I don’t want to take someone’s heart away

[DA#23]

Teague was the starting PG on a national title team, a highly recruited 5 star guy who came to UK over Louisville, and who managed to play some pretty good basketball along the way. Underrated, no, but probably caught a little too much ire from fans. To have him on there versus Harrow is puzzlingly, and I would put Whitney on that team. Heck, Juzang deserves it way more quickly than Teague.

Teague wasn't part of our problem right now, although in hindsight I'd love to have had him on the 2013 team.

Guys like Hamidou (I would have marched on Memorial Coliseum if he'd up and left in the draft after being in Lexington only ~ 3-4 months without ever playing here), Whitney, Vanderbilt perhaps especially, Juzang, SKJ, Humphries...completely unacceptable to have that many guys throw in the towel so quickly and so easily.

[Joneslab]

I think we forget how much grief Marquis Teague actually got. I was in Rupp one day when he got booed by the fans.

He really only had a few decent games, almost all of them in the NCAA Tournament.

I didn't put Harrow on there because we actually did know a lot about him, and we didn't like what we knew.

[Joneslab]

Ditto Whitney on the we didn't like what we knew thing. Much like Boston, he just stunk.

I'm more interested in what-might-have-been players. Always thought Trey Lyles for instance could have been a superstar. Just the perfectly designed college player. Unfortunately we never got to see it.

[DA#23]

I didn't put Harrow on there because we actually did know a lot about him, and we didn't like what we knew.

Teague caught a ton of ire on this site, too.

At any rate, and I promise I'm not trying to be argumentative right now, but exactly how do we know more about Harrow than we do about Teague? They were here for the same amount of time. Harrow had more gym time and certainly more reports about his time in the bathroom, but frankly they were each here for a season.

At least Jerry Tipton tried to help us get to know Teague better. I need to know who bought those shoes Marquis....

[DA#23]

To play Devil's Advocate for a second and I guess to be fair to Calipari, I think it's important to note that few of the guys who transfer out end up doing much. So in hindsight I don't know exactly how much better they could have become at UK.

The early departures are interesting. I doubt a healthy sophomore season from Teague, for example, would have helped him do much better in the NBA. Lyles would be interesting but he is still with the Spurs. Dakari Johnson probably would have stuck 1-2 decades ago, but now he probably seems like a dinosaur. Even here he was trying to evolve his offensive skills.

The current guys have an opportunity to uncover some of these scenarios, but I have a feeling few will chose to do so.

[George]

Teague wasn't part of our problem right now, although in hindsight I'd love to have had him on the 2013 team.

I remember hearing that he and MKG strongly considered coming back but sort of played chicken with one another. Neither wanted to be the only one to return (this looking like a failure), but neither wanted to be the first to pull the trigger, either.

Harder to believe with MKG given his status as second overall, but I do remember multiple sources saying that with consistency.

[KCKUKFan]

I think we forget how much grief Marquis Teague actually got. I was in Rupp one day when he got booed by the fans.

He really only had a few decent games, almost all of them in the NCAA Tournament.

I didn't put Harrow on there because we actually did know a lot about him, and we didn't like what we knew.

But Teague's team was winning nearly every game they played. So it was probably easier for him to shake off.

Guys like Boston have to be feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders. As a matter of fact, he should be thankful that this is the COVID year; otherwise, the fan revolt would be about ten times worse.

[Joneslab]

MKG actually announced he was coming back.

This was after a Vanderbilt game in Rupp that was actually a heck of a game. (Same Vandy team that would beat UK in the SEC Tourney final. Jon Jenkins & Crew. Really solid team.)

My wife and I took my mom to the Hyatt to stay the night with the kids, and wife and I went to the game. Afterward we all went down to the Hyatt restaurant to eat and they had the place cordoned off. Which was funny because the place was pretty dead. We went away for an hour or so and came back and the table was still there, but the Hyatt servers told us that the table was just leaving. We waited and out walked MKG, his mom, and probably 15 family members. My wife hugged him and told him congratulations on coming back.

I'll never forget MKG's face. He had no idea what she was talking about. I realized that the announcement he'd made was meaningless.

[George]

Was Ogilvy on that team, too?

[DA#23]

^ Taylor and Ezeli...and of course Kevin Stallings

Link

[George]

^ Taylor and Ezeli...and of course Kevin Stallings

Link

Okay. Ogilvy was there when we had Cousins.

[Lighthouse]

Remember Trey Lyles was injured in the beginning of the 2012 season and had to work his way into the starting line up.

[lilproUK98]

I think we forget how much grief Marquis Teague actually got. I was in Rupp one day when he got booed by the fans.

He really only had a few decent games, almost all of them in the NCAA Tournament.

I didn't put Harrow on there because we actually did know a lot about him, and we didn't like what we knew.

He had ALOT more than a few decent games
he score 10+ in 11 of his first 20 games, 8 of his last 20

Had 5+ assists in 19 of 40. Averaged 10pts, 4rbs, 5 asta, 1stl, and 3 tos on the year. He was much better and more consistent than most people realize. He had a turnover problem early on and couldn't hit outside shots real consistently, but he really settled in and ran that team perfectly.

[Joneslab]

I think you’re giving him a little too much hindsight gleam.

I thought he was pedestrian. Essentially an Andrew Harrison type.

Then, late, he became a force.

He was not in any way a pro, obviously. Question is whether or not coming back to UK would’ve changed that. It’s the same question we’re battling with in the program a decade later.

[DA#23]

He was a freshman, so especially in view of the program historically, he wasn’t pedestrian. In fact he’s the only freshman pg to lead UK to a title.

He had the unfortunate task of following Wall and Knight (also Bledsoe), and no he wasn’t individually up to their level. He was better than freshman Harrison, Hagans probably as well, and of course was better than Harrow. SGA...probably not.

He definitely could have been a lot better shooting wise, and was billed as being better than he showed here. It probably stunted that team a little as teams sagged off of him. Conversely he had Lamb by his side who statistically was one of our best shooters...ever.

But he wasn’t pedestrian and I find it fascinating that his career professionally seems to be influencing view of his time here.