Travis Ford?!??!

[Baseballguy]

I think that Tubby is a great recruiter!Our freshmen class is one of the best in the country!

 

 

I agree...If only a couple of the Jr's. would realize BB is a Team sport.

[NobizLikeShowbiz]

This also has to do with character issues I continue to hear about.

 

What are some of these character issues, please enlighten us? From what I know Ford is a class act!

[futurecoach]

That sounds alot like what Tubby did!

 

Yeah and your point is? You do know I am a huge Tubby supporter dont you? If Tubby were to leave, then Ford is a guy that I would like because he is an up and coming guy, and would play the style of basketball that alot of people like. And it would atleast cut down on some of the stuff people always complain about on here, on how Tubby doesn't play that fun of a style...

[Riverside 157]

Here's some more numbers to point out how unrealistic people are being about UK basketball. Starting with Tubby's first year (97-98) here is a list of teams that have made the final four with number of appearances in ().

Michigan St. (4)

Duke (3)

North Carolina (3)

Connecticut (2)

Florida (2)

Maryland (2)

Kansas (2)

Kentucky, Stanford, Utah, Ohio St, Wisconsin, Arizona, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Marquette, Syracuse, Oklahoma St, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Louisville, UCLA, LSU, George Mason all with (1)

 

That's 25 different teams in 9 seasons. The only team to win multiple titles is Connecticut and the only teams to make multiple finals appearances are Connecticut, Duke and Florida. No one at ANY program should expect their team to make the Final Four every year--those days are gone. It is reasonable to expect your team to be in the tourney every year and have a chance to advance--that's about as good as its going to get. There's a lot of proud programs and great coaches represented on that list but here's one thing that may suprise you. Out of all those teams that have appeared in the Final Four since 1998 here's the list of the teams that have even made every tourney since then: Connecticut, Duke, Michigan St, Arizona, Kansas, and Kentucky--and all of those teams except Duke and Connecticut have been a number 8 seed or worse at least one of those years. That puts UK and Tubby in some pretty elite company during his tenure.

 

 

Looks to me as if UK has fallen out of the "top 10" as far as programs are concerned. Is UK good, for sure. UK will always be UK. But, the program is on a negative slope. Statistics dont lie... Ok, so not everybody goes to the final 4 every year. OK, everybody is not the UK basketball program... Yes, expectations are high. They are high at Duke, North Carolina and Florida as well. Those teams seam to be doing pretty good. So the way I see it, UK has comfortable settled into a 15 - 20 top program in the country. Nothing wrong with that, but dont expect to be beating the final 4 door every year like the Dukes, N. Carolinas and Floridas..... We are not there. I think the question is very similar to the football program, IS THE BIG BLUE NATION HAPPY WITH 6 WINS?? Is that all UK should strive to achieve??? WRT Basketball, IS A 23 - 12 SEASON ACCEPTABLE EVERY YEAR?? I THINK THESE QUESTIONS MUST BE ANSWERED BY THE ATHLETIC LEADERSHIP.

[Riverside 157]

Congrats to UMass and Coach Ford for the big W. Nice win for the up and coming Coach...

[Riverside 157]

Here's all the coaches records since Rupp retired.

 

Joe Hall.........297-100 .748

Eddie Sutton..88-39 .693

Rick Pitino.....219-50 .814

Tubby Smith..241-71 .772

 

So basically over 100 games Pitino would win 4 more than Tubby. 100 games would be pretty much 3 seasons so Pitino would win 1.33 games more per season than Tubby with their winning percentages. I fail to see that big of a difference.

 

Should have but Rupp's numbers in there for discussion purposes........

 

Good job in putting the data together....

[UKPat02]

What are some of these character issues, please enlighten us? From what I know Ford is a class act!

 

 

From what I've heard from former players and former coaching staff, Ford can be a not-so-nice person on and off the court. Maybe the same problem that Kyle Macy had at Morehead- thinks he's too big for a small town.

[NobizLikeShowbiz]

From what I've heard from former players and former coaching staff, Ford can be a not-so-nice person on and off the court. Maybe the same problem that Kyle Macy had at Morehead- thinks he's too big for a small town.

 

Well that maybe true, but from my experiences with Travis he was a class guy and very respectful. I have heard many positives from people that have been around him throughout the years.

[oldrambler]

I would rather get rid of all these so called fans than to get rid of one the best college coaches in college basketball!

:thumb: Although I would like to see U.K. keep these fans only them lose the attitudes and Tubby bashing/hatred. I have said many times before that I have questions and frustrations well as anyone does. I also realize that OTS is one of the best coaches in college basketball and that we (U.K.) could do A LOT worse. Some of these people shopuld be careful what they wish for...................:sssh: This kind of bashing is all that some fans will ever do no matter who is at the helm:rolleyes: :irked: . Those are the ones that I suggest go down I75 to Knoxville, to Bloomington, Tobacco Road or a few miles west to Louisville. :D

[oldrambler]

Should have but Rupp's numbers in there for discussion purposes........

 

Good job in putting the data together....

Adolph Rupp : 876 - 190

[The Professor]

That's what bothers me so much about UK fans. If you look at our national title it isn't like we've managed to win one every few years or anything. 3 of the 7 were won in a 4 year span from 48 until 51. You could go further and point out that Rupp won his 4th one in 58 so that was 4 titles in 11 seasons. Take away that flurry and UK has 3 titles in 49 years. There are now over 300 schools playing division 1 basketball, great players don't stay in college very long and when they do its rare that they'll go to a school that already has another highly recruited player at their position which further spreads out the good players. Since Kentucky won its last title in 1998 the only team with multiple titles is UConn. It is simply a different game now. When George Mason makes a Final Four run it should show everyone that once you get to tourney that everything is a crap shoot, particularly after the first round.

Heck of a post.:thumb:

[oldrambler]

Just wondering, why are you not impressed with him? I know he is young and still very unproven but why are you not impressed?

You named one reason - young and unproven. Aside from that I have just watched his teams (all schools) and am just not impressed at all with the way he handles a game. He coaches the pressing / running style that he learned at U.K.(nothing wrong with that) but I have watched him imo " blow" games by strategy,t.o.'s or lack there of. I don't think that he works a clock good at all. He has also cost his team on many more than one occcasion by technical fouls. I think that there are certain rare times for a coach to get a "T" but they are few and far between. JMO on Ford and that I do not think that he is close to U.K. (or any elite program) coaching material.

[NobizLikeShowbiz]

You named one reason - young and unproven. Aside from that I have just watched his teams (all schools) and am just not impressed at all with the way he handles a game. He coaches the pressing / running style that he learned at U.K.(nothing wrong with that) but I have watched him imo " blow" games by strategy,t.o.'s or lack there of. I don't think that he works a clock good at all. He has also cost his team on many more than one occcasion by technical fouls. I think that there are certain rare times for a coach to get a "T" but they are few and far between. JMO on Ford and that I do not think that he is close to U.K. (or any elite program) coaching material.

Well I guess that is your opinion! IMO his recrods and turnarounds at each school speak for themselfs. But I do agree, he is still young and has alot to improve on before he could be considered at the BIG STAGE that is UK BASKETBALL. I think that his uptempo style is definately a pluss in the recruiting though, I think kids like to play that style.

[futurecoach]

You named one reason - young and unproven. Aside from that I have just watched his teams (all schools) and am just not impressed at all with the way he handles a game. He coaches the pressing / running style that he learned at U.K.(nothing wrong with that) but I have watched him imo " blow" games by strategy,t.o.'s or lack there of. I don't think that he works a clock good at all. He has also cost his team on many more than one occcasion by technical fouls. I think that there are certain rare times for a coach to get a "T" but they are few and far between. JMO on Ford and that I do not think that he is close to U.K. (or any elite program) coaching material.

 

Well usually me and you agree on alot, but this I do disagree on this one. You have to take into account how he already turned two programs around, and now seems like he is starting to turn UMASS around too. He really has never got the chance to really establish himself anywhere, because once he starts to turn a program around, he then gets a better opportunity and then moves on and has to start the rebuiliding all over again. So for most of his years in coaching he has been just rebuilding, he hasn't had the chance to really settle down at one place and start to earn alot of recognition. But I think at UMASS this is a place he will stay at for awhile, and really will establish himself as one of the better young coaches around, and then would be worthy of possibly coming to UK or some other bigger program IMO...

[Augger]

I was attending EKU during the Ford era. I was not very impressed by his teams. His last season he did have a good year but if you look at the prior seasons, even at Campbellsville his resume isnt as impressive. I dont think you will see Travis Ford at UK anytime soon. So lets see him succeed at UMASS before we give him a key to RUPP.