NCAA tournament discussion thread

[another shocker]

He was rated #16 in the class overall

i was just reading about him, wondering what happened. so you know today i was like, "holy sh*t, there he is."

[ShockTalk]

He was rated #16 in the class overall

Never said UK wasn't extremely deep. Isn't UK teams, over the last several years, primarily made up of the very highly rated and walk-ons (who could have played a lot for many schools)?

[HenryMuto]

Never said UK wasn't extremely deep. Isn't UK teams, over the last several years, primarily made up of the very highly rated and walk-ons (who could have played a lot for many schools)?

Except last year's class they were mostly over rated as you see only 2 guys AP and WCS even play as Sophs. Last year's class was vastly over rated.

[ShockTalk]

Except last year's class they were mostly over rated as you see only 2 guys AP and WCS even play as Sophs. Last year's class was vastly over rated.

Were they over rated before or after they committed to UK. Either way, them being on UK's team last year was Calipari's choice. Didn't last year's team have a number of "hold-overs" as well?

[Rosewood]

The only thing I dislike about UK is that people are going to say that Cal is an amazing coach and I just don't think he is.

Amazing? Probably not. But it takes a certain skill set to get that many NBA guys to learn the college game and then play together and win. It is a different type of coaching but coaching all the same. Plus he recruits and handles the media well which are also big parts of a Div 1 coach's job.

He may not be an Xs and Os guy but he has his niche and has done well with it. (And to be honest with a bunch of freshmen it is probably hard to be an Xs and Os guy)

And Kentucky's march to the F4 is easily the most impressive I can remember. The midwest was murder, we all knew that. Kentucky received NO favors in the Midwest either. They had to play the 1, 2 and 4 to get through it. Brutal.

[Kung Wu]

Not taking anything away from Wichita State last year but they beat an 8 seed, a 1 seed which many thought was weak in Gonzaga (just saying), a 13 seed and a 2 seed.

Hard to think a team could beat 3 tougher teams in a row then Kentucky did not every day you play a 35-0 team, a team that many felt was a #2 seed as a #4 and a real #2 seed that some thought was a #1

basically 3 #1 seeds in a row in some eyes

Uh, no.

[HenryMuto]

http://florida.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=865&tid=172062380&mid=172062380&sid=882&style=2

Not much respect for you guys in the Florida forum saying Kentucky made it to the final four based off playing defenses that are not very good and having "good match ups"

[HenryMuto]

Were they over rated before or after they committed to UK. Either way, them being on UK's team last year was Calipari's choice. Didn't last year's team have a number of "hold-overs" as well?

The team that won the 2012 championship lost their top 6 players (Davis, Terrance Jones, MKG, Lamb, Teague, Miller)

Their 1 hold over was a freshman in 2012 Kyle Wiltjer who avg 11 mins a game that was it. Don't forget Noel also got hurt which was their prize player for that class. WCS underachieved last year (and at times this year).

Anyway yes that is who he picked but they were just not that talented except WCS, AP and Noel who got hurt.

That team last year beat Florida without Noel at home too and was a bubble team but without Noel they didn't get a bid had he not got hurt they probably would have been an 8 seed last year.

[HenryMuto]

Amazing? Probably not. But it takes a certain skill set to get that many NBA guys to learn the college game and then play together and win. It is a different type of coaching but coaching all the same. Plus he recruits and handles the media well which are also big parts of a Div 1 coach's job.

He may not be an Xs and Os guy but he has his niche and has done well with it. (And to be honest with a bunch of freshmen it is probably hard to be an Xs and Os guy)

And Kentucky's march to the F4 is easily the most impressive I can remember. The midwest was murder, we all knew that. Kentucky received NO favors in the Midwest either. They had to play the 1, 2 and 4 to get through it. Brutal.

Not only a 1, 2 and 4 but a 35-0 #1, a #4 who was defending champion who many thought could be a #1 or at least a #2, and a #2 that some felt would be the last #1 before they lost the Big 10 tourney final.

[another shocker]

Not taking anything away from Wichita State last year but they beat an 8 seed, a 1 seed which many thought was weak in Gonzaga (just saying), a 13 seed and a 2 seed.

Hard to think a team could beat 3 tougher teams in a row then Kentucky did not every day you play a 35-0 team, a team that many felt was a #2 seed as a #4 and a real #2 seed that some thought was a #1

basically 3 #1 seeds in a row in some eyes

i'm pretty sure you guaranteed osu over wichita state last year. admittedly, that was before you knew that the shockers are not a mid-major.

[coran13]

Not only a 1, 2 and 4 but a 35-0 #1, a #4 who was defending champion who many thought could be a #1 or at least a #2, and a #2 that some felt would be the last #1 before they lost the Big 10 tourney final.

They're definitely putting it together at the right time, but during the regular season they weren't even a top 25 team IMO. Large sample vs. small sample. But that's the fun part of the tournament.

[another shocker]

go away, muto.

[Rlh04d]

Amazing? Probably not. But it takes a certain skill set to get that many NBA guys to learn the college game and then play together and win. It is a different type of coaching but coaching all the same. Plus he recruits and handles the media well which are also big parts of a Div 1 coach's job.

He may not be an Xs and Os guy but he has his niche and has done well with it. (And to be honest with a bunch of freshmen it is probably hard to be an Xs and Os guy)

And Kentucky's march to the F4 is easily the most impressive I can remember. The midwest was murder, we all knew that. Kentucky received NO favors in the Midwest either. They had to play the 1, 2 and 4 to get through it. Brutal.

I agree. I don't think Marshall would do well with Kentucky's roster. And I don't think Calipari would do well with WSU's.

Different styles of coaching that are effective given the different styles of recruiting. Calipari is a great recruiter and has, more often than not, been able to get NBA players to buy into his system at the college level. You can't have the kind of success he's had without being a great coach, even if it's in a different manner than we'd appreciate given that it wouldn't work here.

[wsushox1]

Amazing? Probably not. But it takes a certain skill set to get that many NBA guys to learn the college game and then play together and win. It is a different type of coaching but coaching all the same. Plus he recruits and handles the media well which are also big parts of a Div 1 coach's job.

He may not be an Xs and Os guy but he has his niche and has done well with it. (And to be honest with a bunch of freshmen it is probably hard to be an Xs and Os guy)

And Kentucky's march to the F4 is easily the most impressive I can remember. The midwest was murder, we all knew that. Kentucky received NO favors in the Midwest either. They had to play the 1, 2 and 4 to get through it. Brutal.

That's why I also posted that I think he's a great motivator of young men and can (other than last year) get them to play together and play for each other when it counts. When you have talent as heavy as he does that's about all you can ask for. He just has to give them a little bit of a system to play in and try to get out of the way and let their years of practice and talent take over.

[WSUwatcher]

Not only a 1, 2 and 4 but a 35-0 #1, a #4 who was defending champion who many thought could be a #1 or at least a #2, and a #2 that some felt would be the last #1 before they lost the Big 10 tourney final.

Yes, WSU and Kentucky were both handed the short straw (who knew there were two of them?) by the selection committee. It was just a question of which one would have the nasty gauntlet to run, and we didn't know the answer until FVV's shot for the win was off the mark.

Kudos to Kentucky for making it through, and in particular to the Harrisons for finally figuring it out.