One of the things that got me in trouble on Bruin boards a decade ago in defending Coach Lavin's record, was pointing out that you have to give a young coach time. And I used another young coach as a comparison - kid named Kzyzewski. Head coach at Army, then took over a Duke team in 1980 that returned Gene Banks, Vince Taylor and Kenny Denard, and had been to the Final Four in 1978 under Bill Foster.
Thought it would be interesting to update that comparison.
Heading into this season, after 8 full seasons as a head coach Steve Lavin is 166-90, with 7 NCAA appearances, 5 Sweet 16s and one Elite 8.
After HIS first 8 seasons as a head coach, Mike Krzyzewski was 111-106, and had never reached the NCAA tourney, 3 years into taking over a Duke team only 2 years removed from Bill Foster taking it to the Final Four. I thought that made the K/Lavin comparison more viable, as Lavin took over a Bruin team 2 years removed from a National title...
Want a weird stat? Both K and Lavin won only 10 games in their 7th seasons. Of course, those 10 wins got Lavin fired, but when he returned to coaching, he followed that year with 21 wins in his 8th season, and was back in the dance for the 7th time. K followed up HIS 10 win season with... an 11 win season in his 8th year - which NEARLY got him fired. He wasn't, and we know what he produced over the ensuing 30 years (but even at THAT point he was still 8 more seasons away from a national championship).
Ther comparison was never meant as a prediction. I originally posted it just as an argument for giving a young coach (who I felt was putting up an exceptional record) TIME to mature, learn, and improve.