Bob Knight dies at 83
HRF was one of my all-time favorite players, and he was part of really good teams. Kruger and Self brought in some great ones.
Been ages since I saw the play, but Knight reminds me of Coriolanus, the heroic Shakespearean soldier who falls from great heights because of his fatal flaw and political maneuvers; a victim of his own arrogance and pride. Didn't really adapt as the sport changed. And why would you? 3 National Championships and the last perfect season in the sport.
I was at that game at Assembly Hall, Jr.. Everyone in the crowd thought he was going to punch TV Ted and go out in a blaze of Woody Hayes glory. Instead of walking straight to the locker room after his 3rd T (which he got for not leaving the court), he walked in the opposite direction towards Ted, who was standing at center court, and brushed shoulders as he went past him and turned and headed to the locker room. The beginning of the end for him at IU.
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Probably the best indication of his coaching ability was the '89 team. UI, UM and Iowa all had 5 or more future NBA players on their rosters, with us and UM 
going to the FF. IU by contrast had Todd Jadlow and Joe Hillman as 2 of their 5 starters, yet won the Big 10 title that year.
When they were on a roll, as much as i hated them, IU basketball was a thing of beauty with the ball and player movement and defensive intensity.
going to the FF. IU by contrast had Todd Jadlow and Joe Hillman as 2 of their 5 starters, yet won the Big 10 title that year. When they were on a roll, as much as i hated them, IU basketball was a thing of beauty with the ball and player movement and defensive intensity.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Those of us of my generation knew him as completely irascible, a consummate competitor, and one of the best coaches of all time to helm a sideline. Dean Smith and Wooden showed that RMK's extreme methods were not prerequisites to championship performance. But he was one of a kind and I shall never forget him. A couple years ago, during the COVID lockdown blues, I spent some time revisiting issues of Sports Illustrated from my youth. SI Vault online is fabulous. For the younger among us who don't know of him, Frank Deford was one of the best sportswriters of the 20th century. His profile of Knight in 1981, published the season of Knight's second NC (via Isaiah Thomas) is an absolute classic. Go read it if you haven't:
I've been taking an annual trip to my hometown of Columbus each October since 2020, after many years away. Family is long gone but I reconnect with friends, the community where I grew up, memories, and deep roots. St. John Arena, where the Bucks played basketball for 40-some years, is now used only as the venue for the pregame OSU marching band concert on football mornings and (the floor) as a gym (begun during COVID) where non-revenue sports athletes lift. It's locked but somehow I manage to get in there each fall. It was one of the great college basketball venues. I saw my first Illini game there in 1975 (Bill Rucks, Rick Schmidt, Otho Tucker, Nate Williams) long before UIUC was a gleam in my eye. Saw Ralph Sampson, Isaiah Thomas, Kevin McHale, Mychal Thompson and Flip Saunders, Derek Harper, Eddie Johnson, Herb Williams, Kelvin Ransey, Clark Kellogg and many other greats play on that floor as a kid. Great memories.
Wandering around the concourse last week I stopped and looked at some of the old team photos on the wall. Coincidentally, I snapped one of the 1960 NC team. Havlicek and Lucas front and center. And a guy who rode the bench, number 24, at bottom left of the first row. Hadn't thought about him in a long while and wondered, given his descent into dementia, how long he had left. Turns out it was only seven days.
Never liked him but he was a helluva coach and a towering figure in the game. "Complex" doesn't begin to capture him. RIP.
I've been taking an annual trip to my hometown of Columbus each October since 2020, after many years away. Family is long gone but I reconnect with friends, the community where I grew up, memories, and deep roots. St. John Arena, where the Bucks played basketball for 40-some years, is now used only as the venue for the pregame OSU marching band concert on football mornings and (the floor) as a gym (begun during COVID) where non-revenue sports athletes lift. It's locked but somehow I manage to get in there each fall. It was one of the great college basketball venues. I saw my first Illini game there in 1975 (Bill Rucks, Rick Schmidt, Otho Tucker, Nate Williams) long before UIUC was a gleam in my eye. Saw Ralph Sampson, Isaiah Thomas, Kevin McHale, Mychal Thompson and Flip Saunders, Derek Harper, Eddie Johnson, Herb Williams, Kelvin Ransey, Clark Kellogg and many other greats play on that floor as a kid. Great memories.
Wandering around the concourse last week I stopped and looked at some of the old team photos on the wall. Coincidentally, I snapped one of the 1960 NC team. Havlicek and Lucas front and center. And a guy who rode the bench, number 24, at bottom left of the first row. Hadn't thought about him in a long while and wondered, given his descent into dementia, how long he had left. Turns out it was only seven days.
Never liked him but he was a helluva coach and a towering figure in the game. "Complex" doesn't begin to capture him. RIP.
Bully or not. Liked or not. The guy was a flat out great coach! Not much in public relations. He recruited Scott Eells from Hoopeston. I believe Scott dressed for the National Champions and played on an NIT championship team his senior year. Scott stayed in touch with Coach Knight down through the years.
Thanks AZ !
I agree 100%. I was so happy when he left the Big Ten.
He can finally "relax and enjoy it" now.
He forever changed the game of college basketball... When he came into the league, it was run up and down the court and shoot as fast as you can... He slowed the game down, made his team actually have a strategy, and set routines and schemes to get his shooters open... Yes he was a classic bully and 1st Class A-Hole, but many (if not all) great field generals have these same traits...
The guy everyone loved to hate. There will never be another like him. He would have been fired half a dozen times in today's game.
The guy everyone loved to hate. There will never be another like him. He would have been fired half a dozen timesin today'sper game.
Fixed it for ya
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
Totally agree, @SuperintendentChalmers. Lou was the antithesis of Bobby. Bobby couldn’t stand that a nice guy coach was beating him so he continuously demonstrated that he was truly a classic bully. I think it shocked him that Lou and his teams actually stood up to him and could beat him. I couldn’t stand him and his arrogance and outrageous behavior. I always felt really sorry for his son.
While not being a fan of Knight or Duh-Whose-Yahs... you have to give the man his due. He was a real character. He had a big influence on countless young people over the years. He had passion (sometimes a bit misdirected). His intimidating nature was somewhat feared by many of his opponents. He often said without restraint what he wanted to say without falling victim to the disease of Political Correctness.
He did not have the kind of demeanor that I would want to play for or be around. But some guys need that kind of thing so he was a good tonic for them.
Good Knight, Mr. Knight. Please don’t throw too much furniture ‘Over There’ or do so much yelling. They don’t take kindly to that kind of thing.
He did not have the kind of demeanor that I would want to play for or be around. But some guys need that kind of thing so he was a good tonic for them.
Good Knight, Mr. Knight. Please don’t throw too much furniture ‘Over There’ or do so much yelling. They don’t take kindly to that kind of thing.
IlliniMike_Aurora
Straight outta Champaign
damn Connie....
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Great point. I thought of that '89 team, too. A testament to Knight's greatness was his ability to take any group of players and mold them into a BT title contender. I marveled at it season after season.Probably the best indication of his coaching ability was the '89 team. UI, UM and Iowa all had 5 or more future NBA players on their rosters, with us and UM
When they were on a roll, as much as i hated them, IU basketball was a thing of beauty with the ball and player movement and defensive intensity.
One of the memories of my undergrad years that sticks with me regarding Knight was the early March '87 game when the Illini beat IU. We were Top 20 but they were Top 5. We won a close game at home. Ken Norman was a senior and after the game Knight made a point of singling him out and telling him what a pleasure it was to compete against him. Knight must have been fuming losing a close one to Lou. Still, he really respected opposing talent and competitiveness. Someone at the DI took a photo of BK shaking Snake's hand it and it made it into the IlliniBook the following fall (anyone remember those little daily calendar books or am I the only OCD student here?) Still remember that photo.
Then there's the anecdote I recall from John Feinstein's A Season on the Brink, in which Knight, after a TO late in a game against Illinois, snidely remarks to his assistants something like "Well, let's see what that basketball genius Lou Henson has drawn up this time."
He could be a world class, condescending DB quite often.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
A great run by Lon and the boys!
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Thanks for posting that. Observations:
(1) Graphic late in game noted IU started off 10-21 from line (speaking of our recent poor FT shooting) then went 7-7. Even The General couldn't produce high FT% on demand
(2) Lord, those baggy unis
(3) Loved me some Lon Kruger mock turtlenecks c. late '90s
(4) Bradford buries the game-winning trey, Guyton lobs a brick from half court that's way wide, and Knight begrudgingly, and wordlessly, shakes Lon's hand and also Sergio's since he happens to be standing behind Lon, then turns and walks off the court in disgust.
Bet that IU postgame locker room was all ice cream, ponies, and unicorns. They were a 6-seed in the tourney. 11-seed Pepperdine crushed them by 20 in the first round.
Basketball, like math, is hard.
DeonThomas
- South Carolina
I first recall Bobby and Indiana basketball in 1975 (Steve Green, Laskowski, Crews, Benson, Buckner, May, et.al.) and then followed them closely the following season when they went undefeated and beat Michigan & Ricky Green in the NCAA title game. I hate to admit it, but IU briefly surpassed UCLA as my second favorite college basketball team behind the Illini. I think it was probably Bobby's red plaid jacket that lured me in.
Naturally, that all changed once I enrolled at Illinois. But I still loved the Lou vs. Bobby battles. Classic confrontations year-in and year-out!
I'm an admitted old school guy, but I'd probably have to go with John Wooden #1 and Bob Knight #2 in terms of top coaches during my lifetime. (Of note, nearly all of the coaches I played for had some degree of Knight's coaching style and antics. Tough-nosed disciplinarians, who preached DEFENSE first & foremost.)
And I agree with others ---- Knight's approach would not work in today's world.
Naturally, that all changed once I enrolled at Illinois. But I still loved the Lou vs. Bobby battles. Classic confrontations year-in and year-out!
I'm an admitted old school guy, but I'd probably have to go with John Wooden #1 and Bob Knight #2 in terms of top coaches during my lifetime. (Of note, nearly all of the coaches I played for had some degree of Knight's coaching style and antics. Tough-nosed disciplinarians, who preached DEFENSE first & foremost.)
And I agree with others ---- Knight's approach would not work in today's world.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
helluva coach, helluva jackass
Regardless of what anyone thinks, he was a great coach and got the utmost out of his players. At one point late in his career, he had won about 2/3 of all games decided by 3 points or less (I believe this was from the book "A Season On The Brink)". Not many coaches can say they win the close games like that.
Around year 2000 or 2001, I happened to be eating with my family in Tempe, Arizona in an Italian restaurant. My father (age 77). my mom, my wife and children were with me. The restaurant had just opened, and we had we had just been served when I looked up and saw Bobby Knight (and I assume his wife) at a table about 30 feet from our table. It was shortly after he had been fired at Indiana. Anyway, I told my son (age 13) and father that Bobby Knight was sitting across the room. My father then got up and went to his table. My first thought was, "I hope this doesn't cause a scene."
My father told him that he admired him as a coach even though he was an Illinois graduate. Bobby Knight asked if my father's grandson was over at our table. He then got up and he and my father came to our table. Bobby talked to my son for 2 or 3 minutes and gave him an autograph. A much nicer guy that I expected.
Anyway, I then proceeded to see him on my morning jogs and walks in Tempe for about 3 years (he must have purchased or rented a home in the area). He always said hi and occasionally asked how my son was doing.
Just my experience with the guy.
R.I.P.
Nice story, and memory I’m sure.