Biggest duds KY starting 5

[EKYCat]

In all fairness, it was all day party and i was lit light a Christmas tree during the game, ended up get into a fight with a buddy from Detroit. Still, I never felt like that game was ours to win.



I should have clarified my previous statement in regards to the talent. We had some talent ( Mashburn obviously) but I still felt like we really could not get over the hump until RICK finally landed a legit big man, A. Walker.

Antoine Walker was a 6'8" forward. The "big man" on the team that pushed us "over the hump" was none other than Mark Pope. The 1992-93 team was loaded with talent. Dale Brown, Rhodes, Delk, Mashburn, Ford...

[KentuckyWild2020]

We played in the greatest tourney game in history in the elite eight in 1992 and went to the final four in in 1993, where we lost to one of the most talented teams in college basketball history (up to that point).

What, in your estimation, is getting over the hump?

Not having A. Riddick as your starting center.

Better yet, Gimel Martinez

[KCKUKFan]

Not having A. Riddick as your starting center.

Better yet, Gimel Martinez

Yeah, but Antoine Walker was never our center, either. Mark Pope was. Hell, Jared Prickett played more inside than Walker did.

And Andre Riddick was a good player.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Antoine Walker was a 6'8" forward. The "big man" on the team that pushed us "over the hump" was none other than Mark Pope. The 1992-93 team was loaded with talent. Dale Brown, Rhodes, Delk, Mashburn, Ford...

REPHRASE THIS.....

A BIG MAN EITHER CENTER OR FORWARD WHO COULD ACTUALLY SCORE THE BASKETBALL. Someone you could give it to to get you a bucket.


Nothing against Pope, very good player but he also played on a team that had many weapons around him. If Pope had been the focus of the offense double teams etc, you think Mark Pope was going to be your go to guy at the CENTER position???


Antoine Walker made it easy for Pope and the guards/forwards around him... LEGIT BIG MAN WHO COULD GET A BUCKET.

That wasn't happening with Riddick, Martinez or Pope...

[KentuckyWild2020]

Yeah, but Antoine Walker was never our center, either. Mark Pope was. Hell, Jared Prickett played more inside than Walker did.

And Andre Riddick was a good player.

I liked Riddick, he was a good system player for Pitino's style of defense.

Still, game on the line, you not throwing the ball down to Riddick to get you a bucket..

[DA#23]

In fairness by Pope’s arrival at UK we were throwing a dizzying bevy of very good big men at teams…each with 5 fouls to give

[EKYCat]

REPHRASE THIS.....

A BIG MAN EITHER CENTER OR FORWARD WHO COULD ACTUALLY SCORE THE BASKETBALL. Someone you could give it to to get you a bucket.

Mashburn was 6'8" just like Antoine Walker and was a better all around player.

[EKYCat]

I liked Riddick, he was a good system player for Pitino's style of defense.

Still, game on the line, you not throwing the ball down to Riddick to get you a bucket..

Of course not. You give it to your consensus All-American Jamal Mashburn.

[EKYCat]

Toine did shimmy better than any human on the planet. I love that guy!

[KentuckyWild2020]

Mashburn was 6'8" just like Antoine Walker and was a better all around player.

Bottomline, if you can't see that Michigan's front line wasn't the difference in that game then I don't know what to tell you...

Plus I don't remember Mashburn playing PF at Kentucky or Walker playing SF..

[KentuckyWild2020]

Of course not. You give it to your consensus All-American Jamal Mashburn.

Unless he's played like 41 minutes tired legs in a physical game all night long. Hey that's okay, just let him shoot it all night long, don't matter, let him get 50, stop everyone else...

[DA#23]

Toine did shimmy better than any human on the planet. I love that guy!

Even from the floor

[SportsFan]

Well I think it's probably the case that Cal could sit there in a gym, pick out the four or five elite players, and those players would pretty much be the same guys the services would pick as the cream of the crop. Because they would have the attributes you look at in AAU ball as separating them from the rest of the field.

If that's the case, then Cal did better when he WASN'T getting "the best of the best" (whoever he and the scouting services would have agreed on).... because he was doing better when he would have a Marcus Camby or a Derrick Rose surrounded by a bunch of 3 Star and a few 4 Stars. Other than Camby and Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts was probably the best player he had play for him...and he was a four-star, top 75 player coming out of high school.

Actually, Cal was doing pretty good when he truly was getting "the best of the best" in his early years AT KENTUCKY....until Coach K, Bill Self, and other top tier coaches decided that they'd better get in on recruiting one and done type players. Once that happened, Cal wasn't getting the absolute best of the best any longer.... and rather than getting a Marcus Camby type player he was having to settle for a Marcus Lee type.

There are all kinds of other players though who the services don't pay as much attention to, and the great irony in the portal era is that those guys as they get older, develop, and just become different players are going to drive the bus on most championship teams in this coming era.

And this is where Mark Pope will excel. I don't know if it's because Pope played at a higher level (both in college and the pros) than Cal did.... and as a result has played for the top coaches and both with and against the top players in the world...or if he just has a God given gift and understanding about what constitutes a good roster.....but I do believe he is better at recognizing how individual players will work together than Cal. Modern day Cal seems to rely strictly on talent without realizing how the individual parts need to mesh and/or the importance of coaching them up.

[SportsFan]

Can’t have the mix when your program bleeds players as much as we did later on, when a player staying more than two years becomes labeled as having something wrong with them.

That was the downfall as much as anything. We couldn’t replace the defections quickly enough, and that scenario makes it to where you have to have OAD level freshmen available in a given class AND you can’t miss on anybody or else you’re in trouble.

And that was one of the biggest negatives about having Cal as coach. Only at Kentucky under John Calipari was "being a second or third year player" viewed in such a negative manner. And a lot of that stemmed from Cal himself (most, if not all, actually). Cal bragged about how he was "getting guys to reach their goals and dreams' by getting them to the pros ASAP (after one year). Players that didn't do that were viewed (by themselves mainly) as a disappointment. And Cal helped push them out the door, whether they were ready or not. The difference between Cal and other coaches are the others would encourage a kid to return if he wasn't ready, where as Cal wouldn't.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Pitino realized he needed legit skilled big men to get over the hump and that's what he did.