The Fall of Kentucky

[BlueintheFace]

Here's how you know your team has hit the skids...

A SIGNIFICANT segment of your fan base is calling for Calipari to be your next head coach!

[blueprofessor]

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2009903080494

Truth serum injected...interrogation has begun.



Set the clocks in Lexington back, way back!


Best regards--Blueprofessor

[BlueintheFace]

Dana O'Neil has a behind the scenes story from the Georgia loss to the Florida loss to finish off this season. Rumor is, her access was supposed to be a lot more extensive, but things changed when the losing started...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/column...ana&id=3967418

[roywhite]

http://www.kentucky.com/818/story/720944.html

And the 'Cats are under-achieving while having two 1st Team All-SEC players, Meeks and Patterson. (for some reason, they named 7 players to the first team).

Read somewhere the other day that if Kentucky goes to the NIT, they may have a scheduling conflict with the Kentucky State High School Sweet 16 Tournament, and would likely have to play someplace other than Rupp Arena. That'll draw some comments.

[FireOgilvie]

http://www.kentucky.com/818/story/720944.html

And the 'Cats are under-achieving while having two 1st Team All-SEC players, Meeks and Patterson. (for some reason, they named 7 players to the first team).

Read somewhere the other day that if Kentucky goes to the NIT, they may have a scheduling conflict with the Kentucky State High School Sweet 16 Tournament, and would likely have to play someplace other than Rupp Arena. That'll draw some comments.

Actually 8 players... I don't get it. Why not 5?

[BlueintheFace]

Catspause hit 12,000 tonight and so called "experts" in the industry like Davis at SI and Goodman at Foxsports think BCG is gone. Many also believe that Donovan is going to be making the leap...

Who knows... one possibility that was brought up to me today.... If Billy Donovan makes the move to Kentucky, UVA, or any other opening, his 2009 recruits (Read- Kenny Boynton) might have an interesting decision on his hands (a boy can only dream)

[BD80]

Catspause hit 12,000 tonight and so called "experts" in the industry like Davis at SI and Goodman at Foxsports think BCG is gone. Many also believe that Donovan is going to be making the leap...

Who knows... one possibility that was brought up to me today.... If Billy Donovan makes the move to Kentucky, UVA, or any other opening, his 2009 recruits (Read- Kenny Boynton) might have an interesting decision on his hands (a boy can only dream)

Naw, we couldn't get that lucky.

Two years in a row.

Could we?

[dukeballer2294]

I understand the fact that people are not happy with him in Kentucky but in MBB it takes 3/4 years for a coach to settle in get his players and his system down. Kentucky immo made a bad decesion in letting Tubby Smith go (look at what he has done in Minnesota in 2 years) but i think BG will get the job done. They lost recruits after firing Smith and hes has some good players coming in now like Daniel Orton. This team could and will be much better if BG stays. I would like to see Kentucky go into a slump and I think they will if they get a new coach because it will take that coach 2/4 years to get his players in and his system. Dont be like Notre Dame and just fire and hire every year. Wait coaches are investments not lotteries.

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

I am of the opinion that when Kentucky is good it makes the game better. Same goes for Indiana. I want all of these programs to be good, even if we may lose a recruit here and there to them. That includes N.C. State, remember the ACC when they were good? It definatly adds to the enjoyment of the game.

So figure something out Kentucky College Basketball needs you.

plus they have a game with UNC every year lately would be nice if they actually had a chance to win.

Airforcedukie

[RepoMan]

I understand the fact that people are not happy with him in Kentucky but in MBB it takes 3/4 years for a coach to settle in get his players and his system down. Kentucky immo made a bad decesion in letting Tubby Smith go (look at what he has done in Minnesota in 2 years) but i think BG will get the job done. They lost recruits after firing Smith and hes has some good players coming in now like Daniel Orton. This team could and will be much better if BG stays. I would like to see Kentucky go into a slump and I think they will if they get a new coach because it will take that coach 2/4 years to get his players in and his system. Dont be like Notre Dame and just fire and hire every year. Wait coaches are investments not lotteries.

I don't agree. Look what happened when Roy came to UNC. A good coach can make an immediate impact, depending on the existing talent.

I thought Kentucky could do better when they hired Gillespie, and I still do.

[moonpie23]

I don't agree. Look what happened when Roy came to UNC. A good coach can make an immediate impact, depending on the existing talent.

I thought Kentucky could do better when they hired Gillespie, and I still do.

well, unc would most probably be the exception to the rule, only because there was a title team basically there....

remember, roy only CO-OWNS a title....he was loaded at KS many times and could not get it done, and continues to show that he has YET to get it done with his own players.


all that being said....BOBBY KNIGHT TO NC STATE would reallllllly whip up the BB frenzy here in the triangle..

[geraldsneighbor]

Donovan to Kentucky. Grant to Florida. Could we see some kids opting out of their LOI at Florida?

[Cameron]

I think Kentucky firing Gillespie -- which it will -- has a lot more to do with his attitude and behavior than it does with just wins and losses. People in the Commonwealth are not happy with his boorish antics, especially considering he's won nothing -- and lost, in Rupp, to teams that Kentucky has never lost to before, teams like Gardner Webb, Virginia Military Institute, and Houston. If you're Bobby Knight, and are winning and are a legend, then, fine, maybe your cocky, arrogant, and loutish behavior with fans, the media, etc. can be overlooked. (I love Bobby Knight, BTW.)

Not at Kentucky, though, not when you've done absolutely nothing, save for taking the program to its first NIT appearance in 20 some years, losing in the SEC Tournament quarter finals for the second straight season, losing 14 games in a single season, the most in decades.

Gillespie will turn out all right. He'll go on and win big somewhere, and probably make a Final Four one day. But he just wasn't the right fit in the fishbowl that is Kentucky Basketball. That type of spotlight is only for a select few, and he ain't one of them.

Goodbye, Billy.

Reports have said that the university has really went after Pitino in the last few weeks, which makes it even more obvious that, no matter what Billy G did to end this season, he was out the door all along. What a story that would be if Rick said yes. Yikes! UK would be back in a heartbeat.

I doubt that happens, though. Rick's been there, done that.

[Cameron]

I thought I would share the information that a UK fan just enlightened me with, which would be rather significant in ACC Country if factual.

Per Wildcat insider sites, Gillespie is already in negotiations with North Carolina State, and could be heading there within weeks. Whether or not this is all just hot water steaming over in the midst of another Lexington circus, I really don't know. But, this would be a big move in ACC Country, as I think Billy G, without the added pressure of a basketball Rome, could turn the lost Tobacco Road cousin back into a national power.

Could be an interesting off season.

If true, you still have that ally-oop win, Sidney.

[cspan37421]

I'd like to play (Blue) Devil's advocate. Why should it necessarily be the case that the college BB game is better when traditional powers are good? Why would it be undesirable to have some fluidity at the top, over time? To me, the game would be quite stale if the final four were almost always (and only) drawn from UNC, Kansas, Indiana, Kentucky, UCLA, Duke.

To me, new stories and fresh faces are the lifeblood of the tournament. Of course, I prefer to see Duke win as much as possible, but if a title went to Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Clemson, Purdue, Washington - at the expense of some other legendary programs, I just can't see that as a detriment at all. JMO.

[Tjenkins]

I think Travis Ford would be a great pick for the UK job. I lived in Kentucky when he played there, he was a very popular player and understands that it's unlike any other coaching job in the country. Plus,he's already taken two schools to the NCAA tournament(OSU,Eastern Kentucky).

[bgibbs1001]

I thought I would share the information that a UK fan just enlightened me with, which would be rather significant in ACC Country if factual.

Per Wildcat insider sites, Gillespie is already in negotiations with North Carolina State, and could be heading there within weeks. Whether or not this is all just hot water steaming over in the midst of another Lexington circus, I really don't know. But, this would be a big move in ACC Country, as I think Billy G, without the added pressure of a basketball Rome, could turn the lost Tobacco Road cousin back into a national power.

Could be an interesting off season.

If true, you still have that ally-oop win, Sidney.

Billy G at NC STATE. They might as well have kept Herb Sendek. I do not see any difference.

[cspan37421]

did Billy ever sign his contract at UK?

[davekay1971]

I thought I would share the information that a UK fan just enlightened me with, which would be rather significant in ACC Country if factual.

Per Wildcat insider sites, Gillespie is already in negotiations with North Carolina State, and could be heading there within weeks. Whether or not this is all just hot water steaming over in the midst of another Lexington circus, I really don't know. But, this would be a big move in ACC Country, as I think Billy G, without the added pressure of a basketball Rome, could turn the lost Tobacco Road cousin back into a national power.

Could be an interesting off season.

If true, you still have that ally-oop win, Sidney.

As a NCSU fan, I really, really hope this is not true.

[jjasper0729]

I think Travis Ford would be a great pick for the UK job. I lived in Kentucky when he played there, he was a very popular player and understands that it's unlike any other coaching job in the country. Plus,he's already taken two schools to the NCAA tournament(OSU,Eastern Kentucky).

from the sporting news:

"Should Gillispie be let go, Kentucky could make an attempt to hire Florida coach Billy Donovan, but Travis Ford of Oklahoma State may be the more realistic candidate, the Louisville Courier-Journal speculates. "

the only thing about that I wonder is if t. boone will open the pockets up for basketball as he did for football and try to keep ford