Philosoraptor

Friday, December 31, 2010

Dean Smith and Krzyzewski: A Comparison

Well, that about sums it up.

The Mystic said...: Wow. You know, I don't know who that Dean Smith guy is. Before that article,I'd never heard of him. Until now, I'd never really thought about it, but it seems obvious if true: are modern sports significantly different from sports during Smith's time in the respects seemingly made clear by that article?

Maybe growing up in the era of Krzyzewskis robbed me of the joy of modern team sports.; 1:08 PM
Winston Smith said...: I don't think it's about the times, but I'm not sure. I think Dean was, if not one of a kind, at least an extreme outlier on one end of the good-evil sports spectrum.

As for Coach Kay...well, I guess I'm not convinced that he's evil, but I have a very difficult time seeing him as admirable. Much of this all has to do with two coaching trees, to wit:

Phog Allen/Dean Smith/Roy Williams

vs.

Bobby Knight/Kryzyewski

The latter tree undeniably includes people who are adept at coaching basketball--and that's their primary goal.

The former tree includes people who recognize that basketball is a game--an awesome, beautiful game--but they recognize that athletics is about more than putting balls through hoops.

Incidentally, I don't think that what Dean built at Carolina can last forever. Big-time college sports is inherently corrupt, and eventually Deans influence will want, and Carolina hoops will be just another big-time program... But for now, it really is something unusual, IMHO.; 2:07 PM