17 y/o leaving HS to go pro in Europe

They do, but to say it is a standard deviation to what Duke or Pitt does is just as absurd.

Coaching at the college level is very good. Possibly as good as the coaching at the NBA level, and if it is worse, it is not by much.

 

Sorry, but when you are playing a higher standard of player, *everything* you do is different. Your defensive stance is different, your positioning on the court is different, your shot selection is different, your release is different.

 

If you have 10 ACC players playing in a gym and you add in James Posey for example, do you really think he stands out that much?

The difference bewteen these guys at this high level is fractional. Are you saying the guys at VCU or UCLA are slow and can't jump?

 

To the first question, yes.

To the second question, yes, relative to pros.

 

Frank DeFord chimes in...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/frank_deford/04/29/amateurs/index.html

 

I completely agree with that take.

 

And when he was with the Knicks, he won 50-some games in his second year.
Pitino got into a bad situation in Boston and made it worse with his impatience.
His problem there was GMing more than coaching.