I wanted Kruger after Pearl....

#14
#14
Kruger had a very good run but didn't seem to want to stay in one place for very long. I think his biggest mistake was leaving Florida for the NBA, but can't blame him for making sure his family was financially secured.
 
#17
#17
Good point. Best player in the country that year and they lost in the opening round to Rhode Island
He is a great individual talent, but just not very conducive to winning within a team framework. A lot like Allen Iverson in that sense. Pete Maravich was like that, too.
 
#18
#18
He is a great individual talent, but just not very conducive to winning within a team framework. A lot like Allen Iverson in that sense. Pete Maravich was like that, too.
Yeah, but my point is that good coaches even with the best players aren’t guaranteed anything in the tournament. They lost to Rhode Island in the first round. How can the OP justify that? If he were an Oklahoma fans he’d be on their forum bitching about how much Kruger sucks and they should have hired Bruce Pearl :rolleyes:
 
  • Like
Reactions: cncchris33
#19
#19
Yeah, but my point is that good coaches even with the best players aren’t guaranteed anything in the tournament. They lost to Rhode Island in the first round. How can the OP justify that? If he were an Oklahoma fans he’d be on their forum bitching about how much Kruger sucks and they should have hired Bruce Pearl :rolleyes:
Right, I agree. My statement was more of a sidenote to your point.
 
#20
#20
We would have a Final Four by now.

I lived in Las Vegas during the 7 years he was there. Although he won 70% of his games, that was not remarkable for being in the Mountain West. Made NCAAs 4 years, getting to Sweet 16 once. Missed the show 3 of the years, whiffed one and made 2 NITs. Not much excitement around the program. Of course locals still remembered Jerry. The Tarkanian name was still special, magical for locals. There is a middle school named Tarkanian. Of course, the school's nickname is the Sharks. Lois Tarkanian was our City Council representative not because she was good at it, but her name was Tarkanian. Lon was a good coach, but not special. Doubt he would have won a Championship at UT.
 
#21
#21
I always like Lon Kruger. He's more accomplished than many give him credit for, as well.

I wonder how many coaches, past or present can say they took 5 different teams to the NCAAT, 3 of them to the Elite 8, and 2 of them to the Final 4? He also won conference COY in 3 different conferences, 4 times in total And he was at each of those stops at least 4 years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JohnnyJava
#22
#22
I always like Lon Kruger. He's more accomplished than many give him credit for, as well.

I wonder how many coaches, past or present can say they took 5 different teams to the NCAAT, 3 of them to the Elite 8, and 2 of them to the Final 4? He also won conference COY in 3 different conferences, 4 times in total And he was at each of those stops at least 4 years.
I like Kruger, but he had some high highs and low lows, too. This year he beat, what, 4 Top Ten teams in successive games and then finished the last 8 or 9 games in poor fashion. I’m sure the message boards were crucifying him, too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cncchris33
#23
#23
I always like Lon Kruger. He's more accomplished than many give him credit for, as well.

I wonder how many coaches, past or present can say they took 5 different teams to the NCAAT, 3 of them to the Elite 8, and 2 of them to the Final 4? He also won conference COY in 3 different conferences, 4 times in total And he was at each of those stops at least 4 years.
Too bad he couldn't have coached the BasketVols instead of Cuonzo Martin and Donnie Tyndall
 
#24
#24
I like Kruger, but he had some high highs and low lows, too. This year he beat, what, 4 Top Ten teams in successive games and then finished the last 8 or 9 games in poor fashion. I’m sure the message boards were crucifying him, too.
He's a lot like Barnes in a lot of ways. A bit of a victim of his own success, a lot of wins due to a long career, and only marginal success in the postseason. Only 5 losing seasons in 31 years as a HC at the major college level, 61% winning percentage (674 wins), but only 2 conference titles (both ties), and only advanced beyond the first weekend of the NCAAT 5 times in 20 appearances.

I just appreciate the longevity and the ability to carry success over to the number of major programs he coached at. He was a winner everywhere he went. Maybe not an elite coach at every stop, but he won games and got teams to the NCAAT.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cardvolfan

VN Store



Back
Top