Jay Bilas Interview

ACC College Basketball53

Link to interview

IMHO, Bilas is the current star of college basketball analysts and I usually respect his perspectives. (Nobody is perfect). In this interview he comments on the Doug Gottlieb vs Coach K controversy, but has to be very careful to parse Gottlieb’s words so that he doesn’t offend Daddy K.

If you haven’t been following this Doug Gottlieb vs Coach K controversy then the following links will bring you to speed.

From ACCNow

The Big Lead

Duke was struggling with Arizona State Wednesday, barely leading a weak Sun Devils team at halftime. This led ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb to make an observation that, at the time, seemed innocuous enough: Duke, which features five white players 6-foot-8 or taller, was “alarmingly unathletic.” After Duke thumped a much more athletic Connecticut team Friday, Coach K took a few shots at Gottlieb.

Sorry, Coach K…but, if the discussion here is focused on the accuracy of Gottlieb’s comments then this isn’t even a conversation worth having. Hilariously, when I watched the Duke vs Arizona State game last week, I picked up my phone and emailed some of my friends the following comment:

“Wow. Duke looks like their stuck in the mud. Very slow. This team is one of the least athletic I have seen at this level in a long time

The email solicited multiple responses agreeing with the comments.

So, the entire group of SFN authors simultaneously made the exact same observation as Gottlieb while watching the exact same game. Sorry, Coach K. This isn’t just coincidence.

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53 Responses to Jay Bilas Interview

  1. ncsukyle430 12/03/2009 at 9:57 AM #

    Don’t take up for Gottlieb. I don’t care how accurate this ONE statement was, his career has been filled with him projectile vomiting nonsense every time a camera turns on. He is extremely negative, which is odd considering the most memorable thing he did as a player was steal roomie’s credit cards (http://www3.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=308568), and has had similar beef with Bo Ryan, Jim Boeheim and the entire Big 10 conference brass. I have no problem with Coach K stick up for his players, which is totally the coach’s job, against this brain dead grease ball. That chest waxing idiot should be on TV.

    SFN: I completely agree with your overall perspective of Gottleib. Not only is he unjustifiably condescening, he has a very negative view of NC State.

    However, what does that have to do with his accuracy or observation on this single issue? Agreeing with his comments here is mutually exclusive of ‘taking up’ for him on every issue.

  2. primacyone 12/03/2009 at 9:58 AM #

    Duke’s new Freshman/High School Senior (Andre Dawkins) appears capable of changing that image all by himself. What a stroke that guy has, and he’s supposed to be playing high school ball this year. How lucky can you be?

    But yea, minus him and possibly the newest Plumlee, they look like the big lazy. And Scheyer’s game seems lost.

    Can’t wait for Bilas and Hubert Davis to go at each other. You know it’s coming.

  3. packalum44 12/03/2009 at 10:03 AM #

    They’re more athletic than we are. The only guy I would call “athletic” on our team is Painter.

    SFN: So? I don’t necessarily disagree with you. But, that wasn’t the discussion or the point.

  4. PalmettoWolf 12/03/2009 at 10:05 AM #

    I was watching when Gottlieb was making his comments. To me, it was not WHAT he said but HOW he said it. He was so over the top in making his point that I immediately turned to my gf and commented that it was obvious he was a duke-hater…

    Disclaimer: I can’t stand the guy.

  5. StateFans 12/03/2009 at 10:14 AM #

    ^ This is an important distinction that I obviously did not consider. Thanks for sharing.

  6. rdjennin 12/03/2009 at 10:29 AM #

    I think its racist to infer white guys are unathletic. I’m offended.

    SFN: Is Duke nothing but a bunch of white guys? I hadn’t noticed. The irony is that someone could make the point that drawing that previously un-mentioned conclusion is what is racist. 😉

  7. PackerInRussia 12/03/2009 at 10:39 AM #

    I haven’t really seen Duke play much this year, but I would certainly buy Gottlieb’s comments. I remember several years ago when Duke (a #1 or #2 seed) was playing Oakland (?) and they would go down the court, the guys not being defended by Shavlik Randolph would get out of the way while Shav’s man would take him one-on-one to the hoop. It didn’t last too long, but I remember being amused.

  8. choppack1 12/03/2009 at 10:41 AM #

    #1. Duke’s athleticism hasn’t been the same since the JWill, Brand, Boozer teams..
    #2. It’s my opinion that the whole hub-ub of William Avery/Corey Maggette and the whispers about Duhon led Coach K to recruit athletes who were more “sure things.”
    #3. It also doesn’t help that at UNC right now is a coach who is NOT recruiting as many classic 1 and dones. Have you noticed anything about Roy’s kids, they are very similar to the kind of kids Duke used to get. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when Dean starting getting kids like King Rice, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Ed Cota – Duke was dominating the classic student athlete recruiting. Essentially, now you can go to UNC – which has all the big school feel w/ a solid academic reputation and 10X better coeds and camputs life or go to Duke. Look at what happened to the last recruit they battled over.
    #4. Finally, coach K has been unable to secure that classic PG w/ solid speed, ball handling skills and a decent outside shot that he had when he’s won his 3 national championships.

  9. PackerInRussia 12/03/2009 at 10:50 AM #

    Does Bilas say more about Gottlieb’s comments than is written on Glenn’s site? I know I should probably listen to the whole interview before making a judgment, but I don’t have time right now. Based solely on what’s written, though – talk about a non-comment. I’m sure that Gottlieb meant “alarmingly” in a more nonliteral sense.

  10. Wulfpack 12/03/2009 at 11:05 AM #

    The difference to me is that UNC develops its players. Can one really suggest that Scheyer, Nolan Smith, Zoubek, and Lance Thomas have improved to the level that Duke needs them to? They’ve had every opportunity, given that recruiting has been down. Singler I would have to say has shown some progress.

    As far as Gottlieb goes, I’ve never been a fan of his. But his comments are accurate, though he said them in a biased manner.

  11. primacyone 12/03/2009 at 11:09 AM #

    Jimmy the Greek. Just saying . . . .

  12. StateFans 12/03/2009 at 11:44 AM #

    I agree, Russia.

    Focusing on the term ‘alarmingly’ is like focusing on Zebulon if you wanted to talk about the cities in the State of North Carolina.

  13. Thinkpack17 12/03/2009 at 11:54 AM #

    “The difference to me is that UNC develops its players. Can one really suggest that Scheyer, Nolan Smith, Zoubek, and Lance Thomas have improved to the level that Duke needs them to?”

    Lance Thomas has improved pretty steadily over the past 4 years. He is like Horner, he squeezes every bit of productivity out of what God gave him. Scheyer is playing out of position, he doesn’t have the tools to progress as an Elite Duke PG. Zoubek is a bum, he will always be a bum. The Jury is still out on Nolan, I think he will end up being very good though.

    UNC recruits kids with higher upside, there is a big contrast in the kids that end up at UNC and the ones that end up and Duke.

  14. blpack 12/03/2009 at 12:02 PM #

    Duke is a solid team, but doesn’t have a great PG and is not very athletic. Gottlieb was right though he was really overstating it at the time. Duke is having a hard time living up to it’s own rep and it’s rival continues to win. Both teams are beating our brains out so we have to get better in every area. In a way it would be nice if all we had to worry about was athleticism.

  15. Pack Mentality 12/03/2009 at 12:30 PM #

    The elephant in the room here is why the hell has Duke started in the past 5 or so years recruiting and filling the team with so many white guys. If you look at the 10 or so “elite” basketball schools of the past 10-15 years, Duke is the only one doing this. Duke has also not been a serious threat to win the championship since they started filling the team with white guys. I’m not being racist, I’m just stating a fact, and it is what everybody is thinking and may not be saying.

  16. newt 12/03/2009 at 12:48 PM #

    Gottlieb asked: Is it just me or is Duke alarmingly unathletic at some positions.

    Legitimate question, I think. Answered in part by their subsequent defeat of Uconn and again in part by their loss last night to Wisconsin.

  17. Rick 12/03/2009 at 12:50 PM #

    Duke seems to be following the HWSNBN’s view of basketball.

    4 year non athletic players that can shoot. He has also been relying on the 3 point shot an unusually large amount of the time recently.

  18. Texpack 12/03/2009 at 1:39 PM #

    The relative decline in athleticism at Duke is not a recent phenomenon. Prior to Lowe’s first ACC Tourney game against Duke I posted a comment about how Duke really relies on the officials to clutch and grab on defense to compensate for their lack of athletic ability. More than one D1 coach has decided to go with what I like to call the European approach. Play rough, move the ball, keep the middle open, and shoot a lot of threes. This system works best with a team full of 6-4 to 6-9 players who can all handle the ball relatively well and shoot from deep. The notion that good basketball can only be played by a bunch of highlight reel calibers dunkers and “ath-a-leets” who aren’t very good ball handlers or shooters is a false notion in my view. I love up tempo basketball, but I love it mainly because it gives more opportunities to watch good decision makers, both on offense and defense, at work.

  19. MP 12/03/2009 at 1:39 PM #

    Duke looked pretty unathletic to me last night – alarmingly unathletic if you compare them with past Duke teams.

    Maybe Duke is on the permanent downturn. Wouldn’t that be nice! ESPN will have to find another team to pump up 24 hours a day. If UNC starts pounding them game after game, Dick Vitale will be bending backwards all over himself to make excuses for them.

    If they really do slide, it will be interesting to see if Dawkins takes the job when K retires. Of course, don’t want to overstate their potential “downturn”, but when you think about it – why should Duke be an elite program?

  20. choppack1 12/03/2009 at 1:43 PM #

    “The elephant in the room here is why the hell has Duke started in the past 5 or so years recruiting and filling the team with so many white guys.”

    Actually, the elephant in the living room is why Duke has recruited so many unathletic guys.

    Your statement is equivalent to saying:
    “The elephant in the room is why so many black NFL quarterbacks either get in trouble or just plain suck. An NFL team is foolish to draft these guys.”

    The problem isn’t these QBs have been black – the problem is that these individual QBs that have made the league, have either not studied hard enough or have had questions about their character. They’re problems are shortcomings w/ the individual, they are not shortcomings of the race.

  21. nycfan 12/03/2009 at 1:46 PM #

    On a related note, since coach K was presumably in the locker room coaching his team when Gottlieb made the comment at half time of the ASU/dook game (which I admit made me giggle when he said it, but he did say it demonstratively … then went on to pick dook to beat UConn later in the broadcast, btw, saying while UConn had athletic advantages you don’t pick against dook in these kind of early season games, they just know how to prepare and win them), who was it that was policing the ESPN coverage for coach K?

    I think this is part of a relatively new (past few seasons) strategy by Coach K to fight back at any perceived media slight … recall that at his summer press conference, months after a *student* at the Chronicle published a frankly whiny article about not getting his birthright b/c dook hadn’t been to the Final Four in the 4 years he attended the school, Coach K called out that months-old article for ridicule.

  22. gcpack 12/03/2009 at 1:46 PM #

    Sorry to change the subject but I am very surprised that SFN has not mentioned anything about the QB/Ath from Shelby Crest high school that changed his commitment to State from UNC.

    Maybe I missed it but there certainly isn’t an entry about this nor is it under the football or recruiting sections.

    I even saw it Tuesday night as a newsflash scroll at ESPN yet no word at this site about it. WRAL The Fan has a some info on the story.

    What is the scoop on this player(I cant remember his name) from Shelby?
    Is he a top level recruit and is this as big as AJ Davis switching from Bunting’s Heels to Amato’s Pack a few years ago? My guess is that it isn’t otherwise more would have been made out of it.

    Thanks

  23. Thinkpack17 12/03/2009 at 1:52 PM #

    Your statement is equivalent to saying:
    “The elephant in the room is why so many black NFL quarterbacks either get in trouble or just plain suck. An NFL team is foolish to draft these guys.”

    I get your point…but that’s a terrible analogy.

  24. ldr of the pk 75 12/03/2009 at 2:05 PM #

    gcpack- are you thinking of Wilkens? It was in a thread a few days ago after him being at the Carolina game in a State jersey.

    Paper today, Charlotte O, mentions the decommit. Also says he is being looked at as a wide receiver.

    I think I have the right player.

  25. gcpack 12/03/2009 at 2:07 PM #

    Maybe thats right Ldr. Just wondering if he changed his mind because of the game results or some other reason. Hard to tell with 18 yr olds I suppose.

    thank you for resonding.

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