By LARRY VAUGHT
ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas believes college coaches sometimes get way too much credit for developing a player into a top NBA prospect when he’s on a college roster for only one season.
“You see guys come out of every system, whether it’s Princeton, the Princeton offense or some team from the flex or motion. You name it. It’s about the player. With all due respect to every college coach out there, I never really bought the idea that you can tag a college coach with the ability to develop pros,” said Bilas.
“You have a lot of coaches out there that are really good teachers but the idea that one coach does a better job of developing pros is absurd. That has to do more with talent than anything. One of the ways I measure that is you think about in the NBA, have you ever heard an NBA coach or anybody say about an NBA coach that Phil Jackson does a great job of developing players and turning them into All‑Stars and Hall of Famers. Larry Brown does a great job of developing All‑Stars. They never say that.
“John Calipari or Coach K or you name it, they have guys who come out after one year. They’ve had the guys seven months. What did they do to develop them? That’s so meaningless. This is more about talent than anything.”
On the SEC teleconference this week, Calipari admitted that his players were “not fully prepared” for the NBA even though he had them prepared to a “level” after one year.
“Until they get the mindset of playing in that league and trying to play back to back games and all the games they have to play, they are not fully prepared,” Calipari said. “But our guys are more prepared than others because they go into the league and play well. I am proud of all that.”
And he should be because Patrick Patterson, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, DeAndre Liggins and Josh Harrellson have all done well in the NBA after leaving UK. Only Daniel Orton has struggled and most of that has been due to injury.
6 Responses to Bilas believes college coaches get too much credit for developing players when talent is what matters most
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Jay is right that it all comes down to talent, but there is more to it than that. Cal may not “develop” his players into pros, but he does exactly what is needed to showcase each player’s talents and allow them to grow into a much better player, who is prepared for the next level. Many coaches take players and force them into their system, instead of allowing them to play to their strengths. Cal NEVER tries to fit a square peg into a round hole. He has six or seven players and allows EACH of them to do what they do best.
No question you have to be talented, however Cal has the stage where those talents can be show cased and the personalty to market those talents better than any other college coach.
That position apparently gets the full attention of young kids and they are more likely to trust what he has to say about what they need to do to get to the next level. He plays a big part in their development. So while I’ll agree somewhat with Bilas’ comments, I have a feeling that he knows that Cal affects the OADs more than any other college coach.
Talent may be a big thing, but you have to learn to play as a team member and Cal is the best at teaching that. He is also the best at making a player play better with his talent.
Cal and his staff HAVE to get credit for what they have done at UK. Yes, we all know that he had talented players at UMASS and Memp St, but what he has done is gotten better as a coach. He’s learned to use each player to their strengths, instead of running a certain/standard offense; like the well known dribble drive. Each of his UK teams have gotten better as the year progresses. Not all teams do that. SOMEONE has to get KUDO’S for that.
What else are the pundits going to say and then allow them to look their buddies in the eyes.
However, I saw what Calipari did for/with DeMarcus Cousins. There is not another coach in the world that could have developed Cousins into the NBA after only one season, despite Cousins’ raw talent.
Bilas’ comparison of a college coach to a pro coach is laughable in its futility to make the point he lays out as his hypothesis. The college game is a coach’s game, the pro game is a players’ game. Night and Day. Apples and Oranges.
Bilas would have been better served to either move down his list to his next idea and let this one slip off his page, or speaking more truthfully about the incredible job that John Calipari is doing at UK.
Jay is a good guy Professor. Respects Cal. Agree with you and him both. Talent makes a coach better, but talent also needs coaching