Can we all agree now that Coach K would have been fired 25 years ago if Jordan hadn't choked

[taterguy]

March 1984, ACC Tourney semi-finals. Coach K had his first decent but not great team. The pressure was on Duke. They had already lost twice to UNC that season leaving Coach K's record against Dean about 1-12. The alums had been patient but five years was long enough to fulfill the essential job requirement of being a Duke coach: Beating Carolina, especially since Coach V down the road had not only beaten Carolina but won a frikkin' national championship. Duke loses that game and Coach K is done: Shown the door faster than you can say 'Cameron Crazy.'


What does Michael Jordan do? He spends the last ten minutes of the game waiting for Duke to lose, instead of doing something to make sure Carolina wins. WATCH THE FUCKING TAPE! You can see it in his facial expression. He was Michael frikkin' Jordan. Those chumps didn't have a chance. He didn't realize Carolina might lose until the final seconds ticked off the clock.

The aftermath was bloody. Coach K gets to hang around long enough for his decent 1984 team to mature into the really good 1986 team, the one that started the run of Duke going to the Final Four almost every damn year.

Now Coach K is about to pass Dean for number 2 on the all-time wins list.

Damn you Michael Jordan, damn you straight to hell.

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[trumad]

1. Sorry--- that is one big huge stretch...

[taterguy]

2. Have you watched the FUCKING TAPE?

Do you know a damn thing about basketball, specifically the rivalry between Duke & UNC in 1984.

Duke's president was Terry Sanford, a warrior paratrooper. Think he'd stand for constant losing to UNC without putting up a fight?

Not just no but HELL NO.

[trumad]

3. Well I do know that a couple of games before...

Duke lost in double overtime to NC---sounds like a fight to me.

24-10 in 83
23-8 in 84
37-3 in 85

If the warrior paratrooper fired MK for losing that game it would have been the dumbest fucking firing in the history of NCAA Basketball.

Again--- quite a stretch.

[taterguy]

4. Hindsight is 20/20

The award for the dumbest fucking firing in NCAA history was NC State firing Coach V. They haven't sniffed the Final Four since then.

You're also getting your seasons mixed up. They didn't go 37-3 until the season that ended in the year 1986.

84's 24-10 (which would have been 11 if they lose to UNC) was preceded by 11-17, 10-17 and 17-13.

No fucking way he stays if he can't beat Dean at least once. That game was the turning point of their program.

Get back to me when you've actually watched a basketball game.

[trumad]

5. Wow--

So I didn't go 1984-1985 or 1985-1986---

I think you're simply full of shit.... You have no fucking idea if he would have been shit canned if he lost that game..... now do you?

You're hysterics aren't very convincing.

[JonLP24]

6. Coach K

gets bashed a lot. I know Tater has said to me that he thinks he is a good guy. When you read the stories that touch on his personal side, you think so too, like why he wears that pin on his lapel.

I think tater is sarcastically piling onto the bashing. Like earlier this year when he had a thread, (paraphrasing) "Don't you agree that LeBron would still be in Cleveland if it wasn't for that rat Coach K?" With his reasoning that he coached James, Wade, and Bosh on the US team that won a gold. IOW, getting his taste for a championship so that he would want it again.

Basically what I'm trying to say is I think he is being sarcastic. I'm not always sure though when he is or isn't. :)

[TZ]

7. Ding ding ding!

We have a winnah. Taterguy is known for his over-the-top- sarcastic posts, especially about Carolina basketball....Says the poster who has unfortunately fallen for his chain yanking a time or two......

[trumad]

8. Hence I think he's full of shit.

[taterguy]

11. So because I make a couple joke threads, I'm not allowed to have an original thought?

This is actually a sincere OP, inspired by a few things:

The articles about Coach K passing Dean Smith in victories.

The HBO documentary about the rivalry that points out this was the pivotal game for Coach K.

Too much reading of Bill Simmons.

Most importantly: WATCHING THE GAME. I happened to be there because someone gave me a ticket at the last minute. I watched Jordan with binoculars and it really was uncanny. He just seemed to have this attitude that UNC would win no matter what. Maybe that's the game that taught him to always be closing.

[taterguy]

9. Name one Duke basketball coach who lasted more than five years that couldn't beat Dean

Hell, they canned Neil McGeachy just because Walter Davis went apeshit for 17 seconds.

I have presented compelling evidence that conclusively proves my case.

All you've done is resort to name-calling.

[trumad]

10. Look---you want to pull a chain... then pull your own.

[taterguy]

12. In other words, you can't name a single Duke coach who lasted who couldn't beat Dean

Admit it: You're wrong and I'm right.

[trumad]

14. Will you hold your breath until I do?

Dude--- grow up.

[era veteran]

13. Nobody gives a fuck about your crummy Peyton Place basketball

therories. A local blog may care. Fucking bore.

[taterguy]

17. Including people who start threads about Duke basketball . . .

:eyes:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=215&topic_id=157910&mesg_id=157910

[era veteran]

25. You usully can 'comeback' a lot better than that

Get well soon douchebag. I am dissapointd that you spent no time thinking through your inane response.

[taterguy]

26. Sorry. I choked

Just like Jordan did in that fucking game.

[Jack Rabbit]

15. No, we can't agree

This may be dangerous to say on DU, but I don't give two bits about Coach K's views on politics. Though teabaggers may have it otherwise, this is still America and he and I still have the right to cancel out each other's national vote.

What I do appreciate about Coach K is the importance he places on each of his players' future. He'll throw his star player off the team if he's not keeping up with his studies. The Duke basketball team has had over the years one of the highest graduation rates in major collegiate sports.

That is why Duke begins as one of my sentimental favorites to win the NCAA tournament every March.

Dean Smith was all that a good liberal Democrat, too. But he retired a long time ago.

[taterguy]

16. All of what you said is true . . .

But doesn't change the fact that he would've been shown the door if Jordan hadn't choked.

[Jack Rabbit]

18. What fact?

It sounds more like speculation to me. Before you call it fact, you need to present some solid documentation. I've read nothing but "Ex-paratrooper Terry Sanford wouldn't have stood for it," and that is just more speculation.

I'm in rare agreement with Trumad on this one. It's one hell of a stretch.

[taterguy]

19. DID YOU WATCH THE FUCKING GAME?

All caps make all arguments more compelling.

[Jack Rabbit]

20. No, I didn't watch the game.

That does not change the fact that you have presented nothing to back up your idea that Coach K would have been fired.

And using caps doesn't help, either. Really, you shouldn't do that. It's painful to watch your fingers hold their breath until they're blue.

[taterguy]

21. Name a Duke coach who lasted that couldn't beat Dean

What more evidence do you need?

[madinmaryland]

23. Why don't you just shut your pie hole, Francis before you get your ass handed to

you on a platter again.

[taterguy]

24. No one named Francis coached at Duke

You suck at reading comprehension.

[trumad]

22. Of course it is pure speculation...

Try not to get caught up in a knuckleheads delusions.