Herro , Johnson and Hagans are exactly the kind of kids we need - driving Maserati's or Hyundai's.
The issue is we have to surround them with more competent players.
We needed a Reid Travis type in our backcourt and a glue guy in our front
I firmly believe that UK will never reach its potential with OADs unless we have a steady player (meaning veteran) who is going to deliver that 7-12 points every game and can be counted on regardless of who we play. Seems like with Reid and Sestina, we're going that route a bit more, but I'm not sure one year of working in our system is enough and I have a hard time understanding why we didn't do more to fill in those 3 scholarships - even with transient guys that might have been able to provide more consistent fill in play than Richards and Quickley
Setting aside a Demarcus Cousins, John Wall or Anthony Davis, you can't count on a freshmen to not get the deer in the head lights look when a coach devises a scheme against him - and in a one and done tourney, if that happens you're going home.
I understand the sentiment that an elite 8 and single digit losses in a 30 win season is a pretty high bar and should not be taken for granted, but its also pretty ridiculous that each year we have a team with multiple players that are NBA talent and lose to veteran teams on the biggest stage. I'll never celebrate a recruiting title or class ranking. If you can't manage that talent to reach your goal, then why keep pointing to that as your successful strategy? Its like having a 400HP Maserati that puts in the same 0-60 time as a Dodge Charger. Yea, you have a Maserati, the guy that owns the Charger has the trophy.
On the one hand we talk about all the great talent that Cal has assembled in his defense of current college coaches and previous UK coaches, but at the same time the counter argument is also those coaches with less talent haven't accomplished any more than Cal. There is a disconnect in that repeating logic.
and now I feel compelled to preface my post with the standard responses because I'm not interested in a pro-longed argument that has been discussed ad nauseam
1. I don't want Cal gone - best coach we can get, blah, blah , blah
2. Let me give a big pre-emptive GFY to those that are going to tell me to cheer for Louisville, Dodge Chargers are any other nonsense that positions them as a the self appointed director of UK fandom.
3. I don't care that Coach K has assembled the talent and didn't make it either, these are choices our coach has made.
4. We did not win the championship with a freshmen focused OAD team. We had a Freshmen NBA All Star in the making, along with veteran returning talent that got significant playing time and a Senior in Darius Miller. A championship wouldn't have happened with the absence of either one.
