For Those Of You ...

[Bluesbrother]

... who are too young to have experienced the Pitino years of UK basketball, I believe we are about to see Part 2 of that experience. Many of the young fans have only known Calipari. The first several years of Cal were certainly fun, no doubt, but something changed in Cal and it was never the same again. I would only suggest for the younger fans ... have patience with this transition. IMO, you will be happy you did, as a new standard of excellence is established. It's gonna be fun. Embrace what's coming. I'm an old guy and couldn't be more excited.

 

[TankedCat]

someone said he is Pitino with morals

I"ll take that every day of the week and twice on Sunday

 

[Bloodtypeblue]

... who are too young to have experienced the Pitino years of UK basketball, I believe we are about to see Part 2 of that experience. Many of the young fans have only known Calipari. The first several years of Cal were certainly fun, no doubt, but something changed in Cal and it was never the same again. I would only suggest for the younger fans ... have patience with this transition. IMO, you will be happy you did, as a new standard of excellence is established. It's gonna be fun. Embrace what's coming. I'm an old guy and couldn't be more excited.

YES!! I am completely with you. Those Pitino years....most of you can't grasp how much us old guys are wanting that back. That style of play is what Pope is going to bring. I believe this is going to be a lotta fun.

 

[bbncal02]

someone said he is Pitino with morals

I"ll take that every day of the week and twice on Sunday

Same. You can still be moral and aggressive/driven.

 

[TNCatfanforever]

YES!! I am completely with you. Those Pitino years....most of you can't grasp how much us old guys are wanting that back. That style of play is what Pope is going to bring. I believe this is going to be a lotta fun.

Remember a Pitino team was down 31 and rallied to win in 15 minutes. If the previous coaches teams got down by 10 in the first half the game was generally over

 

[robertw1975]

I’ve followed UK basketball since I was a child and Joe Hall became coach. I’m 63 now. I can honestly say that the Pitino years were the most exciting and entertaining basketball I’ve ever witnessed at UK.

 

[Bloodtypeblue]

Remember a Pitino team was down 31 and rallied to win in 15 minutes. If the previous coaches teams got down by 10 in the first half the game was generally over

And I still have that LSU game on a VHS tape somewhere round here.

 

[TankedCat]

I’ve followed UK basketball since I was a child and Joe Hall became coach. I’m 63 now. I can honestly say that the Pitino years were the most exciting and entertaining basketball I’ve ever witnessed at UK.

of course I was much younger, but I'd be so hyped watching Pitino coached games, I'd have to go jog afterwards.

I think I mostly eat cake during Calipari coached games.

I loved Cal and his swagger when he was on top of the world, but I realize I wasn't connected to the program. Boogie and John Wall were great, but then it was just a stream of guys who you should just put a dollar sign on their jersey. I"ll doubt they'll ever come back to UK , even the OADs from the 2012 team

It was 100% intentional and I ate up every second of it, but I have never felt more connected to the program than I did Sunday.

and I graduated from UK in '89. Those were bad years

 

[TOMCATS1990]

If he anything like Pitino then we shouldn’t worry about D. Pitino’s teams were aggressive and swarming

 

[stringmusiccat]

I remember those Pitino years. Magical!! There was an excitement in Rupp that we definitely lost when he left. You could feel the electricity, the anticipation and excitement in the arena 30 minutes before tip-off. You really could.....

 

[robertw1975]

Remember a Pitino team was down 31 and rallied to win in 15 minutes. If the previous coaches teams got down by 10 in the first half the game was generally over

That was one of the most memorable games of the Pitino era!

 

[ralphdaltonfan]

I’ve followed UK basketball since I was a child and Joe Hall became coach. I’m 63 now. I can honestly say that the Pitino years were the most exciting and entertaining basketball I’ve ever witnessed at UK.

Don't even think it's close either. Those teams were machines and he got it to where they peaked in March every season, which is his biggest strength as a Coach. Even happened with St. John's this year. They played the UCONN machine to a 5 pt game in the BET Semis at MSG.

 

[SemperFiCat]

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think the fun and excitement of the Pitino years will ever be duplicated. It was a special time. It'd take special run of players. I love that that's the blueprint though!

 

[UKnVaTech]

I am 100% stoked for this. At age 64, I'm ready for the excitement of the Pitino years to return.

 

[DDMatUK=NBA]

I agree with what the op is saying. I suggest to people that don't remember those early Pitino days, go find those games on youtube. Just don't watch the 1989 UK-KU game, whatever you do! Lol!
Things got better pretty fast...Much better and the better talent followed that. Top talent couldn't wait to play in Pitino's system and it didn't take long at all.

Be warned, tv quality back then was NOT what it is today. Some of it was painful to watch if the signal wasn't great.

 

[blackcat714]

And I still have that LSU game on a VHS tape somewhere round here.

Had a lot of come back wins under Pitino that full court press wore out the opponents

 

[DDMatUK=NBA]

The "Unforgettables" They were out manned in most every game. Some, by a lot. It was heart, hustle, discipline and conditioning. Pitino made BMI(body mass index) a thing. His players were in better shape than your players and he went deep on the bench, wearing better teams out. You all are in for a pleasant surprise if Pope in fact brings that style back to UK. Fun stuff, even when we lost, because those teams were leaving it all on the floor every night.

 

[westerncat]

I will be 79 in June and go back to the days of Rupp. When Rick Pitino was coaching here it was really fun to watch his teams play. If we go back to that style of play it is going to fun watching again.

 

[Ripcord65]

someone said he is Pitino with morals

I"ll take that every day of the week and twice on Sunday

YES ! ! !

 

[The Snoke]

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think the fun and excitement of the Pitino years will ever be duplicated. It was a special time. It'd take special run of players. I love that that's the blueprint though!

Agreed completely I remember when UK games were an event… just not another ballgame. Each game was special. To ever duplicate that feeling us old farts would be beyond my craziest dreams. For the past few years, it was something to watch if Andy Griffith wasn’t on. I look forward to a few X’s and O’s and team that truly has a coach that coaches to win and punish our opponents.

We used to be a team that demoralized the opposition in the first 20 minutes. I hope I can see that again with Coach Pope.

 

[hmt5000]

This is why I keep bringing up "having fun". Cal has really only had a few teams that were truly fun to watch. Just winning is great but it's like winning in football like Iowa or like Ole Miss. Yea... you can win 10 to 7 and be happy for the win but it's much more fun to win 45 to 40 and have 5 sacks and 2 ints and 600 yards of offense. lOl

I left a bar with 4 friends during that LSU game (we were underage with a fake ID, LOL) We left with about 15 minutes on the clock because it was over. We stopped at a gas station and bought a 12 pack and just sat in the parking lot listening to the call on the radio as they were making that comeback.

Seeing kids give 100% and growing as players is fun to watch. Seeing a guy that is top 1% on talent that gets about 60% out of that talent just isn't fun to see... it's actually painful to any of us that has had to struggle to get ahead in any endeavor in our life.

 

[DDMatUK=NBA]

Agreed completely I remember when UK games were an event… just not another ballgame. Each game was special. To ever duplicate that feeling us old farts would be beyond my craziest dreams. For the past few years, it was something to watch if Andy Griffith wasn’t on. I look forward to a few X’s and O’s and team that truly has a coach that coaches to win and punish our opponents.

We used to be a team that demoralized the opposition in the first 20 minutes. I hope I can see that again with Coach Pope.

Just watch some of this year's later season BYU games. And he did it with a bunch of Morman players! His system looks good. If he can bring in the right players it'll be very exciting to watch this all unfold. Pitino started off much the same way. Not Mormans but not a talented roster either.

 

[RunninRichie]

Pitino is a wayy better coach than Calipari. It really isn't an argument.

 

[DDMatUK=NBA]

Pitino is a wayy better coach than Calipari. It really isn't an argument.

Is your screen name in reference to Richie Farmer? I wonder how many top tier teams would have played him much at all. He had heart though and we all grew to love the short kid that played hard and knocked down clutch 3's back then. I think we're gonna have another one of those on this team but overall a more talented version of Richie. Maybe it's Perry. Fits the mold so far. We'll see.

 

[RunninRichie]

Is your screen name in reference to Richie Farmer? I wonder how many top tier teams would have played him much at all. He had heart though and we all grew to love the short kid that played hard and knocked down clutch 3's back then. I think we're gonna have another one of those on this team but overall a more talented version of Richie. Maybe it's Perry. Fits the mold so far. We'll see.

Yes it is.

 

[ORCAT10]

I’ve followed UK basketball since I was a child and Joe Hall became coach. I’m 63 now. I can honestly say that the Pitino years were the most exciting and entertaining basketball I’ve ever witnessed at UK.

62 years old. The Pitino run was amazing. The vast majority of games saw Kentucky just demoralize their opponent. Exciting and fun. I’ll never forget Gimel Martinez passed up an open 3. Pitino took him out of the game and said we take that shot at Kentucky.

 

[ORCAT10]

Pitino is a wayy better coach than Calipari. It really isn't an argument.

Total mismatch.

 

[Bluesbrother]

That was one of the most memorable games of the Pitino era!

As enjoyable as the comeback win was ... it was the look on Dale Brown's face as the horn sounded ... absolute total submission and disbelief after what looked to be a dominant victory for LSU. It was an incredible night.