FanHouse

Bob Knight Roundtable: Part 1

Michael David Smith: How big a deal is the all-time wins record that Bob Knight is about to break? Is it just a mark of longevity or something truly special?

Charles Rich: Let's take this in reverse order. Well, of course it is something truly special. You look at the names he has passed to get there -- Smith and Rupp being the final two -- and you know it is an area for coaches who have been some of the best. The names Nantz likes to invoke before the Final Four games to present that ponderous drumbeat of history. It also means winning, at a minimum, a lot of conference championships and getting deep in the NCAA (whether it is the present version of 64/65 teams or even the smaller numbers from years past. You still had to be good enough to get there and make an impact.

That said, of course it has as much to do with longevity. You don't get to that number by being in places where you can and do win for years upon years. It also means not being lured to the pros by the money, the challenge and/or the chance not to have to suck-up to 17-year olds and their parents (sucking up to 22-33 year old multi-millionaires and their posse is a totally different thing).

How big a deal is it? I'm not sure, because the "flood the zone" approach of the Mouse Monopoly kind of makes me want to runaway from any and all coverage of the subject -- the brilliant and insightful discussion of FanHouse obviously excepted -- and treat it as a non-story.

Adam Rank: The all-time wins record is a nice testament to how well you can recruit top-notch talent. Winning national titles is the hallmark of a great coach. When was the last time that Bobby Knight was relevant in an NCAA tournament? Was it 1987? Now, most gamblers will bet against a Knight team in the NCAA tournament. So this record really means nothing.

Michael David Smith:
I think Adam has it exactly right about national titles: The major accomplishment of Knight's career is what he did in the 1970s and 80s. Right now he's like the baseball player who sticks around past his prime just to get 3,000 hits.

Part 1: The record itself
Part 2: Where does Knight rank?
Part 3: How he'll be remembered
Part 4: Texas Tech, not Indiana
Part 5: His son and successor
Part 6: The media's focus
Part 7: The best thing about Knight
Part 8: The worst thing about Knight

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