The Holy Land of Hoops

The US Basketall Writers Association have their list of 10 finalists for National Coach of the Year.

Beilein
Bennett
Brown
Crews
Cronin
Donovan
Fisher
Marshall
McDermott
Wright

I have to go with Brown. Who would have picked SMU to be a Top 25 Team in the preseason? Amazing job.
Marshall is a close second in my book.

Yes, there are several COY awards, but this list likely contains most of the candidates.

Homer - Crews
Reality - Marshall (if they run the table into the Tournament) or McDermott (if condition 1 fails).

I think it might be Brown as well depending on how SMU finishes up. Wright should be there as well.

to me, Its Marshall witha runaway victory. I also think they will factor in, at least subconsciously, his final four last year too.

Randy wrote:to me, Its Marshall witha runaway victory. I also think they will factor in, at least subconsciously, his final four last year too.

Yea, I never liked the guy but he's done a great job.

Omaha1 wrote:

Randy wrote:to me, Its Marshall witha runaway victory. I also think they will factor in, at least subconsciously, his final four last year too.

Yea, I never liked the guy but he's done a great job.

I disagree. They have not played anyone. I realize coming from the Valley last year that may seem to conflict with what we as CU fans have said in the past. However, the Valley is normally the 7-9 best league and this year is like the 12th best. There are simply no good teams. Only 1 under 100 in the RPI. Coach Mac has done a great job at CU preparing (with his staff) for nine, new teams in the conference. The existing BE teams only had to prepare for 3 newcomers. I believe he has a staff that prepares for a team and their tendencies in such detail to give CU an edge. To say we have the POY simplifies what they have accomplished. In the poll on line here, he isn't listed in the top 5 coaches in the BE , but quite an honor to be mentioned as one of the 10 finalists for national COY.

By the way, all the CU people I know, love the BE, the fans and the coaches! We are excited to be a part of this.

I am a Creighton fan and love Coach Mac to death, but to deny Marshall the COY this year would be an absolute travesty. He will get it, and he deserves it.
FWIW,, Coach Mac was in the Missouri Valley the last three years. Hies best record: 14-4. The MVC is not an easy conference.

Randy wrote:I am a Creighton fan and love Coach Mac to death, but to deny Marshall the COY this year would be an absolute travesty. He will get it, and he deserves it.
FWIW,, Coach Mac was in the Missouri Valley the last three years. Hies best record: 14-4. The MVC is not an easy conference.

It's easy with Creighton gone. If Creighton was still in the Valley and WSU was gone, what do you think Creighton's record would be?

think it's going to be Brown and Marshall splitting all the coach of the year awards. I'd kind of expect Brown to get a majority of them- what he's doing at SMU is remarkable.

Oh and the MVC this year is #11. One thing have to remember with the AAC/BE split- there's an extra top conference. So that would be like in old years #10 which isn't much lower than "normal". Last 5 years in Ken Pom, the MVC averaged being the 9.2 conference. So this year being 11 isn't that much worse than before when you factor in the extra conference.

Just think with McDermott fair or unfair he's going to get punished for Doug. You see it all the time in the NBA- someone like Eric Spolstra won't ever win coach of the year because he's got LeBron.

The most remarkable thing to me about Greggggg's coaching this season is this....he has his team ranked #2 in the polls and has them playing with a chip because they are being disrespected.

(For those that don't know the orgin of all the extra g's mocking his name, when he was hired the head basketball coach's secretary was filled by a woman who had been at WSU for 20+ years. One on of the first memos she did for him, she typo'd his name with a single g. Instead of correcting her and taking it for the honest mistake it was, he ripped her so bad about it she was in tears. He took it to the beat writers too making her an example so they wouldn't make the same mistake. His level of class and sportsmanship is tied directly to winning. When they're winning, he's ok, complimentary to others, and borders on likable. When they're losing regularly, he's a classless whining prick who rips on everyone. Those around for the down view the up much differently than those who weren't.)