June 3, 201412 yr I will say with the list we have here it kind of shows the job Pitino has done coaching players up. I realize recruiting is a part of the collegiate coaching scene and I am not knocking Cal because he brings in studs but WOW!
June 3, 201412 yr I will say with the list we have here it kind of shows the job Pitino has done coaching players up. I realize recruiting is a part of the collegiate coaching scene and I am not knocking Cal because he brings in studs but WOW! It is impressive. All about fitting a system. It is a different philosophy as a big chunk of the UK players being compared against here are 1 year phenoms. I think also we short-change how good some of the UL players were out of high school because of how good the UK players were. Not as if Rick has been recruiting all two star caliber players.
June 3, 201412 yr Author It is impressive. All about fitting a system. It is a different philosophy as a big chunk of the UK players being compared against here are 1 year phenoms. I think also we short-change how good some of the UL players were out of high school because of how good the UK players were. Not as if Rick has been recruiting all two star caliber players. True. When I was making this list and looking over some of the guy's stats and achievements, I'd forgotten how highly rated some of them were coming in. Padgett, Caracter, Samuels, Stone, and Bender were all rated pretty high in their graduating classes (I know that Padgett and Stone transferred in). Harrell and Palacios were top 30-40 type guys too. Siva, Rozier, Jones, Blackshear, and Williams were all up there in their class rankings as well. Dean, probably one of my favorite Cardinals of all-time just because of how tough he was, was one of the lower ranked recruits in this group of guards and wings, and he was a top 50-60 type kid. I also think there are very fair points to be made about the fact that, while Pitino has been at Louisville for awhile, the whole concept of a "one and done" player has skewed the results between the quality of recruits he's gotten at Louisville versus what Calipari has achieved at Kentucky. I'm not saying Pitino is a better recruiter than Calipari, especially at this point in time. It's just worth reiterating that the "one and done" went into effect in 2005, and early on, there weren't really tons of teams who were very crazy about adding too many kids that wouldn't be around very long and who kept an eye on the NBA through the whole season. You play the hand you are dealt, and I don't think there's any argument that Cal has played the rule to his advantage moreso than anyone else, but if not for the 2012 UK team, people would still be arguing that you couldn't win the big one with a team full of freshmen. Even this past season, there were some who weren't convinced and thought that the 2012 team was an anomaly. No matter how you look at it though, Cal has been on a historic recruiting run that few teams in the history of the game can claim to have matched.
June 3, 201412 yr Author ^ Point taken, but I recall Harrell barely being inside the top 100 in his class. Good catch. I was thinking he shot up in some rankings when he decomitted, but when I looked up most of his star rankings, the highest I found was in the 60's, with most being in the mid 80's.
June 3, 201412 yr Good catch. I was thinking he shot up in some rankings when he decomitted, but when I looked up most of his star rankings, the highest I found was in the 60's, with most being in the mid 80's. I'm not a big follower of recruiting; the only reason I remembered that one was because as his play started taking off during his freshman year, the talk among fans was "Who were the 80 recruits better than this guy?"
June 3, 201412 yr It is impressive. All about fitting a system. It is a different philosophy as a big chunk of the UK players being compared against here are 1 year phenoms. I think also we short-change how good some of the UL players were out of high school because of how good the UK players were. Not as if Rick has been recruiting all two star caliber players. Very true. And again I do not think you can slight Cal at all with the comment I made. He gets talent and with the exception of one season gets them to buy into the system and maximize potential.
June 3, 201412 yr Jones is a $4 player? Seriously? Don't know that I'd put him or Rozier over Sosa at this point based on what they've accomplished. Either way I'll take all the $1 players. I want my theoretical Louisville team to be as bad as possible.
June 4, 201412 yr PG- Sosa $2 was never afraid to take the last shot and made his share of big ones. SG- Dean $2 great defender who could shoot well. Injuries shorting his career. PF- Harrell $5 greatness is ahead of him. SF- Handcock $2 he is Louisville's modern version of Jeff Hall C- Padgett $4 will get people in the places. This team would defend, have good outside shooters and a solid post game. Carter was a player who reminds me of the tin man on Wizard of Ozz. If only he had a heart. Showed flashes of greatness kind of like J Harmon who never finished his career wearing red.
June 4, 201412 yr Author PG- Sosa $2 was never afraid to take the last shot and made his share of big ones. SG- Dean $2 great defender who could shoot well. Injuries shorting his career. PF- Harrell $5 greatness is ahead of him. SF- Handcock $2 he is Louisville's modern version of Jeff Hall C- Padgett $4 will get people in the places. This team would defend, have good outside shooters and a solid post game. Carter was a player who reminds me of the tin man on Wizard of Ozz. If only he had a heart. Showed flashes of greatness kind of like J Harmon who never finished his career wearing red. Don't remind me. :isurrender:
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.