Kim Mulkey

[bbsamjj]

Except on the rare occasion (like the DT/Bird/Cash/Williams/Jones team that was head and shoulders above everyone else), you need a bit of luck to win a title.

LSU got it this year--when Utah missed the 2FTs with 4s left, down one. When Iowa took out SC before the title game. When they couldn't miss from three in the first half against Iowa.

But that doesn't diminish their accomplishment at all. As Geno has said a lot recently, it's REALLY HARD to win a championship (and even get to the final four). UConn made it look easy for so long, but it's not.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Kim wasn't my favorite for a long time but she's grown on me. In 2019 when she won she had a softness to her feisty demeanor that I'd not seen before. I wondered then if it was the pain she experienced losing a grandchild then the joy of having one come along. I became more of a fan in that moment because she seemed happier and more content than I'd ever seen her.

I feel the same way about her now. Yesterday she was emotional and while still with her trademark fire, she seemed to be appreciating the moment and was gracious in victory, unlike some of her players, but that's a different topic not for this thread.

Kim has taken a lot of heat from some posters here for her lack of NCs with Griner and Sims, plus her liberal use of the portal, plus her crazy soft schedule this year. Some of the criticism has been valid and underscores the fact no coach is perfect.

I really didn't have a dog in the race yesterday and was in fact traveling to Dallas, but not for the FF as I arrived last night, but LSU has never won a NC in WBB so congratulations to their fans and program.

 

[HuskyNan]

Other teams kept getting in the way. Brittney had the misfortune of having her college career overlap with both Maya and Breanna, with a Gary Blair-led Texas A&M team in the middle (we were rooting for A&M, they bounced Skylar Diggins’ ND team out of the tourney)

 

[bballnut90]

She’s improved leaps and bounds since those days. Look at her last 5 years (with very different groups of players each time):
2019: won it all
2020: Had Baylor as a top 3 team in 2020 prior to Covid cancelling the tournament
2021: nearly got to the Final Four in 2021 after the controversial ending vs UCONN
2022: went to LSU and turned them around in 1 year, getting a 3 seed
2023: wins a title in her second year

That recent body of work is arguably more impressive than anyone’s in basketball right now.

 

[Huskie837]

I checked the box score after the game to see how minutes she played; she was on the floor enough…,

 

[bballnut90]

Other teams kept getting in the way. Brittney had the misfortune of having her college career overlap with both Maya and Breanna, with a Gary Blair-led Texas A&M team in the middle (we were rooting for A&M, they bounced Skylar Diggins’ ND team out of the tourney)

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I think Kim deserves to be held accountable for those years.

2010 was an overachieving post season. Baylor was not expected to make a tournament run like they did after being a 4 seed and having a lot of drama with Griner punching another player. They never had a prayer vs UCONN.

2011 they lost in the Elite 8 which was a huge letdown after they were top 2-3 all season. They were in the same regional as A&M who they beat 3x earlier in the year.

2012 they won it all in dominant fashion

2013 they lost in the Sweet 16 in one of the biggest upsets of all time. Baylor was a 32 point favorite.

1 Final Four in 3 years with Sims/Griner is underwhelming any way you cut it. What she did 10-13 years ago has little indication of her coaching ability today though IMO.

 

[HuskyNan]

She’s improved leaps and bounds since those days. Look at her last 5 years (with very different groups of players each time):
2019: won it all
2020: Had Baylor as a top 3 team in 2020 prior to Covid cancelling the tournament
2021: nearly got to the Final Four in 2021 after the controversial ending vs UCONN
2022: went to LSU and turned them around in 1 year, getting a 3 seed
2023: wins a title in her second year

That recent body of work is arguably more impressive than anyone’s in basketball right now.

Didn’t Mulkey win with another talented big, Sophia Young?

 

[huskyd]

She's clearly #3 all-time behind Geno and Pat. Geno said you need luck as well as talent to win a Title. LSU proved that this year. They had favorable matchups through the Tourney after a very easy regular season schedule, with not many quality wins.

I like her as well. Say what you want about her personality, beliefs and wardrobes, she knows how to build a program, get buy-in from her players and she can flat out coach.
Congrats to her and LSU.

You seem to mean by these remarks that however badly a coach comports herself, as long as she wins it's OK. Some might disagree. Some might think that modeling good behavior is important for young folks to see and players to emulate.

 

[bballnut90]

Didn’t Mulkey win with another talented big, Sophia You g?

She did. Her run that year felt similar to this one in that Baylor was solid that year but in a way came out of nowhere to dominate the tournament. I believe they’re the only team to beat 3 number one seeds en route to a title.

 

[Plebe]

My lord this is the dead horse that people never tire of beating.

Sims was a freshman in 2011.
Louisville got hot from 3 and got away with mugging Griner all game long.

It's a one and done tournament. Stuff happens. It's March Madness for a reason. Mulkey proved her worth before the Griner era and she's proved it since.

The insistence on cherry-picking one data point to diminish her achievements is way more unbecoming than any her infamous outfits

 

[GoUconn7961]

To me, her theatrics take away from the game, not add to it. It should be about her team, not her.
I can't believe she hasn't been called for more technical fouls because of it.
I was never a fan, but she lost me after she couldn't show one iota of support for Griner.
After a loss it's constant whining about how her teams are treated unfairly.

 

[bbsamjj]

My lord this is the dead horse that people never tire of beating.

Sims was a freshman in 2011.
Louisville got hot from 3 and got away with mugging Griner all game long.

It's a one and done tournament. Stuff happens. It's March Madness for a reason. Mulkey proved her worth before the Griner era and she's proved it since.

The insistence on cherry-picking one data point to diminish her achievements is way more unbecoming than any her infamous outfits

Was also unlucky (and weird if I remember correctly) that Baylor got a conference opponent as their #2 seed in 2011. Sure they'd beaten them in regular season, but your conference opponents know you better than anyone else and were used to going against Griner. Not an excuse, but one and done tournaments are all about matchups.

Also, when you've been in the game as long as Mulkey has, and been as successful as she has, you're going to get your fair share of upsets, but you're likely going to get upset too. It's the way it should work if the women's game has parity and is growing.

 

[Millenial23]

Her antics aside. What coach has won a Natty that soon again after changing colleges? That has to elevate her status. Granted winning always requires a bit of luck, but still.

not college, but Becky Hammon in the pros.

 

[Cuango]

It’s beyond amazing the lengths people will go these days to paint themselves as being victimized. The LSU players felt personally insulted and disrespected by a strategy (a successful one) that a future opponent used against another team! You just can’t make this stuff up! You’d think they would be hoping beyond hope that Iowa would use that same strategy against them!
Kim is a truly great coach (top three, for sure) and will likely win at least one more before she retires. Dawn now has some company at the top of the SEC. Looking forward to some fireworks between those two.
Finally, I just have to comment on the classless actions of Angel Reese in the final moments of that game and the lengths some are going to to justify them. “I was in my moment”(Reese), “Clark would have done the same thing” (Stephen Smith). Well, her “moment” certainly showed who she is, and as for Smith’s take, though I’m certainly not surprised, he has no idea what Clark would have done (I certainly haven’t ever seen Clark taunting individual players on opposing teams in the waning minutes of a crushing defeat!) I guess I’m just out of touch!

 

[Bigpetunia]

The responses by some of my fellow posters to my original post, folks for whom the outcome of the championship game was obviously not the one for which they were hoping, have given me quite a chuckle. Sure, I know that Kim is controversial, but, as you might imagine, I am ENTIRELY indifferent as to whether or not you like or respect her. To my way of thinking, winning a NC is hard, and getting harder all the time, and I respect any coach or any team that pulls the feat off...Kim M certainly included.

My favorite comments were made with respect to "the outfit." Upon reflection, I see, and concede, the point. What penalty should be assessed for this obvious infraction? A technical? OK, on the generous assumption that Iowa nails 'em both, they now "hold" LSU to 100(!) in a national championship game. What else?

 

[Plebe]

Was also unlucky (and weird if I remember correctly) that Baylor got a conference opponent as their #2 seed in 2011. Sure they'd beaten them in regular season, but your conference opponents know you better than anyone else and were used to going against Griner. Not an excuse, but one and done tournaments are all about matchups.

Also, when you've been in the game as long as Mulkey has, and been as successful as she has, you're going to get your fair share of upsets, but you're likely going to get upset too. It's the way it should work if the women's game has parity and is growing.

Texas A&M peaked at just the right time in 2011 and was a very deserving champion. That happens! Sometimes the other team is too good. UConn fans would do well to remember that the Aggies won the title game over a team that had just stunned us in the semifinal.

Also, it wasn't like Baylor ever looked invincible that season. They lost a nail-biter at UConn early on and dropped a stinker to Texas Tech in conference. Again, Sims was a freshman, and all others (beside Griner) were very much "role players".

 

[Cuango]

Careful where you throw those stones. Some might say Geno who has landed the #1 recruit in the country 5 of the last 7 years and has zero titles to show for it might qualify for doing less with more.

What a ludicrous take! You mean the Geno with 11 titles, 28? FFs, 14 coscutive FFs, 6 undefeated seasons, 29 years without consecutive losses, more injuries (to top players) over the past two years than I’ve ever seen! That Geno?

 

[MSSportsGuy]

My lord this is the dead horse that people never tire of beating.

Sims was a freshman in 2011.
Louisville got hot from 3 and got away with mugging Griner all game long.

It's a one and done tournament. Stuff happens. It's March Madness for a reason. Mulkey proved her worth before the Griner era and she's proved it since.

The insistence on cherry-picking one data point to diminish her achievements is way more unbecoming than any her infamous outfits

Thank you. I can see why on the surface people would think Griner would win multiple titles, I always wonder what year they think she would have won. 2011 was a big of an upset filled tournament as this one and the 2013 team lost to a white hot shooting Louisville squad. Also, do people think Baylor would have beaten UConn in the NC? I don't because Stewie came alive during the E8 and FF and UConn was rolling.

Upsets happen.

 

[Kaizen]

Thank you. I can see why on the surface people would think Griner would win multiple titles, I always wonder what year they think she would have won. 2011 was a big of an upset filled tournament as this one and the 2013 team lost to a white hot shooting Louisville squad. Also, do people think Baylor would have beaten UConn in the NC? I don't because Stewie came alive during the E8 and FF and UConn was rolling.

Upsets happen.

See, Kim Mulkey - Wikipedia

 

[bovwa10]

Careful where you throw those stones. Some might say Geno who has landed the #1 recruit in the country 5 of the last 7 years and has zero titles to show for it might qualify for doing less with more.

I see what you’re saying but I feel like the recruiting ranking sites have also gotten progressively worse over the years as the talent pool has become much deeper. They used to almost always get the #1 player from each high school class correct but it seems like these days they don’t more often than they do.

 

[Pharos]

Old Fuddy-Duddy here again... I'm a fan of "aw shucks" modesty. I have an image from this season lodged in memory that will last a long time: Lou had just made an important 3, she was running back to play defense, and the smile on her face (and she didn't indulge in them often) seemed to say, "Wow, I'm so lucky to be here and get to contribute like that."

 

[Fairfield Fan]

She is one of the all-time great coaches. And one of the greatest recruiters. Four national championships, and counting, say it all.

She is one of the greats along with Coach Geno (the greatest), Pat Summitt, and Dawn Staley.

 

[bbsamjj]

Mulkey is obviously an excellent recruiter, but minus Griner she hasn't had the game changing talent I'd argue other coaches have had (Moore, Stewart at UConn, Parker at Tenn, Aja Wilson at SC, even Augustus/Fowles at LSU). She gets a lot of very good players and molds them well.

 

[DefenseBB]

To me, the top 2 are well cemented-Geno and Pat, then Tara is #3 considering all the wins (1,186), Big Ten titles (4), PAC 12 titles (25), tournament appearances (37), Final Fours (14 appearances) and while here 3 titles now trail Kim's 4, Tara has always tried to grow the game and made it more than about herself. She took a year off of coaching to prep the 1996 Olympic team, she's never shied away from playing big OOC games against UConn, Tennessee or SC whereas Kim, well you know....

Kim (4 Titles, 5 Final Fours) is still the only women to win a NCAAT as a player, assistant coach, head coach at 2 schools and an Olympic gold medal but she still lags behind Tara and has interesting company in the next 2 with Dawn (2 Titles, 5 Final Fours) and Muffet (2 Titles, 8 Final Fours) for slots 4, 5, 6.

Like I said, I respect the heck out of what Kim has accomplished but the resume still comes up short when compared to the top 3 Coaches of all time. Considering she's 7 years younger, there's time to earn her way up.