Rick Barnes named a Naismith Coach of the Year candidate, other SEC coaches snubbed
On Wednesday, the Naismith Trophy Coach of the Year candidates were announced, and there were 15 coaches named.
Despite recent struggles, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was named a finalist for leading the Vols to a 24-3 season so far (with their three losses all coming to top-15 teams).
Below, you can see the 15 finalists, which have a noticeable lack of other SEC coaches:
https://twitter.com/marchmadness/status/1100820577797967873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1100820577797967873&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aseaofblue.com%2F2019%2F2%2F27%2F18243554%2Fuk-basketball-john-calipari-not-a-candidate-for-coach-of-the-year
The noticeable SEC omissions are Kentucky’s John Calipari and LSU’s Will Wade, both of whom have their teams tied for the lead in the SEC regular-season standings and have wins over Tennessee.
The ACC leads the way with four coaches named — Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Louisville’s Chris Mack, North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Virginia’s Tony Bennett.
Will Wade not being on this list is silly. He’s got LSU basketball on its way back (or back). I don’t care for Cal, but what he has done with UK this year is probably one of his best coaching jobs. Roy W. and Coach K. could not show up to games or practices for 2 weeks and both UNC and Duke would win way more than they lose.
I’m biased, but Barnes is doing the most with the least this year…remember he has ZERO lottery picks on this team. Although, I do think Bone and Alexander will have good NBA careers.
Based purely on their on-court performance, Wade and Cal should make the list. Cal is the only omission that surprises me, however, as the recent subpoena of Wade essentially eliminates him from consideration (agree or disagree, that’s just how it is).
In defense of Roy & Coach K (not that they need it), they do coach well and recruiting is part of their coaching jobs. But yes, great players tend to make coaching easier, and great programs make it easier to attract great players.
Pearl was left off every list last year due to all the FBI stuff so I imagine it is the same for Wade
Did you really mean to say you think Alexander will have a good NBA career? I’m thinking you meant to say someone else like Williams or Schofield?
Alexander, and more broadly, the lack of a strong big man is exposing UT’s Achilles heel. He can jump but he’s not thick enough or strong enough to go up against teams with true bigs like UK. He contributes little scoring. If you notice, while he still starts, his playing time has steadily diminished since the UK game. Tonight against Ole Miss, he only played 11 minutes. Barnes hasn’t made any public comments, but he’s desperately trying to find someone else to step in. No body else on the team has the raw material to fill what is so desperately needed. Opponents have figured this out and are slacking off on Alexander to play help on D. Tennessee is essentially playing 4 on 5 against other teams. Don’t mean anything bad against the kid but he essentially hasn’t developed enough to give them the true big man they would need to make a championship run. In my view, the exposure of this is what has caused UT to peak.
I think Williams is an amazing young man and one of the best college round ballers–especially at UT–ever. However, he will be a minute filler if he ever plays in the NBA. I hope I’m wrong though. Schofield will probably do better than Grant in the NBA, but I personally think Alexander will eventually make a bigger impact in the league. He’s still very raw. Yes, his offense is way behind at this point, but he’ll continue to improve and should be a double double machine next year. Plus he’ll average 2-3 blocks a game. He’ll EVENTUALLY be the better pro prospect because of his length and athleticism IMO.
Oh, and he had the FLU last night!
Wade should be in but I agree the FBI thing is keeping him out. He may very well be coaching his last season for a while. Why not Kermit. Ole miss picked last and he had them kicking butt, including my Vols so far tonite.
Completely agree with you on Kermit. He’s done a heck of a job.
He’s a Loser