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How we feelin' about Nate Oats today?

He has the attitude to coach here and that's a big part of it. He's a proven winner at non BB programs so I would have to imagine he would do well at UK. The most important thing to me is I wouldn't be nervous with the hire like I was with BCG and even Tubby. Remember he beat the ARZ team with Ayton that most had winning it all with lowly Buffalo.

I would gladly take him over a guy who has had real chances and not done anything like Chris Holtman, Beard and others mentioned on here. He hasn't been at Bama that long and they have not been good or viewed as a BB program at all.

Lastly I think he has an important thing Cal is missing. Fire and ambition. (Also the ability to put together a roster and coach).
 
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I've always wondered this myself. I mean, he knows what his reputation is and he certainly isn't helping his case, but he isn’t doing much to prove otherwise. He’s sticking with the one style of play he knows how to coach and it's making him look so much worse.
I think his ultimate goal is to get players drafted and see them succeed.
Thats all he wants in his legacy?
 
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Just figured I'd check in with everyone after a bit of time to reflect on another ass beating thanks to our 9 million dollar a year coach and his failing system.

Oat’s is ten times the coach Cal is and he's doing it at Alabama. That guy would kill it here.

I loved the way his team played yesterday, that’s how we should be playing. They punked our guys to the point most of them gave up.

Oats scouts, trains and coaches to win college basketball games and he's hungry.
Whenever it is we go coach hunting he should be the top target. I thought that even before yesterday. I like him 100X better than Lloyd and 10000X better than Musselman.
 
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Oats is a good coach I think, a pretty fast improving recruiter, good player development and in game adjustments.

But I hate to toss any names out there right now just for the simple depressing fact we are stuck with Cal.
 
if beating Kentucky is the test for being a great coach

Cal has made sure there are alot of great coaches out there.

When people are talking up Mizzou's first year coach as a great replacement, you know the fans have jumped the shark on replacement coach conversations.
 
He has the attitude to coach here and that's a big part of it. He's a proven winner at non BB programs so I would have to imagine he would do well at UK. The most important thing to me is I wouldn't be nervous with the hire like I was with BCG and even Tubby. Remember he beat the ARZ team with Ayton that most had winning it all with lowly Buffalo.

I would gladly take him over a guy who has had real chances and not done anything like Chris Holtman, Beard and others mentioned on here. He hasn't been at Bama that long and they have not been good or viewed as a BB program at all.

Lastly I think he has an important thing Cal is missing. Fire and ambition. (Also the ability to put together a roster and coach).
Oates isn’t leaving Bama. He’s got a great setup there.
 
Well Russell, you can keep what you've got.
I believe you have me wrong. I've wanted Cal fired for a good three years or so. Evansville told me what was coming. That doesn't mean I want Oates, either. It's not an either/or scenario. We have options when Cal is gone.
 
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You had an entire argument with me previously that there was no way Cal didn't know about the stuff regarding Camby and Rose. You argued he knowingly played Rose while ineligible for the season. And Camby suddenly having access to a small fortune. What changed beside what you were arguing about?
When did this argument happen?
 
I'm ready for Cal to go but not in favor of Oats. His live or die by the 3 style is just like Pitino where if you are making shots you can win but if you aren't it's a short tournament. Them shooting 20 percentage points better from the field and shooting 18 more free throws are why they won not because Nate Oats is the next Coach K.
 
With his recent comments about the Kentucky fanbase being spoiled- screw that guy. I never want that guy as coach at Kentucky.

This is pretty much how I feel. He’s already showing his ass. At least Cal waited till he had been here a while and had some success. That comment from Oates shows me he is not the guy to coach at a big time school.
 
With a very small bit of inside info, knowing some people that know Nate Oats, in my opinion he is waiting out the Michigan State job to replace Tom Izzo.
 
You had an entire argument with me previously that there was no way Cal didn't know about the stuff regarding Camby and Rose. You argued he knowingly played Rose while ineligible for the season. And Camby suddenly having access to a small fortune. What changed beside what you were arguing about?

Why would they never be offered here? Both are great coaches at good schools. Neither is currently in trouble, on probation or under investigation.

Also, Sampson's infractions were over phone calls to recruits. Not really a major thing in today's world.

Pearl got in trouble over a BBQ and essentially got it serious trouble for lying about it. Again, not a major deal today.

Bennet is more accomplished and proven than Oats. 5 ACC tournament championships, 5 ACC regular season championships. 1 NC. The year he lost to a 16 his best player and 1st rd draft pick got hurt late in the season and the 16 seed went to the F4. His team won it all when Hunter was healthy the next year.

Are you retarded? How many seasons has Lloyd been a hc? Now what about Oats? So if Lloyd can accomplish what Oats did in a single season, he is making the list ahead of Oats. His teams also play a much more current and better style.

Right! They do all have bad losses, but not all have great wins. Oats would be a great example of the latter.

Good Lord, just suck Oats' dick and get it over with already.
Knowing about what Rose and Camby were doing and being charged, are two different things. You can't tell me Cal didn’t know. There was just no proof of it.

Sampson and Pearl are too dirty and too old. They're both in their 60's, they will not be offered the UK job.

Bennett will also not be offered the job, nobody, not one serious UK fan, or booster, wants to see UK games that end 55-54. You're the only dude on here with Tony Bennett on his list.

On Lloyd, I mean, I would be okay with him, but my point was, you smashed my idea of hiring Oats, because he hasn’t been past a sweet 16 yet, but then you named Lloyd, who ALSO hasn’t been oast the SS.

You act like Oats has been at Alabama for 20 years, he's coached there for 2 1/2 years and he's been coaching in a tougher conference.

Simply put, I think Oats is tougher minded and I like his style of play more. The feeling I get from Lloyd, is that he's another Sean Miller, or Chris Holtman. Losing badly at home to the likes of Washington State, is not a good look. WSU was 6-10. Other than that, I see zero impressive wins on his resume.

I'm not sure there's a reason for you to call me retarded, that was kind of weird and unnecessary slap, we're just having a discussion.
 
I think his ultimate goal is to get players drafted and see them succeed.
Thats all he wants in his legacy?
I think he has been trying to have his cake and eat it too.

But I also think his top priority, is getting kids drafted. I'm not sure why that is, but his actions and statements since the 2010 NBA draft, have proven this point.

But I don't get it, what satisfaction does one get from getting guys drafted that were going to get drafted no matter where they went to school?

I can say he helped Richards and WCS get to the league, but they stayed in the program 3 years. If I'm Cal, I'm far more proud of that, then getting AD drafted. That guy was the #1 pick no matter where he went.

But what's worse, is the contract Mitch gave Csl and when he gave it to him. At that point, it was very clear what Cal's priorities were, but Barnhart didn’t bother to read the room, now we're screwed.

Lastly, I honestly think Cal has adjusted and is actually doing the best he can, problem is, he just isn’t a very good coach and he needs to follow his own advice, don't come here if you can't coach, because we can't hide you here.
 
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I'm ready for Cal to go but not in favor of Oats. His live or die by the 3 style is just like Pitino where if you are making shots you can win but if you aren't it's a short tournament. Them shooting 20 percentage points better from the field and shooting 18 more free throws are why they won not because Nate Oats is the next Coach K.
I get what you're saying, but Alabama just beat us by almost 30 points and it wasn't because they just made threes. They scored from every spot on the floor and they used a structured offense to do it.
 
don't let how bad and ineffective we look make another team look like world beaters.

You can't just get any coach at Kentucky. Jay Wright knew that, Donovan knew that - being able to coach X and O's is maybe 25% of the job.
 
I get what you're saying, but Alabama just beat us by almost 30 points and it wasn't because they just made threes. They scored from every spot on the floor and they used a structured offense to do it.
I get it but they still made their shots. I hate our offense, what little bit of it we run, but when we did get open looks they just didn't fall. On the flip side for the 2nd year in a row our defense couldn't stop a good high school team. We are a horrible team defensively but all everyone wants to talk about is the offense. I bet if someone wanted to take the time to check the stats that 90% of the teams we played the past 2 seasons have scored above their season average against us. Our defense giving up 85 to a mid major program is what sent us packing in the first round last year and with all the athletes we have there is no reason for it.
 
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Oates isn’t leaving Bama. He’s got a great setup there.
I don't care what he's supposedly got Bama is and always will be a FB school. A guy like him has never had a shot at the top, a blue blood. If Kentucky offered him I guarantee he would jump at it just like he did from Buffalo to Bama even though he had given coach talk about building up Buffalo.

Also one of the podcast just yesterday said he doesn't get as anything close to what other programs give their BB programs. They went on to say he could very well take the Texas job. They just built a new BB arena and have the money to do anything he wants for the BB program. So unfortunately we might not even get to know if he goes to Texas. Sounds like they will go after him so we will see his resolve and if the Bama thing is coach talk or not.
 
I get it but they still made their shots. I hate our offense, what little bit of it we run, but when we did get open looks they just didn't fall. On the flip side for the 2nd year in a row our defense couldn't stop a good high school team. We are a horrible team defensively but all everyone wants to talk about is the offense. I bet if someone wanted to take the time to check the stats that 90% of the teams we played the past 2 seasons have scored above their season average against us. Our defense giving up 85 to a mid major program is what sent us packing in the first round last year and with all the athletes we have there is no reason for it.
I firmly believe our issues begin on the offensive end.

Think about it, we scored 52 points and 6 of them came in the last minute when Reeves hit two threes.

I have a few reasons for saying this.
1) when teams struggle to score, it always effects their defense, especially with young guys. In our blowout wins last year, our defense was great and it's solely because our guys generated energy from scoring at a high rate.

2) our offense has been a struggle for many years, better players covered up the issues, but Cal's Iso ball does not work in today’s college basketball. This offense makes our players take the hardest shots they can possibly take

3) you can win games if you can efficiently score the ball, but have a mediocre defense. uNC has won 3 titles doing it that way. Duke won a title in 2015 doing it that way. They just outscored their opponents.
A great offense will beat a great defense every time, you have to score the ball and if we were any good on offense on Saturday, we wouldn’t have lost by 26 points. We couldn't score and that’s a common theme under Cal, even with our 2015 team.
 
I get what you're saying, but Alabama just beat us by almost 30 points and it wasn't because they just made threes. They scored from every spot on the floor and they used a structured offense to do it.
Their 1st 2 possessions were things of beauty , showed how well they scouted us ( not that its that hard ?? ) put O in the PRN and 2 dunks in 2 possessions , in the half court settings . They continued abusing him so badly that Oscar got humiliated on live TV . Can you imagine the damage done to any NBA dreams ? No a good day for anyone wearing blue -- except Wheeler , little man played his ass off . Had a great game .
 
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Their 1st 2 possessions were things of beauty , showed how well they scouted us ( not that its that hard ?? ) put O in the PRN and 2 dunks in 2 possessions , in the half court settings . They continued abusing him so badly that Oscar got humiliated on live TV . Can you imagine the damage done to any NBA dreams ? No a good day for anyone wearing blue -- except Wheeler , little man played his ass off . Had a great game .
And Cal will come out this Saturday at Tennessee with the same exact defense.
 
I firmly believe our issues begin on the offensive end.

Think about it, we scored 52 points and 6 of them came in the last minute when Reeves hit two threes.

I have a few reasons for saying this.
1) when teams struggle to score, it always effects their defense, especially with young guys. In our blowout wins last year, our defense was great and it's solely because our guys generated energy from scoring at a high rate.

2) our offense has been a struggle for many years, better players covered up the issues, but Cal's Iso ball does not work in today’s college basketball. This offense makes our players take the hardest shots they can possibly take

3) you can win games if you can efficiently score the ball, but have a mediocre defense. uNC has won 3 titles doing it that way. Duke won a title in 2015 doing it that way. They just outscored their opponents.
A great offense will beat a great defense every time, you have to score the ball and if we were any good on offense on Saturday, we wouldn’t have lost by 26 points. We couldn't score and that’s a common theme under Cal, even with our 2015 team.
Yeah our 2015 masterpiece damn near didnt make the Final Four .. Notre Dame with not a fraction of the roster we had almost ended the dream 1 game sooner . They had us ...... all because of pathetic offense
 
I firmly believe our issues begin on the offensive end.

Think about it, we scored 52 points and 6 of them came in the last minute when Reeves hit two threes.

I have a few reasons for saying this.
1) when teams struggle to score, it always effects their defense, especially with young guys. In our blowout wins last year, our defense was great and it's solely because our guys generated energy from scoring at a high rate.

2) our offense has been a struggle for many years, better players covered up the issues, but Cal's Iso ball does not work in today’s college basketball. This offense makes our players take the hardest shots they can possibly take

3) you can win games if you can efficiently score the ball, but have a mediocre defense. uNC has won 3 titles doing it that way. Duke won a title in 2015 doing it that way. They just outscored their opponents.
A great offense will beat a great defense every time, you have to score the ball and if we were any good on offense on Saturday, we wouldn’t have lost by 26 points. We couldn't score and that’s a common theme under Cal, even with our 2015 team.
It still takes both offense and defense to win a title. If you go back over the last 10-15 years teams who won the title were in the top 20 in both categories with the exception of the 2014 UConn team who was 39th in offense but 10th in defensive efficiency.
 
What has Vogel done that his name keeps popping up?
He's a UK guy. He coached the pacers into contenders. he coached the Lakers to a title. I would prefer he had college experience but he knows what it's like here. He coached with Pitino. While that's not all that much of a positive with me, it seems to be with many.

Being an NBA coach should appeal to recruits. But you never know until a guy actually recruits.
 
It still takes both offense and defense to win a title. If you go back over the last 10-15 years teams who won the title were in the top 20 in both categories with the exception of the 2014 UConn team who was 39th in offense but 10th in defensive efficiency.
I totally agree, but what I'm saying is, most of the time, defensive energy feeds off offensive success.

These kids get excited when they score, that's what they work on 95% of the time from the time they start playing ball.

When they struggle to score, it always carries over to the defense. It’s just a natural thing in basketball, especially with young guys.
 
Just figured I'd check in with everyone after a bit of time to reflect on another ass beating thanks to our 9 million dollar a year coach and his failing system.

Oat’s is ten times the coach Cal is and he's doing it at Alabama. That guy would kill it here.

I loved the way his team played yesterday, that’s how we should be playing. They punked our guys to the point most of them gave up.

Oats scouts, trains and coaches to win college basketball games and he's hungry.
What if he declined? Plan B?
 
That’s fine.
I'm not going to beat anyone up for their thoughts on who should be coaching UK.

I mean I get it, Oats hasn’t done enough yet, but I think he's very close to figuring it out and I don't think he's anything like BCG.

Billy's issues rested at the bottom of the bottles of alcohol he was drinking and he didn’t have the personality for this job. Oats is a completely different animal.
Not trying to be confrontational, but several people have pointed out the comments Oates just made about UK fans before Saturday's game, but I've yet to see your opinion on that and how it impacts your desire to see him move to UK as our coach. You've responded to every other comment here (and you usually never let one get by), except this one interesting tidbit.

I agree somewhat with your take on Oates - I like his fire and passion, but Cal did own him last year, and frankly he's proven nothing beyond having a good start to this season (I don't count beating Cal and UK as some kind of litmus test - any coach can beat Cal - hell, McCarty did it). My fear on this comment he made is that he's going to try and reset expectations and yet again blame fans for being too unrealistic, should he come here and flop, or at best, flounder.
 
I don't care what he's supposedly got Bama is and always will be a FB school. A guy like him has never had a shot at the top, a blue blood. If Kentucky offered him I guarantee he would jump at it just like he did from Buffalo to Bama even though he had given coach talk about building up Buffalo.

Also one of the podcast just yesterday said he doesn't get as anything close to what other programs give their BB programs. They went on to say he could very well take the Texas job. They just built a new BB arena and have the money to do anything he wants for the BB program. So unfortunately we might not even get to know if he goes to Texas. Sounds like they will go after him so we will see his resolve and if the Bama thing is coach talk or not.
What does being good in football have to do with it? It’s the job and environment around it. Coach Stoops resurrected UK Football from the dead. Should he not have come to UK because we have a great basketball history?
 
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