Mark Few

[Cusefan0307]

Mark Few and Bill Self have incredibly similar resumes. The only difference being Self got lucky that Memphis choked the 2008 title away at the free throw line.

 

[NKR1978]

Good grief. I'd take him here in a heartbeat.

We had fans on this board crying about a UConn team passing us with Hurley at the helm who lost in the first round and now we are poo pooing Mark Few.

He's a great coach, and I would take him in a heartbeat; but his record is inflated with that conference. The Pac 12 should invite them for basketball.

 

[Grbac]

Mark Few is an amazing coach. He is doing things only few coaches have ever done. Winning games at an unprecedented pace.

He is doing this at Gonzaga. Not a blue blood. Not a recruiting hotbed.

If you don’t think Few is good you need to excuse yourself from this forum because you have nothing to add to any basketball conversation.

 

[Orangezoo]

Yep. Mentioned it after the first game of the tournament. You could immediately tell it was going to bite them in the ass at some point and it finally did. I don't know what their scholarship situation is, but they don't yet have more help coming in next season to address the issue either.

Yeah I noted it as well like you. It sticks out like a sore thumb on most of his teams. In fact that exact problem worked in our favor in 2016

 

[pearl31]

IMO it's fair to say it's a tourney underachievement if as a 1 seed you don't reach the g8

 

[Cusefan0307]

He's a great coach, and I would take him in a heartbeat; but his record is inflated with that conference. The Pac 12 should invite them for basketball.

They probably would have a few more losses if they played in a more difficult conference, but they regularly dominate the OOC so that is why they end up with high seeds. They've been the best program on the West Coast for a decade and would win that conference most years too.

 

[Scooch]

To keep Gonzaga as a perennial top 15 team for twenty years, at GONZAGA, is one of the most amazing coaching accomplishments in the history of the game.

He'll certainly start feeling heat, because that's how things work, but it'll be kinda silly. Agree that you can make a case that he's underachieved a little relative to his recent seeding.

 

[Orangezoo]

Mark Few and Bill Self have incredibly similar resumes. The only difference being Self got lucky that Memphis choked the 2008 title away at the free throw line.

Very true. Kansas both in tourney performance and in guys who have gone to the league has been underwhelming under Self given the recruiting classes he pulls in every year.

 

[81South]

He's a great coach, and I would take him in a heartbeat; but his record is inflated with that conference. The Pac 12 should invite them for basketball.

Many would argue JBs record is inflated from all the Nov and Dec cupcakes he used to feast on. Few has turned a mid major in a national program. He recruits and wins at a super high level. They will reload.

 

[Orangezoo]

To keep Gonzaga as a perennial top 15 team for twenty years, at GONZAGA, is one of the most amazing coaching accomplishments in the history of the game.

He'll certainly start feeling heat, because that's how things work, but it'll be kinda silly. Agree that you can make a case that he's underachieved a little relative to his recent seeding.

His teams often start out like gangbusters and outside of last year I would say tend to peak too early.

I do think conference play hurts them in that regard. They spend the first two months challenging themselves followed by a few games with the second/third place teams in their league. The rest is just avoiding slip ups vs a weak conference slate only to then return to better opponents in the tourney.

 

[shandeezy7]

I wouldn't label a coach that his led his team to four Elite 8's (and two title games!) in the past 6 tournaments as a choker. What about Cal? He's lucky that AD got him a title (same could be said about Melo and JB, I suppose). Since that title, Syracuse has made it to the second weekend more times than Kentucky (5 to 4), despite the fact that Kentucky brings in a top 5 recruiting class every single year.

 

[NKR1978]

Many would argue JBs record is inflated from all the Nov and Dec cupcakes he used to feast on. Few has turned a mid major in a national program. He recruits and wins at a super high level. They will reload.

Gonzaga feasts on cupcakes all season long.

Every team plays cupcakes in November and December.

 

[81South]

I watched the whole game. I thought Arkansas played a great game. Gonzaga’s shot selection down the stretch was questionable at best…Timme needed more touches plain and simple. People whining about the refs gets old.

 

[Cuse_NYC]

Roy Williams lost a lot of games at Kansas in the NCAAT at Kansas he shouldn’t have. He lost to 2 championship games.
He left KU for UNC and won 3 NCs.

Maybe Few needs a change of scenery. What Few has done at Gonzaga won’t be matched by anyone.

Why would he ever leave? He will never be lower than a 2 or 3 ever again. Job security and gets paid

 

[cuseincincy]

Mark Few is an amazing coach. He is doing things only few coaches have ever done. Winning games at an unprecedented pace.

He is doing this at Gonzaga. Not a blue blood. Not a recruiting hotbed.

If you don’t think Few is good you need to excuse yourself from this forum because you have nothing to add to any basketball conversation.

Why because you're an expert? Cancel yourself.

 

[JustPherU]

Why would he ever leave? He will never be lower than a 2 or 3 ever again. Job security and gets paid

He won’t!

 

[Grbac]

Why because you're an expert? Cancel yourself.

I’m far from an expert but I know Mark Few is a really good coach.
I also stand by what I said.

Do you disagree?

 

[721Comstock]

You're more intelligent than this. Rick Barnes is 25-26 in NCAA play. Mark Few is 38-21. It's not even comparable.

Barnes also had MUCH better talent for much of that mediocre record.

Which is a perfect lead-in to todays mention of:

Rick Barnes didn’t make the Sweet Sixteen with Kevin Durant -
and THREE other future NBA players on the team.

Nobody has done less with more than Rick Barnes.

Although Cal in the post-Brow decade might be giving him a run.

 

[MSOrange]

Obviously Mark should focus on getting the Zags on the bubble each year so a sweet 16 will make him look brilliant - at least to a portion of his fan base. I’ll show myself out.

 

[Sherman20]

It's tricky as to where to place Few among the current and historic Great coaches, mostly due to the conf they play in where he gets to rack up wins against mediocre-to-bad teams. But in recent years he has played top teams from around the country in pre-conf games.
As for his record/achievements (lack of) in the tourney- I don't know, can't really cast him as a "choker" per se, but it does seem fair to cast him overall as an underachiever relative to seed, and at the end of the day (fair or not) it's about Final 4s and championships

Few has taken his teams to two national title games in the past 5 years. That’s pretty great. It’s hard to win six games in a row against the best teams. I think Few has proven his bonafides. JB had a similar knock against him after 20+ years at the helm. He’d taken his teams to two national title games, in 1987 and 1996, and still had knucklehead critics coming after him. Though he finally gained a lot of respect in the national media and among coaches for the unexpected ‘96 run to the title game and near toppling of that vaunted Kentucky team.

 

[Sherman20]

Roy Williams lost a lot of games at Kansas in the NCAAT at Kansas he shouldn’t have. He lost to 2 championship games.
He left KU for UNC and won 3 NCs.

Maybe Few needs a change of scenery. What Few has done at Gonzaga won’t be matched by anyone.

Syracuse would be a perfect change of scenery for him. Upstate New York has some great fishing!

 

[Newhouser]

Mark Few is an amazing coach. He is doing things only few coaches have ever done. Winning games at an unprecedented pace.

He is doing this at Gonzaga. Not a blue blood. Not a recruiting hotbed.

If you don’t think Few is good you need to excuse yourself from this forum because you have nothing to add to any basketball conversation.

I don't think anyone is saying he isn't a good to great coach. I think it started with he's a Top 5 which is open for debate.

 

[pearl31]

Few has taken his teams to two national title games in the past 5 years. That’s pretty great. It’s hard to win six games in a row against the best teams. I think Few has proven his bonafides. JB had a similar knock against him after 20+ years at the helm. He’d taken his teams to two national title games, in 1987 and 1996, and still had knucklehead critics coming after him. Though he finally gained a lot of respect in the national media and among coaches for the unexpected ‘96 run to the title game and near toppling of that vaunted Kentucky team.

Right on, yeah in general it's hard to say Few has underachieved. Again, though, hard to know where to rank him due to conference he's in. And yeah I'm mostly referring to this year's tourney result as an underachievement as a 1 seed and overall #1

 

[OttoinGrotto]

So, you think that his players deserve to not win a championship because of the coaches off the court, off season, actions. Interesting.

 

[Cheriehoop]

I was surprised how pedestrian Arkansas made Gonzaga look especially Timme and their guards. They seemed pretty rattled even missing easy layups. They seemed to lack the hyper physicality and athleticism of Arkansas. Arkansas’ pro flopper, think his name is Williams, really seemed to frustrate them particularly Timme - essentially his flopping kept Gonzaga from penetrating cleanly in the lane.