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Last of the Old School is gone...
Posted Sunday, February 10, 2008, at 1:39 PM
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Bobby Knight resigned, recently, and that marks the end of an era. He was the last of the "Old School" coaches that felt the in your face, disciplinarian type of coaching was the way to go. That didn't sit well with the new era people who feel that players should be coddled and pampered to the point that they feel they have no one to answer to and they call the shots, not the coach. No one can argue that Coach Knight didn't graduate his players. He had very few NCAA inquiries and none that had to do with cheating. He may have coached past his time but I was still a fan. He coached one of my former players and his only comment to me was that Coach was "making me into a man". That doesn't mean he liked everything he did but that he respected him for what he was trying to accomplish. That player went on to play in the NBA. He may not have made it without Knights guidance, who's to say. I am not going to say that I agreed with everything Coach did but I will miss him because he was not afraid to stick to his plan and didn't care if it might offend someone or it might seem unfair. He was an honest man and, to tell you the truth, some of the stuff he did was hilarious.


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I have been a Bobby Knight fan for quite some time and agree with Steve. I have read Steve Alford's book and one thing about Knight is that his public personna was different than his private one. He is a quality person out of the spotlight and has done many good things outside of basketball for his former players. I don't agree with many of the things he has done while coaching, but respect that he really doesn't care what any of the public thinks about him.

-- Posted by X on Wed, Feb 20, 2008, at 11:15 AM

The 'stars' and 7+ starters who are willing to take the discipline and high expectations for practice are champions,,,,,,,,,,, ask John Wooden..........

-- Posted by treasons on Wed, Feb 13, 2008, at 2:16 AM

I'm with you, Steve. The 'old school' guys were tough; but, there was never any question where they stood. I can also think of some players that those coaches had on their teams that no one today would give a second look.

If they had a player willing to take the discipline and high expectations for practice, then the player could tough it out with the 7+ foot starters. Today's coaches (even at our local DHS / DCHS) only want the 'stars'.

Sometimes they need to look deep for those with heart & determination. After all, shouldn't we be trying to build character as well as a winning team? If they can stand the heat (or in Knight's case, heated temper), let them stay in the gym!

-- Posted by naddie on Mon, Feb 11, 2008, at 4:00 PM


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