AP Coach of the Decade: Jay Wright
- Thread starter Bruiser1
- Start date
K should’ve won it or it should’ve been closer than the final votes indicated. They both have the same amount of titles in this decade and some embarrassing NCAAT showings and that’s where the similarities end.
Last 5 years: Wright
Last 10 years: K and even Cal has an argument
Last 5 years: Wright
Last 10 years: K and even Cal has an argument
In the 2010’s Coach K and Wright also have the same number of Final Fours but Coach K has led Duke to 5 Elite 8’s compared to Wright’s 2 Elite 8’s. Coach K has also taken Duke to every tournament in the 2010’s but Wright and Villanova missed 1 tournament in the 2010’s.
Wright also had way less talent. And fielded possibly the best team in recent memory in '18.
Thought recruiting was apart of coaching? Also, Nova has sent some guys to the pros. They’re not just winning with Jimmy and Joe’s.
I don’t see much of an argument for Wright. It’s Cal or K.
You can argue Wright over Cal on the basis of titles. But you can’t argue him over K if that’s what you’re going off of.
You can argue Wright over Cal on the basis of titles. But you can’t argue him over K if that’s what you’re going off of.
Lol
‘12 Cats were better. 21 out of 26 voters picked Kentucky as the best team of the 2010s.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.as...s-basketball-2011-12-team-of-the-decade-by-ap
I said possibly. I don't think that citing an Associated Press vote removes that possibility.
I think if 21 out of 26 unbiased voters all chose the same thing, it says quite a bit. 18 Nova was good but come on
If talent/expectations weren't factors, then COY would go to the coach that won the most every year.
Do you really think they put a lot of thought into it? It's the AP, and the Anthony Davis team is obviously a safe bet. Didn't someone link an article recently that named Nova the best team of the decade? You act like it's an absurd idea. They destroyed everyone.
They lost four games, all to teams that were pretty meh. I don’t think it was that close. I wouldn’t call it absurd I guess
I don't remember details, but I think they had injuries in some of those games. Regardless, they won every game in the conference tourney and NCAAT by double digits. I've never seen a team breeze through the tourney like that. 2012 Kentucky's losses were to weak teams too.
Indiana was in the sweet sixteen until they lost to Kentucky and Vanderbilt was ranked all year and made the round of 32. Not exactly the same as St Johns and Creighton and Butler. Whoever else they lost to
So, Nova had no talent this decade? I mean, I can easily flip that and say Wright should’ve won more with experienced players and less roster turnover, but he didn’t compared to K.
I expect the youth excuse from Kentucky fans, but not from you guys.
K and Calipari had their pick of the litter this past decade. No one else even approached them in recruiting success. That means you have NO personnel excuses (beyond injuries). If K can’t get it done by filling a roster with ridiculous OAD talent, then guess what....he could have surrounded Zion and Bagley with whichever Joe 4 Stars he wanted.
So if you want to maintain that he had the best decade, fine, but don’t start making roster excuses. Jay Wright was generally working with the kind of players that spend 3-4 years buried on Duke’s bench or playing minimal roles.
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You made the argument that Wright won with less talent; K won with less experience. Yet they both have the same amount of titles, FF, yet K had more wins (in a tougher conference) and tournament success. So, an equal argument can be made from the other side. Wright winning his two titles in the last five years certainly helped from a recency standpoint but it’s Coach of the Decade, not Coach of the Last 5 years.
I don’t like calling it less experienced, because generally there is plenty of experience on the roster, but those players don’t see many minutes. The 4 stars that are buried on the bench would start for most schools. Citing “inexperience” as a negative because you start generational freshman talent over other perfectly fine 3 or 4 year players doesn’t fly.
I don’t think you can make a decent argument that Wright had a better combination of talent and experience. Even in the one season in which he had a great roster, K had an absurdly loaded team with talent and experience, and they were prohibitive favorites to start the season. Yet it was Nova that buzzsawed through the tournament.
I’m just saying. You took the talent aspect as a way to knock K over Wright, I can do the same with experience that Wright was fortunate to have. If you did a blind resume—objectively by the numbers—no one is selecting Wright’s resume over K since 2010. NO ONE.
EvilMonkeyInTheCloset
Well-Known Member
Crazy thing about Villanova, is they only advanced to the Sweet 16 twice in the last decade. They made the most of their trips in 2016 and 2018, but they've been a quick out every other year. K and Cal were more consistent. I'm not going to lose sleep over this.
That is a decent argument and I’m pretty sure none of the other Duke fans don’t believe so. If they think it’s not debatable, imo, they are wrong. There is also an argument that after that, K has a decent argument as coach of the decade. It doesn’t take a homer to see that.
They certainly recruited well. Doesn't mean they had the pick of the litter. Cal missed on a good bit of guys he wanted. No doubt him and K have, what on paper, are supposed to be better players. But both work their asses off on the recruiting trail to make that happen. Doesn't mean they can't mis-evaluate guys. Also doesn't mean Jay Wright can't properly evaluate guys and create a team full of future NBA'ers that win 2 ships. He had 7 NBA players and 3 more that are in the G-League on those teams. Did he randomly develop an entire team into NBA players when he's never done so before? Or did he evaluate and recruit really well? A 5 star can be a bust, just like a 4 star can become great. Evaluating guys and putting together a team you think will mesh, fit your system, and work hard is more important than a # predicted beside a recruits name.
Jay Wright had a great decade. And those two teams/runs were very impressive. I just think overall Cal and K's decades were better. Were they supposed to be better based on how well they recruit? Yes. But they still went out and did their job (for the most part). I can see how someone would pick JW though. Great coach.
