Dante

Newcattitudes

All-Conference
Apr 1, 2005
2,301
1,976
0
I'm honestly curious: do you ever post anything positive?

Your entire posting disposition since you arrived here has been to bathe in the negative waters.

In fact, I haven't seen another side to your thinking, and that's strange because there's always more narratives available than the negative ones you feast on.

I'm not happy that we struck out on most of our big man targets this year (and the staff should be held accountable if Richards/EJ fail this season), but UK still landed the #2 class in the country and returned four five star players.

So please take my question as an honest one, and not as rhetorical trolling. I'm still wondering what your real outlook is toward UK.


Curious as to how the staff would hold itself accountable if indeed the post position doesn’t pan out this season? Honest question.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ScrooDook92

bigblue1971

All-American
Dec 20, 2014
2,568
5,161
113
Don't be stunned if Cal adds someone out of the blue in the next week -- as in Isaac Humphries. He committed on AUGUST 20. No one had heard of him before that day, as I recall.

If that doesn't happen, it'll suggest the staff is comfortable with the hand they are holding.
I don't see it this late in the game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ScrooDook92

Son_Of_Saul

Heisman
Dec 7, 2007
45,128
97,972
113
Curious as to how the staff would hold itself accountable if indeed the post position doesn’t pan out this season? Honest question.

By cutting ties with one of the coaches. These guys are principally responsible for protecting the efforts of the program by setting up inroads with elite players and landing those players. It was clear Wiseman was likely Memphis-bound over a year ago. The staff has had 10 to 13 months to land other bigs, and yet they whiffed on 9/10 big men targets in this cycle. That's abysmal by UK standards.

The one drawback is that they returned two project bigs in EJ and Nick. If those guys don't take the necessary step, the staff should be held accountable, starting with replacing someone like the redundant Barbee.

Cal and his staff collectively take in $12+ million/year to ensure UK lands the best of the best. When you fail to land more than 10% of your big man targets, there should be forms of accountability. If I failed to deliver as a teacher for 90% of my students in math (even if my students scored well in other subject areas), I'd likewise be held accountable for not producing. This is true in every walk of life (except for federal agencies) but at UK, we protect the assistants with the phantom deflections of "Nike was the second shooter", "everyone else cheats" and "we didn't see Penny coming out of the blue, so it doesn't really count."

I like what the staff is doing for the '20 class, but Cal should at least consider getting some new blood on the staff and make sure it's a former NBA guy who will work his *** off for Kentucky. I mean, if you're at a program of UK's magnitude as an assistant for 5 or 6 years, and fans still can't argue with any form of confidence what it is you actually bring to the table as an assistant, it might be time to wish the program well and try something else for a while.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ScrooDook92
Mar 13, 2004
14,745
12,925
0
I don’t know what stats you were looking at, but nothing about Murray’s performance that game was good to elite. As our best shooter, he went 1-9 from 3 point range. Our front court was terrible that season and is definitely the reason we were never a contender, but a bad shooting night by our best shooter definitely bit us in the *** that night.

Murray was off that night but our only hope to beat good teams was for both Ulis and Murray to be on at the same time. I can't blame Murray for that. You can't expect much out of a team when there's that little margin for error.
 

ScrooDook92

All-Conference
Jun 26, 2019
1,772
1,231
0
I'm honestly curious: do you ever post anything positive?

Your entire posting disposition since you arrived here has been to bathe in the negative waters.

In fact, I haven't seen another side to your thinking, and that's strange because there's always more narratives available than the negative ones you feast on.

I'm not happy that we struck out on most of our big man targets this year (and the staff should be held accountable if Richards/EJ fail this season), but UK still landed the #2 class in the country and returned four five star players.

So please take my question as an honest one, and not as rhetorical trolling. I'm still wondering what your real outlook is toward UK.
I'm pessimistic by nature, and I do not buy into conspiracy theories as to why we're losing recruits. Lately I've seen our program slipping a bit both recruiting-wise and on the court, and I get irritated when people seemingly sugarcoat things. I'm results-oriented, that's all. I don't know if jaded would be the right word for me.
 

ScrooDook92

All-Conference
Jun 26, 2019
1,772
1,231
0
Curious as to how the staff would hold itself accountable if indeed the post position doesn’t pan out this season? Honest question.
Bingo. The writing has been on the wall for some time now. At some point coaches need to be held accountable. That should have already happened. People here like to criticize the watchful eyes of others, and then be the first to say "****, it's raining!" (borrowed from a great movie Cold Mountain)
 

STL_Cat

Heisman
Dec 4, 2011
64,878
57,614
98
Murray was off that night but our only hope to beat good teams was for both Ulis and Murray to be on at the same time. I can't blame Murray for that. You can't expect much out of a team when there's that little margin for error.

Absolutely had no expectations for that team. I was just questioning the guy who said Murray was good that night.
 

Son_Of_Saul

Heisman
Dec 7, 2007
45,128
97,972
113
I'm pessimistic by nature, and I do not buy into conspiracy theories as to why we're losing recruits. Lately I've seen our program slipping a bit both recruiting-wise and on the court, and I get irritated when people seemingly sugarcoat things. I'm results-oriented, that's all. I don't know if jaded would be the right word for me.

Thank you for the response. I'm slightly trending toward optimism for this team. I think if Hagans does what we think he'll do, we could compete for a Final Four.

I especially like what Cal is putting together with Boston and company. If he lands Green, I think the fanbase coalesces behind that '20 class. I still believe the lifeblood of Cal's success here from a PR standpoint is landing elite players, and part of the reason some of our fans appear somewhat lethargic is because we're losing mostly 2nd tier guys and replacing them with mostly 2nd tier guys.

A kid like Jalen Green brings his own instantaneous brand with him. He's on the same level of Murray, Wall, Fox, Randle, etc. Get that kid to Lexington flanked by the likes of Boston and Christopher, and I think our fan base goes back to registering about a 9.5/10 on the excitement level.

We need an elite face to make a cameo at UK again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ScrooDook92

senonesy

All-American
Nov 30, 2017
4,053
8,200
113
You people that believe 3 bigs is enough watch what happens if we have an injury or a couple of those guys get in foul trouble 2 out of every 3 games. We need 1-2 more bigs to finish the job this year. Cannot believe we didn’t get Blackshear or Dante but money talks and these kids just can’t say no.
What teams have 5 big men? I’ll answer for you: NONE
And the need of multiple big men to compete, heck even two is way in the past. This isn’t the 1980’s
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ky_Bred_Cat

Son_Of_Saul

Heisman
Dec 7, 2007
45,128
97,972
113
I'd love to see Boston reclassify in some fantasy world and Cal put Whitney at the 4 spot.

Go small and spread the court.
 

wardlow

All-Conference
Aug 21, 2018
838
2,072
0
He has more competition at Oregon then here. Oregon has high 4 star pf CJ Walker 4 star center Isaac Johnson top 3 grad transfer pf/c Shakur Juiston, 4 star pf/center Francis Okoro 4 star pf Chandler Lawson. His choice had nothing to do with playing time.

i could be wrong, but Cal returning players has certainly caused us to miss on recruits. whether it be playing time or whatever reason they fill their head with. i'm OK with it either way. the cats will be good next year, as always. dante may just see a bunch of 4 stars at oregon he can easily get time over. maybe the coaches promised him a certain amount of playing time.

who knows.. except maybe you. you seem to have the inside track on dante's recruitment. please fill the rest of us in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ScrooDook92

LineSkiCat14

Heisman
Aug 5, 2015
38,815
60,843
113
Media in July: We're not sure Dante will do much to move the needle for Kentucky and Calipari.. so Kansas and their newest 90th-ranked recruit have moved passed them.

Media in August: Big miss for Kentucky not landing huge prospect in Dante.. Villanova now takes over at #3.
 

Son_Of_Saul

Heisman
Dec 7, 2007
45,128
97,972
113
Media in July: We're not sure Dante will do much to move the needle for Kentucky and Calipari.. so Kansas and their newest 90th-ranked recruit have moved passed them.

Media in August: Big miss for Kentucky not landing huge prospect in Dante.. Villanova now takes over at #3.

Unfortunately, the "media" - when it comes to covering college hoops outside the bluegrass state - mostly consists of about six or seven very subpar writers: O'Neil, Norlander, Forde, Marble Mouth, Parrish, Thamel, etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LineSkiCat14

Nicholascat

Junior
May 10, 2019
322
267
0
i could be wrong, but Cal returning players has certainly caused us to miss on recruits. whether it be playing time or whatever reason they fill their head with. i'm OK with it either way. the cats will be good next year, as always. dante may just see a bunch of 4 stars at oregon he can easily get time over. maybe the coaches promised him a certain amount of playing time.

who knows.. except maybe you. you seem to have the inside track on dante's recruitment. please fill the rest of us in.
He'll play over a lot of those players but cj walker and Juiston will definitely get plenty of minutes, it's not like he's going into a situation where there's a hole in the middle like Blackhear with florida. I doubt he starts, walker and Juiston will likely be their starting frontcourt. I don't see how that's a better situation playing time wise than if he came here and shared minutes with nich, if he doesn't produce immediately there are other players who will compete for his minutes.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: wardlow

Cawood86_rivals

Heisman
Feb 20, 2005
36,711
64,715
0
I'm a UK fan. I want UK to win and succeed and ultimately win titles. We all do I reckon.

UK has a really good roster. Lots of different options. Lots of different ways they can play and Cal will figure out how to do that.

When a recruit picks somewhere else, my care for that recruit ends. I don't want anything to happen to them but I don't care at all if they are successful. I don't care if their team is is either. I just don't.
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
44,712
80,520
113
Yes. They lost to Indiana and it was due to mediocre play in the post. I don't believe all is lost and I think they have three good pieces in the post, but this forces Whitney and Brooks to steal some minutes at the 4 and an injury could be a really big blow. I don't think they necessarily needed another star in the post, but they could've used 5 fouls and someone that can catch a lob, grab a few rebounds, and block a couple of shots.

1 out of ten years. Most of the time it’s because we don’t make threes or shoot free throws. We have all that this year.
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
44,712
80,520
113
I'm pessimistic by nature, and I do not buy into conspiracy theories as to why we're losing recruits. Lately I've seen our program slipping a bit both recruiting-wise and on the court, and I get irritated when people seemingly sugarcoat things. I'm results-oriented, that's all. I don't know if jaded would be the right word for me.
I’d hate to see how you feel if Cal never made deep runs in the Tourney. What else could he do to please you, his one legit criticism is the second title of which would be nothing had we went undefeated on 2015, or not go screwed by a roofer three times!
 

ScrooDook92

All-Conference
Jun 26, 2019
1,772
1,231
0
Thank you for the response. I'm slightly trending toward optimism for this team. I think if Hagans does what we think he'll do, we could compete for a Final Four.

I especially like what Cal is putting together with Boston and company. If he lands Green, I think the fanbase coalesces behind that '20 class. I still believe the lifeblood of Cal's success here from a PR standpoint is landing elite players, and part of the reason some of our fans appear somewhat lethargic is because we're losing mostly 2nd tier guys and replacing them with mostly 2nd tier guys.

A kid like Jalen Green brings his own instantaneous brand with him. He's on the same level of Murray, Wall, Fox, Randle, etc. Get that kid to Lexington flanked by the likes of Boston and Christopher, and I think our fan base goes back to registering about a 9.5/10 on the excitement level.

We need an elite face to make a cameo at UK again.
This is not a good a look for the staff at all.
Yeap, completely agree on this one. Something that can compound itself. If I'm a recruiter on another team I'm going to say "they haven't had an elite big like you for years, there's a reason why..." and let the recruit mull it over. It's one of the reasons (besides pocketbooks) that the Cincinnati Reds have been unable to sign many elite free agents over the years. They haven't been to the playoffs for years and years. There hasn't been a winning culture there. These things follow an organization for a long, long time.
 

UK90

Heisman
Dec 30, 2007
31,460
27,814
0
Did he not see Bol Bols lack of development, exposure ,tourny success ,and his slide down the draft board???

Umm ...there was no "lack of development" with Bol. Instead, he suffered a devastating injury in the first month of the season. He was doing very well until that injury ended his season.

Stick to the truth. It works better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: STL_Cat

bucsrule8872

Heisman
May 30, 2005
24,397
29,352
0
A few months ago most of ya'll thought Montgomery and Richards were leaving and were crying that Cal needed to find a way to stop this "leaving when you're not ready" nonsense.

Now with both back, ya'll are crying about missing on big men?

We have three grown men inside. Time for them to put up or shut up.
 

Anon1679859502

All-American
Jun 28, 2015
4,852
9,141
113

Wildcatfan66

Heisman
Mar 27, 2007
9,721
12,182
113
It's a "game of inches", or in this case maybe less. We were literally one missed shot away from a FF this year, and in 2017. And several years under Calipari, a shot away from a finals or a championship. (Look at the lucky breaks UVA got to get to the finals game.)

Calipari has one NC at UK, and could easily have had 1-3 more if the ball bounced right. And if anyone could hit a FT, he'd have one at Memphis also.

That being said, as far as UK basketball, unless they win it all, the season "doesn't count" for many UK fans.

We need to get to another FF this year. I know, duh !
 
  • Like
Reactions: ScrooDook92

ScrooDook92

All-Conference
Jun 26, 2019
1,772
1,231
0
Sorry Dave but I’m not reading that lol but appreciate what you bring to the board good or bad. In the end it’s UK info and that’s all most of us crave so kudos to you my brother.
I don't 'feel' for any recruit, or their family, who doesn't pick UK. That's just an appeal to the masses on their behalf, and more food for the fools.
 

ScrooDook92

All-Conference
Jun 26, 2019
1,772
1,231
0
It's a "game of inches", or in this case maybe less. We were literally one missed shot away from a FF this year, and in 2017. And several years under Calipari, a shot away from a finals or a championship. (Look at the lucky breaks UVA got to get to the finals game.)

Calipari has one NC at UK, and could easily have had 1-3 more if the ball bounced right. And if anyone could hit a FT, he'd have one at Memphis also.

That being said, as far as UK basketball, unless they win it all, the season "doesn't count" for many UK fans.

We need to get to another FF this year. I know, duh !
We'd have more titles if Cal would stop putting the wrong guys in at the right time so they can get theirs....and if he wouldn't, WITHOUT FAIL, go into choke mode in the tournament. He strikes me as enamored with the NBA, its contracts and "draft night". That's my problem with UK right now. I want us to have great players who WANT to be here, and for Cal to pick one to his everything into.... recruiting-wise and game-wise.
 

Skyguyb27

All-American
Feb 12, 2008
4,654
7,736
113
I mean this guy wasnt even slated to be a starter was he? No reason to lose any sleep over a pine warmer.
 

FinancialPlannerZac

All-Conference
May 30, 2019
1,027
1,700
0
Looking at the NCAA tournament winners since Cal arrived in 09-10 not named Kentucky, I'd say a front court of Richards, Montgomery, Sestina and occasionally Brooks, is better than, or equal to, all but maybe Duke 2015 and UNC 2017.

So saying Kentucky CAN'T win with what the Cats have is false -- especially if UK's 1-3 position players turn out to be as special as they can be. As I've noted many times before, winning is a long shot for any team, and every team going into next year has holes. But acting like the lack of another big man dooms the Cats is weak and inaccurate.

I would like to think most of BBN thinks this way. I know I'm in full agreement with you. We will be in the mix once again this year. That's a guarantee. And really, that's all you can ask for.
 

katwest

Heisman
Feb 16, 2003
39,834
13,692
113
Dante going to Oregon and having some of those schools on the list he had points to the fact kids don't go to a school for the school, it's what they offer you. Kentucky is second to none in what they can offer if everything is on the up and up. The others listed are under a cloud of suspicion which means the a kid will be gone anyway if something goes down. Kentucky will be fine, the kids we have are winners.
 

TheAnonymous13

All-Conference
Feb 23, 2011
3,314
3,391
0
I’m guessing this didn’t come as a surprise. Had been Oregon for a little while.
Cats will be fine. I really think EJ and Nick will surprise.