my problem with gilbert

maverick66

Hall of Fame
heres my problem with gilbert. if andy murray makes it to top 10 or higher people are gonna say that it was all gilbert just like with roddick. i feel that he takes away the credit the player deserves for reaching that level. roddick worked his ass off and people said without gilbert he wouldnt have done it. you have to remember when he was #1 there was no nadal and federer was still learning how to use his game. Im sure gilberts a great coach but a coach is that a coach and the credit needs to go to the player.
 

simi

Hall of Fame
Perhaps true. But, if Gilbert can get Andy on any type of real schedule, meaning getting out of bed before 11:00 every day and onto the practice courts. And, gets Andy's physical conditioning much, much better . . . then you have to give the credit to Brad. We have seen that Andy will not do it on his own.
 

LowProfile

Professional
maverick66 said:
...you have to remember when he was #1 there was no nadal and federer was still learning how to use his game.

And yet now Roddick is without Gilbert and is ranked outside the top 10. Can you make the same excuses for Nalbandian and Ljubicic and Ancic and everyone else that's passed him?
 

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
maverick66 said:
heres my problem with gilbert. if andy murray makes it to top 10 or higher people are gonna say that it was all gilbert just like with roddick. i feel that he takes away the credit the player deserves for reaching that level. roddick worked his ass off and people said without gilbert he wouldnt have done it. you have to remember when he was #1 there was no nadal and federer was still learning how to use his game. Im sure gilberts a great coach but a coach is that a coach and the credit needs to go to the player.

True, but that knife cuts both ways. Roddick without Gilbert is proving himself to be very mediocre. Gilbert must be doing something right, he's getting a reported $1 million/year to work with Murray primarily and the LTA secondarily. He took Roddick to #1 in the world, a winning streak that culminated in the US Open victory. Prior to that, he resurrected Andre Agassi's career and turned him into one of the greats of the game.

Gilbert has the singular ability to maximize talent. According to his book and everyone around him, Gilbert had no such talent. What he had was an understanding of the game and tactics that allowed him to beat people who had more talent than him. Gilbert takes that gift and helps those with talent now reach the heights that they're capable of. In other words, for many players, Gilbert is the missing piece that gives them the direction and strategy that they need. Likewise, Nick Bollitieri is by all reports a 3.5 level player. However, his guidance and understanding of people and the game have vaulted him to the top of the game's coaches.
 

Moves

New User
maverick66 said:
i feel that he takes away the credit the player deserves for reaching that level.

It's selfish for a player to think they did it all on their own. Great coaches and mentors "push" people to greatness. Usually to much higher of a level than they ever thought possible.

- Moves
 

Spindarella

Rookie
It is Bollettieri's sense of business that has vaulted him to be one of the game's top coaches.

It doesn't seem like you have a problem with Gilbert, but instead a problem with the amount of credit people give him. Personally, I don't think he deserves as much credit as he gets, but I really don't know. I have never actually seen him coach, so I can't say that he is amazing or terrible. The one thing I can say is that his player's have had success when he was their coach. Maybe he has been in the right place at the right time, but how do we know?
 
R

randomtennis

Guest
When it comes to Brad Gilbert he is one of the best coaches in the world. He knows how to get the best out of a player. What Gilbert does is he get the players physically at a very high level. That is why Agassi, Roddick and now hopefully Murray will be at the top of the game.
 

simi

Hall of Fame
Moves said:
It's selfish for a player to think they did it all on their own. Great coaches and mentors "push" people to greatness. Usually to much higher of a level than they ever thought possible.

Reminds me of that old cliché: Behind every great man is an even greater woman.
 

maverick66

Hall of Fame
ya true my problem isnt with gilbert himself but people make it sound like without him agassi and roddick would never had done anything. ive seen both practice and play. they work very hard. roddicks coach before his brother dean goldfine was absolutly useless. i heard roddick chew him out for a week. ive also seen roddick working with gilbert and they seemed to be having fun. so i guess gilbert just relaxes his players and gives them a basic gameplan that they believe in.
 

FEDEXP

Professional
I'm not a seer; maybe he will, maybe not, and no matter what happens it won't be just about Gilbert. By the way, did anyone see Murray lose to Clement yesterday? He still has some problems between the ears.
 

scotus

G.O.A.T.
I don't know where I picked this up (perhaps from Mike Agassi's book), but Gilbert is supposed to be really good at scouting his player's opponents, identifying their weaknesses and coming up with the right strategy to beat them.
 

Hondasteve

Rookie
You cannot argue that Gilbert is not a great coach-look at all the talent he has helped develop. He may be veiwed as brash or arrogant, but that is just the way that some people are.

I think he fully deserves credit for helping the players he has coached to maxmize thier abilities and asist them in taking their game to the next level. If I had the money and time, I would hire him to coach me!
 

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
Spindarella said:
It is Bollettieri's sense of business that has vaulted him to be one of the game's top coaches.

Sense of business? You should read his book. He didn't have contracts with some of his greatest players and consequently got shafted by most of them. He gave scholarships without regard to cost. When he sold his academy to IMG, it was bankrupt. I think NB's lack of business acumen almost nullified everything he did on court.
 
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