Seems like not all bad behavior isn't confined to adult sports... At least on the surface, Lute Olson's handling of the guy that stepping it up when Lute was a sicko is just, well, bad behavior.
Would be nice to be wrong on this one. Sorta doubt it.
Though I'm far removed from Arizona, and not privy to daily news regarding UA, I gathered O'Neill was instructed on how to lead the program in order to keep it fine tuned from the Olson point of view. Evidently, Kevin didn't do as told. Kevin O'Neill may be a nice guy, or maybe not, but he's a lousy college basketball coach. "Ordinary" might be a better word to describe his teams. Ordinary doesn't make it at top school's like UA or TENNESSEE, for that matter.
You're exactly right! I've always been a fan of Lute, Arizona basketball, and had a lot of respect for him, but after the wild & weird behavior of Lute the past year, it's very hard to hold him to that high standard, again. Remember Kevin O'Neill is still at Arizona, fundraising, I wonder if he's still the next coach?
It's easy to sit on the outside and judge isn't it?
As far as Lute goes. He earned the right to take a year off and handle his personal problems. If Coach K or Roy Williams needed a year off to take care of some personal problems would people rant and rave about that as well? I think not.
Concerning O'Neil, he had his chance and he appears to have blown it. The players complained about his coaching style and his treatment of them. He supposedly never spoke with any of his assistants and pretty much treated them like garbage. He never learned how to effectively use his bench throughout the entire season. He burned a guys redshirt in order to get him just a couple of minutes a game. So O'neil had his chance and he blew it, he proved that he is incapable of leading a top program.
Not saying that the Cats are still a top program but they do bring in top players year in and year out, see Jennings next season. True, the Cats have struggled despite the talent the last few years which has given the haters ample oppurtunity to come out of the woodwork. Olsen has earned the right to do things the way he wants to do them and if he feels that O'Neil is not a good fit, than that is his call.
Lute Olson is a stand-up guy, pure class. This incident was sparked by the fiery attitude of Kevin O'Neill, the lack of respect for O'Neill's mentor and the un-disciplined style of offensive play that he coached. Lute Olson owns the city of Tucson, and if you have never visited Tucson then you wouldn't know how much respect and how Olson is treated like a God. I guess 1 Championship = god-like status, not to me, but he has turned the Arizona basketball program around and maintains the level of play from each player he recruits. Speaking of recrutiing, year in and year out Olson brings some of the best players from around the country! How many starting players in the NBA are from U of Arizona? Look that up!
I am very far removed from Arizona basketball, but from the outside looking in Lute Olsen has been nothing but class his entire life. O'Neil steps in, by the way with an OUTSTANDING group of players and some think this knucklehead is the next best thing since sliced bread. Look at where O'Neil has been and look at what he did with those programs............not really that impressive I'll break it down for those of you who wish to ordain this guy.................wait....that means I would actually spend more time than I want to on this coach who had the opportunity to run Arizona into the ground but exposed himself for who he is and in the long run saved Arizona basketball.
In sixteen years as a head coach in High School, College and the NBA, Kevin O'Neill is a whopping 222 wins and 247 losses. EGAD....almost .500 ball.
Two appearances in the NCAA tournament
Four appearances in the Nobodys watching Tournament
Chased out of Knoxville and chased out of Chicago
Lute Olsen on the other hand............
11 PAC-10 championships
22 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.
4 Final Fours
A National Championship
Enshrined into the Naismith Hall of Fame
Owns a (.739) winning percentage.......(has only lost 269 games compared to O'Neill darn near reaching that in half the time)
I could go on and on about Olsen because he has an incredible career to talk about but I won't. I'll just let you Olsen haters chew on those stats. Sit back and compare the two and then you'll understand why O'Neill is headed on to darker pastures.
Oh sorry I forgot O'Neill did win a conference championship at Marquette. Where was my head
