The One and Done dismay

[Joneslab]

Cal also made an error by allowing guys like Charles Matthews and Humphries to go.

Obviously you can't make a person do something they don't want to, but the situation at Kentucky not only tries to get freshmen in and out. It makes those lower ranked guys feel as if they're always being recruited over.

Which they were...until the last two recruiting cycles. Put Matthews on this team and we'd be so much better. That and Humphries leaving were real killers.

[Catsrock]

As someone said earlier...winning fixes a lot of ills. I have virtually no hope of a turnaround this season. But next year if we have 2 contributing juniors, a number of serviceable soph's and some freshman with improved skills we may enjoy talking about our team rather than the state of sports in America. Really hope we can get Wiseman in here sooner rather than later. If so it'll be a fun season.

As to the pros being overpaid--the tickets and merchandise are priced out of range for the average family to afford. But if the revenue is being generated the players may as well get their share for driving the bus rather than multi-millionaire and billionaire owners pocketing it. Ideally I wish they'd drop prices so it were accessible to at least the middle class. But in capitalist society they're going to charge what they can get for everything--even if they only get it from the upper middle class to the wealthy. Trust me--I'm no socialist. Just wish a family of 5 could go to a game more than once every few years. And outside the marquee games tons of NBA and MLB games are played in front of about 20% capacity crowds. I'm sure they've crunched the numbers to maximize revenue but it seems like a house full of $8 seats with butts in them would be as good as a 20% house full of $30 seats. Sure $20million/year is crazy for anyone to play a game but why would we rather he make $1million for himself and $19million for his boss?

In the end they're all just entertainers. They're justified in getting their share of what they generate as much as an A-list actor is for his part in a movie. And yes, if movie tickets weren't $8-10 apiece I'd take my kids there more often too.

[Joneslab]

The reason the NBA generally is a terrible discussion for UK fans to get into is because whoever the coach is--Cal or Jay Wright or Jload--that coach is going to have to recruit NBA-caliber players.

The problem is certain one-and-done players and transfers. In short: players leaving UK too early. The problem is NOT the NBA.

Someone pointed this out, but so many UK greats played in the NBA. Many left early. Mashburn. Walker. Chapman. That '96 team was full of guys who would play in the NBA. Most of the greats we've had went on to play professional basketball.

You can't disparage that. It's missing the forest for the trees.

We have to recruit at a high level at Kentucky. That's why we have all these amenities. Why we have this astronomical budget. A lot of that is because we have a system in place that's built on being able to get players who have aspirations to play professionally.

That has nothing whatsoever to do with the problem on this particular team, which is all about having too many who left off of last year's team. It's an issue of going to the NBA too early, not the NBA generally.

[justford]

When Cal came here, his pitch to recruits was get you ready for the NBA. Now that the recruits see that they can go to other schools and still get to the NBA, what does he offer them now? I don't know the answer but it may come down to who is the best "snake oil" salesman. At this point it would appear to be Duke. I think Cal will come up with a new approach. Could be he concentrates on keeping players longer.

[Catsrock]

I hate to use the cliché "can't teach an ol' dog new tricks" because Cal could have plenty of years in him if that's what he wants. But I fear he may have had enough success and be too set in his ways to have an interest in "coming up with a new approach." He'd be more likely to hang it up.

[Joneslab]

^ I agree.

But I don’t think he’d hang it up out of stubbornness as much as the fact that I’m not sure what Cal can do. Once you build the system on getting people out of poverty and using college as a one-year layover, it’s hard to break that.

This is is why we’ve seen some bad decisions and those transfers. Because Kentucky isn’t meant to be a place where a player lingers.

It it will be very hard for Cal to shake that. Even with this current bunch.

[justford]

So if he doesn't come up with a new approach, is this the end of Cal's tenure at UK or the end of us getting elite players or??
Heard the phrase used that Cal is going all in to get a player. What does that mean as I thought he would be doing this for each player he is recruiting? Also heard the term "mercenary" used in describing today's one and dones. Hadn't thought of it before but I can see where some would use that analogy.

[bigbluebob]

I feel Cal had some pretty good success before the oad fiasco started.

[Jload]

I personally believe Cal is a good coach, and I think he could be successful with out the mercenaries. Would love to see him try, but I doubt he will.

[Matt Dillon]

I personally believe Cal is a good coach, and I think he could be successful with out the mercenaries. Would love to see him try, but I doubt he will.

Auburn is proof of that.

[KevinHall]

The reason the NBA generally is a terrible discussion for UK fans to get into is because whoever the coach is--Cal or Jay Wright or Jload--that coach is going to have to recruit NBA-caliber players.

The problem is certain one-and-done players and transfers. In short: players leaving UK too early. The problem is NOT the NBA.

Someone pointed this out, but so many UK greats played in the NBA. Many left early. Mashburn. Walker. Chapman. That '96 team was full of guys who would play in the NBA. Most of the greats we've had went on to play professional basketball.

You can't disparage that. It's missing the forest for the trees.

We have to recruit at a high level at Kentucky. That's why we have all these amenities. Why we have this astronomical budget. A lot of that is because we have a system in place that's built on being able to get players who have aspirations to play professionally.

That has nothing whatsoever to do with the problem on this particular team, which is all about having too many who left off of last year's team. It's an issue of going to the NBA too early, not the NBA generally.

One correction. Kenny Walker stayed all four years. Most thought he would leave after his junior season but he decided to stay and play for Sutton. I think he was glad he did.

[bigbluebob]

Auburn is proof of that.

Auburn hasn't won a thing yet.

[Joneslab]

I personally believe Cal is a good coach, and I think he could be successful with out the mercenaries. Would love to see him try, but I doubt he will.

I'm not going to call Wall and Davis and those guys mercenaries.

My only frustration with Cal's system resides with players who don't have success after UK, but who left UK in the lurch by leaving unnecessarily.

If you succeed, then by all means proceed. Can't fault players for that. I think you can fault players who leave UK because they just want to leave. That's not succeeding and proceeding; that's just proceeding.

If you come here and win games for us then you should get credit for that just like a four-year player. If you win a title for us then you should be considered a legend. If that's mercenary behavior then I'd like some more of it on this team.

The problem comes in with guys who think they're pros but aren't. That's when Cal's system goes off the rails.

[Matt Dillon]

Auburn hasn't won a thing yet.

At this point in time, they're doing a lot better than us.

[bigbluebob]

At this point in time, they're doing a lot better than us.

No doubt about that Matt......I'm just holding out for a run in March.