Opposing big ten coaches: Like / Dislike?

[Ihawkhoops]

Among opposing coaches, who is your favorite / least favorite or most despised?

I would not want to play for him, but I always liked Bob Knight. He could be a grade A jerk, but he was far from politically correct and didn't care what the suits had to say. He demanded and respected tough, gritty play and while often a sore loser, did a lot behind the scenes to help former players. Would love to go fishing with the guy, as long as I didn't cast over his line or miss netting a big fish.

Least favorite was definitely Lou Henson. His era at Illinois was full of cheating and really good teams. The Flying Illini made for entertaining games and gave the conference some creditability in March, but I never liked his demeanor.

Also remember having a ton of respect for the coaches below after Chris Street's passing. For those too young to know who Chris Street is, I highly recommend you look him up on You Tube. One of the all-time great Hawks and an absolute warrior on the court.

Street had earned the admiration of coaches all over the country with his relentless style of play. That's what Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said: "Chris was a relentless competitor." Street played his last game at Duke on national television.

During a tough Big Ten campaign, coaches like Northwestern's Bill Foster and Minnesota's Clem Haskins found time to attend Street's funeral. "Some of my players broke down when they heard about his death," Haskins said.

Michigan Coach Steve Fisher said, "Now those one-point losses don't matter. This is reality; this really hurts." Purdue Coach Gene Keady said: "There are no words to describe our sadness." Michigan State Coach Judd Heathcote called Chris "a coach's dream." Indiana Coach Bob Knight asked, "What could be more tragic?"

 

[IaHawk44]

I really enjoyed Jud Heathcoat and I can't stand Groce of Illinois.

 

[Herky T Hawk]

Of the current coaches excluding Fran
Like: Beilein, Painter
Respect: Matta
Indifferent: Groce, Miles, Turgeon, Pitino, Collins, Chambers, Jordan, Current Wisky coach(don't know his name)
Dislike, but respect: Izzo, (Ryan before he retired)
Dislike: Crean

I didn't like Bo, but I respected his coaching ability and results similar with Izzo. Crean is the worst, I wish recruits would start seeing him for what he really is. In a few years I may move Turgeon and Collins up higher but I don't have enough experience watching their teams right now.

I highly doubt that Chambers, Jordan, or Pitino will ever do anything to make me move them up or down on this list. They may not be at their schools long enough to do anything.

I could possibly see Miles moving down to the dislike territory, depends upon his success. And I expect Groce to be job hunting in the next year or two.

Barring some major scandal I think that Beilein, Painter, and Matta are locked into their positions.

 

[theVoicefromtheTomb]

Unless things change I would expect Groce to be on his way out in March

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

Big Ten hoops really doesn't have the cast of characters it once had. Keady, Knight, Heathcote, Henson, etc.....I'm pretty indifferent about the current crop of coaches.

 

[StormHawk42]

Not really an answer to the question, but just by perusing other teams forums occasionally, there's an awful lot of hate towards Fran out there. Wonder why that is? Aside from losing his sh!t every so often, but he's really scaled it back since Patrick's ordeal.

 

[DanL53]

I have a little bit of a hard time answering this as two of my least favorite on the floor coaches were actually highly praised by McCaffery for their support while Patrick McCaffery was first battling cancer. So I'm only talking about basketball related like/dislike.

Favorite to least favorite of the 13. (If not mentioned jury is still out like Wisconsin's interim coach, Jordan and Turgeon)

Pat Chambers. Had the guts last year to criticize Big Ten officiating and paid $10,000 of his own money in a fine to do it.
John Beilein. Seems like he gets the most out of his recruits and finds some talent much like McCaffery.
Matt Painter. I know he wants to run a physical game, but otherwise no issues.
Collins. Seems to be what's right in a second generation coach.
(Starts taking a dip here.)
Thad Matta. Still think he underachieves for having the only Big Ten school in Ohio.
Richie Pitino. What's wrong in a second generation coach.
John Groce. Not sure he understands team concepts.
Miles. I just don't like the guy. I want to lock him out of his house.
Izzo. One complaint but it's a big one. He is the Big ten's poster boy and his teams get away with too much.
Crean. Totally lost. Creaning should be illegal.

 

[theVoicefromtheTomb]

Winning adds a lot to opposing fans dislike for a coach. See Ryan/Izzo etc. Bet other fans were at worst indifferent to Lick.

Fran can be pretty animated. I am sure other teams fans hate him for that as well.

 

[HawkAttackDial911]

I really like Beilein. Izzo is weird. His sideline antics annoy the hell out of me and his teams do get all the calls. However, he does everything with his player's welfare and the NCAA's welfare in mind. Most of his players are there for 4 years and he teaches them about being a positive contributer to society on and off the basketball floor. That's something I can get behind. This is quite the opposite for Crean who uses his players as a commodity that can be bought or sold at any time. This isn't in the spirit of what college basketball is all about so he is my most despised.

 

[Ronman]

If you watch enough Big Ten basketball, you would recognize that Coach McCaffery is no more demonstrative than any of the other coaches in the league and a lot less so than some. I want him to stand up for his players and get upset if we are getting jobbed. And yes, he does get in the faces of his players at times, but Izzo is much worse and he gets nothing but praise. I think most of the criticism of McCaffery is based on his first couple of years at the helm of the Hawkeyes when he had to make it abundantly clear to the BT refs that he wasn't Lickliter and was not going to sit quietly while they called the games one-sided against us. The last couple of years, his demeanor has been much calmer.

As to the original subject, I have always had a lot of respect for Coach Beilein and a lot less for Crean and Groce.

 

[Mohawkeye]

Hate but immensely respect Izzo and Ryan. I'd say Matta is the only opposing coach I really like and respect. Painter has always seemed kind of plain to me. Don't dislike him and he is a decent coach. Curious what other fan bases think of McCaffery.

 

[buttermypancakes]

Not really an answer to the question, but just by perusing other teams forums occasionally, there's an awful lot of hate towards Fran out there. Wonder why that is? Aside from losing his sh!t every so often, but he's really scaled it back since Patrick's ordeal.

I don't go on other teams forums but that seams very odd. I think it might be that he gets lumped in with Woodbury and the eye poke crap that people blow out of proportion. Fran has to be one of the least spastic BIG coaches as far as demeanor, outside of a few big blowups.

 

[StormHawk42]

I don't go on other teams forums but that seams very odd. I think it might be that he gets lumped in with Woodbury and the eye poke crap that people blow out of proportion. Fran has to be one of the least spastic BIG coaches as far as demeanor, outside of a few big blowups.

it seems this has a lot to do with it

 

[hawk-i bob]

If you watch enough Big Ten basketball, you would recognize that Coach McCaffery is no more demonstrative than any of the other coaches in the league and a lot less so than some. I want him to stand up for his players and get upset if we are getting jobbed. And yes, he does get in the faces of his players at times, but Izzo is much worse and he gets nothing but praise. I think most of the criticism of McCaffery is based on his first couple of years at the helm of the Hawkeyes when he had to make it abundantly clear to the BT refs that he wasn't Lickliter and was not going to sit quietly while they called the games one-sided against us. The last couple of years, his demeanor has been much calmer.

As to the original subject, I have always had a lot of respect for Coach Beilein and a lot less for Crean and Groce.

Wow...you are on fire with your post(s)...Fran has indeed been calmer the last couple years..course winning helps. I also think some of the B1G officials have got more comfortable with Fran....but he will never be allowed to be in the refs ears as much as Izzo. Izzo gets away with more complaining than any one...they actually stand close to him while the game is going on...so they can bow to King Hoffa.

 

[Ronman]

I could be mistaken, but I'm almost positive that I saw Izzo and TV Teddy Valentine with their arms around each other last night singing "Kumbaya" during one of the television timeouts.

 

[gojojo]

I really like Tom Izzo. I would be thrilled for my son to play for him. He loves his kids and has them more prepared than 95% of the coaches out there. His teams fight their ass off. Like Painter, Beilein, and Matta to an extent. Really dislike Crean. After that, I don't really feel one way or another about any of the coaches right now. Groce seems really annoying, but he is about done.

The BB coach I hated more than any other was the dip$hit ISU had a few years back that got fired for his problem with the sauce. Larry was the biggest DBag coach in the country. He made hating ISU really easy.

 

[IllQChawk]

I really like Tom Izzo. I would be thrilled for my son to play for him. He loves his kids and has them more prepared than 95% of the coaches out there. His teams fight their ass off. Like Painter, Beilein, and Matta to an extent. Really dislike Crean. After that, I don't really feel one way or another about any of the coaches right now. Groce seems really annoying, but he is about done.

The BB coach I hated more than any other was the dip$hit ISU had a few years back that got fired for his problem with the sauce. Larry was the biggest DBag coach in the country. He made hating ISU really easy.

I

I really like Tom Izzo. I would be thrilled for my son to play for him. He loves his kids and has them more prepared than 95% of the coaches out there. His teams fight their ass off. Like Painter, Beilein, and Matta to an extent. Really dislike Crean. After that, I don't really feel one way or another about any of the coaches right now. Groce seems really annoying, but he is about done.

The BB coach I hated more than any other was the dip$hit ISU had a few years back that got fired for his problem with the sauce. Larry was the biggest DBag coach in the country. He made hating ISU really easy.

Really, of all the things I'd like to see a referee do is to turn to Izzo sometime and tell him to just shut the #@&k up and sit your a&& down on the bench with the rest of your staff, that could also go for Crean as well.....that won't happen but like winning the lotto, one could dream a little. As for the rest of the coaches in the Big, 5 of them could be job hunting at the end of the year...Chambers, Groce, Jordan, Pitino, and Miles could all be gone at the end of the year along with the Wisconsin coach. McCaffery and Bielein are my favorites, Matta, Painter, and Collins are very good at their jobs and I don't know enough about the Maryland coach to say one way or other....

 

[KuwaitHawk]

Bob Knight is one coach I would have enjoyed meeting. Read the book "A Season On the Brink" and thought it was wonderful.

 

[revkev73]

I like Fran...his energy, ability to bring the team back from the brink of Alford and Licklighter... And his style of play. Plus, he has a couple of kids who might be great players...for Iowa, of course.

I have always kind of liked Knight, and did read the dink on the brink book. But...he is so self-absorbed, violent, and has gone a bit psycho-senile. I would love to be around younger, more stable Knight...would not be interested now. Gosh...show up when your 76 team is honored...so what you got fired, most coaches do. You aren't that important or special.

I know nothing about Painter but he seems likable, and professional.

Bo...he was sickening...

Bill Self...sickening...

Crean...sickening...

Izzo, is a winner...have to admire that.

I can't think of any others...

I always admire and respect coaches who can take a loss with some maturity and professionalism...able to say nice things about the coach and/or team which has beaten him. You often learn more about yourself and others when there is a loss, rather than a win.

 

[LGEND24]

The battle cry at Target Center is the same as at Williams Arena: “Be patient.”

I don't go on other teams forums but that seams very odd. I think it might be that he gets lumped in with Woodbury and the eye poke crap that people blow out of proportion. Fran has to be one of the least spastic BIG coaches as far as demeanor, outside of a few big blowups.

I don't think it was blown out of proportion at all. In fact, he may be at it again. I don't blame opposing fans for being butt hurt about it...Woodbury should have been suspended, period.

 

[buttermypancakes]

I don't think it was blown out of proportion at all. In fact, he may be at it again. I don't blame opposing fans for being butt hurt about it...Woodbury should have been suspended, period.

LOL, you don't blame fans for being butthurt? That's an odd way to word a legitimate gripe.

 

[The Sleeping Dog]

Find the Bob Knight Playboy interview. It is the funniest interview with anyone in any endeavor ever.

 

[StormHawk42]

I don't think it was blown out of proportion at all. In fact, he may be at it again. I don't blame opposing fans for being butt hurt about it...Woodbury should have been suspended, period.

Right. Because everyone knows that in a college basketball game, where things happening are crowded and fast, a 7'1 man can reach down and commit an act that requires a split second of accuracy, all the while risking committing an intentional foul and hurting himself and his team. Makes sense.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Of the current coaches excluding Fran
Like: Beilein, Painter
Respect: Matta
Indifferent: Groce, Miles, Turgeon, Pitino, Collins, Chambers, Jordan, Current Wisky coach(don't know his name)
Dislike, but respect: Izzo, (Ryan before he retired)
Dislike: Crean

I didn't like Bo, but I respected his coaching ability and results similar with Izzo. Crean is the worst, I wish recruits would start seeing him for what he really is. In a few years I may move Turgeon and Collins up higher but I don't have enough experience watching their teams right now.

I highly doubt that Chambers, Jordan, or Pitino will ever do anything to make me move them up or down on this list. They may not be at their schools long enough to do anything.

I could possibly see Miles moving down to the dislike territory, depends upon his success. And I expect Groce to be job hunting in the next year or two.

Barring some major scandal I think that Beilein, Painter, and Matta are locked into their positions.

I mostly agree with this, except I would move Groce into the Dislike category. Like/Dislike doesn't necessarily match whether I respect their coaching ability. I would move Turgeon, Collins and Chambers up to the Respect category, since they seem to know what they are doing. I think Groce, Pitino Jr, and Jordan all could be on the hot seat, and all 3 deserve it.

Crean is my least favorite. I really like Fran, Belein, and Matta. Painter also seems to be a classy coach, although I don't think his game coaching is as good. I really like the off-court Izzo, but have grown to dislike his game demeanor.

 

[Packer54]

Big Ten hoops really doesn't have the cast of characters it once had. Keady, Knight, Heathcote, Henson, etc.....I'm pretty indifferent about the current crop of coaches.

I agree with this. I think it actually was part of the fire and energy behind BT basketball. A big part of going to an Iowa game at home was the opposing coach. Not so much today. Crean is my least favorite....just a sleeze. Izzo is my favorite because I want the Hawks to beat him SO much. Izzo fit the older mold. He brings out the best in both fan bases.

 

[tedboy78]

From favorite to least fav. of current coaches. Based mostly on personality and on court demeanor and respect towards opponents.. Izzo a bit if a dichotomy.
1. Beilein
2. Chambers
3. Painter
4. Turgeon
5. Natta
6. Izzo
7. Whoever is coaching Wisconsin now. If Ryan was still there, put him at 13. I know it's Gard, may hate him soon.
8. Jordan- by default bcuz he can't be as bad as the bottom 5
9. Collins
10. Pitino
11. Miles
12. Groce
13. Crean

 

[Chicityhawkfan]

I Love Izzo... The guy wins. While it is frustrating to be on the other side of the way he works the officials, everyone would love to have Fran get the same calls. I honestly don't think Fran is too far away from that.

Indifferent about Almost every other big ten coach. Mostly because they either haven't been around long enough or won't be around much longer.

I love Fran and wouldn't trade him for any other big ten coach. He gets the most out of his players and develops talent like no other! Go Hawks!!!!

 

[The Sleeping Dog]

You really think about the list and on one end you have Beilein and the other Crean.

Beilein has always struck me as a good and decent man, excellent coach that represents the best in athletics and coaching. Always courteous and, more than respectful, actually helpful and encouraging to opponents on the floor. His players seem to love him and I've never seen the guy say or do anything that would bring disrepute to the team or the school.

Crean treats his players like slaves. Just the recruiting over existing scholly kids is bad enough to make a shit heal but the ranting and raving during the games, the ridiculously stupid post game pressers. There is just nothing likable about Tom Crean.

 

[LuteHawk]

Indiana has never replaced Bobby Knight, the current
fill-in Tom Crean is a joke.