NCAA Tournament: Sweet Sixteen

[KCKUKFan]

And I, for one, didn't want him to stay at Ky. If Arky should win the NC this season, I'll still be glad he left.

If he won the title, that would be a tough pill to swallow.

[TrueblueCATfan]

And I, for one, didn't want him to stay at Ky. If Arky should win the NC this season, I'll still be glad he left.

Me too especially after the 1st round exits 2 of the last 3 years

But It still irks me that now he suddenly knows how to win eslewhere

[TrueblueCATfan]

Come on Florida....Need to knock UCONN out

[justafan]

I personally thought the eyeball test bore out the SEC’s strength. The games looked different.

Thing is, you had a bunch of similar teams down in the middle but not a lot of powers. Arkansas may be one who came out of that group who was more NCAA-ready. Easy to see why: they probably have the fourth best roster in the league.

I thinks sports fans are highly susceptible to confirmation bias.

”look at what Pitino has done at St. John’s” to confirm he is the goat. Meh, I say, especially after yesterday. Great coach, yes.

”look at the SEC pre-conference”. Meh, wins over UNC, Gonzaga, UofL, and so on don’t look that great “today”. Those are just 3 off-the-top of my head examples.

SEC great year, definitely. Some great non-conference records, and wins, yes. Best conference ever? Meh….. maybe not.

Deserved 14 teams in? I said no before, and I believe it, but I understand (somewhat, mostly) the metrics used. Having 6 not win a single game - what if a conference went 0-6 for the tourney?

[justafan]

Come on Florida....Need to knock UCONN out

Yes. The sooner we don’t have to see Hurley, the better.

[Mr.Nezzer]

Me too especially after the 1st round exits 2 of the last 3 years

But It still irks me that now he suddenly knows how to win eslewhere

He always knew how to win, he just became complacent at Kentucky. IMO, after Covid he just started going thru the motions ....recruiting high level kids getting them set for the NBA, making sure Kentucky's record was just "good enough" for BBN (while above average in everyone else's eye) all the while cashing his paychecks.

I also believe that "talk" Mitch and Cal had last March was more of a " you need to find other employment" from Mitch

Cal bounces to Ark...figuring he could do the same as he did at Kentucky and the Ark fanbase would be elated .....then came January and an 0-5 start....uh oh!!!
Cal's back was against the wall and he HAD to do something and Cal pulled a tweak out of his backside and all of the sudden Cal found his mojo again.

Complacency can ruin alot of things

[Mr.Nezzer]

Yes. The sooner we don’t have to see Hurley, the better.

True!!
Can' believe I actually thought Hurley might be a good fit at Kentucky.....glad we dodged that one!

[Mr.Nezzer]

Man...Florida came out of the half flat!

[KCKUKFan]

He always knew how to win, he just became complacent at Kentucky. IMO, after Covid he just started going thru the motions ....recruiting high level kids getting them set for the NBA, making sure Kentucky's record was just "good enough" for BBN (while above average in everyone else's eye) all the while cashing his paychecks.

I also believe that "talk" Mitch and Cal had last March was more of a " you need to find other employment" from Mitch

You're right about the complacency. That was clear.

But Mitch absolutely was not telling him to find other employment, despite how he felt privately. Due to Mitch's contractual incompetence, Cal had all the leverage in that relationship.

Cal's hubris (meeting with Arkansas without asking permission) is what gave Mitch the escape plan.

[KCKUKFan]

True!!
Can' believe I actually thought Hurley might be a good fit at Kentucky.....glad we dodged that one!

He would have been a terrible fit in all categories but the one that matters: he would have won.

And, as we all know, winning can heal a lot. Had Billy Gillispie been going to Final Fours, we would have been making excuses for his alcoholism, sociopathic coaching practices, and flings with co-eds.

[TrueblueCATfan]

COME ON FLORIDA

[KentuckyWild2020]

I thinks sports fans are highly susceptible to confirmation bias.

”look at what Pitino has done at St. John’s” to confirm he is the goat. Meh, I say, especially after yesterday. Great coach, yes.

”look at the SEC pre-conference”. Meh, wins over UNC, Gonzaga, UofL, and so on don’t look that great “today”. Those are just 3 off-the-top of my head examples.

SEC great year, definitely. Some great non-conference records, and wins, yes. Best conference ever? Meh….. maybe not.

Deserved 14 teams in? I said no before, and I believe it, but I understand (somewhat, mostly) the metrics used. Having 6 not win a single game - what if a conference went 0-6 for the tourney?

In all fairness to Pitino, when your top two players are a no show you lose.

Same today, if Oweh Brea go all out deer in headlights,we lose.

I'm not so sure Arkansas played great, St. John's just played horrible.

Still, its on the coach at the end of the day. Pitino still finds a way to lose big games.

Rick will always be my favorite coach because of the style of play he perfected in the 90's. It was game changing exciting and it worked..

[justafan]

In all fairness to Pitino, when your top two players are a no show you lose.

.

I’m sure we can go back an excuse every loss ever that Pitino’s teams had with that view.

i think I’ll remember that going forward.

there was a poster a while back that stated “Pitino was responsible for 3 NCs at UK”.

talk about loving Pitino so much, they not only had him coaching the comeback vs Duke in ‘98, but also winning in ‘97.

[TrueblueCATfan]

I'm here screaming for Florida right now

I can't stand Hurley and UCONN

[Catsrock]

Al that’s left of UF/UConn now is seeing Hurley’s reaction