Who is the best basketball coach in Utah?

[hawkwing]

Men's NCAA Div 1 Coaches, who's the best in Utah?

[ABYUFAN]

Ha ha ha

[Gunk]

Pope. Sad but true, IMO.

He took BYU's throw-away players and beat us. I don't care how inspired or motivated they were that should never happen. Pope got his crew ready, emotionally and schematically. We got out played and out coached.

[frdbtr]

So Mark Pope is the best coach in the state because of 1 win? That makes sense.

[snoscythe]

So Mark Pope is the best coach in the state because of 1 win? That makes sense.

When all you have is a small sample size for him, it's hard to argue otherwise.

[ABYUFAN]

But how many wins has that team traded for that one win over BYU? The could (should?) have had two PAC 12 wins after the BYU win, but couldn't get it done. Clearly they had that game circled on their calendar and won it - good for them. But shame on them for dropping the Utah and WSU games afterward. Clearly it's Rose, head and shoulders above everybody else, and a bunch of "not there yet" guys.

[AmmonCougar1]

I'll probably get flamed for this but just because he coaches our hated rival is no reason to leave of Crisco if we are truly being objective. The first time his team beat us he had no business doing so. We came out flat and then couldn't recover. Last year we came out and got down by a lot and couldn't recover enough to pull out the win. Is he a weenie? Of course, what yewt isn't? But how does a bad coach get a Poetl to come play in SLC. And if I'm not mistaken Crisco has recruited well by getting a nice mix of local talent with others who have been missed by better programs and then done pretty darn well in the PAC considering how low Jackoletti and Boilin' took them before he arrived.

I can't remember the last time that I honestly felt the our staff outcoached and won a game we should not have won. Maybe Gonzaga on the road last year (or was it two years running now). Outside of that I just don't see Rose doing much with what he has in the sense of preparing them for the game at hand and developing them over the long haul toward the NBA. We sure do fill up the European and other foreign leagues though...

Go Cougs!!!
J. Child
Ammon, ID

[hawkwing]

But how many wins has that team traded for that one win over BYU? The could (should?) have had two PAC 12 wins after the BYU win, but couldn't get it done. Clearly they had that game circled on their calendar and won it - good for them. But shame on them for dropping the Utah and WSU games afterward. Clearly it's Rose, head and shoulders above everybody else, and a bunch of "not there yet" guys.

I didn't include the Utah coach because anyone who is too scared to play other local teams of the same caliber is obviously disqualified from the poll. That being said, I think it's pretty clear he's a better basketball coach than Rose in what he has accomplished in the games he's not afraid to play.

[vancouvercougar]

So Mark Pope is the best coach in the state because of 1 win? That makes sense.

Pope also helped BYU win a bunch of games.

[ABYUFAN]

But how many wins has that team traded for that one win over BYU? The could (should?) have had two PAC 12 wins after the BYU win, but couldn't get it done. Clearly they had that game circled on their calendar and won it - good for them. But shame on them for dropping the Utah and WSU games afterward. Clearly it's Rose, head and shoulders above everybody else, and a bunch of "not there yet" guys.

I didn't include the Utah coach because anyone who is too scared to play other local teams of the same caliber is obviously disqualified from the poll. That being said, I think it's pretty clear he's a better basketball coach than Rose in what he has accomplished in the games he's not afraid to play.

FWIW I agree that coach 20K at a time needs be left off the list. However, if you are factoring for best coach in the state deducting points for dropping games that you should have won, then Pope has deductions for two "should have wons," and only one "look what I did" wins. As for the "BYU castoffs, I don't think that it is fair to call them that, they left the school to find more playing time, BYU didn't make them leave. Toolson really would have been nice this year, but who else that left would have earned meaningful minutes here? They left and good for them. They circled the calendar to win that game and good for them, but we win more games this year with them not starting for us, and I'm not willing to trade one win for a bunch of losses later on, like they are apparently willing to do.