Bob Knight Steps Down

by **Zeuslax** on Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:29 am

The general stepped down last night and handed the reigns over to his son Pat. Regardless of what you think of him he is one hell of a coach. Over 900 wins and with a lot less talent than many of his peers. No Big-12 send-off from arena to arena.....just kind of snuck out.

I never really liked his antics, but some of them were great to watch. The video of him and the "game face" is one of the greats.

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by **laxfan25** on Tue Feb 05, 2008 11:20 am

No doubt he was a great coach, but his record is certainly tarnished by his behavior on and off the court. You can contrast his style to that of another proven winner - John Wooden - to see that you don't have to be screaming, obnoxious jerk to be successful.
Reading one of the articles on his retirement I had forgotten one of his most outrageous comments - "If rape is inevitable you might as well lay back and enjoy it". Way to go, Bobby.

by **jessexy** on Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:35 pm

good riddance.

by **Zeuslax** on Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:50 pm

Again, regardless of what you think. He was very integral to the game of basketball through the 60's, 70's and especially the 80's. He changed the game and molded some of the greatest modern CBB minds. Coach K is the obvious one.

I'm not sure that anyone has burned more bridges than this guy though. The court at IU should be named after him, but instead he goes out with a hypocritical nature. Sad and tragic character, but the people that love him are adamant in his defense.

by **Dan Wishengrad** on Wed Feb 06, 2008 5:56 pm

Sports Columnist Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times said it best:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/s ... ley06.html

Knight quit on his team.

My two cents: The guy may have been a good basketball coach, but more important he is a bully and a world-class jerk. I would never have wanted him to coach my own son. I read "A Season on the Brink" when it first came out, and the book was certainly eye-opening...

by **Jolly Roger** on Wed Feb 06, 2008 6:05 pm

Dan Wishengrad wrote:Knight quit on his team.

Does the author hold John Thompson and Dean Smith to the same standard? Both resigned midseason. Or is it easier to have this opinion of Knight because he's a less likable character?

by **Dan Wishengrad** on Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:22 pm

Jolly Roger wrote:
Dan Wishengrad wrote:Knight quit on his team.

Does the author hold John Thompson and Dean Smith to the same standard? Both resigned midseason. Or is it easier to have this opinion of Knight because he's a less likable character?

Did either Thompson or Smith quit in the same season -- and less than four months later -- after signing a new contract extension?

by **CATLAX MAN** on Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:58 pm

Despite his boorish behavior at times, one thing that Coach Knight always put a premium on was his athletes graduating. Go back and look at his record and it will show that he had one of the highest player graduation rates of all college coaches. No one ever talks about this, but he deserves credit for doing some things that a lot of college coaches don't put a lot of effort into.

by **Brandon Carlson** on Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:04 pm

I also hear that Chris Berman does a spot on Bob Knight impression.

Couldn't resist. The guy is a legend, for both his on the court success and his antics. I think that it is a shame that he upstaged his own career with his blow-ups and uncontrollable temper. It does seem that perhaps he is less likable that some of his contemporaries, and that makes it easy to criticize him, however I also believe that he brought that on himself. The controversies that have surrounded him will distract from his coaching success, and rightly so. Perhaps he did put a premium on graduation, and yes, he did win more than 900 games but what is the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Bob Knight?

by **bste_lax** on Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:22 pm

CATLAX MAN wrote:Despite his boorish behavior at times, one thing that Coach Knight always put a premium on was his athletes graduating. Go back and look at his record and it will show that he had one of the highest player graduation rates of all college coaches. No one ever talks about this, but he deserves credit for doing some things that a lot of college coaches don't put a lot of effort into.

I think it is at 98% (only like four players did not) which is insane for how many years he coached.

by **CATLAX MAN** on Thu Feb 07, 2008 1:12 am

Brandon Carlson wrote:Perhaps he did put a premium on graduation, and yes, he did win more than 900 games but what is the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Bob Knight?

That's largely because that is what the media likes to talk about. It shapes the opinion of the masses. Knight didn't have much love for the media, so they didn't give a lot back. I'm not making excuses for some of his outlandish antics, but if you dig a little deeper than the surface, you would find a lot more right with what Knight did during his career than what was wrong. The right stuff doesn't sell a lot of newpapers or ad time.

by **jessexy** on Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:20 am

CATLAX MAN wrote:Despite his boorish behavior at times, one thing that Coach Knight always put a premium on was his athletes graduating. Go back and look at his record and it will show that he had one of the highest player graduation rates of all college coaches. No one ever talks about this, but he deserves credit for doing some things that a lot of college coaches don't put a lot of effort into.

maybe cuz he wanted to torture his players for 4 full years rather than kick them off the team or prepare them for the NBA or even build them to better people. I'm also wondering how he could have a 98% graduation rate when ive personally known 4 players to quit from the abuse, get kicked off, or leave "voluntarily" after their scholarship wasnt renewed. Maybe its from personal experience from my friends that went on to play for Tech that im not a fan of his.