Robert Montgomery Knight has passed away
- Thread starter #1DieHardHawk
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Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Interestingly, he shares a birthday (October 25) with Dan Gable. Arguably the two most successful B1G coaches of our lifetime.
Seth53
Well-Known Member
One a mat-rat.
The other a gym-rat.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Or in West Lafayette
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Knight was a frequent visitor to Gable's wrestling room for his 5:30am practices when the basketball team was in town.
A similar story is told about Woody Hayes. When he was on recruiting trips he would go up to a group of students and ask who the best professor on campus was, then attend the lecture.
His favorite at Iowa? Dr Jay Holstein, the Philadelphia rabbi/religion professor who could fill McBride Hall's cavernous auditorium to the rafters with his lectures on the Quest For Human Destiny or Judeo-Christian Tradition or old Testamant survey. By my college tenure in the mid 1980's he was an absolute legend on campus and it wasn't unheard of for students who weren't enrolled in his classes to pop in the his lectures between classes.
When it came time to register for the next semester classes order was determined by the last three numbers of your SSN, which rotated every semester. If your number didn't come up by the second or third day you were SOL for getting one of his classes.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Knight did two things better than any coach I ever saw, maybe better than any coach who ever lived. And it contributed to a huge amount of his success.
1) he had the ability to simulate game conditions and game intensity during practice.
2) he was a master at getting his players to come down off the high of a huge win and focus on the next game at hand.
Celebrating wins too long may be one of the biggest downfalls in athletics at any level. You see it all the time. Not on Knight coached teams. He was often at his maddest, and that's saying something, when he saw sloppy play in blowout victories. Because he thought it could affect preparation for the next game.
As for his practices? They were frequently short once the season started. But they were wars.
1) he had the ability to simulate game conditions and game intensity during practice.
2) he was a master at getting his players to come down off the high of a huge win and focus on the next game at hand.
Celebrating wins too long may be one of the biggest downfalls in athletics at any level. You see it all the time. Not on Knight coached teams. He was often at his maddest, and that's saying something, when he saw sloppy play in blowout victories. Because he thought it could affect preparation for the next game.
As for his practices? They were frequently short once the season started. But they were wars.
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
I recently talked to a guy who was on Indiana's 1988 team. We laughed and talked about the game where an Indiana player threw the ball off of Kent Hill's face.
He said that during the preceeding week of practice, while they were preparing for Iowa's press, Knight said something to the effect of, "If the clock is running down, throw the "F***ing ball right off the MF***ers face!" He said it was absolutely true and he was right there on the court when Knight said it.
Anyone who is familiar with Bob Knight can quite easily picture him saying that.
That said, I don't know if Kent Hill is the guy I would have picked in that situation. Not exactly someone I would want standing outside my team bus coming out of the arena...
Regarding another famous allegation, he also said it was absolutely true that Knight walked out of the bathroom with a wad of toilet paper in his fingers covered in shit, saying, "This is how you jackasses are playing!"
He said that during the preceeding week of practice, while they were preparing for Iowa's press, Knight said something to the effect of, "If the clock is running down, throw the "F***ing ball right off the MF***ers face!" He said it was absolutely true and he was right there on the court when Knight said it.
Anyone who is familiar with Bob Knight can quite easily picture him saying that.
That said, I don't know if Kent Hill is the guy I would have picked in that situation. Not exactly someone I would want standing outside my team bus coming out of the arena...
Regarding another famous allegation, he also said it was absolutely true that Knight walked out of the bathroom with a wad of toilet paper in his fingers covered in shit, saying, "This is how you jackasses are playing!"
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99topdawg
Well-Known Member
I can't see someone coach like this today. Too many prima donnas and mommies that want to keep their little Aiden on their titty as long as possible.
One thing you can say about Bob. If a player needed to get his ass going, he'd tell him to get his fuckin ass going. It seemed to get a lot out of his guys, but he only recruited guys that he thought could take it. I'm just going to go out in a limb and say that he wouldn't have cared much about how many stars a kid had.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Todd Jadlow was the player who bonked it off Kent Hill's face.
As mean as Hill was, a Hill vs Jadlow tussle would have been even money. Todd once got Michigan's Roy Tarpley pretty good in a, you know, sensitive area. He had the nut punch down years before Brad Davison did.
The year before it was Daryl Thomas bonking one off Lohaus' nose. Alford tried to throw one in off Brad's jewels but Brad saw it coming and stepped aside and Alford turned it over
hawkinn3
Well-Known Member
Last I checked Wooden has a lot more rings than Knight and did it by being kind to his players.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
One of my all time favorite coach quotes.
99topdawg
Well-Known Member
True. Couldn't find 2 more different coaches, but both were controversial in their own way. People forget about Wooden's dark side, but he didn't win 25 game once in his first 15 seasons. When the illegal recruiting and payments were found to have begun, they all of a sudden won 25-30 games in 11 of 12 years with 10 championships. He was good to his players, never swore, never yelled, and was their coach/mentor until the day he died. Knight was all about himself, but so many that played for him said that he made them grow up and become a man. I'm a huge fan of both of them and love reading about them and watching videos of them and those that talk about them.
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
The prima donnas and mommies/daddies today can complain once and cost someone a job
Social media outrage and all that
Quite common all over the place now
Bill Murray might not appear in another movie because a bit player on the set complained
about a comment he made to him/her
Murray was immediately fired and the move was completely shut down forever, I believe
A touch too sensitive today they are
In today's climate, Bobby Knight might not last more than one game, or one comment during
practice, before the season
He was over the top completely, but things are a bit too delicate these days
BigD
Well-Known Member
I had a friend who personally knew knight and said that off and away from the court he was very nice as a person. That he put on that tough guy image to get the most out of his players.
99topdawg
Well-Known Member
I always enjoyed watching him on fishing shows. He seemed like a completely different guy.
