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Dirk Minnifield

Derek? Good Lord

Out of the million silly Butters threads, this might be single most Buttery.
 
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With cocaine in system during games yes, without no.

Didn't want to say it. But, yeah, given the stories that came out about Dirk afterward, there is a part that kinda has to wonder if maybe that might help explain the crazy burst of energy he got on that famous dunk vs. MSU.

I loved Dirk's athleticism, but must admit, he was not one of my favorite UK players. The dude's propensity to be erratic and turnover and mistake prone could be maddening. Of course, it didn't help him that he was the point that followed Kyle Macy--who was like the least erratic and mistake prone point we ever had--the contrast between the way those two played was glaring to say the least.
 
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Dick Minniefield was under appreciated in my opinion.

I think the opposite. He's a guy who gets increasingly overrated by our fans over the years.

And the reason for that is largely because of those dunk highlights (ONE, in particular, the MSU dunk). People watch replays of that awesome dunk and presume he must've been better than he actually was. But some of us are old enough to remember just how maddeningly mistake-prone he often was.
 
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I think the opposite. He's a guy who gets increasingly overrated by our fans over the years.

And the reason for that is largely because of those dunk highlights (ONE, in particular, the MSU dunk). People watch replays of that awesome dunk and presume he must've been better than he actually was. But some of us are old enough to remember just how maddeningly mistake-prone he often was.


I'm not going to totally jump on board with this.... but the missed layup versus Louisville in 83 is still a killer... and he didnt have to jump over another player. :weary:

 
I think the opposite. He's a guy who gets increasingly overrated by our fans over the years.

And the reason for that is largely because of those dunk highlights (ONE, in particular, the MSU dunk). People watch replays of that awesome dunk and presume he must've been better than he actually was. But some of us are old enough to remember just how maddeningly mistake-prone he often was.
Well, he wasn’t going to be a brain surgeon if the basketball thing didn’t work out, but he is the all-time assists leader, number 10 in steals, and 51st in points. All in all, a pretty good career.
 
Well, he wasn’t going to be a brain surgeon if the basketball thing didn’t work out, but he is the all-time assists leader, number 10 in steals, and 51st in points. All in all, a pretty good career.
He did have a pretty good career, but of course, the career totals benefit from his having played 4 full years.

In a lot of ways, I'd compare him to Wayne Turner. Both guys came in with pretty huge expectations. Both were very solid players, but never really at the level of what they were supposed to be coming out of HS.

Major differences being that Turner played for great teams in a great era, while Minniefield played for mostly disappointing teams. And, of course, Turner seemed like a complete class act, while Minniefield had all kinds of personal struggles.

As for Minniefield's athletic ability, the famous dunk was somewhat of a fluke. He was clearly very athletic, but he rarely jumped out at you the way that guys like Dwight Anderson, John Wall, or Eric Bledsoe did. Just watch the footage above from the 83 Elite 8 and see what I mean.
 
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My opinion:

I thought Dirk was one of the most talented -- and forgotten -- guards I have seen at UK.

But even as a kid, he had little direction...and therefore little discipline.

He could have had a long NBA career.

Here is the wikipedia entry:

Minniefield began regularly using marijuana at age 14. Minniefield, who has been sober since the early 1990s, told a group of top high school prospects in 2007 that "My younger kids have never seen me take a drink. They don't know the daddy the older kids know. They know a totally different guy." (Minniefield was a father of three children by the time he graduated from high school, and has two children from his current marriage[1]).

His drug problem continued into college. He admitted to having carried a vial of cocaine with him regularly during his senior year at UK, and frequently took hits of the drug before games.[1] Most notably, he admitted in 2007 that he and several teammates had gone to a park in Knoxville, Tennessee the night before Kentucky's showdown with Louisville in the 1983 NCAA Mideast Regional final and smoked marijuana. He also said that he smoked more marijuana after returning to his hotel room.[2]

As fate would have it, he had the ball late in the game, with UK clinging to a narrow lead. He went into the lane and threw up a tentative shot that UofL center Charles Jones blocked. The Cardinals went on to force overtime and then dominated the extra period, winning 80-68. He would later say about the incident,

“ It was sad. Because that was the moment. You only have certain moments in your life. You have to seize your moment. I missed my moment. I don't know if the marijuana had an impact. I'm not a doctor. Being a player, I'm going to say that (it did)... Any other time, I would dunk that ball. I know I was depressed about it for probably the first two years after college. It played a part in my drug use, the depression. Being from Lexington, I had to listen (to complaining fans) more than anybody else would.[2]

Minniefield's drug use eventually contributed to the early end of his NBA career. He returned to Lexington, but wound up serving a year in jail after writing bad checks and violating probation on those charges. His first wife divorced him and he left Lexington "penniless". He found his way to the John Lucas Drug Abuse Center in Houston; Minniefield would say of Lucas, "I finally found that person who talked my language. He could see past the outside facade I learned to put up." For his part, Lucas said, "I call him one of my children. He's delightful. He's helped me as much as I helped him."[1]

After treatment, Minniefield worked as transportation manager—according to him, "A better word is van driver"—for the San Antonio Spurs while Lucas was coach. He would go on to be a head coach/general manager in the United States Basketball League (USBL) for the Miami Tropics (a team that Lucas owned) and serve as the Spurs' strength and conditioning coach. When Lucas left for the Philadelphia 76ers, Minniefield took a job as a drug counselor with the NBA to enable him to stay in Houston.[1]



I hope Coach Cal has reached out to him to give guidance to our players.
 
I think the opposite. He's a guy who gets increasingly overrated by our fans over the years.

And the reason for that is largely because of those dunk highlights (ONE, in particular, the MSU dunk). People watch replays of that awesome dunk and presume he must've been better than he actually was. But some of us are old enough to remember just how maddeningly mistake-prone he often was.
I wasn't being serious. That's why I used the name Dick instead Dirk.

It all seriousness, Dirk was very solid.

Dirk Minniefield, before he Dirks you.
 
Well, he wasn’t going to be a brain surgeon if the basketball thing didn’t work out, but he is the all-time assists leader, number 10 in steals, and 51st in points. All in all, a pretty good career.
He did have a solid career and probably got the most out of his ability. He was an outstanding athlete and a good, but not great player. He was in a bit of a tough spot taking over the point from Macy but I'll take his 52% FG and 77% FT stats any day. He was in a structured system and would've done much better in a system like Pitino ran.
 
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