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I saw this and wanted to hear y’all’s opinions.
No shot Drew or Shaka leave for L’ville.
Will Wade would truly worry me.
What about a Bob Huggins rebound to Coaching?

Login to view embedded media This guy is the best bracket person out there, his bracket is one to actually pay attention to. He is way better than lunardi

Just more data to crunch for your brackets.

UCONN will move to # 1 in the polls next week and enter the tournament ranked # 1 after Houston lost today.

In the last 40 years, only 4 teams (10%) have won the championshp going in ranked # 1. Duke, UCLA, Duke and Kentucky 2012.

Watching UCONN, Houston, Iowa State and Marquette play is educational. Those players look like they have been together 3-4 years and they look like grown men compared to UK. I wonder how much the COVID year has impacted those teams - being allowed to play an extra year - those guys look like pro players compared to KY.

I am still concerned about the coaching aspect being up to par but, watching those teams in contrast to the Cats has added perspective. UK will need to up their defense to get out of the first weekend, for sure. But, going up against one of those teams is going to be a disaster as there is a clear difference in development and experience. Just to add some perspective on Selection Sunday😊….

with anyone that has anything to do with decision making moving forward, with whom would it be and what would you say?

That game sucked. I can't wait until we actually have a good tournament team again.

That being said, my son was selected for the Alabama North/South All Star Game where they take the top 24 jrs in the state.

This was a great year for us. I took over my Alma mater two years ago. They hadn't won more than 6 games the last six years and no more than ten the last 12 years. This year, with a harder schedule, we won 24 games (second most in school history, was area champions (4th time in school history), and went to the elite 8 (3rd time in school history) and was 50 seconds away from the final four. My guys were awesome.

Mica led us. This year he averaged 20 pts, 7 asts, 6 rebs., and 4 stls a game. He won area regular season POY, tournament Co-MVP, was named to the all Regional team, won local sports writers POY, and now named to the North South all star game. For his career after his Jr year, he is already at 1461 pts, 435 asts, 461 rebs, 201 stls, and 40 blocked shots.

Some of you guys asked me to keep you updated on Mica. Proud of all of my guys. I know it doesn't take the sting away from the fact that we aren't contenders in the tournaments at UK anymore. I miss those days. But thought I would share some good news anyway.

Oh.....and I hate Doug Shows. Lol

Anybody know if they still have it? Wife and DIL want to go.

How long of a period do you get to use this excuse? We are 30+ games into the season with probably only 1-3 games tops left to play. Freshman are now sophomores and so on. Stop with the youngest team in America bullSugarHoneyIceTea crap and play the right players. If JVC still wants to use this as an excuse, it's just pathetic at this time of year!

Would look great in UK blue. And would be a star in this offense.
Just sayin

The top 10 are set.
That leaves us (UK) battling Duke, Illinois, and Auburn for last 2 3-seeds.

Even though our resume is better than theirs, I bet the committee has Duke ahead of us.
Illinois and Auburn both made it to their title games without beating a ranked team. So I think they need to win to pass us (even then I question if they should, but probably will).

Go Gators and Badgers!

They would have a better record than Cal.

I coached youth basketball for twenty years and went up against better in game coaches than Cal. They would carve his ass up with even talent.

2-3 zone/m-m combo
Start and play your best players the most.
Have your best scorers shoot the most.
Use your TO’s wisely.

These would result in a better outcome than 24-9.

Of having a team good enough to compete and Cal blowing it every single year. We can’t win the SEC, we can’t even win a tournament game anymore. It’s a freaking joke. Best time of the year and I can’t even enjoy it. I don’t even wanna watch some great games today thinking about it. Every year I fill out a bracket and think we can get an elite 8, especially with recent draws. Not this year. First year I’ll have us out in the first weekend. I have 0 faith in Cal now.

I have a simple question for fans and basketball historians. Would this be a 1st among collegiate coaches to have two top ten draft picks coming off the bench, if it comes to fruition?
If the answer is "Yes", what does this say about our "coach"?
After I read a post by another poster who had posed the question to ChatGPT that ask the question in a general way that would include the NBA and got an NBA answer, I made my question to ChatGPT more specific:

ME: "I have a simple question for fans and basketball historians. Has there ever been a collegiate basketball coach to have two top ten draft picks coming off the bench"?

ChatGPT:
"As of my last update in January 2022, there hasn't been a documented instance of a collegiate basketball coach having two top ten NBA draft picks coming off the bench simultaneously. Typically, top NBA draft picks are key starters and significant contributors to their collegiate teams. Coaches tend to utilize their top talents in starting roles to maximize their impact on the game. However, basketball history is vast, and there could be instances that have occurred since then that I'm not aware of. It's always good to double-check with the latest sources or experts in basketball history for the most accurate and up-to-date information."

If Wisconsin wins tomorrow we drop to the 5 line .

...How did it go?

First of all ChatGpt denies knowledge of anything that happened in the last two years, so we were limited to historical examples.

I started by asking: Can you give me examples of successful coaches who had one of their best players start on the bench?

Here's the answer:

Certainly! One notable example is Gregg Popovich, the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA. Popovich is known for his strategic coaching style, and he has often brought key players off the bench, even though they are among the team's best players.

1. Manu Ginobili: Ginobili, a future Hall of Famer, spent a significant portion of his career coming off the bench for the Spurs, despite being one of the team's top players. Popovich utilized Ginobili's skills as a sixth man to provide an offensive spark, playmaking ability, and energy to the second unit. Ginobili's ability to thrive in this role contributed to the Spurs' success, including multiple NBA championships.
2. Tony Parker: While Parker was primarily a starter for most of his career with the Spurs, there were instances where Popovich brought him off the bench, particularly in later years as Parker's role evolved. Popovich used Parker's experience and scoring prowess to bolster the second unit and maintain a balanced rotation.
3. Bruce Bowen: Though not a star scorer like Ginobili or Parker, Bruce Bowen was a key defensive player for the Spurs during their championship runs in the 2000s. Popovich often started Bowen to provide lockdown defense on the opposing team's best perimeter player. However, Bowen's offensive limitations sometimes led Popovich to substitute him early in games for offensive-minded players.

These examples demonstrate Popovich's willingness to prioritize team balance, chemistry, and tactical flexibility over traditional notions of starting lineups. Despite having star-caliber players, he utilized them in roles that maximized the team's overall effectiveness and success.

I continued the dialogue a bit further and it mentioned some Phil Jackson examples, but this post is long enough already.

Time to start Reed and Dilly.

WE should practice defensive skills every day until our first tourney game, especially those preventing straight-line drives and layups. We should also practice getting more lobs to our 7 footers, especially Big Z.

Kentucky just couldn't get stops. Really bad defense. They tried playing Ugo for rim protection but he didn't make a difference. The A&M guards had no trouble maneuvering around Kentucky's bigs once they blew past their backcourt defenders. They hit a bunch of threes in the first half and then got penetration at will in the second. Yes, A&M can play at a fairly high level and it's a good league, but that was just terrible defense by Kentucky.

Dillingham and Sheppard carried Kentucky on offense. Need more from Reeves for this team to go far. He is more consistently good than he showed tonight, or he has been this season.

Losing like that in the first round is tough for the fan base given the stretch of poor play in the SEC Tournament in recent years and I thought this tournament was important given its a very young team.

Not a great sign. It's going to come down to March Madness regardless but that was a poor showing. Not nearly good enough on defense. That starting lineup gave them a deficit but nobody was good enough. Even with Rob and Reed getting their points, they weren't great. A&M had a good game plan. Really bothered some of the passing that makes UK so special on offense sometimes.

WKU beats UTEP 78-71 in the CUSA final and goes to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013. Good achievement for first year head coach Steve Lutz.

Makes 3 Kentucky teams in this year's dance with Morehead State.

5 of the top 6 ranked teams lost this weekend.
All except Houston to unranked teams. Only the mighty UConn has escaped. Crazy March so far.