So Long Dean Edwards Smith, Rest In Peace ...

[Nevadaref]

Dean Smith only won two NCAA titles and it easily could have been zero.
If Fred Brown doesn't throw the ball to James Worthy in 1982 and Chris Webber doesn't request an excessive time-out in 1993, history could have a very different take on him.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Dean Smith only won two NCAA titles and it easily could have been zero.
If Fred Brown doesn't throw the ball to James Worthy in 1982 and Chris Webber does request an excessive time-out in 1993, history could have a very different take on him.

Really? This is the time you want to debate Dean Smith's resume'?

[westneat]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Dean Smith only won two NCAA titles and it easily could have been zero.
If Fred Brown doesn't throw the ball to James Worthy in 1982 and Chris Webber does request an excessive time-out in 1993, history could have a very different take on him.

This is the exact same faulty logic that every coach uses when they say a call in the last ten seconds is "deciding the game".

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Dean Smith only won two NCAA titles and it easily could have been zero.
If Fred Brown doesn't throw the ball to James Worthy in 1982 and Chris Webber does request an excessive time-out in 1993, history could have a very different take on him.

Originally Posted by westneat

This is the exact same faulty logic that every coach uses when they say a call in the last ten seconds is "deciding the game".

And considering the fact that UNC was already ahead of both games at the time of these boneheaded plays by their opponents, the statement is absent of logic.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

And considering the fact that UNC was already ahead of both games at the time of these boneheaded plays by their opponents, the statement is absent of logic.

What difference does that make? My point was clearly that if either team had scored with the final possession instead of committing a turnover, UNC would most likely have lost.
It's not as if UNC was leading by ten points and these plays didn't have a significant impact on the outcome of the games.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

What difference does that make? My point was clearly that if either team had scored with the final possession instead of committing a turnover, UNC would most likely have lost.
It's not as if UNC was leading by ten points and these plays didn't have a significant impact on the outcome of the games.

And you're a lawyer?

"If" and "most likely" sound like a sore-a$$ Hoya talking.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

What difference does that make? My point was clearly that if either team had scored with the final possession instead of committing a turnover, UNC would most likely have lost.
It's not as if UNC was leading by ten points and these plays didn't have a significant impact on the outcome of the games.

But they didn't score, did they????

Fred Brown felt the pressure of the moment, choked and threw the ball away.

Chris Webber felt the pressure of the moment, choked and called a timeout that everyone else in the SuperDome knew they didn't have.

The fact is YOU HAVE TO FINISH THE GAME! The NCAA Champions of 1982 and 1993 finished the ****ing game. Georgetown and Michigan choked!

[VaTerp]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Dean Smith only won two NCAA titles and it easily could have been zero.
If Fred Brown doesn't throw the ball to James Worthy in 1982 and Chris Webber does request an excessive time-out in 1993, history could have a very different take on him.

IF not for key injuries and some fluke plays going the other way he could have easily won 4 or 5 national titles. What an odd and classless thing it is to point out that someone "only" won two national championships in the days after their passing.

Dean Smith is a coaching icon who has an unquestioned record as one of basketball's greatest innovators, tacticians, and winners. He is one of the main reasons that a guy who group up in VA and graduated from the Univ. of MD became a Tar Heel fan as a kid and remains one to this day.

And his record off the court is even more impressive as evidenced by the almost universal love that his players have for him decades after leaving UNC, the tremendous graduation rate during his tenure, and the equally universal reverence held by his coaching peers. He was also a quiet but strong leader on many civil rights and social justice issues for decades.

RIP Coach Smith. You left both the game of basketball and this world better than you found them.

[Nevadaref]

Nope, I'm sick of this country revering athletes and coaches. Many of whom turn out to be other than the image they projected.
Glad they tore down the statue of Joe Paterno. The same should be done with several others.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Nope, I'm sick of this country revering athletes and coaches. Many of whom turn out to be other than the image they projected.
Glad they tore down the statue of Joe Paterno. The same should be done with several others.

Just wanted to quote this so it stays up even if you come to your senses and delete it later.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Nope, I'm sick of this country revering athletes and coaches. Many of whom turn out to be other than the image they projected.
Glad they tore down the statue of Joe Paterno. The same should be done with several others.

Yeah, no chance that Dean Smith could have just been a great guy overall.

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Glad they tore down the statue of Joe Paterno.

You'll be happy to hear they are putting it back up!

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Nope, I'm sick of this country revering athletes and coaches. Many of whom turn out to be other than the image they projected.
Glad they tore down the statue of Joe Paterno. The same should be done with several others.

Stories like this have nothing to do with why Dean Smith is loved by his former players:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...on-integration

In 1966, Scott became North Carolina's first African-American scholarship player and one of the first black athletes to sign at a major school south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Smith's father, Alfred, had integrated his Kansas high school team in the 1930s, and the Tar Heels coach was only following his old man's lead when he walked into a segregated Chapel Hill restaurant in the company of a black pastor and black student in the late 1950s to ensure they received service. Smith spoke up on behalf of black friends trying to cope with real estate agents who were steering them away from white neighborhoods, and four years before he signed Scott -- and right after he took the North Carolina job -- Smith tried to make Lou Hudson the first black player in the ACC. (Hudson reportedly didn't meet the school's academic requirements and enrolled at Minnesota.)

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Stories like this have nothing to do with why Dean Smith is loved by his former players:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...on-integration

In 1966, Scott became North Carolina's first African-American scholarship player and one of the first black athletes to sign at a major school south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Smith's father, Alfred, had integrated his Kansas high school team in the 1930s, and the Tar Heels coach was only following his old man's lead when he walked into a segregated Chapel Hill restaurant in the company of a black pastor and black student in the late 1950s to ensure they received service. Smith spoke up on behalf of black friends trying to cope with real estate agents who were steering them away from white neighborhoods, and four years before he signed Scott -- and right after he took the North Carolina job -- Smith tried to make Lou Hudson the first black player in the ACC. (Hudson reportedly didn't meet the school's academic requirements and enrolled at Minnesota.)

Another story from his life...

Dean Smith stood before the Governor of the State of NC and argued against the death penalty. He pointed the Governor and each of his cabinet members and said, "You're a murderer, you're a murderer, you're a murder..." and lastly he said, "...and I'm a murderer." Whether you're for or against capital punishment, I would think most would admire a man who would take such a stand, who would make such a statement.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

Another story from his life...

Smith's church served as a base for his advocacy. He joined the Baptist congregation soon after arriving in Chapel Hill, helping build it from a 60-person gathering on campus to a full church with 600 parishioners. It was booted from the Southern Baptist Convention and the North Carolina Baptist State Convention in 1992 for licensing a gay man to minister.

"He was willing to take controversial stands on a number of things as a member of our church — being against the death penalty, affirming gays and lesbians, protesting nuclear proliferation," said Robert Seymour, the former pastor at Binkley Baptist Church. "He was one who has been willing to speak out on issues that many might hesitate to take a stand on."