Went up to Atlanta this past weekend for games 3 & 4 of Heat vs Hawks and ended up with Tom Crean sitting right behind me for last night's game. The guy was a fountain of knowledge - he could tell you where every dude on the court went to high school and what their scouting reports were in high school and college. I asked him a couple of questions about the canes but he spoke about a ton more that some of you might be interested in so I'll give some quick hits:
- Not many people saw the Canes coming this tournament but he doesn't think it was a fluke. Given the deep run there was a lot more eye balls on the team last month than had been before and he said pretty much everyone he knows felt the quality of coaching and play on display was extremely high level.
- Coach L very highly regarded in coaching circles and never "fell off" or anything, he just needs horses.
- The buzz about the U extends far beyond just football circles
- The U should be doing more with the Miami Heat, which is a gold standard for how you create a championship sports program/culture
- Part of how pat riley seems to find diamonds in the rough is because the heat listens to college coaches' evaluations while most other pro teams seem to think that is beneath them. He said Strus, Robinson, & Vincent were all guys that most college coaches pegged as pros while in college. But also admitted he doesnt think anyone had them pegged as NBA playoff starters.
- Trae Young is not a champion or a leader. What he looks for first in assessing those qualities is what a guy does on D immediately after a deflating outcome offensively...If you get blocked at the rim or miss a shot/have a turnover you think you got fouled bad on, etc what do you do as a player? Leaders sprint back on D and play with increased intensity on that next D possession because they are mad at themselves.
- Jay Wright doesn't care for the college game anymore but he suspects would listen to NBA offers
