longstrangetrip wrote:Further beating the Thibs vs. Pierce dead horse discussion, I generally agree with the "players more important than coach" take. But then I watched the 30 for 30 documentary about the 1983 NCAA tournament a couple days ago (a must watch for those who haven't seen it) and it's clear that NC State is overmatched in personnel in almost every game. There's no doubt in my mind that they don't win the national championship, or even get to the big dance, without the emotional leadership of Jim Valvano...truly inspiring to watch. Hmm...does Glen watch 30 for 30s?
longstrangetrip wrote:
I might have a different take if we're talking college coaching. It's probably a lot easier to reach college kids who need your help to make $1M than barely older than that guys who are already making $10M or even $150M.
After all, motivation is such a huge part of the equation.
As for that NCSU squad... it did have three NBA players on it. Granted, Sidney Lowe was almost as bad of a player as he was a coach. 2.3 ppg / 4.2 apg / 31.9% fg in 22 mpg. Imagine that it was good enough for the guy to "earn" 38 of his 40 career NBA starts. It's good to remember just how much worse it's been in Wolves history sometimes...