What success do you mean? I didn't see a whole lot of success last year. Of course, any success at all will be a change for the UK fans.
Oh then my flaut too.
What success do you mean? I didn't see a whole lot of success last year. Of course, any success at all will be a change for the UK fans.
Do you not consider an sec regular and tourny title successful? as well as a trip to the elite eight? They had over 30 wins, and their best players are potential first round draft picks. That' sounds like a successful season to me.
Successful as in their PG will be the top pick in the draft.
Five guys who will be 1st round picks in 2010? They shoulda been in the FF.
Kentucky hasn't been in the Final Four since 1998? How can that be? Are they still an elite team? Has the game passed them by?
Kanter blew up the Nike Hoop Summit, scoring over 30 against the US team, he is way under-rated.
Was it the Turkish Premiere league? Great competition, no wonder he is so good! But he must have been the only player NOT paid.
I hear Cal is going for an innovative defense, he is going to claim that Kanter has received FAR less compensation for playing basketball than any of his other recruits in the last five years!
What's "Kentucky"?
Yeah, he was a reserve on Fenerbahce, the same team that had two guys drafted in the second round the past two years. He even got some minutes in a few Euroleague games, so the college game may actually be a step down in competition at times.
Calipari has said that he thinks Kanter won't have eligibility issues, but Jeff Goodman claims that one of his sources says that Fenerbahce has proof that they paid Kanter up to 600K in his four years with the club. Obviously whether that is reliable information remains to be seen, but we do know that Findlay Prep and Mountain State Academy both backed off from him despite liking his personality and skills.
Freshmen dont win national championships.
I don't define success for a college team as sending one and dones to the pros at the number one or the number 100 draft level. I define it as success in the NCAA tournament, and I think UK way underperformed expectations. And, to have a player such as Cousins, who all but spits in the face of the coach, is idiotic. He should have been benched after about three games. If all the rest of the people on this board want to have a team like that -- fine, but count me out. I would much prefer to have team like the one we fielded this year.
I would prefer to have a team such as Duke, Butler, UNI, or Cal than almost any team that Calipari has ever been associated with.
Did you not consider last years duke team a sucess? I did, they made it to the sweet sixteen won the acc tourny and won over 30 games, UK has done more than that this year, so I would consider them having a sucessful season. I do agree that they underperformed expectations but when you have bad game during the ncaa tourny I don't think that means your season was a failure, these guys accomplised what they came to Uk for, and that's for a high draft pick in the upcoming nba draft.
“Those two kids, they’re champions,” Krzyzewski said of his senior leaders. “They’re trying to teach the other kids how to become that, and it’s a long road to become that.”
I repeat that I don't think a quick run to the NBA is the measure of a successful team. That is because I enjoy college basketball, but have only a limited interest in NBA ball. I would rather have 100 teams such as Duke (or a lot of others), win or lose, than one Kentucky.
I wish (and it is only a wish) that the NCAA would turn into a real demon and make clear to the NBA players association (which is pretty much running everything) that one and done players will no longer be welcome in the NCAA. If John Wall or DeMarcus Cousins wants to go play in Europe for a year, fine, but not in the NCAA. I don't expect that the NCAA will man up and do that, but, as I said, it is a wish.
I hear ya. I think 1 or 2 Cal clones following the same philosophy of chasing the 1 and done player will dilute the talent pool enough to preclude any real chance of winning. You need some upperclassmen who contribute.
And while you may not care about the NBA, rest assured that many of our current players and recruits have that as a goal.
I whole-heartedly agree. I also read somewhere a way that the NCAA can take some control of this issue. If you recruit a player the scholarship is occupied for at least 3 years. If the player goes pro early before 3 years the scholarship is still considered to be occupied. For example, Ky right now could only have 9 scholarship players on their team for the next 2 years. (Patrick Patterson went to school for 3 years so that does not count against them.) A team could take a risk of 1 or 2 one and done players but if you do this in too many consecutive classes you will get in trouble.
I am on board with that plan all the way. I don't think that the NCAA has the stones to take charge of the situation, though.