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Who to UK?

You’re not stilling my thunder she-witch!! I’m excited about this hire and I love it!!!!

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That makes two of us.
 
This. Pitino's quote about "I'll write an NIL check to help Mark make it happen" is completely overshadowing the one from that same interview that grabbed my attention: "[Donovan] had no interest in that situation". Pitino might've been BSing, but with how this played out and how Pitino absolutely would've known what Donovan's thoughts were, it makes you wonder if Donovan was only being coy in public because he didn't want to embarrass Barnhart in public for a third time. There's no logical reason for Donovan to return to the college game at this point.

Barnhart's quote about the candidate list "being more of a puddle rather than a pond" backs up all of that. When you exclude moonshots like Donovan & Hurley, refuse to consider the damaged goods like Miller, Pearl, and Pitino, and then get the carpet pulled out from under you by a coach's wife....it's much easier to see how we ended up here so quickly. Oats probably still would've been worth the buyout, IMO, but perhaps there was something else going on there.




These kinda sum up where I am. When I saw the news break, I was in complete denial for about 30min. I was irrationally hoping it was just chaff to cover for some other big/unexpected fish that Barnhart was trying to get into the boat. And then reality hit.

Mark's smart and extremely assertive. He knows better than any other person on the list what the Kentucky job entails and the pressure involved (esp in the midst of a FF drought). I have a tough time believing he would sign up for this unless he was confident he stood a decent chance of success.

Laser-focused on how the staff is constructed and I REALLY think he'll need a GM position (Nazr?) to help with the bunny-hopping as they try to get things rolling the next 12-18mos. I selfishly want to see Rondo on the bench because he's my all-time favorite wildcat, but I can't really imagine Barnhart letting him on the staff after the gun charge (as weak as that might've been).

Anyway, gonna be a long summer. The happiest person in the midst of all of this is, undoubtedly, Pitino.
Where have you been for so long!?
 
Where have you been for so long!?
Ha. Yeah, leave it to a Kentucky coaching vacancy to bring me out of poasting retirement.

Way back in early 2017, I took a new job that involved working in a building without cell coverage and where the Rivals network was blocked on wifi. Pair that with the unpopularity of posting on message boards when I got home at night and Kentucky basketball steadily going downhill, I kinda fell out of the habit. And then COVID hit and I definitely didn't have time. At some point during that stretch, the national board went premium to kill the bot spam and my Cats Pause subscription had expired due to all of the above.

Kinda nice to see so many familiar names still around.
 
Ha. Yeah, leave it to a Kentucky coaching vacancy to bring me out of poasting retirement.

Way back in early 2017, I took a new job that involved working in a building without cell coverage and where the Rivals network was blocked on wifi. Pair that with the unpopularity of posting on message boards when I got home at night and Kentucky basketball steadily going downhill, I kinda fell out of the habit. And then COVID hit and I definitely didn't have time. At some point during that stretch, the national board went premium to kill the bot spam and my Cats Pause subscription had expired due to all of the above.

Kinda nice to see so many familiar names still around.
Well glad you’re back!
 
From the stories floating around, the Crafts run the university of Kentucky athletics. So Calipari wouldn’t let the Crafts have Oscar in Kelly Crafts political commercials, so the Crafts cut their funding for basketball. I know that Calipari is a turd,but protecting Oscar from possible political ridicule from the fans was a good thing Calipari did. I’m so glad that lady got beat in the primaries.
 
From the stories floating around, the Crafts run the university of Kentucky athletics. So Calipari wouldn’t let the Crafts have Oscar in Kelly Crafts political commercials, so the Crafts cut their funding for basketball. I know that Calipari is a turd,but protecting Oscar from possible political ridicule from the fans was a good thing Calipari did. I’m so glad that lady got beat in the primaries.


That's the story going around and it's partially true.

The relationship between the crafts and cal was bad before that ever happened. They had already cut donations. This specific situation was probably the final straw.

It wasn't just the Crafts. It's known 4 or 5 of the top donors went from being close with Cal to having no/bad relationship with him. So all their money dried up too.

Btw- remember most of the fanbase were probably Craft/maga supporters. So it could have been just as much protecting Beshear than protecting Oscar.
 
That's the story going around and it's partially true.

The relationship between the crafts and cal was bad before that ever happened. They had already cut donations. This specific situation was probably the final straw.

It wasn't just the Crafts. It's known 4 or 5 of the top donors went from being close with Cal to having no/bad relationship with him. So all their money dried up too.

Btw- remember most of the fanbase were probably Craft/maga supporters. So it could have been just as much protecting Beshear than protecting Oscar.
I never really considered NIL being used for political purposes. Guess I should have.

A majority of UK supporters maybe are, but if that became a national thing then maybe it could hurt overall marketability outside of the confines of Kentucky.
 
A few former players were in her commercials. None of them had any backlash. Also the only person Cal directly talked about in his press conference was the KY Governor. It's clear Cal and the Crafts didn't like each other anymore.

 
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From the stories floating around, the Crafts run the university of Kentucky athletics. So Calipari wouldn’t let the Crafts have Oscar in Kelly Crafts political commercials, so the Crafts cut their funding for basketball. I know that Calipari is a turd,but protecting Oscar from possible political ridicule from the fans was a good thing Calipari did. I’m so glad that lady got beat in the primaries.

It was bad before that. Kelly Craft is a moron that burnt 8 figures of her husbands money for a 3rd place finish in the primary though. Cal was 100% in the right for that though, but there were a lot of weird vibes around Oscar. There's been other rumblings with him for a while anyway.
 
Damn, just talked to Arkansaian I never met. He brought up following basketball, I don't bring up basketball to customers, it's like politics. He had no idea I was a UK fan, but I said I "follow the sport a little"

"Yeah?"

"what do you think about Calipari coaching Arkansas", he just ugged.
 
This. Pitino's quote about "I'll write an NIL check to help Mark make it happen" is completely overshadowing the one from that same interview that grabbed my attention: "[Donovan] had no interest in that situation". Pitino might've been BSing, but with how this played out and how Pitino absolutely would've known what Donovan's thoughts were, it makes you wonder if Donovan was only being coy in public because he didn't want to embarrass Barnhart in public for a third time. There's no logical reason for Donovan to return to the college game at this point.

Barnhart's quote about the candidate list "being more of a puddle rather than a pond" backs up all of that. When you exclude moonshots like Donovan & Hurley, refuse to consider the damaged goods like Miller, Pearl, and Pitino, and then get the carpet pulled out from under you by a coach's wife....it's much easier to see how we ended up here so quickly. Oats probably still would've been worth the buyout, IMO, but perhaps there was something else going on there.




These kinda sum up where I am. When I saw the news break, I was in complete denial for about 30min. I was irrationally hoping it was just chaff to cover for some other big/unexpected fish that Barnhart was trying to get into the boat. And then reality hit.

Mark's smart and extremely assertive. He knows better than any other person on the list what the Kentucky job entails and the pressure involved (esp in the midst of a FF drought). I have a tough time believing he would sign up for this unless he was confident he stood a decent chance of success.

Laser-focused on how the staff is constructed and I REALLY think he'll need a GM position (Nazr?) to help with the bunny-hopping as they try to get things rolling the next 12-18mos. I selfishly want to see Rondo on the bench because he's my all-time favorite wildcat, but I can't really imagine Barnhart letting him on the staff after the gun charge (as weak as that might've been).

Anyway, gonna be a long summer. The happiest person in the midst of all of this is, undoubtedly, Pitino.
Look what drug this fvcker out of retirement.
 
Self in that timeframe:

2018 - 1 seed, Final Four
2019 - Preseason #1, started 10-0 before Azubuike got hurt and the best shooter left the team. Fell to a 4 seed
2020 - Finished AP #1, would have been prohibitive favorite if there were a tourney
2021 - 3 seed, lost in the 2nd round
2022 - 1 seed, won the NC
2023 - 1 seed, Self didn't coach in the tourney
2024 - Preseason #1, started well, best player got injured and fell to a 4 seed

No major upsets in the tourney.

I think you know the two aren't comparable. Especially with the context that Calipari was pulling in top classes every year while Self was cobbling together scraps due to the investigation.
Not comparing the coaches. My point is/was, coaches go through "lulls". In his first 9 seasons, Self went to 3 FF, 6 E8's, won a natty and had a runner-up.....Pretty much on par with Cal. Then lately, KU aside from the title year, has underachieved---losing in 2nd round 4-5 NCAAT's. Its not a knock on Self at all.

I was using Self as an example of WHY you don't jump ship. Four FF's, Runner up a NATTY, 7 E8's in 15 seasons is really good----ANYWHERE. But for some reason, UK fans(some), think differently---and that UK is immuned to lulls.
 
Not comparing the coaches. My point is/was, coaches go through "lulls". In his first 9 seasons, Self went to 3 FF, 6 E8's, won a natty and had a runner-up.....Pretty much on par with Cal. Then lately, KU aside from the title year, has underachieved---losing in 2nd round 4-5 NCAAT's. Its not a knock on Self at all.

I was using Self as an example of WHY you don't jump ship. Four FF's, Runner up a NATTY, 7 E8's in 15 seasons is really good----ANYWHERE. But for some reason, UK fans(some), think differently---and that UK is immuned to lulls.

The closest thing Self has had to that lull is when he lost to Bucknell/Bradley 20 years ago. Wouldn’t say he’s underachieved lately. A couple seasons got derailed by major injuries, and he won a title with moderate talent, then had to sit out the next tourney.

1 tourney win in 5 years won’t cut it for any top program. That’s the result of a mediocre midmajor, especially when you factor in their terrible record vs ranked teams in that span. Couple that with donors apparently withdrawing support, and the fact that Calipari isn’t exactly young and hungry anymore, and it’s not surprising they wanted to move on.

Granted, I think it was ridiculous to celebrate Calipari leaving without an obvious upgrade in hand. Or to assume that Pope will do a lot better.
 
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The closest thing Self has had to that lull is when he lost to Bucknell/Bradley 20 years ago. Wouldn’t say he’s underachieved lately. A couple seasons got derailed by major injuries, and he won a title with moderate talent, then had to sit out the next tourney.

1 tourney win in 5 years won’t cut it for any top program. That’s the result of a mediocre midmajor, especially when you factor in their terrible record vs ranked teams in that span. Couple that with donors apparently withdrawing support, and the fact that Calipari isn’t exactly young and hungry anymore, and it’s not surprising they wanted to move on.

Granted, I think it was ridiculous to celebrate Calipari leaving without an obvious upgrade in hand. Or to assume that Pope will do a lot better.
Again, not pointing fingers ar Self, or comparing to Cal. Just pointing out, this happens to everyone. Regardless of the circumstances, KU has lost in the 2nd round, 4 of the past 5 NCAAT's---with a title sandwhich in there. And my point to that is------------------------

You don't see KU fans demanding his firing, etc...

Cal's last 4-5 years have been woof. No getting around that.
 
Sheppard
Big Z
Adou
Burks

In that order. The rest? Blah. FYI I don't think any are coming back, but Pope should show Z his offensive tape where everyone is spaced bombing threes and he would be a great fit.
...and show him the money.
 
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How do y'all feel about "Big Z" following Cal to Arky?
 
How do y'all feel about "Big Z" following Cal to Arky?
I'm pretty disappointed, but I certainly understand why he might want to follow his coach. Our new women's coach is bringing a lot of his recruits and players with him, so it is expected. But I don't think it was a good decision on Z's part. Cal didn't use him correctly at all here. Doubt he changes much. The dude has great potential and I believe that he would thrive in Pope's offense. His defense is a weakness as of now.
 
I'm pretty disappointed, but I certainly understand why he might want to follow his coach. Our new women's coach is bringing a lot of his recruits and players with him, so it is expected. But I don't think it was a good decision on Z's part. Cal didn't use him correctly at all here. Doubt he changes much. The dude has great potential and I believe that he would thrive in Pope's offense. His defense is a weakness as of now.
I don't think it is a big loss in the least. He may develop into something, but he is not there now.
 
I don't think it is a big loss in the least. He may develop into something, but he is not there now.
I disagree. He's a big time baller if used correctly. He didn't get as much playing time as he should have either. I guess it was partly because of his defense, but the guys in front of him didn't play good defense either, so..... I'd love to see what he could do without the Calipari chains holding him back.
 
I disagree. He's a big time baller if used correctly. He didn't get as much playing time as he should have either. I guess it was partly because of his defense, but the guys in front of him didn't play good defense either, so..... I'd love to see what he could do without the Calipari chains holding him back.
We can agree to disagree about this subject.
 
I disagree. He's a big time baller if used correctly. He didn't get as much playing time as he should have either. I guess it was partly because of his defense, but the guys in front of him didn't play good defense either, so..... I'd love to see what he could do without the Calipari chains holding him back.
I agree offensively. I think he has a really good offensive skill set. Just needs to bulk up some.

Defensively I think he needs a lot of coaching. Seems a bit slow footed also. But I like his potential.

I also have doubts Cal will get the most out of him.
 
I think he would have been amazing in Popes system. Big that can pass well and shoot is exactly what he needs.
 
I agree offensively. I think he has a really good offensive skill set. Just needs to bulk up some.

Defensively I think he needs a lot of coaching. Seems a bit slow footed also. But I like his potential.

I also have doubts Cal will get the most out of him.
If we're being honest, Cal didn't get "the most out of" anyone. I mean, it's really difficult to do that in just a few months. What gets lost in all the draft picks talk are the guys who left when they should have stayed and developed. Some have found a way to earn decent money, mostly overseas, but things might have been different if they'd have stayed and showcased their talents more.
 
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