Northwestern on 11 game losing streak.

[WhiteTrash]

1. Wooden
2. Auerbach
3. Knight
4. Phil Jackson
5. Pop

Dirtiest program

1. Wooden

Wooden was a gentleman but didn't win until the money started flowing and the talent went through the roof.

While Wooden was far from alone in cheating in NCAA basketball, I've never heard anything about Knight being dirty (only a jerk).

[Viper]

1. Wooden
2. Auerbach
3. Knight
4. Phil Jackson
5. Pop

K doesn't really come close to the cut. I could make a case for 6-10 before K makes the list, too.

Undoubtedly, though right?

Pop? You've lost serious credibility here, brah. I'm shocked you're not adding pothead Steve Kerr.  Jackson? I'd win if I had MJ/Pip...Shaq/Kobe. Don't force me to agree w/BLM. You're ruining my day. btw, Morgan Wooten...DeMatha. Look him up.

[5DollarPitcher]

Pop? You've lost serious credibility here, brah. I'm shocked you're not adding pothead Steve Kerr.  Jackson? I'd win if I had MJ/Pip...Shaq/Kobe. Don't force me to agree w/BLM. You're ruining my day. btw, Morgan Wooten...DeMatha. Look him up.

Greg Popovich is 100% the better COACH than K. And he belongs in the top 5.

The same people that think K is a GOAT coach think Brady is a GOAT QB.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Pop? You've lost serious credibility here, brah. I'm shocked you're not adding pothead Steve Kerr.  Jackson? I'd win if I had MJ/Pip...Shaq/Kobe. Don't force me to agree w/BLM. You're ruining my day. btw, Morgan Wooten...DeMatha. Look him up.

I believe the criteria is how good of a coach each is, not whether they conform to your political view.

[wadesworld]

Greg Popovich is 100% the better COACH than K. And he belongs in the top 5.

The same people that think K is a GOAT coach think Brady is a GOAT QB.

Lol. Yes, I would agree with that. The same people who don't agree with that are the same people who don't have one ounce of common sense.

[cheese ball chaser]

The same people that think K is a GOAT coach think Brady is a GOAT QB.

You mean most sports fans?

[wadesworld]

You mean most sports fans?

Any human with a brain, really.

[The Sultan]

Pop? You've lost serious credibility here, brah. I'm shocked you're not adding pothead Steve Kerr.  Jackson? I'd win if I had MJ/Pip...Shaq/Kobe. Don't force me to agree w/BLM. You're ruining my day. btw, Morgan Wooten...DeMatha. Look him up.

Lol.

[5DollarPitcher]

Then any human with a brain must think Robert Horry is the GOAT of the NBA, only behind Bill Russell?

[BM1090]

Duke won a national title with a 7 man rotation led by Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith. Shocked there are people who think he can't coach.

[wadesworld]

Then any human with a brain must think Robert Horry is the GOAT of the NBA, only behind Bill Russell?

1) Do some research and you'll realize Robert Horry doesn't have the second most rings in the NBA.
2) Let me know which of his championships Robert Horry was the best player and played the most important position in sports for.
3) Let me know how many Finals MVPs Horry has won.
4) Let me know how many regular season MVPs Horry has won.

I'm shocked this is your argument.  Totally shocked.

[5DollarPitcher]

Duke won a national title with a 7 man rotation led by Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith. Shocked there are people who think he can't coach.

He also didn't make the National Final with Zion, Barrett, and Reddish

[5DollarPitcher]

2) Let me know which of his championships Robert Horry was the best player and played the most important position in sports for.
I'm shocked this is your argument.  Totally shocked.

Let me know which of Brady's Super Bowls he was the best player on the team.

Spoiler alert: 0

[The Sultan]

He also didn't make the National Final with Zion, Barrett, and Reddish

You realize that most coaches don't win championships in a given year right?

Continuing to die on this hill tells me all I need to know.

[GoldenWarrior11]

I may be in the minority in the Chicago-area, but I think Collins is incredibly overrated thanks to a single victory in the NCAAT (and due to a historic year, by NU standards).  Collins has finished tenth or worst in over half the time of his tenure in the B1G.  Adding more confusion is that Pat Fitzgerald has been able to do far more in football (winning division championships, winning bowl games, playing for B!G titles, etc.), which requires recruiting and developing more high-level talent.  In basketball, you only need a few players to compete, whereas in football you need a few dozen.  Collins, much in the vein of a Wojo, very much by perception standards, has a job for life, despite losing way more than winning.

To Coach K coaching disciples, I don't think any are making tournament this year (Dawkins, Capel, Wojo, Collins, Amaker, Brey or Hurley).  Dawkins, Amaker and Capel have been fired, with Wojo and Collins likely, at some point, to join them as well.  Pretty remarkable that none of them have attained sustainable success, given Duke's status as one of the top programs annually.  Duke, and Coach K, have regressed since moving towards one-and-done players, and that is really no surprise.

A lot like in the NFL, hiring Belichick assistants does not bring Patriots-level success.  Whomever is the next MU head coach needs head coaching experience at another level, and needs to know how to develop a sustainable winning program.

[The Sultan]

I'm not sure I would put Hurley in this group. He never coached under K.

[wadesworld]

Let me know which of Brady's Super Bowls he was the best player on the team.

Spoiler alert: 0

The best player in the NFL wasn't the best player on his own team. Wild stuff. Even for 5$

[GooooMarquette]

I think it's silly comparing college and NBA coaches to come up with a 'best of all time' list. The jobs require very different skillsets and job responsibilities, which is why it's rare for guys to successfully go from one to the other. Pitino, Cal, Floyd, Kruger and others have failed miserably. And while a couple of great college coaches (Donovan and Stevens) have been pretty good, they've never come close to their college success. The only real exception I can think of is Larry Brown.

[Viper]

I believe the criteria is how good of a coach each is, not whether they conform to your political view.

no politics here. Wooten was amazing. A lot of his guys were HS McD AA's to D-1 AA's to pro's. Just an incredible record.

[cheebs09]

Wojo is trying to catch up to his buddy.

[The Sultan]

no politics here. Wooten was amazing. A lot of his guys were HS McD AA's to D-1 AA's to pro's. Just an incredible record.

You discount Jackson because he had MJ and Pip, yet the guy with McD AAs is just a great coach I guess.

[JWags85]

I may be in the minority in the Chicago-area, but I think Collins is incredibly overrated thanks to a single victory in the NCAAT (and due to a historic year, by NU standards).  Collins has finished tenth or worst in over half the time of his tenure in the B1G.  Adding more confusion is that Pat Fitzgerald has been able to do far more in football (winning division championships, winning bowl games, playing for B!G titles, etc.), which requires recruiting and developing more high-level talent.  In basketball, you only need a few players to compete, whereas in football you need a few dozen.  Collins, much in the vein of a Wojo, very much by perception standards, has a job for life, despite losing way more than winning.

People in Chicago think highly enough of Collins to deem him overrated?  I thought people were excited bout him culminating with the NCAA berth, but the shine is off him by this point.  His job security isn't so much related to that, IMO.  Since the mid-80s, NW has only had 5 HCs.  And that includes O'Neills incredibly short 3 year run that likely would have been longer if he didn't go winless in conference.  In general, basketball expectations are low and thus if you run a clean program and remain decently competitive at the mid/bottom of the B10, you'll be safe.

[NorthernDancerColt]

Option C:  running a high level college basketball program is hard and most people fail at it.

Calling him stupid or lazy is...stupid and lazy.

Could not agree more with your college-hoops-is-hard synopsis.
Wojo works very hard at his job.


That said, I wonder if MU has had so much success under KO, Crean, and Buzz due to some some beyond-ridiculous work ethic.


If I remember correctly, when Wojo took the job, he made a point about how K taught his staff to work hard, but that working smart is everything. Go home to your family at a decent hour, and have a life.

I'm not knocking this m.o., but I am just pointing out that MU has had a long string of coaches dating back to Rick Majerus who either didn't have a family or seriously over-worked around this fact. We all have heard the stories about how Rick lived in a hotel in SaltLakeCity while coaching Utah, and how he lived, breathed, ate, drank, and slept basketball. KO I believe was divorced when he was here, and was also a round-the-clock coaching gym rat. Coach Crean, by all reports, was round-the-clock obsessed with getting MU back to prominence. He made a couple references about demands on his time and how he hasn't always been the best husband and Dad. The stories about Buzz and his lack of sleep are legendary. He too made comments about how his wife was some kind of lion to be married to him with all time he isn't at home.

I'm not saying any of this is right. In fact, it's wrong for any coach, let alone a Marquette coach, to neglect his family. I plead guilty to following Wojo's old Twitter and Instagram accounts and loved seeing his cool family, and how happy they look. He is an unmitigated success of a Dad and husband, and probably the guy any of us would most want to tee it up with on a summer weekend at the golf course (even if he weren't our beloved MU coach).  But, maybe being Marquette coach requires something a little extra. Ok, maybe a lot more, like an unhealthy round-the-clock obsession that we weren't ever going to be outworked or out-prepared.

Maybe the next coach we hire should be single. Coach O'Neill, during a Coaches show when he was at Northwestern, once called it "his edge". Then a few moments later he bemoaned to the show host about coming home to nobody to set him and his bs straight. He married again in 2006.

[MU82]

People in Chicago think highly enough of Collins to deem him overrated?  I thought people were excited bout him culminating with the NCAA berth, but the shine is off him by this point.  His job security isn't so much related to that, IMO.  Since the mid-80s, NW has only had 5 HCs.  And that includes O'Neills incredibly short 3 year run that likely would have been longer if he didn't go winless in conference.  In general, basketball expectations are low and thus if you run a clean program and remain decently competitive at the mid/bottom of the B10, you'll be safe.

Northwestern basketball barely registers in Chicago.

It ranks behind the Bears, the Cubs, the White Sox, the Bulls, the Blackhawks, Notre Dame football, Northwestern football, and Illinois basketball and football. Attendance-wise, it even ranks behind the Chicago Wolves minor-league hockey team.

College basketball, as a whole, is not very big in Chicago. Hasn't been since DePaul was any good. If a team becomes a "hot story" - Loyola since the FF, Northwestern when occasionally competitive, even Marquette when we were rolling, heck even UIC for a couple years - it will get more attention. But Northwestern hoops, by and large, is a redheaded stepchild.

[vogue65]

Northwestern basketball barely registers in Chicago.

It ranks behind the Bears, the Cubs, the White Sox, the Bulls, the Blackhawks, Notre Dame football, Northwestern football, and Illinois basketball and football. Attendance-wise, it even ranks behind the Chicago Wolves minor-league hockey team.

College basketball, as a whole, is not very big in Chicago. Hasn't been since DePaul was any good. If a team becomes a "hot story" - Loyola since the FF, Northwestern when occasionally competitive, even Marquette when we were rolling, heck even UIC for a couple years - it will get more attention. But Northwestern hoops, by and large, is a redheaded stepchild.

That's small town America, not enough fans.

Business took me to St. Louis a few years ago and I was suprised how small town it is.  Even smaller than Milwaukee.
When you get below the east coast corridor, Boston to Washington, there is not much going on.   Indianapolis, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Wichita all have something in common, they are small time.  Nice people, great roads, modern conveniences, hospitals, schools etc., but not many fans.  Chicago is just one step above them.

Now we find ourselves in the BIG EAST and perhaps out of our league.   Boston, New York, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, now that is where there are enough people/fans to support many teams.