link:Best and worst college coaches to bet on
Stephen Nover
Ask a bunch of top professional basketball bettors who the best and worst college coach is and you’re sure to get some divided opinions.
Except when it comes to Missouri’s Quinn Snyder. With Snyder you have almost universal lack of respect.
“He’s the worst coach in college basketball,” said handicapper Brian Gabrielle. “Nobody accomplishes less with more talent than the former Duke assistant.”
That’s the mark of a bad coach someone who doesn’t get as good as results as another coach if they both had similar talent.
“Quinn Snyder has had six consecutive Top 25 recruiting classes and no rings of any type to show for it,” said handicapper Ted Sevransky.
High stakes gambler Alan Boston rates Snyder among the worst along with Michigan’s Tommy Amaker, Lamar’s Billy Tubbs, Arizona’s Lute Olson, Memphis’ John Calipari, Towson State’s Pat Kennedy, Colorado’s Ricardo Patton, Louisville’s Rick Pitino, Florida’s Billy Donovan and East Tennessee State’s Murry Bartow.
“The good news is there are way more good than bad,” Boston said. “Unfortunately you will notice the bad are from mostly major programs, the good are not.”
Some of the worst coaches are those learning on the job, said handicapper and oddsmaker Dave Malinsky, mentioning Snyder, Amaker, Steve Alford at Iowa and Matt Dougherty, formerly of Notre Dame and North Carolina. These are guys who perhaps were promoted to major programs before they were ready, or had paid their full coaching dues.
“One day he might get better,” Malinsky said of Snyder. Malinsky doesn’t say the same for Paul Westphal of Pepperdine.
“Game in and game out his teams play bad basketball,” Malinsky said of Westphal. “His teams play some of the worst defense. They play the same type of defense he played in the NBA.”
Westphal wasn’t exactly known for his defense when he starred for the Celtics and Suns in the ‘70s. Malinsky is especially down on Westphal because it’s so easy to recruit players to Pepperdine, which is located in beautiful Malibu, Calif.
“Who doesn’t want to play there?” Malinsky said.
OK then who’s the best college basketball coach? The name that came up the most was Jim Calhoun of Connecticut.
“Jim Calhoun has to be near or at the top for what he’s built at Connecticut,” Malinsky said. “It’s tough to recruit at Connecticut.”
Gabrielle rates Calhoun and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski as the top two.
“Year after year they suffer heavy personnel losses and continue to get it done with new recruits,” he said.
Handicapper Tim Trushel also likes Calhoun.
“The best coaches are guys that win every year, getting more from their players than another coach could,” Trushel said, listing his best coaches as Calhoun, Kelvin Sampson of text hereOklahoma, Eddie Sutton of Oklahoma State and Billy Gillispie of Texas A&M.
On Sevransky’s best list are Tom Crean of Marquette, Charlie Coles of Miami of Ohio and Stew Morrill at Utah State.
Morrill and Gillispie also make Boston’s top coaches list.
“To me a good coach is not one that recruits well, but one whose teams play hard and smart with the emphasis on smart,” Boston said.
Boston is recognized as one the top Las Vegas wise guys when it comes to betting basketball. But he still remains a purist at heart when it comes to college hoops.
Other good coaches Boston mentioned are Ralph Willard of Holy Cross, Joe Scott or Princeton, Bobby Knight of Texas Tech, Mick Durham of Montana State, Rod Barnes of Mississippi, Bruce Weber of Illinois, Dennis Wolf of Boston University, Barry Hinson of Southwest Missouri State, Gregg Marshall of Winthrop and Kirk Speraw of Central Florida.
http://www.covers.com/articles/articles ... eArt=42915
That guy must've had some pretty good success betting on the Cats over the year! Can't say I disagree with either Kennedy or Snyder on the "worst coaches" list...
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