We will be just fine unless these players this year think they are NBA ready which they are not. I would take this team as sophomores and not get Zion.
If Williamson does not come...
- Thread starter CincyUKFan
- Start date
Not being overly positive about this UK team but the one and done thing works. It is hard to get the players who are projected to go top 10 to got to traditional programs, like UNC. No one wins every year but Alabama football. The best thing is to get one or 2 ones and dones but have experienced lesser talents to lead the freshmen. UNC is trying to do this but it is hard to get recruits who want to be the star of the show to defer to less talented upper classmen these days. You pretty much have to choose the Duke/UK way or the nova/UNC way. Unless UNC and UK can change their reputations- UK change to having more upper classmen with some 5 stars still and UNC getting some super prospects and still have experienced upper classmen. Both ways have won championships recently. Hard to say which is better.
With or without Zion UK will go on. Program is bigger than one player. If success is hinging on a recruit then we have bigger problems than that.
Yeah, great point! Because players never improve from one year to the next. They'll all be the exact same players that they are at this very moment.
Geez, some of the comments that come after a loss are literally just the dumbest comments ever.
Last edited:
This! It's a shame that a few ignorant fans get on here after every loss and make the fan base look like a bunch of idiots. While it's only a few fans out of so many and just a very small fraction in the grand scheme of things, it makes us all look bad and gives the perception that we are all unrealistic and ignorant. Those posters think that their comments are completely harmless and that nobody is watching but that's not the case at all.
If UK stops the one and done program, there will be a million programs dying to take their place.
After all these years and we still have fans that not only think like UL fans but publicly state these thoughts.
Now UL fans are a special kind of stupid, but in their defense they don’t watch enough to see Cal come close to having a heart attack multiple times each game nor are they aware that this is the best run of success UK has had since 1959, along with th 93-98 stretch.
But even a dimwitted UK fan knows these things and yet some still offer this response after 8 years....
Some things you just can’t fix....
I actually love it.
I’m so tired of this crap... 5 EEs, 4 FFs, 5 League Reg season AND Tourney championships, an undefeated season up to the FF and a title in 8 years!!!
By God, I want UK to play like UK did from 1999 to 2008.... zero FFs - 10 years
I want UK to play like we did from 1959 to 1990.... 1 Title, 4 FF’s - 31 years
What fantasy world do you people live in????
This is so true. Cal could very easily have 2-4 possibly even 5 championships in his first 8 years. Walls team had an excellent chance to win it all, the next season we came up oh so short in a weak Final Four. 2014 we had no business losing after our incredible run, and we all know about 2015. Win all 4 and Cal has 5 Championships in 8 years. Just win 2 of those 4 and that makes 3. Hell if you wanted to last years team had a damn good shot to win it all too, that'd be 6 in 8 years!
The fact we are in it year in and year out with a chance to win it all is incredible and posters here take it for granted. It's been an incredible run, and yes you can be pessimistic and say well if you could have 5 and only have 1 than there's a problem. Fact is though this is college basketball and a single elimination tournament. That brings so many factors into the equation that it is VERY hard to win it all. This has been a magical run, one of the best in history of any program. Soak it in while it last, it isn't always going to be so glorious. Go Cats!!!
Last edited:
Sadly I think that's what's going to happen. If so we could be talking NIT. I sure hope he comes and some guys come back.
Hell yes man!!! You're a damn genius...Because every fan knows that kids never get better or stronger Am I right??? I can'tfor the life ofme see why youaren't president or a rocket scientist.
I absolutely disagree with you but that was funny [laughing]
But you’re still wrong. Players will grow and peogress by next year and we have some very good players with very* good potential.
Cal said he would sign 4 or 5 recruits this cycle.
I would be very shocked if we lost more than 4 or 5 and Cal is scrambling to replace them.
That would worry me a bit, especially with 5-star kids like Moses Brown practically begging for a scholarship and now apparently not an option. If we go into next season short handed, when we could have had some blue chip guys, that will look really bad for Cal.
I expect to lose 4-5 guys. Diallo, Knox, and Vanderbilt for sure. Gilgeous-Alexander is a possibility as well. Then maybe Richards.
Cal said he has met his needs for next year with the Fall class. That class is all guards, so I figure he expects the frontcourt to return pretty much intact sans Vanderbilt (count Knox as a guard/wing).
I would be very shocked if we lost more than 4 or 5 and Cal is scrambling to replace them.
That would worry me a bit, especially with 5-star kids like Moses Brown practically begging for a scholarship and now apparently not an option. If we go into next season short handed, when we could have had some blue chip guys, that will look really bad for Cal.
I expect to lose 4-5 guys. Diallo, Knox, and Vanderbilt for sure. Gilgeous-Alexander is a possibility as well. Then maybe Richards.
Cal said he has met his needs for next year with the Fall class. That class is all guards, so I figure he expects the frontcourt to return pretty much intact sans Vanderbilt (count Knox as a guard/wing).
This board is an interesting place. Most of those who disagree with the original statement have not articulated any counterpoint. So I want to give them another chance.
Knox is gone. Richards is potentially gone. Washington is potentially gone.
If our front court next season consists of Wynyard, SKJ, and, Richards and Washington (if they do stick around), please explain how that changes everything.
Has SKJ dramatically improved? Has his defense been increasingly better? Basketball IQ gone up?
Will Wynyard contribute? If so, how much?
Will Washington suddenly grow several inches so that he can hold down the the paint as some want him to do now?
And Richards...he’s likely gone, but even if he’s not - he’s like Briscoe in that the sooner he bolts for the league the better off the Cats will be as a team.
Zion adds size. Not center size, but skilled size. He can bang down low, he is physical, and he will grab rebounds. And obviously, he will score. If we just add a couple guards and a SF - as is the case now - we are in serious trouble. You can choose to ignore that or live in some world where it’s not true, but the writing is on the wall. Another mediocre team is in the works, and Zion is the only one who can change that.
Knox is gone. Richards is potentially gone. Washington is potentially gone.
If our front court next season consists of Wynyard, SKJ, and, Richards and Washington (if they do stick around), please explain how that changes everything.
Has SKJ dramatically improved? Has his defense been increasingly better? Basketball IQ gone up?
Will Wynyard contribute? If so, how much?
Will Washington suddenly grow several inches so that he can hold down the the paint as some want him to do now?
And Richards...he’s likely gone, but even if he’s not - he’s like Briscoe in that the sooner he bolts for the league the better off the Cats will be as a team.
Zion adds size. Not center size, but skilled size. He can bang down low, he is physical, and he will grab rebounds. And obviously, he will score. If we just add a couple guards and a SF - as is the case now - we are in serious trouble. You can choose to ignore that or live in some world where it’s not true, but the writing is on the wall. Another mediocre team is in the works, and Zion is the only one who can change that.
Resurrecting this thread because I’m seeing people all over the place talk about how good we will be next year.
For those that keep going on about the guys that will likely return and get better - serious questions:
Has Wenyen Gabriel improved?
Has SKJ improved?
Did Diallo improve? Or, rather, does he play like a guy that already knew the system and gained invaluable experience last year?
How about Wynyard? Do you expect huge things from him next year?
So, having answered these rhetorical questions, why exactly will we be “just fine” next season? I’m seriously asking.
For those that keep going on about the guys that will likely return and get better - serious questions:
Has Wenyen Gabriel improved?
Has SKJ improved?
Did Diallo improve? Or, rather, does he play like a guy that already knew the system and gained invaluable experience last year?
How about Wynyard? Do you expect huge things from him next year?
So, having answered these rhetorical questions, why exactly will we be “just fine” next season? I’m seriously asking.
what I am saying here has nothing to do with the specifics on this thread, just adding some perspective.
During the Tubby years, I remember there was no shortage of people making statements saying that parity was here to stay in college basketball. Their rationale was that we're Kentucky and we're just getting the basic guys even though we're putting money into our facilities, national TV exposure, etc.,. We live in the world of George Mason beating UNC and Gardner Webb beating UK. Now certainly that opinion wasn't held by all but a sizeable group.
Then under Gillispie the mantra was you have to give him 5 years to rebuild, its not possible for a coach to turn the program around overnight so even though we were essentially watching a team mutiny on our coach in year 2, many held the belief that he just has to get his guys in here.
As UK fans we adapt our narrative to the situation of our team.
Cal came in and proved both of those statements wrong in about 6 weeks time.
Here is what we know about the current state of our program now
The success of Cal's system is based on bringing in the best talent and having overwhelming talent beat your experienced but limited athletically team.
Duke and to some extent Kansas has jumped on this approach and it's having detrimental effects on the overall success of our program, then throw in that the Shaka Smart's level coaches are going to dip into the 5 star pool and it makes it very difficult to replicate the success this program has had from 2009 until 2015.
There is no argument there's been a shift in the one and done. Doesn't mean that UK can't have a championship team but I do believe it means that without a change in our approach , which may be as little as redefining the narrative of UK to attract these recruits or as much as wholesale change in our philosophy, we aren't going to duplicate our success in fielding back to back final four caliber teams.
And while Zion is certainly the catalyst for this post, its also more of a realization that perhaps Cal doesn't have the luxury of backing off kids because they will be a headache for him.
I have other opinions on this - regarding Cal before a national championship and after one , but that's for another day.
There is no argument though -even though Cal may not be winning the one and done, he's still the most innovative coach and quite possibly the most engaged on the well being of his players than any coach in the game, and probably for the last 40 years.
However there are many, and they may not be wrong, that status quo is still the best for UK basketball. That believed it when Sutton was coach and under investigation, when Tubby was winding down, and when Gillispie was here. Cal's tenure is no different.
During the Tubby years, I remember there was no shortage of people making statements saying that parity was here to stay in college basketball. Their rationale was that we're Kentucky and we're just getting the basic guys even though we're putting money into our facilities, national TV exposure, etc.,. We live in the world of George Mason beating UNC and Gardner Webb beating UK. Now certainly that opinion wasn't held by all but a sizeable group.
Then under Gillispie the mantra was you have to give him 5 years to rebuild, its not possible for a coach to turn the program around overnight so even though we were essentially watching a team mutiny on our coach in year 2, many held the belief that he just has to get his guys in here.
As UK fans we adapt our narrative to the situation of our team.
Cal came in and proved both of those statements wrong in about 6 weeks time.
Here is what we know about the current state of our program now
The success of Cal's system is based on bringing in the best talent and having overwhelming talent beat your experienced but limited athletically team.
Duke and to some extent Kansas has jumped on this approach and it's having detrimental effects on the overall success of our program, then throw in that the Shaka Smart's level coaches are going to dip into the 5 star pool and it makes it very difficult to replicate the success this program has had from 2009 until 2015.
There is no argument there's been a shift in the one and done. Doesn't mean that UK can't have a championship team but I do believe it means that without a change in our approach , which may be as little as redefining the narrative of UK to attract these recruits or as much as wholesale change in our philosophy, we aren't going to duplicate our success in fielding back to back final four caliber teams.
And while Zion is certainly the catalyst for this post, its also more of a realization that perhaps Cal doesn't have the luxury of backing off kids because they will be a headache for him.
I have other opinions on this - regarding Cal before a national championship and after one , but that's for another day.
There is no argument though -even though Cal may not be winning the one and done, he's still the most innovative coach and quite possibly the most engaged on the well being of his players than any coach in the game, and probably for the last 40 years.
However there are many, and they may not be wrong, that status quo is still the best for UK basketball. That believed it when Sutton was coach and under investigation, when Tubby was winding down, and when Gillispie was here. Cal's tenure is no different.
Last edited: