Dean Smith...

[billyjack]

Got to mention the passing of Dean Smith this weekend. He had been sick for several years with a type of Alzheimers.

Legendary coach and a great, classy guy. In all the years I'd watched UNC, I remember him always showing great sportsmanship and respect. 2 national titles, a ton of Final Fours, and an amazing streak of consecutive years making the Sweet Sixteen.

He coached the 76 Olympic team that re-took our stolen 72 gold...!!! And he had a long list of legendary players.

Most importantly, he recruited Charlie Scott, who became the first African American player in the ACC in the late 60's.


EDIT:
On another site, a Maryland fan corrected me, and then "laughed his (bleeping) ass off" for some reason:

"Nothing like a big lie to live forever. The first black basketball player in the ACC was Billy Jones at MD in 1965. The first black football in the ACC was Darryl Hill at MD in 1963. Funny how the media seems to forget that, and how UNC now claims to have integrated the ACC. 03-lmfao"

i then found this old article that discussed ACC integration:
http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/crossin...id=1191646

[Bill Marsh]

Got to mention the passing of Dean Smith this weekend. He had been sick for several years with a type of Alzheimers.

Legendary coach and a great, classy guy. In all the years I'd watched UNC, I remember him always showing great sportsmanship and respect. 2 national titles, a ton of Final Fours, and an amazing streak of consecutive years making the Sweet Sixteen.

He coached the 76 Olympic team that re-took our stolen 72 gold...!!! And he had a long list of legendary players.

Most importantly, he recruited Charlie Scott, who became the first African American player in the ACC in the late 60's.

Have to agree about Dean Smith. Classy guy.

He and John Wooden, 2 of the greatest coaches ever, were totally unflappable on the sidelines. Always calm. Never any rants at players or refs. Contrast that with Bob Knight and the hordes of modern coaches who berate their players and scream at refs, completely embarrassing themselves in the process.

Smith and Wooden both understood that victories were the result of preparation. As important as in-game decisions are, the most important coaching takes place during practice. I have to laugh every time a modern coach conferences with his assistants for 45 seconds during a time out and them rushes to talk with the players for the final 15 seconds. Digger Phelps is the first one I remember doing that. Complete joke.

How about getting some input from the players? When Red Auerbach died, numerous former players were on Boston sports talk radio for the next few days, talking about how time outs were a collaboration in which he listened to them and often deferred to them. Like Smith and Wooden, he too was a calm presence on the bench. I have to think that the calm in the storm of the game is a major reason why all 3 of these men were so successful.

[PMThor]

He had an impact beyond sports. He won't be forgotten anytime soon.

[stever20]

did you see UNC ran the 4 corners today in what was their 1st home game since Smith passed away? And got an easy bucket off of it.

[Bill Marsh]

did you see UNC ran the 4 corners today in what was their 1st home game since Smith passed away? And got an easy bucket off of it.

I did. Great way to visually capture the memory of an innovator.