What the heck is wrong with UK
What the heck is wrong with UK
I honestly cannot wait until next year when all these jackals in Lexington are trying to get back on the bandwagon. I hope BCG tells them all to go to hell.
Last edited by WMR; 03-05-2009 at 10:54 AM.
I disagree with you. Football recruiting is a different animal all together. There aren't AAU team and AAU coaches. One player doesn't make a team. Look how many more time Michael Beasley and KSU were on national TV last year as opposed to this year. One player can make a HUGE difference in basketball, in football you need a team.
You bring up an interesting point with the perennial powers. Its all who is the head coach, not the name on the jersey that sells the program. The UK name may attract higher profile coaches but its not going to attract the player anymore.
Duke - Coach K is a great coach. This program will always be around but I don't see them winning an national title unless they get a very special player who decides to stick around one more year.
UCLA - Remember the Lavin years? It took Howland's east coast toughness to bring UCLA back to power. There was a dry stretch when UCLA wasn't relevant to the entire nation.
UNC - Remember the Doherty years? One early flame out, two straight NCAA tourney misses. UNC didn't rebound until Roy Williams came aboard.
Indiana - For the most part they have been irrelevant since Knight left. They had the surprising run to the final 4 which I still can't tell you how they pulled that off. Mike Davis was an awful big program coach and Kellen Sampson was a cheat. It will be interesting to see how Crean does as the head coach.
Kansas - The program was relevant under Roy Williams and they made the right hire bringing in Bill Self. He has kept the program clicking and won the first national title since Larry Brown, something Turncoat Williams was unable to do.
I guess my point is that traditional programs have gone south due to poor coaching hires. Its the coach who sells the program not the name on the jersey. Fewer and fewer players care about the tradition, they care more about making it to the NBA.
The fine line here is that Billy G probably believes that the fans have a right to be disappointed because the team is simply not improving. If he turns it around next year, the only thing he should say to "bandwagon" fans is, "You were right. Our performance was unacceptable last year."
Kentucky is in the second year of a supposed "rebuild" but they get blown out by a first year coach at South Carolina and then lose to a weak Georgia team at Rupp on Senior Night to an INTERIM coach. So we can't blame the poor performance on the fact that Billy's still considered a new coach.
Frankly, he's got to show the fans that he can get this program back on course because it's going in the wrong direction when it shouldn't be at this point in his tenure. I'm not saying he should win 99% of his games but there's really no reason for them to be this bad at the end of the season.
I'm not calling for the guys head. All I'm saying is, that if he's got it in him, he really needs to start showing it soon. There's nothing wrong with fans expecting improvement and Billy G has to know this.
If Gillispie leaves this year or even next, it will be on his own free will and not because he is fired. Gillispie has recruits lined up all the way to 2012 and one of the recruits in 2010 is a five star recruit. If he did leave though, we would be in a lot worse shape right now than when Tubby left.
I'm really starting to wonder how much control Gillispie really has of the locker room right now, and that goes from the players to everybody sitting in on the team meetings.
WillyMo, this isn't directed at you, and I will admit I obviously have no clue what is posted on the website I am referring to when I type this.
I had been contemplating signing up for an "Insider" message board that contains information regarding the program from within. Some of the posters on the board post information that lets the insiders know what is going on within the locker room, practices, and recruiting.
This tells me one of two things:
1. The people posting the information are making it up to make a profit. (not likely)
2. Gillispie has no idea that the people who are around him are posting information that should probably be kept "in house" for the general paying public to read. If Gillispie did know, these people likely would be out of a job.
I could be wrong, and I am sure somebody will be more than willing to verify this, but I don't ever remember when Tubby was coach any UK websites that were publishing the "insider information". It just makes me wonder exactly how much control Gillispie has of the locker room right now, and not just the players.
One problem with the Doherty years logic. He pulled in a top recruiting class with Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, and Sean May. This class was the core that won the NCAA tournament when Roy Williams took over.
Also, while I am looking at it, Steve Lavin did bring in the top recruiting classes in the nation in 1998 and 2001. A lot of NBA Draft picks during that time as well.
I don't believe Matt Doherty and Steve Lavin did their programs any favors, but there are instances where the program sold itself.
The Lexington media has had an axe to grind with Gillispie ever since he came aboard. I can stand John Clay to an extent, but Jerry Tipton shouldn't be allowed to cover Kentucky basketball, period.
I'm curious if there is any more fallout besides the throwing of beer bottles at Gillispie last night.
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