That’s only why anyone thinks it’s Cal. Ricks entire tenure was special, Cals was fun, then frustrating.
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Your favorite coaching era of UK basketball
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Pitino was exciting.
After that first season, this was his record at Kentucky and the seeds
92- 2 seed
93- 1 seed
94- 3 seed
95- 1 seed
96- 1 seed
97- 1 seed
then the team he left Tubby with was a two seed that won it all. Absolutely unreal run.
After that first season, this was his record at Kentucky and the seeds
92- 2 seed
93- 1 seed
94- 3 seed
95- 1 seed
96- 1 seed
97- 1 seed
then the team he left Tubby with was a two seed that won it all. Absolutely unreal run.
Too young at the time of Rupp to really appreciate him. My first ever FF was '78 and that's still my favorite UK team ever so I'm going with the Hall era. But I've loved most all of them. Even the ones I wanted gone there were parts of their time that I loved.
1. 1st 5 years Cal
2. Tubby
3. Pitino
4. 2nd 5 years of Cal
5. Pope
6. Sutton
7. BCG
8. Last 5 years of Cal.
2. Tubby
3. Pitino
4. 2nd 5 years of Cal
5. Pope
6. Sutton
7. BCG
8. Last 5 years of Cal.
The first year I had a good understanding of what was happening was the Fiddling Five. I loved the humor and sarcasm in Rupp's post game shows. Though I heard from high school coaches that Rick had a "I am better than you" attitude, I really enjoyed the play of Pitino's teams and his knowledge of the game.
For me it's Rick Pitino. If only he would have stayed, he would have surpassed coach alphabet. Good lord I loved watching his teams play. He truly was "a man possessed".
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What the youngers need to understand is that Pitino was not only a great coach, but he was absolutely on the cutting edge of where basketball was headed. Pitino was really the first guy who did the math on the 3 point shot and actually accepted it. Then he set about designing a way to take advantage of that, and he succeeded.
The idea of a player driving towards the basket and then passing the ball 20+ feet away from the basket was ridiculous in 1988. The idea of not doing that is ridiculous now. And Rick Pitno started that.
The idea of a player driving towards the basket and then passing the ball 20+ feet away from the basket was ridiculous in 1988. The idea of not doing that is ridiculous now. And Rick Pitno started that.
Pitino easily for me. That era was just fun basketball. Was not happy when he left.
No. Not at all. Sutton was a fairly conservative half-court coach.
UK averaged 14, 8, and 9.4 threw point attempts in the 3 seasons Sutton coached when the three point shot became part of the game. They averaged close to 29 Pitino's first season, and never less than 20 any of his 8 years.
And pre-UK, Pitino took Providence to the FF in the very first year of the 3 pointer with a team that took 19.6 per game compared to opponents' 10.3.
In Pitino's first 4 years at UK, UK outscored opponents from the 3 point line by 342, 439, 576, and 603 points. A lot of teams were absolutely unprepared to defend a team where generally 4 guys were willing to take 3's at any time. It's a big reason why UK punched way above its weight class those first 3 years, and it really wasn't until the late 90's when that style became normal and widespread throughout the game.
Another example of how great the Pitino run was. In his last 4 years at UK, UK was 124-19. Of those 19 losses, 8 came against teams that made the FF the year UK lost to them, and only 5 came against teams that failed to make the Sweet 16 the year they beat UK.
I don't believe that Pitino would have gone on a UCLA run had he committed to the college game and stayed at UK. He was selling the NBA to recruits and the game was entering the "none and done" era when he left for the Celtics (Pitino spent a ton of time recruiting Jermaine O'Neal and Tracy McGrady, both of whom would have played at UK except they didn't play in college at all). There would have been an adjustment (and you can see that from his time at Louisville, where it took him a second to establish consistent success). But Pitino has shown he can adjust, so I'm pretty certain that if he had stayed, it would be a debate between him and Krzyzewski for greatest post-Wooden college coach.
And ironically, Krzyzewski ended up on that path in part because of Pitino. K had his Laettner/Hurley/Hill run, but then there was a precipitous drop in 94-95 and 95-96, because instead of hitting on Laettner, Hurley, and Hill, he was getting Cherokee Parks and Ricky Price and Steve Wojciechowski. That changed in 96-97, when he signed Elton Brand, Shane Battier, William Avery, and Chris Burgess, all of whom Pitino was recruiting, with the scuttlebutt at the time being that Brand and Avery would have come except they were (correctly) worried that Pitino was going to leave for the NBA.
I don't believe that Pitino would have gone on a UCLA run had he committed to the college game and stayed at UK. He was selling the NBA to recruits and the game was entering the "none and done" era when he left for the Celtics (Pitino spent a ton of time recruiting Jermaine O'Neal and Tracy McGrady, both of whom would have played at UK except they didn't play in college at all). There would have been an adjustment (and you can see that from his time at Louisville, where it took him a second to establish consistent success). But Pitino has shown he can adjust, so I'm pretty certain that if he had stayed, it would be a debate between him and Krzyzewski for greatest post-Wooden college coach.
And ironically, Krzyzewski ended up on that path in part because of Pitino. K had his Laettner/Hurley/Hill run, but then there was a precipitous drop in 94-95 and 95-96, because instead of hitting on Laettner, Hurley, and Hill, he was getting Cherokee Parks and Ricky Price and Steve Wojciechowski. That changed in 96-97, when he signed Elton Brand, Shane Battier, William Avery, and Chris Burgess, all of whom Pitino was recruiting, with the scuttlebutt at the time being that Brand and Avery would have come except they were (correctly) worried that Pitino was going to leave for the NBA.
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He did. His first season at UK was the first season for the 3 point shot.
He designed the whole offense around it.
Every action started outside the line.
There were countless stories at the time about how Sutton was the first to fully embrace the 3 point shot and adapted to it.
The 1998 Kentucky Wildcats were a 2-seed, but did win it all.
Tubby didn't earn his first 1-seed until the 2003 season.
Wrong. Sutton’s first UK season had no three pt line. It didn’t come in until his second year, and he did not make use of it in NEARLY the same way Pitino did. Not even close.
Pitino (then at Providence) is the guy widely credited as the first coach to fully embrace the three and understand how to best utilize it. That’s who those “countless stories” were written about, NOT Sutton.
I swear, some of you dopes just make up random nonsense in these threads.
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That team took 14 a game. And went 18-11. They were 228th out of 290 D1 teams that year in terms of PPG. If the stories you're talking about existed, they were wrong.
That team had a terrible frontcourt because Winston Bennett got injured and had Rex Chapman, who loved to shoot bombs, so those 14 threes per game were high for that season, but Sutton's teams went back to taking less than 10 per game the next 2 years. Pitino's Providence team, that made the FF that same year, took over 5 more per game, then his 2 Knicks' teams both set NBA records for 3 point attempts.
Pitino and Nolan Richardson were the 2 notable coaches who jumped on the three with both feet, and Richardson didn't really do so until Arkansas moved to the SEC and he started playing against Pitino. Sutton, OTOH, was a "7 passes before a shot" guy then and throughout his entire career. He coached 5 teams in 36 seasons that averaged 80 PPG.
My brother… you’re over here writing a Hallmark card about the Pitino era like we’re all sitting around a campfire singing Kumbaya, while MARK POPE is out here trying to drag this program into the future with a flamethrower and a four‑headed GM Battalion made of pure basketball intellect.
This isn’t a museum. This is KENTUCKY.
We don’t sit around polishing antiques — we reload!
This isn’t a museum. This is KENTUCKY.
We don’t sit around polishing antiques — we reload!
I agree with your point about Smith from 2003-2005. That is an underrated run with the huge winning streak, #1 overall seed, and Sparks/Rondo in back to back years. Those were the first years I was old enough to remember watching the season start to finish. I have scattered memories of the Tayshaun Prince teams but nothing compared to 03-05.
The 2004 and 2005 seasons especially were like the formative years for me for being a college basketball fan. Those two tournament losses hurt, man.