Wow. Villanova. No seniors. Mail them the trophy for next season if no one leaves and they haven't been in the past. Love playing college ball. Stop the Cal and K talk. Wright is it now. Classy guy. Predict him to the 76ers down the road. 6 count them 6 red shirts! Unheard of nowadays. 3 Jr stars Bridges Paschal and Booth plus reg jr Brunson. RS soph mop Divencenzo and rs super Fr c Spellman. Wonder if coaches took notice. Vil will just add to its already great offense and d. Real good recruiting class. 6 Red shirts!!! Mature experienced group. Impressed. Won every game by double figures.
Wow- Nova - all could be back!
- Thread starter Kybluedude
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I envy them right now. They've only made it twice past the second round in the last 9 years but both times they've won the ship. I'd honestly take that over our run..
Nova is really good, but there weren't any GREAT teams this year!!
There will be some tough teams next year, and the tourny is very random.
They could win it next year, but nobody's mailing them ****!!
There will be some tough teams next year, and the tourny is very random.
They could win it next year, but nobody's mailing them ****!!
They have at least a couple guys who will get drafted. They’re gonna need some guys to step up to be as good next year.
Do you honestly think our fanbase would have given Wright the chance to even be here when he had multiple 12, 19 and 14 loss seasons and not making it past the 1st weekend of the tournament from 2010-2013? He's had a good run that's not mistakable but he's had far more bad seasons than he has good. In 8 of his 17 seasons at Nova he has had more than 12 losses.
It's obvious that our fanbase would not have kept him here but answer me this, is 2 greater than 1?
Nova will be a hard out for ANY team next year, but they aren't and won't be unbeatable.
You are right about that. If they repeat they will have to earn it on the court. They might do it but it will be earned, not given.
I think the reason there are fewer great teams is because of the OAD culture. The more teams that follow the UK pattern the less great teams there will be. When you have a drain of young talent it is hard to build great teams.
Answer me this then. We have 8 titles in over a 100 years. Have we failed the other 114 years or so since we didn't win the title? There is more to a program than winning titles. That is the ultimate goal but I'll take year after year of being in the hunt over a 3 year stretch. Even Florida won back to back titles. Would you trade their program for ours too?
Answer me this, are they both finished?
I won't trade the program but they've lifted the trophy twice in the past 9 years while we've done so once. There I answered your question. Thank you for answering mine Bob!
Definitely, if they are hitting it is very difficult to beat them. I would like our chances though.
I like Cal too, and I believe it's a perfect marriage with Kentucky but I don't believe that his philosophy is the key to winning titles in college basketball. Is he light years better than Tubby and Billy G., hell yes.
It will be interesting to see what Wright does moving forward. Billy Donovan had a final four in 2000 and then won back to back in 06 and 07. It then took him another 7 years to get past the Elite 8 and even after making the Final Four in 14 they went 16-17 and Donovan jumped to the NBA.
Seemed like Donovan would put together amazing teams every 5 or 6 years, but the in between wasn't always good. Will Wright be able to sustain this type of success and make consistent title runs or will he have big drop offs? Will be interesting to see.
Seemed like Donovan would put together amazing teams every 5 or 6 years, but the in between wasn't always good. Will Wright be able to sustain this type of success and make consistent title runs or will he have big drop offs? Will be interesting to see.
I knew this would be the talk today. Any way you slice it, we now have had 3 programs win multiple championships since Cal's arrival at UK. (UConn, Duke, Nova) You are also 1 year removed to Cal's arrival from UNC winning 2 titles (2009, 2017) For the best of the best talk Cal has done since his introductory news conference, programs are ahead of him in titles either beating him at his game or with veteran teams. I really think this is a key offseason for UK and the John Calipari era. If we end up having to basically start over with 5 plus guys gone, people are going to really start wringing their hands with the direction this program is heading.
I think next year, Cal will have the most pressure on him by this fanbase since his arrival.
I think next year, Cal will have the most pressure on him by this fanbase since his arrival.
Nova will lose 1-3 guys to the NBA. If they didn't they could be an all time team. Hell this season they were the best college team IMO since UK in the 38-1 season.
Yep. Hard to stay hungry and win back to backs. No other team I know of (like UNCheat, Dook, KU, UT, and Michigan) is calling off their season.
Brunson is not coming back. He's graduating in May, has two championships and the national POY title, and has nothing to come back for. So Nova will at least be starting over with a new point guard next year, whether it's Gillespie or Quinerly. There will be a learning curve. But I liked how Wright used DiVincenzo to initiate the offense when Brunson was out. He could do that next year and they might not miss a beat.
Mikal Bridges is also likely to go, he's a redshirt junior. Will be a lottery pick.
But they will get everyone else back. Pretty sure Spellman will be back, he got exposed a little by Wagner last night and needs some more work. He will be a beast next year. Eric Paschall is a stud (saw a photo last night of him playing AAU ball with Donovan Mitchell.) Couple of bench guys who didn't play this year are really good too. Collin Gillespie is basically a clone of Ryan Arcidiacono.
I could see them run through the Big East next year without any losses, given that Xavier is starting over with a new coach and loses a bunch of guys. They will be back in their campus arena where they have rarely lost in the last 4 years.
Mikal Bridges is also likely to go, he's a redshirt junior. Will be a lottery pick.
But they will get everyone else back. Pretty sure Spellman will be back, he got exposed a little by Wagner last night and needs some more work. He will be a beast next year. Eric Paschall is a stud (saw a photo last night of him playing AAU ball with Donovan Mitchell.) Couple of bench guys who didn't play this year are really good too. Collin Gillespie is basically a clone of Ryan Arcidiacono.
I could see them run through the Big East next year without any losses, given that Xavier is starting over with a new coach and loses a bunch of guys. They will be back in their campus arena where they have rarely lost in the last 4 years.
Keep in mind he was at Nova when they didn't have much tradition or resources to speak of and played in a better basketball conference than the SEC (at that time).
I actually think Spellman might leave as well. But yeah Brunson and Bridges are gone.
If you go back and look at Villanova's record 5-6 seasons before Jay Wright took over they actually had more success and better records and winning % than the first 4-5 years Wright took over. There is no doubting he has had a great 3 year run. But I still would rather have a coach with a long continued rate of winning at a high level than 1 who's had a 2-3 year run. Now if he keeps this up we can talk lol.
Just remember Mike Krzyzewski almost got fired at Duke after his first three years. Was hired in 1983 and didn't win a title until 1991.
Wright has the winningest team in college basketball over the last 4 years. I'll be surprised if they lose more than 2-3 games next year too. That's what you call sustained excellence. And he's only 56 years old.
I just don't get why. Why would they all come back? I put in another thread that for us, it seems you're either too good to stay, or you've reached you ceiling so why stay and waste time when you can go make money? What could Brunson possible gain by coming back next year for his future outside of potentially ANOTHER championship? If he was here it'd be "why risk the injury" and "your draft stock will never be higher" etc etc.
Pisses me off they can get MVP players to return when we got a guy like SGA who blows up and is going to leave (and I don't blame him). Or they get a guy like Spellman who was a mother effing 5 star to come in and redshirt like it's 1983 or something and then, wouldn't you know it, dominates as a RS freshman. Mikal Bridges was a 4 star who averaged 18ppg and 5rpg. Why wouldn't he leave? Phil Booth was a 4 star as well who's a key reserve. That's like us playing this year with a redshirt Bam Adebayo, a junior Briscoe and a sophomore Malik Monk. Brunson and Bridges should be gone and if they return, I'll be so pissed as we say goodbye to Diallo and SGA and probably Knox and Gabriel.
Pisses me off they can get MVP players to return when we got a guy like SGA who blows up and is going to leave (and I don't blame him). Or they get a guy like Spellman who was a mother effing 5 star to come in and redshirt like it's 1983 or something and then, wouldn't you know it, dominates as a RS freshman. Mikal Bridges was a 4 star who averaged 18ppg and 5rpg. Why wouldn't he leave? Phil Booth was a 4 star as well who's a key reserve. That's like us playing this year with a redshirt Bam Adebayo, a junior Briscoe and a sophomore Malik Monk. Brunson and Bridges should be gone and if they return, I'll be so pissed as we say goodbye to Diallo and SGA and probably Knox and Gabriel.
I'm sorry but sustained success is much longer than 4 years. Coach K has been at a program for 34 or more years and has for the last 2-3 decades been one of the best coaches in the game. I'm not saying Wright isn't a great coach but let's see if he can sustain a decade or longer success before we anoint him tops in basketball.
I know what you are saying but he might not have 12, 19 and 14 loss seasons here and I doubt he would be coaching 5 or more freshman every year.
K is also almost 70. Where was he in 2000 after 17 years? Had two titles and none since 1992. Folks were wondering if he could get back to the pinnacle. Then he landed Battier and Jay Williams and started a whole new run.
Ehh, I'd give him a pretty long runway on that. Notice that his predecessor (Steve Lappas) was pretty much pushed out (wasn't fired, but also wasn't offered a contract extension), and then went on to do nothing at UMass.
The period from 05-10 was very good for Villanova, clearly turning the direction of the program around. Then it sort of disintegrated for 3 years, and that's where he wouldn't have survived at UK. Go 21-12 two years removed from a FF? OK. UK fans would be angry (like always), but he wouldn't have been pushed out that fast. Follow that up with 13-19? Dead man walking. And even if, by some miracle, he stuck around, the 20-14 season that followed would have been the final nail in the coffin.
But I generally agree with you. Wright is doing an outstanding job, but he also hit a great run of recruits. Now let's see what happens when he loses Brunson and Bridges.
What Cal does is start from a very high floor, with a very high ceiling. The problem is that he has such a short time to reach that ceiling. Wright can build towards it over a period of years, Cal can't really do that. But still, there's a reason that Cal has won 81% of his games at UK, and 78% for his career, while Wright is still only at 72% (just at Villanova). Even if you eliminate Wright's first 3 years at Villanova, he's at 75.7%. With vastly fewer tournament wins.
Yeah, I guess if you are losing 19 and 14 games, you can afford to redshirt people, and they will accept it, knowing they are not going to the tournament, anyway. Villanova was a really good team this year, and they deserved the title. If they return 4 of the 5, they will be top 10 next year, but, I think this was a weak year in college basketball. Next year, there should be 6-7 teams that are better than any team from this year. Should be interesting.
Is this still a Kentucky board? The hero worship of Villanova is nauseating. They won the title because other than WV they played nobody that had a chance of beating them in the East region. I only wish Butler could have played them again.
Yes Nova is having a good run. But we have seem this movie before. See UConn Syracuse MSU Florida
Only Duke UK UNC and KU have the capacity to continually contend year after year. These teams bring in top 10 talent even after down years. Watch and see what happens if Villanova is 18-14 and dont make the tourney. Its back to mediocrity
Only Duke UK UNC and KU have the capacity to continually contend year after year. These teams bring in top 10 talent even after down years. Watch and see what happens if Villanova is 18-14 and dont make the tourney. Its back to mediocrity
Because when Cal recruits them he puts the NBA in their head if it isnt already..And tells them if they plan on staying at UK then its not for them..So before they get their foot in the door at UK, Cal has them with one foot out the door trying to get drafted..
Yeah, but did you see how Villanova responded when they got punched in the mouth last night? It pissed them off and they played like their asses were on fire.
If our guys want to beat a team like that, they better toughen up, because Villanova will only become more resilient, especially if nobody on that team leaves.
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