Closing Arguments

[teamchemistry15]

Wayne Turner is my starting PG. He has two championship rings, is top five in career assists, and number one in career steals. More importantly, when he left school no one in college basketball history had played in more games than him.

Doron Lamb holds one of the best 3 point percentages for a season and brings another ring to my roster.

Mr. Rhodes gives me a 1000 point score.

McCarty brings a stretch four with a championship and near 40% three point shot.

Danny Boy is the school's all time leading scorer. Enough said.

Rondo gives me that extra defense off the bench and a consistent play maker.

Jorts brings the toughness and bully ball that helped bring a final four to town.

Hawkins brings the home town favorite who is consistent, tough, and a heck of a defender.

All together I have four national titles, the school's all time leading scorer, steals man, and games played.

[George]

Jamal Mashburn: Leader of Kentucky's renaissance at a time when many thought the program might not recover. Delivered Kentucky to its first Final Four since 1984. As a small forward, Mashburn played an advanced game more attuned to today's athlete than that of his peers of the day. He was as athletic, versatile, and dominating a player as Kentucky has ever seen. At 6'8", 240 lbs., he had tremendous size to complement his wealth of skills. A consensus first-team All-American, All-NCAA Final Four team, and SEC Player of the Year, Mashburn is sixth all-time in scoring (1843 points), a top-20 rebounder (760), and an excellent defender who could cover all positions (153 steals). For his career, Mash averaged just a hair under 19 points per and shot almost 52%, with a respectable 38% from three. The stats, alone, speak for themselves, but Mashburn's heart, grit, and leadership put him in rarified air and make him an obvious choice as the cornerstone of any winning team.

Patrick Patterson: An imposing, athletic specimen at power forward, Patrick Patterson's stats don't tell the whole story but are a testament to just how good he really was, given the hand he was dealt. Another stud who came to Kentucky when he, and everyone else, had every reason not to, Patterson played on a couple of bad teams and hung in there through some tough times, all the while racking up 1,564 points (good for 13th all-time), 791 rebounds (13th all-time), and 152 blocks (9th all-time). Pat earned SEC Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-SEC in his soph. and junior years. For his career, he averaged 16 points at 58% shooting, 8 rebounds per game, and developed a nice three-point shot by his final season.

Lou Dampier: One of many impressive two-sport athletes at Kentucky, my starting shooting guard, Lou Dampier, was as pure an athlete as you could find. A bit undersized at only 6', Lou was a relentless scorer with an excellent shot who could be counted on to fill it up game after game. Dampier scored 1575 points in only 80 games (good for 12th all-time), averaging almost 20 points per game on 47% shooting. When his teams needed points, they knew they could turn to Lou.

Dirk Minniefield: Kentucky's all-time assists leader by a mile, which is saying something considering the number of elite point guards who've played at UK. At 6'3" 180 lbs., Dirk had great size at the guard position, with speed and, most importantly, court vision and IQ that made him a nightmare for opposing defenses. Over the course of his career, Dirk racked up 646 assists, over 100 more than the next-best guy on the list. Simply put, that record may never be broken. Even though Dirk let his teammates rack up most of the points, he was an efficient scorer ((9 points per at 52%) and is a member of the thousand-point club. He was also a 77% free-throw shooter. However, aside from his assists, Dirk's next-best attribute was his defense. He terrorized opponents to the tune of 156 steals (10th all-time). An all-time distributor, Dirk will set my guys up all day long.

Randolph Morris: A gigantic center (6'11", 259) with eye-popping athleticism for his size, Randolph Morris quietly developed an impressive array of offensive skills over the course of his career. With not much more than dunks and layups as a freshman, by his junior year Morris' post moves were more advanced than he often gets credit for, and his turn-around jumper was almost automatic. He averaged 12 points (1123 career) and 6 rebounds (531 career) per game and, when locked in, was always an imposing presence in Kentucky's front court.

Nerlens Noel: An incredible, if raw, athlete, Nerlens Noel is one of the most amazing shot-blockers Kentucky's ever seen. His speed, athleticism, and constantly threatening defensive presence were always reasons to keep him on the court. When my team needs defense, enter Nerlens Noel. Even though he played on a bad team and his year was cut short by injury, his block party with four fouls against Ole Miss is one of the individual highlights of the Calipari era.

Cliff Hagan: I got a hall of famer in the seventh round, guys. Cliff Hagan is one of only four players in Kentucky history to top 1,000 in both points (1,475) and rebounds (1,035). And he did so in only 77 games. He's an all-time great. I'll just leave it at that.

Derrick Hord: I like his size. He could step in adequately spell three different positions. I hear he was a good defender who could also score. Topped 1,200 points in his career. That's all I know.

I'm going to let Calipari coach my team. At this point, it's just stupid to question the guy. He'll get the most out of every player on the team, he'll have them playing hellacious defense, and they'll make a deep tournament run, at the very least. The versatility and determination of this team would be a dream for Coach Cal.

Get some.

[teamchemistry15]

So, are we just having a vote? Or are we setting up a tournament and voting on individual games?

[uglyduckling]

Vote is the fairest. But I wouldn't mind a comparison with whatifsports. I've been hooked on that site since Jworld mentioned it. Could be fun to stir up some controversy and discussion lol.

[uglyduckling]

I felt last year the way we did it was awesome. Can't remember if we opened it up to the rest of the board or not. If we didn't then we should.

[85 Fly]

^^^ yeah, open it up I wanna vote Lol

[Lighthouse]

I think we opened it up to the board, but not many voted other than owners. Maybe this year will be different. There does need to be a separate thread for either the vote with discussion, or a tournament with discussion.

[J.Jennings]

Vote is the fairest. But I wouldn't mind a comparison with whatifsports. I've been hooked on that site since Jworld mentioned it. Could be fun to stir up some controversy and discussion lol.

Not sure how old you are or if you play 2k basketball but its' probably the best simulator of all. Hell, i am 43 and i love it lol lol lol ... The 2k simulator team vs. team is the best but the problem is that old UK players are not in the game so it would be impossible unless 2K ran the analytics and gave the players a rating. I am amazed at all the stats 2k compiles to come up with a player rating and they even get into player tendencies driving left or right, pull up in transition, and about just every other imaginable stat you can think of including high motor, energy, and heart(championship dna)........

[uglyduckling]

Not sure how old you are or if you play 2k basketball but its' probably the best simulator of all. Hell, i am 43 and i love it lol lol lol ... The 2k simulator team vs. team is the best but the problem is that old UK players are not in the game so it would be impossible unless 2K ran the analytics and gave the players a rating. I am amazed at all the stats 2k compiles to come up with a player rating and they even get into player tendencies driving left or right, pull up in transition, and about just every other imaginable stat you can think of including high motor, energy, and heart(championship dna)........

Yeah I love 2k. It's the most realistic sports game out there by far.

[J.Jennings]

Yeah I love 2k. It's the most realistic sports game out there by far.

No doubt. I recreated the roster with a custom league of nothing but college teams. I expanded the league to 36 but for Kentucky, i had 4 Uk teams lol lol lol. The 96 era, the Tubby era (Rondo and company) the 09-13 era, the 14 through now. Also had 2 Duke and Carolina teams lol lol lol... Since we did our draft here, i want to create a UK 80's and late 70's team with Chapman, Skywalker, Givens, Bowie, Isselletc and am also kicking the tires on a late 40's,50's, and 60'S mix Beard, Spivery, Groza, Wah Jones, Dampier, etc....


Point is this, i love Kentucky basketball and get excited thinking about the history of the program and all they great players. Even with this draft, there is no winners or losers, it's good simply because it brings back alot of old memories of UK basketball in the past and that's a good thing......

[Lighthouse]

No doubt. I recreated the roster with a custom league of nothing but college teams. I expanded the league to 36 but for Kentucky, i had 4 Uk teams lol lol lol. The 96 era, the Tubby era (Rondo and company) the 09-13 era, the 14 through now. Also had 2 Duke and Carolina teams lol lol lol... Since we did our draft here, i want to create a UK 80's and late 70's team with Chapman, Skywalker, Givens, Bowie, Isselletc and am also kicking the tires on a late 40's,50's, and 60'S mix Beard, Spivery, Groza, Wah Jones, Dampier, etc....


Point is this, i love Kentucky basketball and get excited thinking about the history of the program and all they great players. Even with this draft, there is no winners or losers, it's good simply because it brings back alot of old memories of UK basketball in the past and that's a good thing......

It sure is JJ. There isn't a bad team in the draft, and if we went from here, drafted again and left out all players currently drafted, we would still have 8 Kentucky teams that could compete.

[Lighthouse]

OK, let's keep it going and not let this die. What's next?

[teamchemistry15]

OK, let's keep it going and not let this die. What's next?

I think a tournament would be too much. Would you mind starting a thread for voting? Maybe do the opening post with all of the teams and we can vote our order? I am on my phone and can't copy and paste.

[Lighthouse]

Will attempt to get a thread going today. I have a Dr Appt and finishing a few honey do's, so if someone else can start it, go ahead.