I am Tired of KY Basketball being a Mockery of NCAABB

[DowntownGator]

The fab five mentality obviously works. GO CATS?! Right? Unfortunately, and unwittingly for their fans, it cheats the fun out of college basketball for everybody else. How KY (I love that acronym ... it is so fitting for them) fans think the basketball theater they put on the floor is entertaining is explainable only by their self absorbed, selfish and self righteous blindness.

Hopefully this silliness is a permanent fixture so everyone will wake up to the mockery KY is making of college basketball.

Consider: Suppose they win NC every year for the next five years with 5 new freshman faces every year? How fun would that be? KY fans (and even those fans of CBB itself) never get to know the players because they obviously don't give a crap about college other than it being a springboard for their one and done, and they leave school early with NO intention of even finishing two semesters every year.

Sorry, KY Basketball and all their ignorant supporting fans are bastardizing a good sport right now.

This isn't jealousy, this is the truth. I'd rather the Gators go after quality PEOPLE who commit to busting their arse and representing UF, and in turn the fans get the bonus of a reasonable chance to know the players, their families, and their development over the course of their 1+ year careers, rather than get dealt royal straight flushes every year in the recruiting game because THAT IS PART OF THE FUN!! I'd rather get BEAT in the SECCG or NCG every year by the CATS than play by their phony standards. The '04s coming out of nowhere made my LIFE with respect to college basketball entertainment. KY says forget that shite, we got a #1 system so check it:

And I say give them what they want! Give 'em the top five NBA draft picks every year, the #1 recruiting ranking, the #1 preseason ranking, the #1 SEC ranking, the RSSECC, the SECTCG, the #1 overall seed in the NCAAT, and the Crystal Ball. Wouldn't NCAABB be such a blast then!!?

Boring!

I'd rather be runner up to that phoniness any day.

So thanks Cats and fans for creating this caricature of a basketball show (with a proven cheater no less!) you are putting on right now and this sham of dressing it up as the appearance of "sport" ...

Fn phonies. Fans and players who support that shite.

I will never respect a freshman team of one and dones who were recruited specifically to play one year in order to win the NC.

I never hated KY before, to be honest with you bros. But after what they did to Tubby Smith and how they tried to snatch Billy D from UF and now this #1at everythingatallcosts crap with Calipari, sorry, they have finally confirmed themselves as THE #1 shite stain in NCAABB.

The irony on that one will be lost on them, no doubt.



GO GATORS!!!!!

[your_perfect_enemy]

so the nba imposes a stupid rule and somehow uk is making a mockery of college basketball?

[regurgigator]

UK is now my least favorite team in college basketball also, but although they won the national championship last season, I'm not convinced their strategy will be as successful as you think it will be.

[intimigator1]

I'm in total agreement with the poster.....I am always going to be a fan of the player that isn't blessed with the easy talents but works hard to win and does it without NBA skills. I HATE, yes HATE, one and done's, by the way the name of the player that lasted 1 year for the Gators was???????? (you have time to get the name right by checking the internet) Most Gators could not name that individual but...call the name Noah, Al and on and on and it's easy. It's because these players became Gators..they won the hearts of fans with their dedication, they came back to win another, that my friends is what the game is about. These Kentucky one and done's should just go and play pro and fulfill their short term egos. I hate one and done's and will always hate one and done's and yes that goes for that dude that learned to play in the second half of the season.

[ThePlayer]

Calimari won't win a Natty every year....or even every other year.
You don't build a winning team with great players alone..usually.
And most of these one-and-done players come with baggage.

[intimigator1]

Even in high school a person could pull together the best 5 from opposing schools and beat a team...is it right? Nope..the game is bigger than what Kentucky thinks is important and I say screw them and screw the fans that support this type of game. Winning becomes very, very boring if it is expected all the time before the season even starts...the game deserves better than Kentucky..bring on the real great teams..Florida, Ucla, Indiana, Michigan, Villanova....at least we have one thing in common...we recruit players for the long haul and see how it turns out..Kentucky recruits for the short time only to see the experience. Yay..Kentucky..you rock..blah blah blah.

[jeffphillips21]

The good thing this year is a team like UF returning a core of talented players working in a system built over years could derail KY. Man I would love to see it. Watch a well-oiled machine on both ends of the floor run circles around a bunch of talented, but not cohesive and often sloppy, "5-star" players get run off the court. Maybe it's just a dream but that's the beauty of basketball - chemistry and coaching does matter. I'd take BD any day, against anyone.

[UFG8rGuy3283]

I've been frustrated with UK before but over time my philosophy has changed. Winning in college basketball, in today's game, revolves around a few different things: Talent, Coaching, Continuity and Chemistry.

Every now and then you will see a title from a group put together like UK's class last year. That team had LOADS of talent and Cal did a nice job getting them to play together enough with the already established players to make a title run. The chemistry was there and they had Anthony Davis, who was so good at impacting the game where needed. It was his unselfishness, IMHO, that led to UK winning it all last year.

This year's UK team will be good, but I don't know that anyone expects them to win a National Title.

What I am trying hard to understand is, Billy is starting to shift his recruiting a bit more toward 1 and done kids, which is not a bad thing. I don't know any Gator fan who thinks that commitments from Beal and more recently Walker and Hill (both projected 1 and dones by many) are a bad thing. We all seem to want Randle and Parker and they are potential 1 and dones also.

I have always felt as if Calipari is a used car salesman type who is a good basketball coach, but an even better people reader/motivator. He will use any advantage he can and will push the rules as far as he can. He has a sketchy track record and is not the type of person I would necessarily want my son to play for.

I realize that a big reason for UF having 2 potential 1 and dones in the 2013 class is that they both are Florida kids and played AAU ball together, but how many of us are really going to complain if we have 1 or 2 elite guys in each class?

What are we going to say if Billy pulls either Randle or Parker in this class and we have 3 leave at the end of the year next year or even more if either of the transfer guys blow up?

I realize it can get frustrating, but I'm not sure why we spend so much time talking about UK on this board and obsessing about Calipari.

[regurgigator]

Good comments UFG8rGuy. I completely agree with most of it.

I'm not sure Billy has changed his recruiting tactics. Maybe someone like Bullis can chime in with some more-informed insight than I (a complete outsider) can give, but I think Billy generally over the years would recruit the best players that he believes fits his mold and that he believes he has a chance with.

I don't recall the specifics, but I think even with the 04's, there were some other more highly rated players that Donovan recruited that year.

Billy became a little more careful after the Kwame Brown (and others) thing, but I still think he tries to recruit the best team-oriented players around (that fit his style).

What's so distasteful to me about Cal's approach is his total focus on getting one-and-done players and pushing them on to the NBA as soon as possible to make room for next season's crop. No, it's not against the rules, but....ugh!

[UFG8rGuy3283]

Originally Posted by regurgigator

Good comments UFG8rGuy. I completely agree with most of it.

I'm not sure Billy has changed his recruiting tactics. Maybe someone like Bullis can chime in with some more-informed insight than I (a complete outsider) can give, but I think Billy generally over the years would recruit the best players that he believes fits his mold and that he believes he has a chance with.

I don't recall the specifics, but I think even with the 04's, there were some other more highly rated players that Donovan recruited that year.

Billy became a little more careful after the Kwame Brown (and others) thing, but I still think he tries to recruit the best team-oriented players around (that fit his style).

What's so distasteful to me about Cal's approach is his total focus on getting one-and-done players and pushing them on to the NBA as soon as possible to make room for next season's crop. No, it's not against the rules, but....ugh!

Point taken about Billy's recruiting strategy. I think most can agree that the Kwame Brown incident started to make Billy more guarded against recruiting guys who were projected straight to the pros.

I also think Pel and the other assistants have really helped step up the recruiting.

Add to it Hill and Walker are in state and Beal went #3 overall and hence the interest by guys like Randle and Parker.

I think people just need to stop and consider it may not be far fetched to see Billy have a few more 1 and dones and next thing you know, he might start pulling 2 or more regularly. Will we really complain if he is not breaking any rules and winning?

[gatorman_07732]

Don't worry because when Calipari announces he's going to leave you'll know investigations are not far behind.

[REM08]

Originally Posted by intimigator1

I'm in total agreement with the poster.....I am always going to be a fan of the player that isn't blessed with the easy talents but works hard to win and does it without NBA skills. I HATE, yes HATE, one and done's, by the way the name of the player that lasted 1 year for the Gators was???????? (you have time to get the name right by checking the internet) Most Gators could not name that individual but...call the name Noah, Al and on and on and it's easy. It's because these players became Gators..they won the hearts of fans with their dedication, they came back to win another, that my friends is what the game is about. These Kentucky one and done's should just go and play pro and fulfill their short term egos. I hate one and done's and will always hate one and done's and yes that goes for that dude that learned to play in the second half of the season.

I can actually respect this type of opinion - most of it at least. You hate one and dones. Thats fine. At least you're consistent and hate your own one and dones also. Most fans would just make some sort of justification for why its different or acceptable (its not as many...etc etc etc).

I still can't fathom WHY you'd despise Brad Beal having played a year as a Gator - while going to classes and being an overall great kid. Tell me this, did you love other guys on last years team more than you liked Beal? Okay. How many of them would be Gators this year if they could have been picked number 3 in the draft last summer? None of them. You wouldn't have a team this year. You'd have walkons and borrowed players from the women's team. Quit fooling yourself that you're cheering for kids that come from superior moral fiber or integrity - kids without egos or personal ambition. You're cheering for kids that didn't have the same decision to make.

I wonder what you would tell your son if he was in such a position. Would you make him commit to getting a college degree before he moved on to NBA stardom? Would his only other option be Europe or the D-league for a year? If he had Billy in your living room saying that he could play at Florida for however long he felt was necessary in the best interest of him and his family and that at the end of the year Billy would advise him by use of his own experience and his contacts in the NBA about what his options were, would you actually insist that this wasn't a possibility for your son? I seriously doubt it.

That being said, at least you're consistent.

[REM08]

Originally Posted by UFG8rGuy3283

I think people just need to stop and consider it may not be far fetched to see Billy have a few more 1 and dones and next thing you know, he might start pulling 2 or more regularly. Will we really complain if he is not breaking any rules and winning?

Someone rep him for me. He's making too much sense for this thread.

[regurgigator]

Originally Posted by REM08

Someone rep him for me. He's making too much sense for this thread.

I repped him because I completely agree. I have always said (even after Kwame Brown/Donnell Harvey/etc.) that I thought Billy would go after some one-and-dones if he had the chance and was convinced that their primary focus while at UF would not be on showcasing their skills to the NBA. I've got no problem with those kind of one-and-done players (of which Beal and UK's guys Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist were fine examples).

Actually, I've got no problem with one-and-done players who are most interested in displaying their skills to the NBA either - as long as they're at other schools


That's all apart from the fact that I can't stand the way Cal is running his program. I've consistently said I see nothing wrong/unethical/unsporting/illegal/whatever about how Cal is doing it (as far as I know anyway). I just find Cal's methods very displeasing aesthetically (if you will). As best I can tell, no other program comes close to this all-consuming focus on one-and-done players and I contend no other program is trying to do it that way either (although granted there are only a few programs that could try to do it Cal's way).


I do hope the NBA increases the wait requirement from 1 year to 2 years (but not the baseball rule!!!). Then, we could argue about the dreaded two-and-done player

[dailydoublecat]

I just don't see the problem with a one and done player. As a Kentucky fan I want the best possible recruits I could get. It is up to the players to work hard to achieve their dreams of playing in the NBA and supporting their families.
Could you honestly say to Davis and Gilchrist that they should come back? What if they got hurt or their stock dropped?

Calipari is paid to win basketball games. I for one think one or two four year players are fine but if you want to win and win big you need to get elite talent and they don't stay very long nor should they!
Jeff

[tupacbiff]

Originally Posted by dailydoublecat

I just don't see the problem with a one and done player. As a Kentucky fan I want the best possible recruits I could get. It is up to the players to work hard to achieve their dreams of playing in the NBA and supporting their families.
Could you honestly say to Davis and Gilchrist that they should come back? What if they got hurt or their stock dropped?

Calipari is paid to win basketball games. I for one think one or two four year players are fine but if you want to win and win big you need to get elite talent and they don't stay very long nor should they!
Jeff

Delusional.

No way it's as much fun rooting for a team w all one and dines compared to kids who came up through the program.

However you have proven to be just another delusional uk fan.

[gatordee]

Last year Uk had just enough seasons players to go with the one and dones. Without some type of seasoned players on their team, they will not win it all. This year will be an example of what happens without the seasoned players.

[dailydoublecat]

Originally Posted by gatordee

Last year Uk had just enough seasons players to go with the one and dones. Without some type of seasoned players on their team, they will not win it all. This year will be an example of what happens without the seasoned players.

Very good points! We shall see in the next two years how KY does with these young ins. I will still take talent over experience every day of the week!
Jeff

[gobigblue]

Originally Posted by tupacbiff

Delusional.

No way it's as much fun rooting for a team w all one and dines compared to kids who came up through the program.

However you have proven to be just another delusional uk fan.

I'm afraid you're another jealous fan. You'd give anything to be a National Champion again....and Billy is doing his best for you - by recruiting elite 1-and-done talent!

Understandably, college basketball isn't what it used to be. That's neither Coach Cal's fault or UK's. Either you adapt your recruiting philosophy or you will continue to be beat by teams who do.

Either re-direct your ire toward the NBA's one-and-done rule, or simply admit you're jealous.

[tupacbiff]

Originally Posted by gobigblue

I'm afraid you're another jealous fan. You'd give anything to be a National Champion again....and Billy is doing his best for you - by recruiting elite 1-and-done talent!

Understandably, college basketball isn't what it used to be. That's neither Coach Cal's fault or UK's. Either you adapt your recruiting philosophy or you will continue to be beat by teams who do.

Either re-direct your ire toward the NBA's one-and-done rule, or simply admit you're jealous.

I understand your fear. We both know the cal era will result in a ton of vacated wins. Your coach is a cheater and you fully support doing things the wrong way. That speaks volumes as to your moral and ethical view on life. Sad and I feel bad for you.