1 hour ago, cincyswords said:

2.   Why do some UK fans continue to think they were poised to win a national title last year.  Now I have heard Coach Cal talk about how they were ready to win the whole thing but that is just deflection talk as I don't see how any team in the country can claim they were going to win a national championship, if it were not for Covid.  Yet I hear ( and not just on BGP) UK fans declaring they were indeed going to take the title.   They were 3 - 3 vs ranked teams with 2 of their wins coming in OT.  Not saying they were not a final 4 contender but I really do hear and read too much about how they were "poised to win it all."

Where in here did anyone say that Kentucky was going to win a title last year if the tournament didn't get cancelled?  They would have had a shot to make a run at making another Final Four and who knows what happens once you get there.  But they could have lost before making it to the second round or they could have made a nice run.  Seems like many want to hold last year against Cal.  Can't really do either.

1 hour ago, cincyswords said:

I don't understand 2 things in this thread.

 

1.  Why is there always a "put Coach K down" tone when talking about Coach Cal?  Its is kind of like the little kid who says "well so and so isn't doing it right either, rather than focusing on the point which is Coach Cal.

I don't really think it's deflection by most intelligent UK fans, and at least the fans on this site that bring up Coach K.  It's more, even the best in the game hasn't made it to the Final Four since 2015 but many crush Cal for it..  It's not a deflection or putting down Coach K but more a way of showing its damn hard to make the last weekend, even when you have probably the best coach of all-time, the best recruiting class, the best college player, and best team but still didn't make it.

3 hours ago, All Blue said:

Did the loss of Kenny Payne affect us more then most of us imagined ?

I think it has some.  He was key in developing a lot of the big men.

The loss of Worldwide Wes is the biggest departure, but nobody wants to admit that.  He steered the best elite talent Cal's way.  Around that same time, Capel started ponying up big bucks and Duke started getting the mega talent.  Again, no one wants to admit that either, but it's pretty simple to see.

 

3 hours ago, cincyswords said:

I don't understand 2 things in this thread.

 

1.  Why is there always a "put Coach K down" tone when talking about Coach Cal?  Its is kind of like the little kid who says "well so and so isn't doing it right either, rather than focusing on the point which is Coach Cal.

2.   Why do some UK fans continue to think they were poised to win a national title last year.  Now I have heard Coach Cal talk about how they were ready to win the whole thing but that is just deflection talk as I don't see how any team in the country can claim they were going to win a national championship, if it were not for Covid.  Yet I hear ( and not just on BGP) UK fans declaring they were indeed going to take the title.   They were 3 - 3 vs ranked teams with 2 of their wins coming in OT.  Not saying they were not a final 4 contender but I really do hear and read too much about how they were "poised to win it all."

Dragon fire answered number 1 for you already. 
 

Question number two, I can’t speak for UK fans you may have seen on Twitter or other message boards. However, I never did say they definitely were going to win it all. In fact I would never say for certain anyone for sure would win it. In fact I have been on record on here many times saying it is the hardest Championship to win. Many times the best or even most talented team does not win it all.

 

What I would say is UK did have a team last year that was set up well to be a type of team that you usually see make a run in the tournament. They weren’t as young last year with only one freshman starting. Multiple players back from the team the year before that was one shot away from the final four. They had one of the best shooters in the country in Quickley. They were good at getting in the lane and drawing fouls, and then making the free throws. Plus good size inside. Won their conference by 3 games, and was in good shape heading into it. Could they have lost the first weekend? Absolutely!  Could they have made a run all the way? Absolutely! 
 

The only reason why I brought up last years team in this thread. Is because last years team goes against some of the things people like to say. One about how he always has young or inexperienced teams, well last year they were not. Another thing is people like to say well it’s been five years since they made the final four. Acting like he has had five teams that failed to make it. When in reality he only had four teams who failed to make it, with two of them being one shot away. Last years team didn’t get a chance to show if they could or couldn’t make it. So just reminding people it has only been four teams under Cal since 2015 that truly failed on the basketball court to make it to the final four. Not as awful as some try to make it out to be. 

2 hours ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

I don't really think it's deflection by most intelligent UK fans, and at least the fans on this site that bring up Coach K.  It's more, even the best in the game hasn't made it to the Final Four since 2015 but many crush Cal for it..  It's not a deflection or putting down Coach K but more a way of showing its damn hard to make the last weekend, even when you have probably the best coach of all-time, the best recruiting class, the best college player, and best team but still didn't make it.

This is exactly why he gets brought up for all the reasons you just said!

18 hours ago, MBWC41 said:

Brad Stevens isn’t leaving Boston. Offer all you want, that ain’t happening. 

So let’s take a look at realistic coaches who have won championships over the last 10 seasons.

Coah K - 2 championships. He’s not coming to UK.

Jay Wright - 2 championships. I’m almost 100 percent sure he’s not leaving Villanova for anyone but the 76ers:l. He’s a Philly guy...He’s been upset by lower seeds a ton of times in the tournament.

Mark Few at Gonzaga? Is this the guy you want ? He’s flopped my entire life. He’s the Notre Dame of college basketball.

So your plan is to offer Brad Stevens (who isn’t leaving the NBA) an insane amount of money and hope he accepts? 

We have no clue if he would leave Boston or not. I just said offer him 3 times what he makes now and see what he says. He would definitely  be my first choice. Bennett; Beard;  Few; Drew; and Wright maybe Donavan  in some kind of order would be on the short list.  

3 hours ago, Tomcats1990 said:

We have no clue if he would leave Boston or not. I just said offer him 3 times what he makes now and see what he says. He would definitely  be my first choice. Bennett; Beard;  Few; Drew; and Wright maybe Donavan  in some kind of order would be on the short list.  

What are the benefits of leaving the Celtics and coming to Kentucky?

18 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

What are the benefits of leaving the Celtics and coming to Kentucky?

$$$$$$ Money I’d leave my 30k a year job to do the same thing for 90. Watching, recruiting kids to your program, teaching them life and basketball skills. Molding them into young men and seeing them have team success along with helping them attain personal goals. We all know you win big at KY and your like a King in this State. 

1 hour ago, TheDeuce said:

What are the benefits of leaving the Celtics and coming to Kentucky?

This...

The unrealistic portion of our fan base believes that life in Lexington is better than coaching an NBA contender.

GOLD STANDARD

2 hours ago, TheDeuce said:

What are the benefits of leaving the Celtics and coming to Kentucky?

 

11 minutes ago, MBWC41 said:

This...

The unrealistic portion of our fan base believes that life in Lexington is better than coaching an NBA contender.

I don't get it at all.

1 hour ago, Tomcats1990 said:

$$$$$$ Money I’d leave my 30k a year job to do the same thing for 90. Watching, recruiting kids to your program, teaching them life and basketball skills. Molding them into young men and seeing them have team success along with helping them attain personal goals. We all know you win big at KY and your like a King in this State. 

Yet Cal has won big at UK since he has been here, and some of you obviously don’t view him as a King. Plus how quickly this fan base turns on players and coaches, who this fan base freaks out over any little thing. Are plenty of reasons not to come here. 
 

Also you mention recruiting. Part of the reason why coaches leave college for the NBA is the money, and so they don’t have to recruit. So they don’t have to worry about grades, transfers, etc. all they have to do is coach. Having to recruit, is something most coaches don’t like having to do, that is not a benefit to coming back to college. 

1 hour ago, Tomcats1990 said:

$$$$$$ Money I’d leave my 30k a year job to do the same thing for 90. Watching, recruiting kids to your program, teaching them life and basketball skills. Molding them into young men and seeing them have team success along with helping them attain personal goals. We all know you win big at KY and your like a King in this State. 

You think being a “king” in the state of Kentucky is a better gig than being an NBA coach? 
 

?????

5 hours ago, Tomcats1990 said:

We have no clue if he would leave Boston or not. I just said offer him 3 times what he makes now and see what he says. He would definitely  be my first choice. Bennett; Beard;  Few; Drew; and Wright maybe Donavan  in some kind of order would be on the short list.  

So the coaches you named, let’s look at them and think would they really fit 

Under Tubby one of people’s complaints was his boring defensive first system. Well that is exactly what Bennett and Beard are. Bennett, also had one year where his team won it all with miraculous plays that saved them in a few games at the end. He also has many early losses in the Tournament as a favorite, as well as losing to a 16 seed. Can you imagine the uproar of UK was a one seed and lost to a 16 seed?

Beard has a finals appearance. He is a tough defensive first team too, playing a boring style. People also say they want players to stay. Well Beard made the title game, with a lot of grad transfers and it seems to be what he relies on. Not sure how he meets the criteria. 
 

Few isn’t leaving the West Coast to come here, when he already has a team that is in title contention each year. Jay Wright I do think fans would like. However, it wasn’t long ago that Wright was known for all of his early tournament failures. UK fans would have ran him out of town long before he ever got the chance to win a title with his early exits. 
 

Stevens would be a great choice. However, the Celtics is a top NBA franchise and can pay him a lot of money just like UK. He has a team that is in contention for titles already, and doesn’t have to worry about recruiting. So while he would be great, chances are slim. 
 

Now Billy Donovan I do think could be a realistic option. He may or may not have been close to coming here before. However, he wasn’t going to directly leave an SEC school he won titles at, to come to a rival at UK. He has been gone long enough now, that I do think he could be a true possibility this time. Who knows though, he may not want to deal with recruiting again either now that he is older. 
 

So while UK would be an attractive opening. There really aren’t many coaches out there, that would fill what UK fans want. If UK fans aren’t happen with Cal in his ten year run, then chances are there is no coach out there fans would be happy with. 
 

I think Donovan is the only proven coach, that they could have a chance at. That would fit a lot of things fans would want, and even he is not a guarantee to come. 

I like CAL to an extent and think he deserves another season to fix this mess. He has created a Monster that’s spun out of control and not sure he is willing or able to change it now. Draft night will never be BBNs greatest night of the year.