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His teams went to the Final Four 11 times, winning twice. One signal characteristic of his career was its consistency, with his teams winning at least 20 games a year for 27 years in a row.
He has been credited in the media with introducing a number of innovations, including the "tired signal," in which a player would use a hand signal (originally a raised fist) to indicate that he needed to come out for a rest. He was also known for being reluctant to call time outs early in the game since they are useful to manage the clock near the end, which has become standard practice.
One innovation that was not widely liked was the "four corners" offense, a strategy for stalling with a lead near the end of the game. The introduction of a shot clock in the early eighties, which he supported, made that offense mostly obsolete.