Mark Few is a smart man

[MuMark]

So some people would rather have 1 Final 4 run and miss the NCAA tournament for the other 14 years?

I guess Few's comments could be taken a number of ways but if that is the choice I'll take 15 years of fun over 14 years of pain and 1 year of joy.

[Galway Eagle]

So some people would rather have 1 Final 4 run and miss the NCAA tournament for the other 14 years?

I guess Few's comments could be taken a number of ways but if that is the choice I'll take 15 years of fun over 14 years of pain and 1 year of joy.

I agree with this.  I mean a final four is great but would any of you trade the 8 years we had of the big 3 and the zar, then jimmy then DJO/Crowder then vander teams for just one final four?

[tower912]

The final 4 was magic, but by chico's definition doesn't matter.    I enjoyed the sustained excellence every bit as much.

[Pakuni]

"Someone asked me the other day if I'd trade all of my runs over 15 years for one Final Four," Few said recently. "Absolutely not. Are you kidding me? These seasons are six months long. We usually feel great for six months. One loss shouldn't ruin that. ... The tournament is a crapshoot. It shouldn't be everything. It's such a shallow thing to pin everything on"

-Mark Few
March 15, 2015

Guy who's never made it to the Final Four says making it to the Final Four is overrated.
Shocking.

[MuMark]

Of course another way to look at it is if the Tourney is indeed a "crapshoot" then Few should have been able to make a longer run then the sweet 16 in at least 1 of those 15 years.

His teams were certainly good enough....he is defying the odds by having high seeded teams go out early year after year......


Maybe this is finally the season.....

[JakeBarnes]

Of course another way to look at it is if the Tourney is indeed a "crapshoot" then Few should have been able to make a longer run then the sweet 16 in at least 1 of those 15 years.

His teams were certainly good enough....he is defying the odds by having high seeded teams go out early year after year......


Maybe this is finally the season.....

This feels like one of the more complete teams he's had. Wiltjer has been a great find for them.

[tower912]

Now if someone were to say that Mark Few is a smart man because he has found a job he likes at a place he likes and has chosen to turn down offers for more money and exposure because he is content where he is... I would 100% agree with that.  

[ChicosBailBonds]

Anything can happen in a best of 7 as well.  You are correct that the likelihood decreases with the one-off nature of the NCAA tournament.  But the likelihood is that a top seed will win the tournament again this year.

And now the crapshoot is an "analogy."  After years of repeating the same line over and over and over again, all of the sudden it becomes an "analogy."

OK...

I'll make sure to let Coach K, Mark Few, Jay Bilas, Jeff Goodman, etc, and others know....

[GGGG]

I'll make sure to let Coach K, Mark Few, Jay Bilas, Jeff Goodman, etc, and others know....

I'm sure you've had dinner with all of them.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Tom Izzo is totally lucky. 

Totally?  Nah.   Somewhat...yes.

Maybe his "skill" escaped him with his four exits in the first weekend.   

It's a little bit of both....you gotta have the right matchups, a bit of luck, a lot of skill to get there.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Totally?  Nah.   Somewhat...yes.

Maybe his "skill" escaped him with his four exits in the first weekend.   

It's a little bit of both....you gotta have the right matchups, a bit of luck, a lot of skill to get there.

This....you incite reaction with your chosen terminology, but this statement here is reality.  To insinuate the tournament is some sort of a random walk is disingenuous. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Guy who's never made it to the Final Four says making it to the Final Four is overrated.
Shocking.

Coach K said it, he's made it to multiple ones. 

SHOCKING

[ChicosBailBonds]

Of course another way to look at it is if the Tourney is indeed a "crapshoot" then Few should have been able to make a longer run then the sweet 16 in at least 1 of those 15 years.

His teams were certainly good enough....he is defying the odds by having high seeded teams go out early year after year......


Maybe this is finally the season.....

Same was said of Bo Ryan if I recall.....is anyone questioning Bo Ryan's coaching ability? 

[ChicosBailBonds]

There are also 4 2 seeds, 4 3 seeds, 4 4 seeds, 4 5 seeds, 4 6 seeds, 4 7 seeds, 4 8 seeds, 4 9 seeds, 4 10 seeds, 6 11 seeds, 4 12 seeds, 4 13 seeds, 4 14 seeds, 4 15 seeds, and 6 16 seeds.  If the tournament were a crapshoot you would see a slightly higher percentage of 11 and 16 seeds making the Final Four and winning the title and the other seeds all having equal winning percentages.  So you're just simply wrong.

That is correct, there are four of each.

Your definition is different than mine or that of the dictionary. 

"something (as a business venture) that has an unpredictable outcome"
"An enterprise whose outcome is determined by chance."
"an unpredictable venture; gamble"

In the NBA, we can predict to 80%+ who is going to win the Finals.  In the NCAA, it is less than 50%.  It's less than a 50-50 call DESPITE the seeding.  That's the biggest thing you need to remember.  The 16 seed is never going to win the tournament because of how they are seeded.  Yet despite the almost impossibility of a 16 or 15 or 14 seed winning it all, the top seeds still can't even win it 50% of the time.

[Pakuni]

Coach K said it, he's made it to multiple ones. 

SHOCKING

Coach K said making it to the Final Four is overrated?
Source? Link?

[Lennys Tap]

Of course another way to look at it is if the Tourney is indeed a "crapshoot" then Few should have been able to make a longer run then the sweet 16 in at least 1 of those 15 years.

His teams were certainly good enough....he is defying the odds by having high seeded teams go out early year after year......


Maybe this is finally the season.....

He just been unlucky, the dice haven't fallen his way. Only difference between Few and Wooden was John was luckier with the dice. And if you believe that....

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Theyre gonna get rolled by Iowa St. in the sweet 16 this year 

[MU82]

Guy who's never made it to the Final Four says making it to the Final Four is overrated.
Shocking.

I know Few says he was just answering the question about whether he would trade 15 years of success for one Final Four appearance, but let's be realistic ... it is not a  mutually exclusive situation.

I mean, how many teams in college basketball history have made a Final Four during their only appearance in the NCAA tournament over a 15-year span?

I'm guessing what we have here is a classic strawman: "Either it's 15 years of NCAA tourney appearances OR one Final Four and 14 years out of the tournament. Can't possibly have both at Gonzaga!"

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Yeah, the old "I'm great cause I win in the regular season and I'm unlucky because I can't win in the tournament" is as self serving as it gets. No wonder Chico loves the guy. Mark Few is like the golfer who has made a lot of money and maybe even won the John Deere Classic a couple of times but crapped the bed in the majors. Tell John Wooden, Bob Knight, Coach K. etc., that the tournament is all luck, a roll of the dice. And that it doesn't help define a career. It will give them a good laugh.

So Mark Few is Steve Stricker?

[4everwarriors]

Bo is legendary, ai na?

[Badgerhater]

Now if someone were to say that Mark Few is a smart man because he has found a job he likes at a place he likes and has chosen to turn down offers for more money and exposure because he is content where he is... I would 100% agree with that.  

Mark Few is not messing with happy.

[brandx]

A predictable position for a Crean apologist

Doesn't matter what they did in those other "runs".

It's all about the power of now.

[Lennys Tap]

So Mark Few is Steve Stricker?

Pretty much.

[bilsu]

Look at it this way. Kevin Ollie one title and who knows, if he will ever make the tournament again vs Few who makes the tournament every year. Who would you rather be?

[wadesworld]

Look at it this way. Kevin Ollie one title and who knows, if he will ever make the tournament again vs Few who makes the tournament every year. Who would you rather be?

Well so far every other year Ollie wins it all and then misses the tournament.  I'd take a title every other year if it meant missing the tournament the opposite year.