former players and coaches are highly respected. of those that are highly respected, they respect knight. that should tell you something.

knight doesn't like a lot of things about the media and makes no bones about it. i think this has something to do with why he comes off the way that he does. i'm not saying he doesn't have character flaws. i'm just saying that everyone does, yet people seem to make it a point to emphasize his more than most other peoples'.

for example, the other night tim floyd needed to be escourted off the court by police. this is the same tim floyd that is responsible for the recruiting issues at usc. tim floyd is not being plastered all over the front page and all over sportcenter weeks later. yet when knight gets a mere technical foul (which if you look at the records he didn't do often), we still see it a month later.

he's won more games than anyone. of course he's in the hall of fame. he was successful at army. i don't know exactly what the situation was, but i do believe he had a mess to clean up when he first arrived at indiana. at texas tech, he took a team that sucked more often than not, and made them tournament regulars. he won everywhere he went, and two of the three places he coached at were not easy places to win.

[Woodburn]

Coach Knight (who knows if he reads this board or not)
Ooh! I know! The answer is: "not."

I grew up in, and returned to, Indiana. I'm happy to speak for the entire State on this one. Here it is: Knight is a LEGEND. He is also a bit of a punk. LEGEND> punk. The end.

[wkrq59]

Ooh! I know! The answer is: "not."

I grew up in, and returned to, Indiana. I'm happy to speak for the entire State on this one. Here it is: Knight is a LEGEND. He is also a bit of a punk. LEGEND> punk. The end.

Just a little fun memory, what the newspaper editor from New York said to the lawyer played by Jimmy Stewart at the end of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." --"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Robert Wuhl made it one of the primary things he talked about in a class he did on satellite TV. Can't remember which.:logo: