College Basketball: Sweet and disappointing

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

33 minutes ago, sperry said:

I hope those Oregon guys come back. They're a fun team, and they'd probably be preseason #1.

Me too. And as much as I love the old Big East and East Coast basketball, I'd love to see more West Coast teams develop into perennial contenders. Though, I will say, the system doesn't do them any favors.

[sperry]

Isiaiah Briscoe to the league. Kentucky likely to take a big step back as they lose essentially everyone.

[Rhom]

17 minutes ago, sperry said:

Isiaiah Briscoe to the league. Kentucky likely to take a big step back as they lose essentially everyone.

We do... but we also have the number one class coming in already with the likely addition of Mo Bamba (who I would tag as the best player in the class) and possible addition of Kevin Knox.   

That being said, I don't agree with the projections putting us in the top 5.  Top 10 maybe.  Which is essentially where we were for most of this year, so I wouldn't call it a step back.  In one ESPN article I read about the pre-season prognostications, they asserted that all the top teams would have significant turnover and if that's the case, then why not put your money on the team that handles turnover the best.   Suppose that's as good a reason as any.

Next year's team looks to be the exact opposite of this year's team.  Where we were dominated by guard play this year, next year looks to be forward heavy.  Which is a big concern for me as the tournament is typically guard dominated (Gonzaga and UNC title game not withstanding.)

[sperry]

Kentucky's best seasons have always come when they're bringing significant contributors back.  Calipari's 3 best teams by far were the first one, where they had the incumbent players to support the freshmen class, the championship team when Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, and Darius Miller returning, and the undefeated team that brought back almost everyone from the previous year.

[Ded As Ned]

And there's Diallo who's been practicing with this year's team since December.  

[RedEyedGhost]

22 minutes ago, Rhom said:

(who I would tag as the best player in the class)

The rest of the world has MPJ as the best prospect since Jesus Shuttlesworth, but Rhom's got Bamba!  There's no Kentucky bias here.   

Bricksoe leaving is probably a good thing.

Just now, Ded As Ned said:

And there's Diallo who's been practicing with this year's team since December.  

That dude can't shoot either, can he?

[Rhom]

1 minute ago, sperry said:

1 minute ago, sperry said:

Kentucky's best seasons have always come when they're bringing significant contributors back.  Calipari's 3 best teams by far were the first one, where they had the incumbent players to support the freshmen class, the championship team when Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, and Darius Miller returning, and the undefeated team that brought back almost everyone from the previous year.

 

Just now, RedEyedGhost said:

The rest of the world has MPJ as the best prospect since Jesus Shuttlesworth, but Rhom's got Bamba!  There's no Kentucky bias here.   

Bricksoe leaving is probably a good thing.

That dude can't shoot either, can he?

 

Quote function  

Anyways... yes, you are absolutely right.  This team may wind up more like the 2011 team with Knight/Jones and the 2014 team with the Randle/Young/Twins.  They may take some lumps along the way... but both of those teams wound up in the Final Four.

From what I've seen, many are tagging Ayton as the number one player.    Bamba has his fair share of proponents as well.  I liked his game in the Mickey D's exhibition more than the others.

[sperry]

That 2010-2011 team also brought back a lot of contributors.  The '14 team went on a nice tourney run, but they were nothing special as a team.

[Rhom]

5 minutes ago, sperry said:

That 2010-2011 team also brought back a lot of contributors.  The '14 team went on a nice tourney run, but they were nothing special as a team.

In 2014, Kentucky had 5 SEC losses by 5 points or less.  The signs were there that it was coming together.  But that's ancient history now. 

And yes to @RedEyedGhost Diallo's reputation is as an athlete moreso than a shooter.  That's the biggest glaring weakness for next year's team and the reports that Calipari has offered the Cal decommit Jemarl Baker and fast rising Illinois Player of the Year Mark Smith indicates that he is making strides to try to fill the role.

[sperry]

7 minutes ago, Rhom said:

In 2014, Kentucky had 5 SEC losses by 5 points or less.  The signs were there that it was coming together.  But that's ancient history now. 

And yes to @RedEyedGhost Diallo's reputation is as an athlete moreso than a shooter.  That's the biggest glaring weakness for next year's team and the reports that Calipari has offered the Cal decommit Jemarl Baker and fast rising Illinois Player of the Year Mark Smith indicates that he is making strides to try to fill the role.

 

Every team loses games by 5 or less. That's not saying anything. That wasn't a particularly good team, and the common thread on Calipari's great teams is multiple returning contributors who improve on the previous year in addition to the incoming guys.

[Rhom]

The Ball family of the South, the Lawsons of Memphis are leaving the program.

After just one year, the local papers are already asking if Tubby was the right hire for Memphis. 

[Rhom]

We now know why UCLA lost to Kentucky...  too many white guys. 

[Greywolf2375]

6 minutes ago, Rhom said:

We now know why UCLA lost to Kentucky...  too many white guys. 

God I wish people would stop giving him the time of day...WEEI had him on for an interview last week and it was just a train wreck - Lonzo can beat anyone 1-1, humble bragging that he doesn't need to be the coach anywhere but everyone knows where the plans come from.

I'm torn - I'd hate to see his kid not succeed because his dad is a les sac du douche, but man would I also love to see him go down in flames at the next level.  I could very easily see the NBA elite treating this kid like Jordan and Pippen did Kukoc in the Olympics just to help him learn.

[dbunting]

4 hours ago, Rhom said:

We now know why UCLA lost to Kentucky...  too many white guys. 

Could you imagine the outrage if Luke Kuechley's dad said Carolina couldn't win because of Cam Newtons race?

Personally I chuckled when I read it but it's not ok for him to get away with it.

[sperry]

Hopefully now that he's saying racist shit they'll stop giving him air time. Unfortunately that will probably just get him more air time. Also if I was Alford I'd be telling old LiAngelo to find another school to play at.

 

I want Lonzo to do well, he seems like a decent enough kid and hasn't inherited his father's traits. But I have a feeling that guys like Russell and Steph are going to take pleasure in absolutely destroying him his first couple years in the league.

[Rhom]

5 hours ago, Greywolf2375 said:

I'm torn - I'd hate to see his kid not succeed because his dad is a les sac du douche, but man would I also love to see him go down in flames at the next level.  I could very easily see the NBA elite treating this kid like Jordan and Pippen did Kukoc in the Olympics just to help him learn.

 

1 hour ago, sperry said:

I want Lonzo to do well, he seems like a decent enough kid and hasn't inherited his father's traits. But I have a feeling that guys like Russell and Steph are going to take pleasure in absolutely destroying him his first couple years in the league.

That's the worst part of it, isn't it?  Lonzo genuinely seems like a nice enough kid... but any GM who thinks about taking him is going to have to genuinely consider whether they want to deal with his dad.

[sperry]

2 hours ago, Triskan said:

At least one columnist is already saying that Alford should not take on the next two Balls.  And he seriously does not need Gelo next year.  He's a 3 star but like their fifth best recruit.

 

Alford did the ultimate deal with the devil.

[RedEyedGhost]

Swept that shit like a mafucker!

Damn am I going to miss this kid.

“Right now, these awards don’t mean that much to me,” Mason said in a phone interview with the Journal-World. “I know that sounds crazy, and maybe it’s because I’m still stuck on the (Oregon) game and what we should’ve accomplished as a team, but I think, as I get older, like really old, I might look back on it and maybe brag on it then.”

[Rhom]

"Like really old... like 30 or something..."

Good for him.  Well deserved.  

I just made up the 30 part, but I remember when I was that age there was a guy coming back to work on his Masters and in the middle of the day he would hang out at the fraternity house between classes.  We always welcomed him, but man did we think it was so weird to have an old guy just sitting around.  Looking back on it now, I realize he was probably 26 or 27.  

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Frank Martin named "Coach of the Year":

https://www.google.com/amp/s/southcarolina.247sports.com/Bolt/Martin-named-National-Coach-of-the-Year-52154152/Amp