Jay Wright
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He’s never lost a game. He’s a perfect fit here.
Grass isn't always greener. There's not a lot of good coaches out on the market that I think would succeed here. Don't see Oats or Mussleman succeeding here and not sold they would even come tbh. Wright and Few aren't going anywhere. Last time we did this with Tubby we ended up with Billy G because market was so thin and prominent coaches just weren't as interested as people believe they should be. Only coach I could think of on the same level as Cal that would come would be Pitino but I doubt we pursue him after the **** show he left at Louisville
He coaches at a small catholic school in a city where his program is not even in the top 10 most important sports teams, let alone the state as a whole. And he can put a team on the floor there that's just as good as he could here, if not better. So why?
On the flipside, coaches don’t have the “what have you done for me lately” attitude like fans do. Coaches see the body of work. Rightly or wrongly, if the fans run Cal off (he’s not getting fired even if he doesn’t win another game this year or next), other coaches in the coaching fraternity are going to see a fanbase that chased off a national title winning coach who went to three additonal final fours and will think to themselves “Do I really want to put up with this year after year”
The established guys who’ve already won championships wouldn’t come here. That leaves retreads and up and comers. Nobody wants a retread and young guys are a crap shoot. If we go the young guy route, we need a charismatic egomaniac who can take daily criticism from amateur coaches really well. I’ve yet to meet an egomaniac who handles criticism well.
The arrogance of this fanbase thinking we can snap our fingers and get anyone we want is astounding after watching us get rejected time and time again in 2007 … after chasing off a title winning coach with less postseason success than our current coach. We ended up with a drunken moron who was choice 7 or 8.
Wright is past his prime. He’s not a lot different than Calipari when it comes to age and drive. He’s done what he set out to do. He’s not the guy for Kentucky.
I agree…..no proven high-level coach is moving from his safe spot to Kentucky. The younger guys, under 50, who are mostly trying to get some traction in their current spot, are what is there for the taking. It’s a major risk. Not saying it isn’t worth the risk. Simply saying you never know what you are going to get. Success at a 2nd tier school does not guarantee success at a blue blood. They are very different situations.
Fully agree.
I know some people think because we’re Kentucky, we can just name our coach, but logically that’s not the case.
I couldn’t see Wright, Bennett, Drew, etc. leaving a place they’ve won titles without the expectation to win one every single year.
Younger, less proven guys are unpredictable. Especially for a program like this one. Being UK basketball coach carries great prestige and potential for enrichment beyond one’s wildest dreams, but it also includes much more than coaching basketball along with more pressure to win big, win often and win now than most professional coaches face.
It's one of those situations we'll be in when Cal does decide to leave.
Certainly can grab a top coach and come right in and not miss a beat. But it's not a slam dunk. This program did hire BCG before Cal. I think it would be a mistake to just assume everyone is gonna jump at this. Again not to say we won't get a good one, just that it might be harder than some think.
Certainly can grab a top coach and come right in and not miss a beat. But it's not a slam dunk. This program did hire BCG before Cal. I think it would be a mistake to just assume everyone is gonna jump at this. Again not to say we won't get a good one, just that it might be harder than some think.
Why would Jay Wright be interested in the Uk job after Mitch fired Cal? For that matter, why would any Coach want to take this job. We have the most unrealistic fans in the country, bar none. Most of you idiots make me ashamed to be a UK fan sometimes.
That was a tounge in cheek comment about so many on this board who do indeed have unrealistic expectations. Or, maybe you don't see that on the board the way I have. Sorry.
If we're going to rule out every coach who ever lost a game, it'll be a short list. He's a former NBA coach who already shows success in a high level basketball program in the sec. Oats is better but musselman is also a decent choice
You'd think, but a handful of folks on this board don't get it.
Being a lifelong UK and Braves fan, championships don’t come along very often!!
Quit being a spoiled child acting like UK should have one every other year.
Cal gets Kentucky some of the best recruiting classes every year.
Sometimes it works and most it doesn’t.
If you can do Better, go apply for the job to be head coach of Kentucky.
Quit being a spoiled child acting like UK should have one every other year.
Cal gets Kentucky some of the best recruiting classes every year.
Sometimes it works and most it doesn’t.
If you can do Better, go apply for the job to be head coach of Kentucky.
UNC and Duke are catching us in titles
Kansas is catching us in all-time wins
No. I am a realist who understands that UK can’t just wave a wand and select its next coach from a pool that includes established, championship winning coaches who’ve built their own programs without having to deal with the pressure that comes with this job.
And there’s the whole grass isn’t always greener thing we found out the hard way in 2007.
So. I am catching a cold.
I’m convinced Jesus Christ himself couldn’t satisfy UK fans if he came back as our head coach……..
……….but at least he’d teach more than one inbounds play, press full court, and install an offense!
……….but at least he’d teach more than one inbounds play, press full court, and install an offense!
They have been catching up for a while in titles.
Or we can keep Cal and his 1980s offense and become Indiana. Cal isn’t going to do what is required to turn the program around, that is change. Sometimes the grass is greener.
Yeah, we might run a structured offense. That would be scary.
It's been 10 years, and we are trending to never winning another one if Cal doesn't get his rear in gear.
Spoiled my ***. How many decades does the average person have in their life?
Neither would touch this job, and I wouldn’t blame them. Most UK fans are unrealistically nuts. Nothing’s ever good enough for them.
People need to remember why UK fans loved Pitino. One he was young, had NBA experience and recruited players for his system no matter what they were ranked. Everyone agrees that his style won a lot of games and remember, he goes 14-14 with the Unfirgetables his first year, shooting threes and pressure Press defense. 1996 was a great team but in 97 he had a great team then in 1998 Tubby wins it all with Pitinos players and playing Pitinos defense.
I contend it was as much about style as it was about talent and when Tubby went away from it he failed. Kids loved Pitinos style which was not center based because that slowed the game down. Cal comes in and recruits better players than Tubby but still played the same Tubby style.
Recruiting players with quickness of feet and hands says you press especially when you recruit a bunch of players that take pride in team mates success. The OAD style takes that away and basically says I have to get mine to hell with team.Anyway, that’s the way I see it.
I contend it was as much about style as it was about talent and when Tubby went away from it he failed. Kids loved Pitinos style which was not center based because that slowed the game down. Cal comes in and recruits better players than Tubby but still played the same Tubby style.
Recruiting players with quickness of feet and hands says you press especially when you recruit a bunch of players that take pride in team mates success. The OAD style takes that away and basically says I have to get mine to hell with team.Anyway, that’s the way I see it.
I agree with you and half ( maybe 75%) those posters don't even have a clue about basketball.
So why did Pitinos style not work so well at Louisville? Cal beat Pitino almost every time they played.
Very few coaches press full court, except out of necessity when behind. Even Pitino did less of it at U6. There’s probably a reason for that.
Even Jesus knows that a zone doesn’t work in the college game.
Kentucky won its first title in the 40s. The 2020 decade is the 9th decade including the 40s. Winning titles is hard. We average one a decade and that is tops with UCLA.
We won 4 of our 8 in a 10 year stretch from 48-58. It is very unlikely anyone does that again. That is why Rupp is a legend.
You see programs do this but it is never sustainable. Duke won all 5 of theirs in 24 years, but once retires...do they win 2 the next 8 years or is it more likely they stat only winning 1 every 10-15 years on average (or worse)? I think it is the latter.
UCONN won 4 in 15 seasons (very impressive), but I think they will go the way of Miami in football and the next couple of decades will bear that out.
UNC won 4 from 93 to 2017, again in 24 years and very impressive. We will see what happens with them going forward.
UK won 3 from 96-2012 in 16 years...very very impressive, but here we are 10 years later and counting most likely. Before that it was 1 title in 36 years from 59 to 95. What did all the old timers do during that time (pre-message board/internet)? I guess they talked at the water cooler at work about how Rupp had lost his touch until he retired, and Joe B and Sutton couldn't keep the dynasty going with a lot more titles.
Absolutely...next hire needs to be someone w/ something to prove; still got the fire in their belly