WHO IS STAYING? (ANSWER: Green, Richards, Washington, Baker)

[Jload]

I never believed Knox would stay. He didn’t come here to stay, none of these kids came here to stay. UK was a one year lay over for the NBA. I don’t begrudge him that, I do begrudge Cal for turning U.K. into a one year finishing school. I hate it, hate what happens every year. Having loved U.K. basketball all my life , makes me very sad to see where we are. Now insert. A.. You want the Gillespie years back, B. You are a spoiled unreasonable fan, C. UK is no different than any other program ,this is the way of modern college basketball. I reject all of these arguments.it is A WAY to run your program but it is not the ONLY way to run a program. Lots of very successful winning programs are doing it without losing 3-5 players a year to the pros, I keep hearing about how we will be awesome next year with “veterans” well we will see, also see how many we actually lose, I predicted 5 let’s see how many go.

[justford]

In regards to the above post: Villanova has shown us there is another way.

[sfleming]

None are ready but 3 to 5 will leave just the nature of the beast in this basketball world of today. BTW I don't blame them for jumping either. $$$$$ talks.

[Joneslab]

In regards to the above post: Villanova has shown us there is another way.

In fairness though Villanova hasn't had players who were projected in the lottery.

You get players with NBA tools then the NBA wants them. Even when Cal gets players like Shai, who are nowhere close to being stars out of high school, the NBA wants them.

The only saving grace with this current team is that the NBA wants fewer than they normally do. The bad news is that we're probably one rash decision away from going into another rebuilding year. And even if we return everybody else besides Knox, Shai, and Hami, some guys have to really improve for us to be one of the elite teams.

Knox staying could have put us right there with Duke as far as preseason rankings and hype; without Knox and Shai we're probably a top 15ish team to start the year with a lot to prove and no clear bona fide star.

[J.Jennings]

What would the purpose of this be?

This is literally the worst idea I've ever heard. This is the opposite of what they should be trying to do.

Of course it's the worst idea ever but that's not the point...

[justford]

In fairness though Villanova hasn't had players who were projected in the lottery.

You get players with NBA tools then the NBA wants them. Even when Cal gets players like Shai, who are nowhere close to being stars out of high school, the NBA wants them.

The only saving grace with this current team is that the NBA wants fewer than they normally do. The bad news is that we're probably one rash decision away from going into another rebuilding year. And even if we return everybody else besides Knox, Shai, and Hami, some guys have to really improve for us to be one of the elite teams.

Knox staying could have put us right there with Duke as far as preseason rankings and hype; without Knox and Shai we're probably a top 15ish team to start the year with a lot to prove and no clear bona fide star.

That is the point I was trying to make. You can win without lottery players. That being said, they had several red shirt players that might have been lottery picks. Unless they have someone leave for the NBA, I think they return everyone.

[Joneslab]

Jalen Brunson is the kind of player that not only Kentucky doesn't get, almost nobody gets.

Perfect college player. NBA guys don't like him. Was a guy who could contribute at a high level from his first day on campus but is just not the type of guy who excites pro scouts.

North Carolina has had the same sort of luck recently: extremely good point guards who are just not NBA quality. That seems to be one of the major tricks these teams pull off.

[Jload]

Brunson would never have stayed at UK 4 years, Cal would have recruited over him every year and played the freshmen so as not to interfere with” their NBA dream.” Cal has to play the freshmen or his recruiting pitch would collapse.Cant recruit the one and done if they don’t play during the one. Cals model is slowly strangling our fan base, it is shrinking, people are losing interest, if you don’t see it you just aren’t paying attention. It may be a players first program but it IS taking a toll on our fans.

[Joneslab]

Brunson would never have stayed at UK 4 years, Cal would have recruited over him every year and played the freshmen so as not to interfere with” their NBA dream.” Cal has to play the freshmen or his recruiting pitch would collapse.Cant recruit the one and done if they don’t play during the one. Cals model is slowly strangling our fan base, it is shrinking, people are losing interest, if you don’t see it you just aren’t paying attention. It may be a players first program but it IS taking a toll on our fans.

Not sure he would’ve recruited over Brunson. Kid’s a five-star blue chip.

It can be argued that Cal probably wouldn’t have recruited Brunson hard. Doesn’t tick off enough NBA boxes.

But neither does Shai. Nor Ulis. Nor Quade or, in all honesty, Quickley.

[CATHYnKY]

Don’t like the one and done rule. Never have. Never will. Not blaming Cal. Despise the “cat and mouse” routine of a player toying with coming back. Am old school and will continue to be 😡

[40bill]

Lol.......
I don't think many of us like the current state of OAD.
Let's be honest.......how much of the fan base is willing to wait anymore three to five years to build a team and bypass the NBA sure bets?

Bottom line is UK fans want to win. ALL of it. ALL the time. Part of being FANatics.

Teams with primarily OAD kids have won the NCAA twice.
College ball and pro basketball are different sports.
Really good college players don't always translate to NBA all stars. Not any more.

Cal is right....his method and program are about players.
They work hard, but in the end, TEAM success is secondary.
Hard to keep in mind when you watch teams with less NBA level talent play longer.

[Joneslab]

They work hard, but in the end, TEAM success is secondary

Well, I think back in 2009 Cal felt like the team success would come if he just started putting crazy classes together year after year.

I always thought the "players first" thing was kind of a marketing gimmick designed in large part to help UK. I think Cal's a true believer that freakish freshmen can win in this sport.

I'm not saying his comments about changing players' lives and his discussions about poverty aren't genuine. I just feel like there's a whole lot Cal doesn't say when he makes his pitch, largely because saying it doesn't help him get those players. I think Cal wants to win as badly as anybody we've ever had on the sideline at Kentucky. The guy's a crazy, manic competitor. Don't think a guy like that sacrifices the team for individuals.

The problem is that the experiment is flawed. One, because you have to keep getting those crazy classes--which Cal hasn't. And two (and this is the big one), because other programs have started mimicking what Cal began with phenom freshmen. One-and-dones used to be taboo and nasty. Ruining the sport, etc. Now so many programs are after those guys, and the world has gotten flat. That hurts Kentucky while Cal is here, and I suspect you're seeing another change to his methodology right now. One of those changes is his willingness to start recruiting larger numbers of players. We've seen that this weekend.

[Joneslab]

Oh, I forgot one other unintended consequence of the experiment Cal started:

It has made everybody feel like they have to bail out of the program as soon as possible.

You get through your sophomore year and it's clear you aren't on draft boards? Play in Estonia. You go through your freshmen year without playing much and you see another group of five-stars coming in? Transfer. You have a couple of decent games as a sophomore and your stock is decently high? Play in Australia.

One-and-dones are not the only thing ailing this program right now. We have to battle to keep anybody. The reason for this is because Cal built the whole thing on getting in and getting out. When you do that, these families want that promise to be good once their son finishes his freshmen year. If they have to go two years then that's shaky ground, and unless their name's Alex Poythress they absolutely aren't willing to go three.

[lilproUK98]

Sounds like a few people might be better off taking a break from UK basketball till Cal is gone.

[Matt Dillon]

Sounds like a few people might be better off taking a break from UK basketball till Cal is gone.

Complaining is the nature of a segment of the human beast. It wouldn't matter who was the coach, what style of ball was played or if every player stayed for four years, some of the fans would find something to be unhappy about.