Ok if HD stays in the draft....

[TNCatfanforever]

what are our best options for additional help at guard. Green Baker and Alexander are all great players ..but as you know with the way we get called for fouls I think we have to add more guards and can we wait until May 24th? Do we have a guard that can get to the rim the way our past guards have done?

 

[swflakat]

This is bull s that he's doing this. I had a suspicion from day one that he was using us. No more mid season additions, please.

Disagree, it is smart on his part. Get exposure to the people that will hire you next year, have them advise you on what to improve, work on weaknesses, come back improved next year with a lot of exposure at UK. He is not a 1st round pick now, but likely will be in a year.

 

[GLR5555]

I find it interesting he was not ready for CBB 30 days ago, now he hopes he's NBA ready? Good luck to him.

 

[track42]

I just hope he returns because without him our backcourt is in trouble next season.

 

[~Keyser Soze~]

This is bull s that he's doing this. I had a suspicion from day one that he was using us. No more mid season additions, please.

Using us? That's almost as bad as you fans who are embarrassing us with your totally predictable meltdown when it's not even clear that he's staying in the draft.

 

[Cardsstink]

Using us? That's almost as bad as you fans who embarrassing with your totally predictable meltdown when it's not even clear that he's staying in the draft.

No meltdown yet. I will hope he comes back but his twitter announcement makes it sound like he won't. If he does go, he took our help and gave us nothing in return.

 

[~Keyser Soze~]

No meltdown yet. I will hope he comes back but his twitter announcement makes it sound like he won't. If he does go, he took our help and gave us nothing in return.

Nah, you melted down and made nonsense comments about him using us. Cal knew the deal when he signed him, dude is gonna do what's best for himself and his future. He values taking care of his family more than he does your entertainment, which is all he is to you.

 

[SpamburgerHamburger]

I find it interesting he was not ready for CBB 30 days ago, now he hopes he's NBA ready? Good luck to him.

That's the whole point. You enter your name and see what feedback. See what NBA people say you need to work on. Why not do it? Every kid should do it. Hawkins and guys like that did it as well knowing they weren't NBA ready.

 

[Cardsstink]

Nah, you melted down and made nonsense comments about him using us. Cal knew the deal when he signed him, dude is gonna do what's best for himself and his future. He values taking care of his family more than he does your entertainment, which is all he is to you.

BS. If we are giving them facilities and our coaches are spending time with them instead of players on the roster, it's BS if he goes pro and gives nothing back.

 

[TyCatPrice14]

I find it interesting he was not ready for CBB 30 days ago, now he hopes he's NBA ready? Good luck to him.

You obviously know nothing about what his plans are, might as well stop posting until you are a bit educated on his thoughts and not make them up.

 

[anon_q409idbs5m40a]

From his announcement it does sound as if he'll stay in the draft. This may open up a path for Johnson or someone else.

 

[TyCatPrice14]

It's great for him but he gave us nothing and our coachs spent time working with him. Selfish punk if he doesn't play a year.

Who cares what he does? He stays, he stays, he leaves he leaves get over it. Don't blame the kid, or Cal or Kentucky, BLAME THE NBA!

 

[GLR5555]

You obviously know nothing about what his plans are, might as well stop posting until you are a bit educated on his thoughts and not make them up.

You actually don't know nothing about me. You might wanna keep my name out of your mouth until you are more educated about who you call out. Peace.

 

[Cardsstink]

Who cares what he does? He stays, he stays, he leaves he leaves get over it. Don't blame the kid, or Cal or Kentucky, BLAME THE NBA!

Blame the NBA if he takes from us and doesn't give ANYTHING in return? Ummmm, no.

 

[armchairpg]

Disagree, it is smart on his part. Get exposure to the people that will hire you next year, have them advise you on what to improve, work on weaknesses, come back improved next year with a lot of exposure at UK. He is not a 1st round pick now, but likely will be in a year.

I think you are right in that he is just getting free feedback and will return.if he leaves I willl feel a little used. I think the marketing value of him going to the league without touching the court is minimal ad hurts more than helps now that we have a hole at guard.

 

[jboler]

I guess i'm surprised at the amount of "shock" from the fans. Surely you all saw this coming...

 

[TyCatPrice14]

Blame the NBA if he takes from us and doesn't give ANYTHING in return? Ummmm, no.

I think you need to go upstairs and start crying to your mom. OMG A KID USED KENTUCKY TO GO PRO IN SOMETHING HE ALWAYS WANTED.

Face it, no top player in the country is going "I want to go to Kentucky because it's just Kentucky and i want to stay there and take a chance on losing millions." They are saying "I want to go to Kentucky because they have the best coach at producing me to become an NBA player and with Kentucky on the side it helps with national attention."

If you cant accept that then you need to cheer for a team like MSU whose players and coach arnt good enough to get players in the league unless they stay 4 years... (Green,Payne, Valentine, etc.)

 

[Montana81]

Diallo who?

 

[Deli owl]

BS. If we are giving them facilities and our coaches are spending time with them instead of players on the roster, it's BS if he goes pro and gives nothing back.

I went to UK, used their facilities and faculty, and I gave you nothing back.

 

[FilsonCat]

Folks shouldn't be harsh. Unless he is the next coming of Lebron an outplays the field at the combine and in workouts, Diallo will be back. If he shows out and can get a mid-first-round guarantee in a deep draft, he'd be foolish not to go.

I suspect that Diallo will make a good impression, but need to work on his shot and defense. As it stands now, it will be really tough for him to get a 1st round guarantee.

 

[BlueRunner11]

I find it interesting he was not ready for CBB 30 days ago...

I find it interesting how many people actually believed this.

Diallo was more than capable of contributing from day one being on campus. Id guess was up to speed on almost everything we run within a week. It's basketball, not rocket science.

 

[C.W.1]

find it funny that some fans are upset about this but how many of them would forfeit a millions/year opportunity out of loyalty to Diallo? The kid isn't being selfish, at least not any more than anybody else should be. He has to take care of himself first and not fans he's never even met. Maybe Calipari or UK should feel a little used but if both are fine with it then who are the fans to object? Hope he comes back to UK but if it's too good an opportunity for him he should go. It really is the smart move for him at this point to enter his name but not hire an agent.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

Using us? That's almost as bad as you fans who are embarrassing us with your totally predictable meltdown when it's not even clear that he's staying in the draft.

IF (and that's a big if right now) he does stay in the draft and leave, how is it not using us? What did UK and the program get out of the situation? He used our name, our facilities, and our coaching staff to better himself and then left without ever giving anything back. I think that's a pretty text book definition of using something. JMO.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

find it funny that some fans are upset about this but how many of them would forfeit a millions/year opportunity out of loyalty to Diallo? The kid isn't being selfish, at least not any more than anybody else should be. He has to take care of himself first and not fans he's never even met. Maybe Calipari or UK should feel a little used but if both are fine with it then who are the fans to object? Hope he comes back to UK but if it's too good an opportunity for him he should go. It really is the smart move for him at this point to enter his name but not hire an agent.

I don't blame Diallo at all. He's got to do what's right for him and if someone gave him the opportunity to do this then you can't blame him for taking advantage of it. You gotta point the finger at someone when it hurts our situation and I think that's Cal. For those who say that any coach in the country would've taken Diallo even if there was a good chance he left, I completely disagree. I don't think many coaches would at all. That's a big risk to take if there's a really good chance he never plays a game. Especially if you and the player make everyone feel as though that player will be back the following year cause then you hurt yourself in recruiting that position. So, if that player does in fact leave, you've missed out on recruiting someone else that would've taken that open spot. Since we recruit the best of the best, that likely would've been a pretty damn good player but instead, we are stuck with nothing at that position next year when that was already going to be our week point. I don't think many coaches at all would've talent that big of a risk IF it was known that he probably was going to leave. Now, if he wasn't honest about that and told everyone, including the staff, that he was coming back for sure, welll.... that's a different story.

 

[Bluesnky]

IF (and that's a big if right now) he does stay in the draft and leave, how is it not using us? What did UK and the program get out of the situation? He used our name, our facilities, and our coaching staff to better himself and then left without ever giving anything back. I think that's a pretty text book definition of using something. JMO.

Cal will use him as an example of what you can do at UK with the school's facilities and his tutelage. Come in as a second round flyer guy, practice and work for four months, and you have a first round rating.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Who exactly did we miss out on by taking Diallo?

 

[TNCatfanforever]

what are our best options for additional help at guard. Green Baker and Alexander are all great players ..but as you know with the way we get called for fouls I think we have to add more guards and can we wait until May 24th? Do we have a guard that can get to the rim the way our past guards have done?

We have a thread to discuss his decision....I was hoping we could talk about the future players in this thread.

 

[UKnCincy]

BS. If we are giving them facilities and our coaches are spending time with them instead of players on the roster, it's BS if he goes pro and gives nothing back.

If he attended class and participated in practices and team meetings, then he fulfilled his obligations. If schools don't want to commit to multi-year scholarships with players, then there should be no expectation that players should commit to anything beyond the current season.

Further, NCAA rules severely limit the amount of instruction each player can receive from a member of the coaching staff. Any time spent with Diallo was not at the expense of players currently on our roster. Calm down.

 

[BlueRunner11]

I don't blame Diallo at all. He's got to do what's right for him and if someone gave him the opportunity to do this then you can't blame him for taking advantage of it. You gotta point the finger at someone when it hurts our situation and I think that's Cal. For those who say that any coach in the country would've taken Diallo even if there was a good chance he left, I completely disagree. I don't think many coaches would at all. That's a big risk to take if there's a really good chance he never plays a game. Especially if you and the player make everyone feel as though that player will be back the following year cause then you hurt yourself in recruiting that position. So, if that player does in fact leave, you've missed out on recruiting someone else that would've taken that open spot. Since we recruit the best of the best, that likely would've been a pretty damn good player but instead, we are stuck with nothing at that position next year when that was already going to be our week point. I don't think many coaches at all would've talent that big of a risk IF it was known that he probably was going to leave. Now, if he wasn't honest about that and told everyone, including the staff, that he was coming back for sure, welll.... that's a different story.

Except Diallo said in his press conference that him and Cal would have the draft conversation at seasons end. Diallo didn't hide anything from Cal.

My guess is Diallo has a certain draft range he wants and before he ever stepped foot on campus Cal made several calls to NBA people to get an idea where Diallo would go if he came out this summer. I believe Cal got feedback that he wouldn't be taken as high as he wanted to go and rolled the dice with the possibility of having him for next year. If Diallo has great workouts and gets good feedback about his draft position and jumps, then Cal has once again, helped a kid, helped a family, etc etc which will pay dividends with other families (recruits) in the future... Cal actually probably sees this as a win win tbh.

 

[track42]

We have a thread to discuss his decision....I was hoping we could talk about the future players in this thread.

Green seems to be more of a passer,Baker a great shooter but seems to need work in other areas,Shai is better than I thought but will need time,Knox doesn't seem to be coming here,think Smith goes to Illinois,Johnson could help but is not a star.

 

[Blueaz]

I don't blame Diallo at all. He's got to do what's right for him and if someone gave him the opportunity to do this then you can't blame him for taking advantage of it. You gotta point the finger at someone when it hurts our situation and I think that's Cal. For those who say that any coach in the country would've taken Diallo even if there was a good chance he left, I completely disagree. I don't think many coaches would at all. That's a big risk to take if there's a really good chance he never plays a game. Especially if you and the player make everyone feel as though that player will be back the following year cause then you hurt yourself in recruiting that position. So, if that player does in fact leave, you've missed out on recruiting someone else that would've taken that open spot. Since we recruit the best of the best, that likely would've been a pretty damn good player but instead, we are stuck with nothing at that position next year when that was already going to be our week point. I don't think many coaches at all would've talent that big of a risk IF it was known that he probably was going to leave. Now, if he wasn't honest about that and told everyone, including the staff, that he was coming back for sure, welll.... that's a different story.

Too many "ifs"... to judge anyone (unless you gave an agenda) at this point except the player; and only because HE had stated how he would be playing next season at UK. and nothing has changed, yet. So he can't even totally be judged at this moment.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

Cal will use him as an example of what you can do at UK with the school's facilities and his tutelage. Come in as a second round flyer guy, practice and work for four months, and you have a first round rating.

Yeah, I see what you're saying there. I just don't think we really need that though. We have enough guys in the league and OADs that everyone knows what Cal is capable of with his players. I don't think that's enough of a reward for the situation that it leaves us in if he were to leave. Not including guys we could've potentially recruited had Diallo not been looked at as being here next year. I just don't think it was a good choice by Cal. Granted, that's if he does leave. None of us know what's going on behind the scenes and this may have always been part of the plan and he is still coming back. My statesmen as just under the assumption that he does leave. That's all.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

Except Diallo said in his press conference that him and Cal would have the draft conversation at seasons end. Diallo didn't hide anything from Cal.

My guess is Diallo has a certain draft range he wants and before he ever stepped foot on campus Cal made several calls to NBA people to get an idea where Diallo would go if he came out this summer. I believe Cal got feedback that he wouldn't be taken as high as he wanted to go and rolled the dice with the possibility of having him for next year. If Diallo has great workouts and gets good feedback about his draft position and jumps, then Cal has once again, helped a kid, helped a family, etc etc which will pay dividends with other families (recruits) in the future... Cal actually probably sees this as a win win tbh.

But he also kept saying that he had no plans to leave and the plan is to be here next year. So, you can look at that 2 different ways. And I get the whole helping the families out, I get it. But IMO, he doesn't need anything else to sell to other families. He's got enough OADs and guys in the league to show families what he can do. But I get that aspect of it and I'm sure it may help us down the line somewhere but I don't feel as though that's enough of a reward to justify the risk and the situation it puts us in for next year. That's all. Like I said earlier, I am one of the biggest defendants of Cal on this board. I always trust Cal and I still do. This changes nothing of how I feel about him. If Hami does stay in the draft, I just think he made the wrong call on this one. That's it, nothing more. It puts us in a really bad spot next year and we could've potentially recruited someone else but everyone thought Diallo would be here next year. I have to think Cal did to or he would've been out recruiting another SG. Makes sense now as to why he was selling Knox on the idea of playing SG.

 

[TNCatfanforever]

Green seems to be more of a passer,Baker a great shooter but seems to need work in other areas,Shai is better than I thought but will need time,Knox doesn't seem to be coming here,think Smith goes to Illinois,Johnson could help but is not a star.

So if he stays in the draft we may really and truly be very short handed at guard and Brad may get a lot of minutes

 

[TNCatfanforever]

Who exactly did we miss out on by taking Diallo?

I think there are several names that could enter this discussion...especially a couple of grad transfers.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

Too many "ifs"... to judge anyone (unless you gave an agenda) at this point except the player; and only because HE had stated how he would be playing next season at UK. and nothing has changed, yet. So he can't even totally be judged at this moment.

Yes, and I've made that perfectly clear to. I have said that this is all with the assumption that he leaves. Nobody knows what's going on behind the scenes. This may have always been part of the plan just to go through the motions and see what's it's like. So, this may all be for nothing. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

 

[BlueRunner11]

But he also kept saying that he had no plans to leave and the plan is to be here next year. So, you can look at that 2 different ways. And I get the whole helping the families out, I get it. But IMO, he doesn't need anything else to sell to other families. He's got enough OADs and guys in the league to show families what he can do. But I get that aspect of it and I'm sure it may help us down the line somewhere but I don't feel as though that's enough of a reward to justify the risk and the situation it puts us in for next year. That's all. Like I said earlier, I am one of the biggest defendants of Cal on this board. I always trust Cal and I still do. This changes nothing of how I feel about him. If Hami does stay in the draft, I just think he made the wrong call on this one. That's it, nothing more. It puts us in a really bad spot next year and we could've potentially recruited someone else but everyone thought Diallo would be here next year. I have to think Cal did to or he would've been out recruiting another SG. Makes sense now as to why he was selling Knox on the idea of playing SG.

I agree with you. I'm just trying to look at this the way John Calipari likely does.

Personally, I believe he should've been playing all semester and have said as much. He's too talented to have not and who knows where we could've went with him.

Cal once said, if we help these kids reach their dreams, then they'll help us reach ours or something like that...time will tell if and how Diallo will fit that in with that philosophy.

 

[Bluesnky]

So if he stays in the draft we may really and truly be very short handed at guard and Brad may get a lot of minutes

I think that's pretty unlikely, unless you think we need 5 capable guards. I think four is probably enough.

 

[CHAMPCAT11]

Nah, you melted down and made nonsense comments about him using us. Cal knew the deal when he signed him, dude is gonna do what's best for himself and his future. He values taking care of his family more than he does your entertainment, which is all he is to you.

I see where you're coming from. I get it. But look at the hottest topics on this board now. The majority of the threads are about Cal and signing the next NBA superstar. Lost in all of this is 'the UK basketball team'. I'm all for getting great recruits and having a great coach but in the end I care a great deal more about UK basketball than how many of our former players are on the NBA All Star team. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that a lot of our players have NBA careers but that comes second to the success of the UK program.

 

[Jazzycat]

Very curious about this arrangement. Calipari brought Diallo in and did not play him and now, he declares for the draft.

If Diallo needed to train and prepare for the NBA, I am wondering why he didn't spend his semester doing workouts and training on his own. It is a legitimate question. Instead, resources were used to prepare him, he received a free semester education and the full benefit of all that the U.K. Staff and resources afforded. That is a lot of money and time dedicated to an individual who did not play one minute of college bb.

Before folks begin their textual attacks, I am simply presenting a differing point of view and questioning the amount of time and money spent on a player who never played. My hope is that this was an exception and will not become a rule. That is all.