Showbiz makes a good point, that was a tough Arizona team, with a great coach. I don't think you can say that "Tubby won the championship in '98 when Pitino couldn't with his own players in '97" Those are two different years, there's no way you can compare the two. In my opinion the '97 Arizona team was a better team than the '98 Utah team. The only player I can remember from the Utah team off the top of my head is Keith Van Horn, and some big guy. On another note did anyone hear a rumor (or fact) that there was a wet spot on the floor from where the Thoroughblades played in Rupp, don't know if it's true just seems like that was something I heard around 8 or 9 years ago.

 

The '98 Utah team was better than you give them credit for. Keith Van Horn wasn't on the team, his last year was '97. However, they did have Andre Miller and Michael Doleac who are still in the NBA and Britton Johnsen and Hanno Mottola who both played more than one season in the NBA. As far as Derek Anderson's injury it did occur against Auburn. The following website has the boxscores of all of the games for that season and Auburn was the last game he played until he made that cameo to shoot the technical foul shots. http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/wildcats.html

I was there that day.

I'm pretty sure it was an SEC game, and I'm also pretty sure it was Auburn.

 

They're both right. He got injured against Canisius on Thursday, January 9th. He had to sit the rest of the game. I remember Anthony Epps saying he'd do anything he could that night to make Anderson better. But that wasn't the bad injury.

 

A week later, on Saturday, January 18th, Anderson had the major knee injury. Most said it was because of the injury that happened a week earlier. Hard to say.

Its not like I didn't like pitino. I just got over him when he left.Alot of so called KY fans have never got over Pitino leaving! Most of the so called UK fans have nothing better to do but to put Tubby down!Im here to take up for Coach Smith! There are way to many UK Bandwagon Fans in this state! When the cats win they jump right on,when they lose they jump right off! Fans who can't get over Pitino should pull for Louisville all the way! Cause Ricky P is never comming back and Im glad![/QUOTE]

 

I wouldnt say "never" he is Rick Pitino and is capable of doing things we would never dream he would do!!! I am a Tubby supporter myself, I just dont think how Pitino was to blame for the loss to Zona, there are many greater factors that led to that loss. It was a great time in UK basketball, 2 championships and 3 finals in 3 years! Lets hope we see half of that under Coach Smith!

I am being sarcastic about blaming Pitino on the zona loss!Its just so many people want to give Pitino all of the credit for the 98 championship team!:thumb:

It was a great time in UK basketball, 2 championships and 3 finals in 3 years! Lets hope we see half of that under Coach Smith!

See what I mean,your not even giving Tubby credit for one out of two of those championships!

Think about how great UK could have been in 97: Walker left early and Anderson was injured; so Ky was without two of its best players in the Zona 97 final. Give Ky Walker and Anderson and take away Bibby and Simon and see if Zona could have given us a game. The point: Ky was so good that it lost two future NBA players it could have had in 97 and hung with Zona who had its full compliment of players.

I hear alot of people who do not like Tubby as The UK Basketball coach claim that in 98 that Tubby won the championship with Pitinos Players! Which I guess he did,but in 97 Pitino couldn't win it with his own Players! It makes me think that if Pitino had quit after the 96 championship and Tubby could have coached Pitinos 97 Players,The cats may have won three in a Row!

 

Maybe you should look again at what you've posted. It kind of contradicts itself. I miss the days of Pitino, but I've never ONCE said that Pitino won the title that year. What I do say is that it was with Pitino's PLAYERS!!!! There's a big difference. Not one player that played, at least, in the Final Four was recruited by Tubby. Therefore, that means, all the players were Pitino's. And aside from the freshmen on the '98 team, not one player that Tubby has EVER recruited has played in a Final Four. But I'm going to leave that fact alone for now. Whether you like it or not, those WERE Pitino's players that won in '98, even though it was Tubby coaching them.

 

As for Arizona, let's not forget that they were the first, and I think the only, team to beat three #1 seeds in the same tournament. And I also think that they were the first team to beat the highest possible seed in each round that they could play. For example, if they beat a #4 seed, that was the highest seed they could play in that round. So it's not like they were a cupcake game.

 

I blame the '97 loss on Minnesota. IMO Minnesota was a tougher FF game than whoever Arizona played. I remember thinking that ever since the games were played. I believe that Minnesota wore UK out and they were still sluggish from that game when they played Zona. Also, if my memory serves me correctly, if UK had hit their free throws at the end of the game, it wouldn't have went into overtime and we would've had 3 in a row. And I'm not just talking about Anderson's misses. Would they have won with Anderson? Probably. But nobody can be certain of that. This will be a life long debate.

Oh, as far as the '96 team, IMO the best ever in college basketball. The second 5 could've started for any team, except UK. I would put that team against any of all time and take UK in all of them.

Here is a Tubby v Rick comparison: The 96 team ran the SEC regular season table but had one really tough game which almost was a loss; to Georgia and Tubby by about 5 points but for Allen Edwards coming in and saving the day. Tubby gave UK the toughest regular season SEC game in 96 if memory serves and we barely won.

Tubby coaching with Pitino as lead recruiter. Tough not to win with that set up...

That would be nice. Tubby has a good freshman class this year you have to hand him that, but if he could recruit like Pitino Kentucky would be awesome with a capital "A"!

Maybe you should look again at what you've posted. It kind of contradicts itself. I miss the days of Pitino, but I've never ONCE said that Pitino won the title that year. What I do say is that it was with Pitino's PLAYERS!!!! There's a big difference. Not one player that played, at least, in the Final Four was recruited by Tubby. Therefore, that means, all the players were Pitino's. And aside from the freshmen on the '98 team, not one player that Tubby has EVER recruited has played in a Final Four. But I'm going to leave that fact alone for now. Whether you like it or not, those WERE Pitino's players that won in '98, even though it was Tubby coaching them.

 

As for Arizona, let's not forget that they were the first, and I think the only, team to beat three #1 seeds in the same tournament. And I also think that they were the first team to beat the highest possible seed in each round that they could play. For example, if they beat a #4 seed, that was the highest seed they could play in that round. So it's not like they were a cupcake game.

 

I blame the '97 loss on Minnesota. IMO Minnesota was a tougher FF game than whoever Arizona played. I remember thinking that ever since the games were played. I believe that Minnesota wore UK out and they were still sluggish from that game when they played Zona. Also, if my memory serves me correctly, if UK had hit their free throws at the end of the game, it wouldn't have went into overtime and we would've had 3 in a row. And I'm not just talking about Anderson's misses. Would they have won with Anderson? Probably. But nobody can be certain of that. This will be a life long debate.

So are you a Tubby Hater?

Maybe you should look again at what you've posted. It kind of contradicts itself. I miss the days of Pitino, but I've never ONCE said that Pitino won the title that year. What I do say is that it was with Pitino's PLAYERS!!!! There's a big difference. Not one player that played, at least, in the Final Four was recruited by Tubby. Therefore, that means, all the players were Pitino's. And aside from the freshmen on the '98 team, not one player that Tubby has EVER recruited has played in a Final Four. But I'm going to leave that fact alone for now. Whether you like it or not, those WERE Pitino's players that won in '98, even though it was Tubby coaching them.

 

As for Arizona, let's not forget that they were the first, and I think the only, team to beat three #1 seeds in the same tournament. And I also think that they were the first team to beat the highest possible seed in each round that they could play. For example, if they beat a #4 seed, that was the highest seed they could play in that round. So it's not like they were a cupcake game.

 

I blame the '97 loss on Minnesota. IMO Minnesota was a tougher FF game than whoever Arizona played. I remember thinking that ever since the games were played. I believe that Minnesota wore UK out and they were still sluggish from that game when they played Zona. Also, if my memory serves me correctly, if UK had hit their free throws at the end of the game, it wouldn't have went into overtime and we would've had 3 in a row. And I'm not just talking about Anderson's misses. Would they have won with Anderson? Probably. But nobody can be certain of that. This will be a life long debate.

 

 

 

Kind of contradicts itself! Kind of, are the two words that give you away! Here is what I said. I hear alot of people who do not like Tubby as The UK Basketball coach claim that in 98 that Tubby won the championship with Pitinos Players! Which I guess he did,! See the part in there that says(Which I guess he did)? This comes from the link I put on a earlier post: And when it comes to national championships, let’s face it, Rick Pitino didn’t win any more than Tubby Smith has. And for anybody who says, “That was Rick’s team,” you can go try to sell that at your local used car lot, but I’m not buying it.This is another Quote" Kentucky beat Duke 86-84. In a masterful job from the bench, Smith went small and put Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski in a bind. That move also sent standout guard Steve Wojciechowski to the bench because he couldn’t guard Wayne Turner.

 

The word “outcoached” is overused and often used incorrectly in major sports. But it’s clear Smith held his own and then some against one of the game’s all-time greats, prompting Krzyzewski to say after the game that Smith “is one hell of a coach.”

The only people who do not respect Tubby as a Coach are people who clam to be Kentucky Fans! Thats just my opinion!

Anyone can say what they want about Tubby Smith. I don't think hes done a very good job coaching a couple years hes been here. But in 98 Tubby did a great job. It wasnt like we had far and away the most talented team. Duke had Corey Magette, Trajan Langdon, Shane Battier, and Elton Brand just to name a few great players on that team. We had a good team that Tubby molded together well.

So are you a Tubby Hater?

 

Umm...........yeah, I guess you could say that.

Umm...........yeah, I guess you could say that.

 

This is a serious question. Did you hate him in May of 98. My cousin never liked him even after winning the title. I could never understand that. He disliked him after winning the title because of his lack of intensity and he missed Rick. Even though he won a national championship his first year and without Ron Mercer who Rick had the year before. Now, it is recruiting and last year's team and at least there is justification for the frustration; but in May of 98, it would seem to be hard to hate Tubby but I am curious.

Kind of contradicts itself! Kind of, are the two words that give you away! Here is what I said. I hear alot of people who do not like Tubby as The UK Basketball coach claim that in 98 that Tubby won the championship with Pitinos Players! Which I guess he did,! See the part in there that says(Which I guess he did)? This comes from the link I put on a earlier post: And when it comes to national championships, let’s face it, Rick Pitino didn’t win any more than Tubby Smith has. And for anybody who says, “That was Rick’s team,” you can go try to sell that at your local used car lot, but I’m not buying it.This is another Quote" Kentucky beat Duke 86-84. In a masterful job from the bench, Smith went small and put Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski in a bind. That move also sent standout guard Steve Wojciechowski to the bench because he couldn’t guard Wayne Turner.

 

The word “outcoached” is overused and often used incorrectly in major sports. But it’s clear Smith held his own and then some against one of the game’s all-time greats, prompting Krzyzewski to say after the game that Smith “is one hell of a coach.”

The only people who do not respect Tubby as a Coach are people who clam to be Kentucky Fans! Thats just my opinion!

 

So all UK fans don't respect Tubby? If somebody claims to be a UK fan, that must mean they don't like him? OK, glad you explained that to me.

 

Look, for me it's very simple. I have been very critical of Tubby in the past. But I've said several times on the multiple posts that cover the same thing that you started here, if Tubby would get UK to the Final Four ONE TIME, after screwing up the past 8 years, I'd stop being critical of him and accept him. But he can't do that. Every year all the Tubby lovers say that he's got a great freshman class and in a couple of years, they'll be a great team. But we've heard that for years now. He brought in 3 All Americans and they haven't done much yet. He got Alleyne who looked like he had never watched a basketball game before. Maybe this year's freshmen will be better. We'll see in a couple of years. But I doubt it.

 

As far as the Duke game, if I understand what you're saying, Smith is such a great coach that he was able to coach Turner's speed and quickness which caused Wojo to be benched. Is that right? Well if Smith is good enough to coach a player's quickness, then I guess I'll be quiet because he's done something that no other coach has been able to do before.

 

But you've only came up with one example. So he outcoached Coach K. Personally, I haven't been that impressed with him either. But that's another topic. A blind squirrel finds a nut every once in awhile. You have one example, how many second round losses in the tourny do we have to have before you'll realize he's not that good? If Tubby was able to coach Pitino's players and win the title, why hasn't he been able to take HIS OWN PLAYERS and get them to the Final Four? To me, that means one of two things. Either he's not capable of recruiting good quality players, or if he can recruit those players, he's not a good enough coach to get them to the FF. I'm actually leaning toward both of those being right.

 

Pitino may have the same number of titles as Tubby. But Pitino has been to more. You can't win it if you're not there. And we haven't been there in a long time. But Rick has 5 Final Four appearances. Tubby has 1, with players that he didn't recruit. If I had to pick between the two, I'd pick Rick before you got the choices named. Maybe he is a liar. Big deal. He wins. He rebuilt UK basketball and Tubby has done very little to keep the program where it was when he took over.