Fun topic? UK top 5 players all time IMO

[ericrossiu]

What are UK fans opinion of IUs top 5 players of all time.

UK top 5 players IMO

PG
Delk

SG
Mercer/Anderson

SF
Mashburn

PF
A. Walker

C
Davis

The delk, mercer, Anderson teams coached by pitino were just nightmares college bball opponents.
I know others had better nba success but I'm leaving that out.

 

[Blouman]

Delk was not PG. Mercer was not 2 guard.

 

[ericrossiu]

Delk was not PG. Mercer was not 2 guard.

My mistake, what were the exact positions? Was epps the pg on those pitino teams?

 

[Indy Cat]

Delk was not PG. Mercer was not 2 guard.

A Davis
D Issel
J Givens
T Ulis
J Mashburn

 

[ericrossiu]

Forgot about Wayne turner.
Wikipedia has delk listed as a pg and mercer as a sg/sf.
Very good teams in the 90s.

 

[ericrossiu]

A Davis
D Issel
J Givens
T Ulis
J Mashburn

Ulis is a surprise to me. Good player but Delk to me would eat him up.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

Threads like this happen pretty often. They are fun but you may want to limit a few variables. Do you want best UK careers, best players (easier to include OAD's) to play at UK ignoring the NBA, best players counting their NBA careers; then, do you want a starting 5 or just the 5 best?

 

[BlueSince92]

Wikipedia is often nothing more than fan fiction and that is certainly true in this case. (Who knows what program's fans wrote that particular piece of fiction, but they weren't UK fans.)

While he was certainly not a guy you minded bringing the ball up occasionally, Delk was absolutely not a point guard here. No one remotely involved in credible analysis of the program has ever said differently.

Mercer was definitely used a lot of different ways, so while to claim he was a 2 guard as opposed to a 3 would be downright silly, calling him "2g/sf" is not entirely unreasonable, though throughout the ages more people have said it the other way, "sf/2g" because of his size and role, and in fact back in the day most people just called him "forward."

 

[ericrossiu]

Threads like this happen pretty often. They are fun but you may want to limit a few variables. Do you want best UK careers, best players (easier to include OAD's) to play at UK ignoring the NBA, best players counting their NBA careers; then, do you want a starting 5 or just the 5 best?

I hear you!

Ok, the all time starting 5? Can be from different eras of course and college careers only factored into it.

 

[Katwatcher]

I hear you!

Ok, the all time starting 5? Can be from different eras of course and college careers only factored into it.

Chapman
Delk
Issell
Nash
Mashburn

 

[cats#1again]

Wall
Delk
Mash
A Davis
Cousins

 

[Jkwo]

I dunno if I'd put Ulis on there on first blush, but nobody would "eat him up".

I'd say he had one of the top 3 basketball IQs in UK history, and anybody who can reach first team AA as a 5'9 sophomore with incredible offensive efficiency, SEC DPOY honors, and that's before getting to some of the best passing the program has ever seen...

I'm starting to talk myself into it. I can't imagine he's not in the top 10 at least.

 

[westerncat]

Some of you must be young. Macy was a great PG who led us to a National Title. There are many more that can be added to that list. Big Dan was a great player as well.

 

[ORCAT]

Some of you must be young. Macy was a great PG who led us to a National Title. There are many more that can be added to that list. Big Dan was a great player as well.

Just what I was thinking, some pretty young posters who also believe that the earlier era players just weren't all that good. We can't really compare eras very easily but I would be of the belief that some of those early great players at UK would hold their own pretty well today too with all the advantages of training facilities and so forth that today's athletes have. It's not like they were aliens from another planet.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Issel
Davis
Grevey
Givens
Mashburn

 

[Blouman]

My mistake, what were the exact positions? Was epps the pg on those pitino teams?

Delk was a 2 guard. I think Travis Ford was point in 94 95, and Epps 96.
Mercer was a back up small forward.

 

[docholiday51]

So many choices,I think Issel ,Mashburn and Davis is a good three to start with from there it gets tougher.If you are going by position you have a C,PF and SF in that group..You could plug in Wall,Macy,Booker,Dampier,Dwight Anderson,Mike Casey, Delk,Chapman,Bogans and multiple others at the guard spots

 

[Blouman]

Forgot about Wayne turner.
Wikipedia has delk listed as a pg and mercer as a sg/sf.
Very good teams in the 90s.

Wikipedia wrong again.

 

[JHannibalSmith]

Kyle Macy
Rex Chapman
Jamal Mashburn
Dan Issel
Anthony Davis

John Wall
Tony Delk
Jack Givens
Kenny Walker
Karl Towns

Gets harder every year to narrow down the list. Couldn't do just 5 & even listing 10 left me feeling like I left out WAY too many great players. Tried to keep it to guys who've played in my lifetime. '78 is the first season I really remember & although Issel was before my time, there is no way you can leave him off an all-time UK list.

 

[Dirt Court King]

A Davis
D Issel
J Givens
T Ulis
J Mashburn

YES definitely Issel....!!

 

[3rex]

Issel
Nash
Mashburn
Chapman
Dampier

 

[docholiday51]

These threads are fun but there are so many players we never think about that were very good but toiled in relative obscurity some both at UK and in the NBA as well,for example Larry Steele,Tommy Kron,Adrian "Odie" Smith or to a lesser degree Frank Ramsey(not very obscure)

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

Hmm, college only, best starting 5.

PG - John Wall - he was truly unique
SG - Tony Delk - #1 in 3's, #5 in scoring
F - Jamal Masburn - #6 scorer in 3 years
F - Anthony Davis - transcendent
C - Dan Issel - The Horse, leading scorer.


Good luck against that group. It really has every angle in basketball covered.

 

[ram1955]

Issel
Davis
Grevey
Givens
Mashburn

Best list I've seen thus far