How Do We Combat Duke?

[DA#23]

Until Coach K retires, it looks like they are going to get their top picks ad nauseum. What can we do to make up ground?

I think hiring ring the right assistant this summer is the required, but would a new schtick help? DDMO anyone?

[Joneslab]

Instead of trying to combat Duke what I would like to see is a move toward getting players who are five-star type guys but who don't come in with the accolades as some of these others. I.e. guys who are going to stay in the program.

Of course it's very hard to tell who those guys are. Who thought Bledsoe and Shai and some of these others were one-and-done material?

So you can go after guys who aren't as talented but you still don't know if they're going to stick. I do think though that now that Duke gets who they want and now that a lot of other schools are going with one-and-dones, a good change might be toward throwing out "succeed and proceed" and focusing more on the college basketball side of things rather than UK as an NBA finishing school.

I've always been one who never minded one-and-dones because they can win. But if you suddenly can't get them, it may be time for a re-brand.

[Joneslab]

This is especially true if Calipari is two years away from handing the job off.

If he decides to leave then it's imperative we have players who will stick. If you've got four or five one and dones and he leaves then that rips a hole in your program. It would be ideal if he left after a year where we didn't have much obvious NBA talent yet we had guys who were college tough. We're still at least a year away from that with this roster.

Anybody who says one-and-dones can't win doesn't know what they're talking about. But vets can win as well, and the margin for error is a lot larger with vets. Old teams dominate this year and I think you'll see that more and more until they change the rule. I'd like to see Cal go that direction--or hand it over to somebody who will.

[bigbluebob]

I still think we'll still get our share of the 5 stars.
We may not get as many but that could be a good thing....I think a mix of both is the best recipe for success.
What bothers me are the guys who think they're one or two and done and they're not.
Those are the players we need to stay away from or Cal needs to be more honest with.

[KCKUKFan]

If we're talking about recruiting, Duke managed to win two national titles while trying to "combat" us, so I don't think it's an unmanageable feat.

We'll still get our share of five star, top-shelf talent as long as Cal is here, even if he's in a valley as far as recruiting the TOP guys at the moment

[Joneslab]

What bothers me are the guys who think they're one or two and done and they're not.
Those are the players we need to stay away from or Cal needs to be more honest with.

Yes.

One-and-dones aren't the only issue. Another issue is this thing where guys go two years and it's like they're vets.

That has to stop. Players can't just bail out through transfer or just decide that they want to play overseas.

There are many players who had no business leaving UK. This is starting with Marquis Teague and moving through guys like Doron and Dakari and on through to Humphries and Briscoe last year.

This is news to no one, but there's been a major dilution into what it means to be a senior at Kentucky. Once they go through their second year they're pretty much done most of the time. There has to be an importance put back on moving all the way through a college career.

[justford]

Howl handles his 18-19 class will be of major interest to future recruits for Duke, UK, and etc. If heaven forbid Duke wins, it will be a uphill battle to get recruits away from them.
Like has been stated in other posts, we need to retain players for more than one or two years along with some of the one and dones( see 2012.)

[Uncle Dave]

The majority of guys Cal's brought in don't GAS about having "KENTUCKY" on the front of their shirts IMO. It's not important to them.....getting to the NBA is the only reason they're here. Maybe I'm behind the times, and I probably am(I don't care), but I miss guys who have pride in who they play for and represent.

[Joneslab]

Howl handles his 18-19 class will be of major interest to future recruits for Duke, UK, and etc. If heaven forbid Duke wins, it will be a uphill battle to get recruits away from them.

I don't think winning titles plays much of a part in how successfully a program recruits.

[BobS]

Maybe Cal needs to change the message. Obviously, it's no longer fresh.

The bigger question is can Cal win it all without 2-3 superstars? I have my doubts, but he'll need to.

[Joneslab]

The majority of guys Cal's brought in don't GAS about having "KENTUCKY" on the front of their shirts IMO. It's not important to them.....getting to the NBA is the only reason they're here. Maybe I'm behind the times, and I probably am(I don't care), but I miss guys who have pride in who they play for and represent.

This has probably been the case by and large for thirty-something years.

Used to be a criticism of Pitino that he didn't recruit Kentucky enough and that his players were vagabond mercenaries.

It's easy to say when they're losing that they don't care. But you always see those videos of the players uncontrollably weeping after we lose in the NCAA Tournament.

The "They don't care" line is way too easy to throw out as fans. I think by and large most care because they're super competitive; you don't make it to this level without caring about your play.

The problem on this particular team is simply that the players are not as good as we've seen. Less talent = less results. I would guarantee Davis and MKG and Wall and those guys knew nothing about Kentucky when they signed up, but I'd love to have a couple of those types on this team.

[KevinHall]

Just send Jamal Magliore over to Durham to take care of business. It worked in 98 maybe it can now.

Try to be like Villanova instead. They have solid "Basketball" players. All can shoot very well,defend well,rebound well and blend into a nice cohesive unit. Also have played together for more than a year. Do that and UK will be just fine.

[justford]

I don't think winning titles plays much of a part in how successfully a program recruits.

So success doesn't breed success??

[Joneslab]

The bigger question is can Cal win it all without 2-3 superstars? I have my doubts, but he'll need to.

I don't think anybody can win it without stars unless they get really lucky.

I can't think of a national championship team that didn't have stars--or at least All-American types. You have to have them. Could anybody look at Justin Jackson last year and say he wasn't the best player on the court most of the time? Kris Hart the year before. Okafor and Winslow before that. Russ Smith and Gorgui Dieng before that.

These are all very good to great college basketball players. Whether Cal is the coach or somebody else, Kentucky has to get those caliber of players.

If he can't get them right out of high school though you have to hold on to the players who have star ability. That's the trickier thing more than development, because as soon as guys show any semblance of NBA-type skill they leave Kentucky.

[justford]

May be harder to retain players if the salary in the "G" League increases.