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QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 3, 2009 -> 08:55 AM) I think there are many differences between his Memphis team and this Kentucky team. 1) Rose was the freshman, but they also had a bunch of upperclassmen (Dozer and Dorsey) that were experienced AND talented. 2) they played in a joke of a conference to get a number 1 seed, meaning that team really only beat about 3-4 decent to good teams in the tournament. They won't get the benefit of having 35 games to prepare for the tournament (though no doubt Kentucky WILL get a higher seed than is warranted) 3) as someone else already pointed out, Kentucky just lost their best player from last year, and it's not like Gillispie was recruiting the world while he was there, so there is no established base of talent to support the freshman. I think the formula for getting to a championship is that you have 2-3 experienced veteran role players and 1-2 blue chip NBA players. Illinois, UNC, Florida, Ohio State, Memphis, Kansas, etc all had such a team. I'm not saying Kentucky can't be good, but the hype is a little ridiculous at this point. You bring fair points, and as I said, it's going to be a learning curve that's for sure. However, I'm one who has always believed far more in talent than in experience. I believe that by the time March comes, that extremely talented freshmen have enough experience; that the difference between a lesser talented junior with all kinds of experience and an extremely talented freshmen with limited experience is not very large. Shouldn't your strength of schedule point be more of a diss on Memphis than a compliment? Because that team didn't play anyone their entire conference season that Rose technically had less experience and competition therefore he wasn't as prepared? Kentucky's most talented and best player was and always has been Patrick Patterson, he just never had a point guard or other big men worth anything around him to take attention off of him. Yet even with that and a few constant injuries he averaged around 17 and 9 a game. He's going to have a ridiculously monster year, and I think he will be a huge asset in bringing the experience to these underclassmen. I guess it really just comes down to me believing far more in talent than in experience. I've always felt that way and always will. Sure you need to have some upperclassmen, but if I could take 5 first round NBA draft picks as freshmen versus 5 upper classmen experienced guys not necessarily tailor made for the NBA, I'm taking the freshmen.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 30, 2009 -> 03:00 PM) Plain and simple, the talent level in college basketball sucks. With any other coach, Ga Tech would likely be a top 5 team as they have 3 potential lottery picks in their starting lineup. Agreed on this. The college basketball talent level will continue to decline until something is done about the one year rule. It doesn't allow any progression of teams, as some who rely on freshmen are constantly rebuilding. And those who can't consistently bring in a top class year in and year out will not compete consistently for titles. It creates all sorts of problems and pressure that college basketball does not need. Agreed on Ga Tech as well. Paul Hewitt is horrible. Him and John Brady need to hang out. One Final Four and absolutely nothing else. Once Jarrett Jack it's been a complete downfall of a program that was about as hot as can be, everyone loved those teams. If they fail to do anything this year, he should be gone.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Oct 30, 2009 -> 12:42 PM) Seconded on Calipari. I just don't understand the fascination everyone has with ranking Kentucky so high. So...you lose Jodie Meeks, gain a sleezeball jagbag of a coach, get a heralded, but completely untested group of true freshman coming in, and all of a sudden they are going to rule over not only a deep SEC East, but Top 5-10 in the country? Please. Well, Kentucky isn't tested at all yet, but the amount of raw talent they have matches anyone in the country. Just because they won't necessarily mesh for a little while doesn't mean they can't still beat teams strictly off talent. In the age we're in of college basketball in which freshmen have and will continue to dominate the game (thank you one and done rule, which I can't stand) it's not that far off to give a class supposedly as talented as theirs credit before they've "proven" anything. I would bet money on John Wall being the #1 pick in the NBA Draft next year, do you really think he needs time to adjust to the SEC East? I'm aware the SEC East is "deep" this year, but that's not saying that much. Calipari, regardless of what you think of him, has proven he can take star studded freshmen and make it into a great team. There's no reason to believe he can't and won't do that this year. I understand the argument, but strictly off talent give me 10 teams that have more than Kentucky as of now.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Mar 28, 2009 -> 02:28 PM) I was reading on some UK boards last night about Gillispie. How true are some of these allegations? i.e. kicking a player off of the team bus and making him walk back to the hotel. etc. I'm sure some of that stuff is true, but in the end it will come down to what you choose to believe. As I said in my last post (excuse the novel) Kentucky fans are king of starting rumors, especially those in the fanbase with a clear agenda towards him since the beginning. I'm sure the ones you just mentioned happened and I'm okay with some of them, but some other stuff is beginning to sound like Matt Doherty which truly worries me because I'm a big fan of his. In the end, he didn't know how to deal with the personality types he had on the team and was unable to adjust both his on-court proceedings along with his off-court handlings of the players and it blew up in his face.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2009 -> 01:48 PM) The love of the bottle stems from his DUIs. Obviously those were from before UK, but there have been enough accounts from just about everywhere that he loved his partying. The charity stuff comes from that he only attended 4 fund raising events in his 2 years there. Compared to that of the previous coach, that paled in comparison. The other stuff is from Maggard. He told the story of how BCG kicked Meeks over the team at half-time of the ND game. The assistants had to convince him to come out of the locker room. Same thing happened at the SEC tournament as well as at a game earlier in the season. Liggins ans Stewart had similar stuff happen as well, though they were said to have quit. He may enjoy drinking, but you don't think with the amount of rumors out there of partying at bars with college kids that there would not be one picture? That's where I have an impossible time believing any of these rumors. In two years, nothing. The charity stuff is definitely true, including his dealings with boosters and anyone else around the program. That's where he went totally wrong and why he doesn't have the job anymore. If he was winning big it would have been pushed to the back of everyone's mind, but it was absolutely bad enough to warrant him getting fired. It's too bad because it's really not difficult to be "an ambassador of the program" something he said that "wasn't in the job description" which turned the tide on this decision. So you read True Blue? Seems random. I'm a mod on his board actually and obviously have read his info as you have. He also mentioned how he heard things within the last week that makes him understand why he got fired, along with every other "source" on his board. I believe a lot of what Gillispie did to his players, although the types of rumors that will come out after this will hardly ever be fully verifiable. Given how often Kentucky fans start rumors I would only listening to the main guys on Rivals boards and other boards. I just hope this doesn't turn into a Matt Doherty type situation because I truly like the guy, he just didn't know how to handle what was thrown at him. Another Gillispie note is that it's obvious it takes a certain type of player to mesh with him. Acie Law, Joe Crawford, and Ramel Bradley all rave about what Gillispie did for them. These are all guys who had potential but weren't keen on reaching their full ability. They were tough guys who were willing to listen and willing to be leaders, another thing that Gillispie constantly talks about. They had none of those players this year and think that is ultimately what led to his downfall in terms of the team. Amazing how different this year was compared to last year. I'm still so surprised at how all of it went down.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 28, 2009 -> 11:04 AM) No problem bro, anytime. You almost never post here, so I wanted to make sure you at least came back after basically calling all of us idiots for suggesting he might get fired. Next time, maybe you won't pretend to know of what you speak when you don't. I feel bad for you, because I can legitimately picture you getting really upset over this and fist pumping after responding to me. Solid response to my PM as well.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 28, 2009 -> 01:31 AM) The situation changed when he: decided to continually love the bottle, hated on the press, didn't find charitable events a necessity, charities, faught on a consistent basis with his assistants, openly partied with students, kicked Jodie Meeks of the team three times (and other players many other times, only to be let back in). I follow this stuff as closely as anyone and have seen all of these rumors before, none ever verified. I'm not saying you're lying, but do you have a legitimate source on it or what? I've never heard one of these but the obvious hating on the press, and believe me I've heard all the rumors being on Kentucky boards all the time.

I think anyone here that has been around sports realizes that situations like Gillispie's are very fluid and can change very quickly. I never pretended to have sources, although I realize how it looked that way. The situation changed quickly after one certain Gillispie quote and Lee Todd (the president) having more of a say than the AD. I don't need to apologize to anyone. I appreciate whitesoxfan101 trying to give me a lesson in message board posting, but it's quite clear that what I said was based off of what I had thought of the situation. I still think firing Gillispie is a major mistake, something I made clear in my post if it happened. But thankfully I had whitesoxfan to PM me to call me out. Never seen that.

QUOTE (Felix @ Mar 19, 2009 -> 10:24 AM) They fully deserve everything they get for running Tubby out of town. How dare he only win 20 games and make the tournament every year? 20 wins and the NCAA Tournament is fine at Minnesota, not at Kentucky. But if you want to go down this route I can debunk any sort of rumor or false misconception you have about what happened in that time. A little tidbit that no one ever acknowledges is the fact that the problem was with the assistants, not Tubby. Everyone knew this. That's why Barnhart told Tubby either get rid of his assistants and start working the AAU route or leave. Tubby refused and chose to leave. Any further questions?

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 18, 2009 -> 11:03 PM) Rumblings that Billy Clyde is gone. The "rumblings" you hear of come from message boards, made up sources, boosters who don't matter, and others (like Seth Davis) who want to get hits off of writing negatively about Kentucky (who can blame him?). But from the people who actually matter and actually have info in the program and have proven it, have stated all along he's going nowhere and there's not even a thought about it. Barnhart knows that Gillispie needs more time (3rd year is when you can start judging) and knows that if he fires the biggest name he's ever hired his job will be in question. Doesn't help that there is a 6 million dollar buyout. Not to mention the fact that Gillispie getting fired would be a death sentence to this program. I have my doubts about what he does, but there's no way you can judge based off of these two years, no way. Don't let any Kentucky fan (mainly from Catspause) tell you otherwise. The fanbase as a whole is generally uninformed and hasn't a clue that college basketball has changed since Pitino left.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 01:23 AM) I really believe NCOY should go to either Weber or Self. And you know being an Illini fan (I'm still kinda pissed about how he left) it stings to have to give Self credit. Funny, the Illinois pipeline...both of their teams are overachieving mightily. Although as of now I'd give my vote to Mike Anderson.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 01:16 AM) Keep talking dude. But seriously, even if I took the personal insult back the post still sucks terribly.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Feb 19, 2009 -> 01:04 AM) I was going to delete this post and replace it with this ... This post has been edited by the Soxtalk staff to remove objectionable material. Soxtalk encourages a free discussion between its members, but does not allow personal attacks, threats, graphic sexual material, nudity, or any other materials judged offensive by the Administrators and Moderators. Thank you. ... but since, it's already been quoted in a later post, I'll leave it here as an example of what IS NOT ACCEPTABLE at Soxtalk.com. Personal attacks are not tolerated here. Cease and desist or your time here will be coming to a quick end. Oh nice, you guys take boarding seriously here huh? Epic post right here.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 09:54 PM) I certainly do. 33 points is a f***ing joke. This is the second time they have scored in the 30's in a game and this team is ranked?? Give me a break. Wait, I thought Illinois had played 27 games this year? No? Must be missing something here, help me out.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Feb 18, 2009 -> 10:23 PM) Kentucky lost to Gardner Webb and San Diego last year and they got in. It's all about the cash. Yeah man, it's ALL about the cash. You f***ing retard.