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Texas Tech responds to Knight

He has hardly changed a bit from his glory days at Indiana, but Bob Knight has coached the formerly woeful Texas Tech Red Raiders into both national college basketball polls.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
He has hardly changed a bit from his glory days at Indiana, but Bob Knight has coached the formerly woeful Texas Tech Red Raiders into both national college basketball polls.

By Bob Matthews
Democrat and Chronicle

(Thursday, January 31, 2002) -- Bob Knight isn't my favorite college basketball coach. In fact, he's one notch above Jerry Tarkanian, who is at the bottom of my list.

But giving credit where credit is due, Knight is my front-runner for college basketball's Coach of the Year.

Texas Tech last year was 3-12 in the Big 12 Conference and 9-19 overall.

In Knight's first season, the Red Raiders are 15-4 after Wednesday night's loss to Nebraska and this week cracked the top 25 for the first time in five years.

Texas Tech recently defeated two Top 10 teams within eight days and is ranked 20th in the Associated Press poll and 23rd in the USA Today/CNN coaches' poll.

So far, Knight has coached brilliantly and hasn't done anything to embarrass his new school.

He is getting the most out of the four players and the players he brought in -- including junior college players he seldom considered at Indiana.

This season's success will help his recruiting pitch.

Home attendance is up almost 5,000 per game.

What's not to like?

Judging by this season's results, there is no reason to think Knight won't eventually surpass North Carolina's Dean Smith as the all-time winningest NCAA men's basketball coach. Smith won 879 games in 36 years at North Carolina and Knight has 779 wins in 35-plus seasons at Army, Indiana and Texas Tech.

On the subject of Coach of the Year, this NFL season provides another classic example of why individual honors should be awarded after the Super Bowl and include the work the top coaches and players do in the postseason as well as in the regular season.

The winner of all the NFL Coach of the Year honors for this season was Chicago's Dick Jauron.

But now that his team is about to play in Super Bowl XXXVI, can there be any doubt that New England's Bill Belichick has done a better job?

Last season, Jauron's Bears and Belichick's Patriots both were 5-11. Both teams were popular picks to finish last in their divisions this season.

Chicago was 13-3 this regular season and New England was 11-5. Advantage Jauron. But the Patriots have more than made up for that by winning two playoff games and reaching the Super Bowl while the Bears were upset by Philadelphia in the NFC playoffs.

If the Patriots upset the 14-point favored St. Louis Rams on Sunday, Belichick not being named NFL Coach of the Year will go from unfortunate to a travesty.

Super Bowl XXXVI selections: Sports Illustrated's Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman picks St. Louis by a slim 27-24 margin; The Sporting News picks the Rams 27-17.

Win or lose, play or not, Sunday probably will be Drew Bledsoe's final game with the New England Patriots. Tom Brady clearly is the team's QB of the present (when healthy) and future, and owner Robert Kraft is so fond of Bledsoe as a person that he has all but promised to trade him to a team he can start for (at least half of the teams in the NFL).

So there is a possibility (if Brady is unable to finish Sunday's game) that Bledsoe could join Trent Dilfer as the second straight QB to win a Super Bowl and be cut loose before playing another game.

If I were involved in the hunt for a new offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, I would immediately erase from contention anyone who thought he could salvage Rob Johnson's career with the team.

This week's Sports Illustrated cover subject is U.S. speedskater Apolo Ohno with the billing, "OHNO? OH, YES! Teen phenom leads a U.S. team looking for its biggest medal haul ever." There also is a feature story on Canada's 50-year gold medal drought in hockey and that nation's determination to end the frustration at Salt Lake City.

You sometimes get what you pay for. According to the NHL Players' Association, the Buffalo Sabres player payroll ranks 22nd in the 30-team NHL. Of the eight teams ranked below Buffalo (22-25-5-1 record), only Ottawa has a winning record.

Cheers to the Nevada State Athletic Commission for putting decency ahead of greed in denying Mike Tyson a license to fight for the heavyweight championship against Lennox Lewis on April 6 in Las Vegas.

Fortunately, Nevada newspapers almost unanimously hailed the ruling that will cost the casinos millions of tourist dollars.

Las Vegas deserves to continue to be "The Boxing Capital of the World."

And jeers to the New York State Athletic Commission if it is even thinking about granting Tyson a license so the fight could come to Madison Square Garden. Promoters in Denmark and South Africa already have offered to stage the fight. Hopefully Tyson would be so appreciative that he'd move to one of those countries.

Pete Sampras deserves credit for agreeing to play for the United States against Slovakia in a first-round Davis Cup match next week. When the high-profile players show up, it is easier to accept the international team competition as meaningful.

Eleven of the NBA's 29 teams won't have a player in the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 10. The NBA does it right. Leagues that require every team to be represented in the All-Star Game guarantee that all of their most-deserving players won't be showcased.

Give the Baltimore Orioles credit for making a good trade this week: second baseman-outfielder Willie Harris to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Chris Singleton. The Rochester Red Wings will miss projected leadoff hitter Harris, but Singleton should be a considerable upgrade as Baltimore's starting center fielder over Melvin Mora (best suited to be a utility player) and Luis Matos (needs a full season at Rochester to polish his game).

Four probable 2002 Red Wings mainstays had impressive seasons in winter ball:

Eddy Garabito (Azucareros of the Dominican League) -- .307 batting average (9th in the league), 4 HRs, 18 RBI in 45 games; he led the league in doubles (14) and extra-base hits (23).

Jose Leon (Bayamon of the Puerto Rican League) -- .320 batting average (6th in the league), 9 HRs (tied for 3rd), 28 RBI in 50 games; .580 slugging percentage (2nd).

Luis Matos (Caguas of the Puerto Rican League) -- .310 batting average (8th in the league), 2 HRs, 16 RBI in 39 games; .444 on-base percentage (2nd).

Travis Driskill (Caracas of the Venezuelan League) -- 2-3 record, 3.36 ERA (9th in the league), 63 strikeouts (2nd) in 64 innings.

The Montreal Expos signed veteran Triple-A sluggers Ivan Cruz and Joe Vitiello for the Ottawa Lynx.

Rochester party band Nik and the Nice Guys will be busy this weekend in New Orleans. They will be playing at the NFL International Rock & Bowl Super Bowl Party on Friday night and the Coca-Cola Celebration with Hootie & the Blowfish on Saturday night.

New Orleans Saints QB Aaron Brooks, Miami Dolphins WR Chris Chambers and 1979 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims will be in Rochester the weekend of Feb. 16-17 for Sports Collectors Expo X at the Holiday Inn Rochester South, 1111 Jefferson Road Phone (585) 234-7653 for details.

Bids for the video scoreboard at Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial are scheduled to be opened Monday or Tuesday.

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