Byington or McCollum

I’ll go McCollum cause he’s won big everywhere he has been

Both would be good but Byington feels like a better fit to me.

I think McCollum is probably a better basketball coach but if he were ever to be at a school like UNC I'd really hope he'd play a bit more uptempo. Byington is also an excellent coach that currently plays a more exciting brand of basketball, so I'd probably lean towards him if I had to. But I do think McCollum is just one of those absolute maniacs who is going to figure out a way to win at a high level no matter where he is, so he may be the "right" choice from that lens.

207_to_150 said:

Both would be good but Byington feels like a better fit to me.

Cool, what are some of the reasons? For me McCollum simply because he just wins. I want wins more than a "Carolina Guy"

THB15 said:

I think McCollum is probably a better basketball coach but if he were ever to be at a school like UNC I'd really hope he'd play a bit more uptempo. Byington is also an excellent coach that currently plays a more exciting brand of basketball, so I'd probably lean towards him if I had to. But I do think McCollum is just one of those absolute maniacs who is going to figure out a way to win at a high level no matter where he is, so he may be the "right" choice from that lens.

It didn’t seem bad last night (the tempo). Ran when they had openings and the constant movement and probing was nice to see. I think with improvement in athletes and players, he would play faster (never going to be like a Roy Williams tempo)

uncjhodges said:

It didn’t seem bad last night (the tempo). Ran when they had openings and the constant movement and probing was nice to see. I think with improvement in athletes and players, he would play faster (never going to be like a Roy Williams tempo)

Iowa is 361/365 in tempo this year and Drake was 364/365 last year. They were just hyper efficient last night - it was a 60 possession game. His two D1 seasons have basically been Tony Bennett in pace. Again, whether that would change with different athletes or not is a question he could answer. Just a personal preference stylistically for something more uptempo.

Similar floors and risk but I feel like McCollum’s ceiling is potentially higher so that’s what I’d like if we got down to them (and I hope we don’t).

THB15 said:

Iowa is 361/365 in tempo this year and Drake was 364/365 last year. They were just hyper efficient last night - it was a 60 possession game. His two D1 seasons have basically been Tony Bennett in pace. Again, whether that would change with different athletes or not is a question he could answer. Just a personal preference stylistically for something more uptempo.

How uva used to be

Certain people need to get over themselves and be ok with Oats. He would be better than both of them

JeepCSC said:

Similar floors and risk but I feel like McCollum’s ceiling is potentially higher so that’s what I’d like if we got down to them (and I hope we don’t).

Same!

bigzeb1 said:

How uva used to be

Were his numbers this slow at his other stops?

THB15 said:

Iowa is 361/365 in tempo this year and Drake was 364/365 last year. They were just hyper efficient last night - it was a 60 possession game. His two D1 seasons have basically been Tony Bennett in pace. Again, whether that would change with different athletes or not is a question he could answer. Just a personal preference stylistically for something more uptempo.

Were his numbers this slow at his other stops?

Pass

THB15 said:

Iowa is 361/365 in tempo this year and Drake was 364/365 last year. They were just hyper efficient last night - it was a 60 possession game. His two D1 seasons have basically been Tony Bennett in pace. Again, whether that would change with different athletes or not is a question he could answer. Just a personal preference stylistically for something more uptempo.

I know what the numbers say, it just didn’t exactly feel like the slog that watching UVA felt like. That was probably my personal bias tho

Hubb29 said:

Cool, what are some of the reasons? For me McCollum simply because he just wins. I want wins more than a "Carolina Guy"

It's certainly a smaller sample but what Byington has done at Vandy in a very short window is impressive.

I wonder how much his style is because of his ability to land talent or if its his true preference.

Hubb29 said:

Were his numbers this slow at his other stops? Were his numbers this slow at his other stops?

Before that he was in division 2 so I doubt there’s data on that.

uncjhodges said:

I know what the numbers say, it just didn’t exactly feel like the slog that watching UVA felt like. That was probably my personal bias tho

Yeah I mean any time you score close to 1.3 points per possession I think you're going to play a pretty attractive brand of basketball. I think it's closer in spirit (very different in approach) to what Bennett ran after he moved away from the mover / blocker stuff on offense. Just again saying that, philosophically, he wins by forcing defenses to defend for 30 seconds in the half court if he doesn't have a fastbreak layup. And he's great at that! I think it's probably not the value prop you want at a program like UNC and for some coaches going way outside of their comfort zone potentially creates compromises in their ability to win.

There a good chance Ben is the best coach in the sport in 3 years or less

207_to_150 said:

It's certainly a smaller sample but what Byington has done at Vandy in a very short window is impressive.

It is

THB15 said:

I think McCollum is probably a better basketball coach but if he were ever to be at a school like UNC I'd really hope he'd play a bit more uptempo. Byington is also an excellent coach that currently plays a more exciting brand of basketball, so I'd probably lean towards him if I had to. But I do think McCollum is just one of those absolute maniacs who is going to figure out a way to win at a high level no matter where he is, so he may be the "right" choice from that lens.

Give me the better basketball coach. Having a preference based on style of play is so misguided. WINNING is exciting. I'd take Tony Bennett over Will Wade....I like to win, not run up & down the floor. Or, put another way, watching Seth Trimble run headlong 1 on 3 on a fastbreak was heart-pounding. But it wasn't effective, b/c 2 of 3x he did it, he didn't convert. Simply making an easy pass to a proper lane-filling teammate for a layup wouldn't have been as exciting in the moment, but better efficiency leading to more wins would've been. Coaching.

McCollum definitely better as a in-game coach, Byington probably more proven recruiter now that we saw him a bit in the SEC

Byington! 49 yo, from Salem, VA and played at UNCW so he knows the region - and in multiple head coaching jobs he has inherited terrible situations and then cranked out winners. Look below and note the years highlighted in black show the teams W/L in the year BEFORE he arrived...

If it comes down to them two, UNC should’ve gave Coach Davis another year at least.

Moneymike2324 said:

There a good chance Ben is the best coach in the sport in 3 years or less

I would not bet against him. Track record is there