To me, Mike Davis was defined by a handful of major instances. Some of the details may have become fuzzy, but the essence is here:
#1, saying that he just wants to be .500 on the road and then win at home.
#2, saying "I can't coach this team"
#3, Jeffrey Newton saying that MD forgot about him at the end of the bench, so he put himself back in at a critical time to help win one of the playoff games
#4, Feigning illness when Alford's Iowa club came into B-town to kick IU's a$$
#5, saying "help is on the way", which minimized the players that actually took him to the title game.
He got a gift of players with strong leadership that helped him to the NCAA Championship. The rest of his career is his true head coaching ability.