Coach K ties Dean Smith on all-time wins list with Duke victory over Elon tonight and UVA barely gets past Norfolk State, 50-49 in C’ville….(Smith-K Debate)

3 thoughts on “Coach K ties Dean Smith on all-time wins list with Duke victory over Elon tonight and UVA barely gets past Norfolk State, 50-49 in C’ville….(Smith-K Debate)”

1. Move over Dean!!

2. Coach K is great no doubt. Respect. One of the all time greats.

   I have some questions and comments.
   Who got there quicker? In games not years. I really dont know.
   Does K coaching (Mostly) in an era of 64/65 NCAA births make a huge difference to anyone? Dean coached (partly at least) when fewer post season games were played. Had to win ACC to go to NCAAs a few years.

   They overlapped but are from differing eras making comparison a bit more difficult. Coach K is one of the best ever no matter where he finishes 1 or 2. Knight, Rupp, Smith, K, John W all great coaches!

   Side note: I dont see the UConn women as “breaking” UCLA’s record. Not to disparage womens basketball at all but I just see the two sports as just that … two differant sports! I have heard a few remarks of late by the UConn coach. Havent liked what I have been hearing. The greatest womens program of all time.. without a doubt. A great streak . The greatest streak of womens basketball wins ever. Not better or worse tha UCLA… DIFFERANT. I dont get the serious “tude” this dude is laying out there. He is gonna be on DP show tomorrow. Just might get interesting. Must see DTV or must hear radio!

3. The Coach K/Coach Smith debate is a very interesting topic….Just a few thoughts on that one.

   Elon and UNCG very easy opponents to tie and to surpass the record….I do beleive that the overall competition is harder now than it was back when Coach Smith was winning many of his games….Clemson with Tates Locke was terrrible, Virginia with Bill Gibson stunk, Maryland before Lefty was very bad/terraple, even Duke when Bubas wasn’t there in that one stretch before Foster, Duke was not good at all….Coach Smith could rack up on those foes…Across the nation you had UNC, UCLA, still Kentucky and to some extent and Louisville and there were not many other power teams like there are now….

   Do the Pete Gaudet wins count towards Coach K’s totals? Coach K did not want the losses and Gaudet would be upset if you took away his wins…..

   I remember Coach K when he brought Duke over to Grimsley HS for an inter-squad scrimmage back in 1981 or so and he has carved out a nice dynasty at Duke since those days….

   Smith had his advantages and Coach K has had his breaks too, even though he made many of them happen for himself along the way….I think Coach K could have stayed at home against Elon and UNCG and brought back Pete Gaudet and let him run the team against the Phoenix and the Spartans and the Devils would have still got their due…..

   Gaudet has never received the pub he deserves while he was at Duke…Too much has been made of his misfortunes and I for one am going to stop talking about him right now….

   Coach K vs. Coach Smith and this is a good debate….Who did coach more overall games to get to 879??? I’m not really a numbers man, I just go in with the now results and then the games for me are long gone….These two men will live on forever in the minds of ACC basketball fans and especially in the minds and hearts of the fans from the schools that they represent….

   Good job Coach K and good job along the way, Coach Smith…..I look forward to out- lasting you both in my chosen vocation which is stirring and then cleaning up the pot….

   Didn’t Digger Phelps with Austin Carr and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame break up that lone 88-game UCLA winning streak????? All eyes were on the Irish that day…….

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