It's OK for you to care more about UK basketball and your entertainment than you do these kids lives, thats ayour prerogative. It is not OK for you to expect these kids to put your entertainment above their future. It's not OK to meltdown considering we are an elite program and we're winning at an insane level. Meltdown when we start losing, Cal's 8 years have been great. Oh and on top of that, we're gonna have a great team next year and it may even include Diallo. What exactly are yall mad about?
Ok if HD stays in the draft....
- Thread starter TNCatfanforever
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The people who actually spent their time and money are OK with this and actually seem to know the plan.
So now Bam is gone for sure....so if we don't get Bamba I would say next year looks like a 10 loss tubby team....
Poor chicken little, looks like you may need to get a life and stop relying on these kids for your happiness.
First, I'm not mad about anything. You chose to take my comments in a negative light which is typical. Second, I'm not in the 'yall' crowd, I just gave my opinion which fired you up because that's your thing. I hope we're good next year just like I do every year. You didn't totally whiff in your post- we are definitely an elite program.
I'm really surprised that you have such a misguided opinion on this situation.
Diallo was our top SG prospect (#1SG in nation) in a guard-weak class.
Look at commitment dates, we did not miss out on any other super studs because of his commitment.
I wish we had access to all the D1 coaches so that everyone of them would tell you they would have taken the kid.
There was absolutely no risk, you are making this up.
If, we had our choice of 2-3 great guards and made this deal losing out on another one, then your scenario would hold true.
But in this case it simply does not. Yet you keep repeating the same "big risk", "no other coaches would have taken the #1 SG in the nation because he "might" leave early" message.
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Would you two please:
Explain the risk and name the players we missed on?
The Diallo situation is a little frustrating. Cal made a promise to the kid and has kept his end of the deal. This only further cements Cal with recruits that he clearly has their best interests at heart. This is a big deal in regards to recruiting.
To me though, UK got nothing out of this deal if Diallo goes pro without ever stepping on the floor in a game. UK greatly benefited Diallo, however, if he does not return, UK is left with nothing.
I love Cal. He is the best there is right now and it's not really close IMO.
I will say, that Cal is employed by UK, and paid extremely well. Being at UK allows him opportunities he wouldn't have and 99.99% of other schools. The benefits to UK should factor in somewhere in these decisions as well. Not at the forefront, but it should be in the mix.
He says he is in the business of helping families, and I agree with that. But the only reason he is able to do that is because he is at the school with the biggest name in college basketball. If Diallo goes pro, there was no benefit for UK at all in this process.
To me though, UK got nothing out of this deal if Diallo goes pro without ever stepping on the floor in a game. UK greatly benefited Diallo, however, if he does not return, UK is left with nothing.
I love Cal. He is the best there is right now and it's not really close IMO.
I will say, that Cal is employed by UK, and paid extremely well. Being at UK allows him opportunities he wouldn't have and 99.99% of other schools. The benefits to UK should factor in somewhere in these decisions as well. Not at the forefront, but it should be in the mix.
He says he is in the business of helping families, and I agree with that. But the only reason he is able to do that is because he is at the school with the biggest name in college basketball. If Diallo goes pro, there was no benefit for UK at all in this process.
Exactly this. He could have played week one. The reason he didn't play is very simple. He could only have hurt his draft stock by wiping out any of the 'unknown' factor out there.
Also, for those of you claiming he gave nothing back.....surely he provided a greater scrimmage challenge in practice than Brad Calipari offered? Just saying.
But what did we lose?
If there truly was not another stud available, we had an open scholly and rolled the dice on the #1 SG.
Nobody really cares about the financial expenses and educational benefits, that is so not true.
We are upset because our SG may not be here next year.
Let's all at least be honest.
Hell we want a billion dollar arena. Giving a kid a half a ride means nothing to any of you, or me.
We are all just butt hurt and many want it both ways.
If he stays, Cal is great. If he leaves Cal is dumb and risked...nothing.
We gave up absolutely nothing
Cal looked at this like let's bring this kid in.......if he stays, we have a top player for a year........if he goes, we are in the same exact position we were in beforehand.
Cal looked at this like let's bring this kid in.......if he stays, we have a top player for a year........if he goes, we are in the same exact position we were in beforehand.
This is Diallo's decision. If he doesn't hire an agent I would think he is coming back. If he hires an agent I'll still wish he becomes successful. We are still recruiting Bamba and one other guard. If we get Bamba I would be very Happy but if we don't we will still be OK! Lot of talent coming in to Lexington.
Unless his shooting has improved tremendously I do not see much chance of a 1st round pick.
If he accepts a "flyer" in the second then he never wanted to be here and was most likely was not honest with Cal, just my opinion.
The 2nd round "flyer" = D league
D league for a guy who never played college or foreign ball = very very risky
I could see this being the scenario when he first arrived:
I have no doubt he didnt want to show any flaws and hoped for a 1st round pick with a great combine.
If he is not 1st round he comes back.
With this draft, his poor shooting, zero college exposure it wasn't a bad gamble, especially if it didnt cost us another player.
If he leaves it sucks because we have a hole, just like we did before he committed.
If he accepts a "flyer" in the second then he never wanted to be here and was most likely was not honest with Cal, just my opinion.
The 2nd round "flyer" = D league
D league for a guy who never played college or foreign ball = very very risky
I could see this being the scenario when he first arrived:
I have no doubt he didnt want to show any flaws and hoped for a 1st round pick with a great combine.
If he is not 1st round he comes back.
With this draft, his poor shooting, zero college exposure it wasn't a bad gamble, especially if it didnt cost us another player.
If he leaves it sucks because we have a hole, just like we did before he committed.
Nobody's fired up. It's no more than entertainment for me. Some of you act like people are holding a knife to their wrist unless they say anything but "Go cats" all day, every day. The bottom line is we most likely didn't get a good comitt because he came here. I'm confident Cal won't take any more mid-season guys.
I don't see the Enes comparison.That guy was so screwed over by the NCAA.
What I'm wondering about right now is whether or not this could hurt us with Bamba, since they are supposedly close and were at one time considered a "package deal" along with Green.
I'm not on with this, but there apparently wasn't any risk, nor reason to whine about Cal.
If the kid stays knowing he is 2nd round or possibly undrafted, I'm would hope that wasn't a part of the original equation.
If he stays knowing he is a 2nd rounder or possibly not drafted, then most likely I would agree.
I wouldnt be surprised if Cal was ok with him going with a guaranteed 1st.
But we still have no evidence he cost us anyone that was nearly as good as Diallo.
I said potential players, we don't know but I think Cal could've went after another SG. I don't think he would choose to go into next season with the backcourt we see at the moment minus Diallo. He would've tried to get someone that has committed elsewhere since Diallo committed here.
The other risk is the situation that it leaves us in when he does leave when we are already short handed in the backcourt. I always respect your opinion but I just disagree with ya on this one. I think it is a risk if he were to leave. We just don't know yet. I may be wrong on this but it's how I feel at the moment.
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I mean is it too much to ask that they play 1 game before leaving?
I respect yours as well.
But the fact is you think Cal wasn't taking all of this into consideration and still made the decision?
If Cal wasn't impressed enough with other potential recruits and took the risk who are we to say that was wrong?
You, nor I, have any idea what the other options might have been. But Cal did. And yet he went this route...
If Cal blindly made this decision without vetting all options then he is just one big dummy when it comes to recruiting....
Can you whine anymore than you already do?
Several have you pegged for a troll because of your negative nanciness.
If the kid stays knowing he is 2nd round or worse then I would guess that wasnt part of the agreement...and I dont see him making 1st round as of right now.
And you really posted this crap "Selfish punk if he doesn't play a year." ???
What are you 12? Just stop you are embarassing yourself.
Yeah, you got a good point there. Nobody knows what was going on behind the scenes and after everything, he still decided to do it. That's a good point.
Diallo was always going to do this. I still expect him to be our starting SG and highest scorer next year until something crazy happens. Everyone else in the program thinks the same, from what I have heard. This shouldn't be a big shock.
In my worthless opinion, as always.
In my worthless opinion, as always.
I personally didn't lose anything. But UK did. Please tell me what UK gained if he stays in the draft?
I'm not talking about money wise. UK gave him exposure and training. What did he give UK?
How do you know it didn't affect the decision of some recruit? You don't.
I am not butthurt at all. I am not invested in a kid that was here 4 months and did nothing. UK fans are the most loyal and passionate in the country. They spend countless money and travel all over to support this team. They adore these players and treat them like royalty. Kids like Monk, Fox, and Bam gave UK their all. What did Diallo give?
The best relationships have a give and take. If he goes pro, where's the give on his part?
I don't care about the money part of it all. UK can spend however they want. I am talking about giving something back to someone that helped you. Show where that is if he doesn't come back.
What if Bagley or Williamson want to come but say they don't want to play, They just want to practice and get better that way? Diallo is doing the smart thing. I agree. Just not sure this is the right thing. Kanter wanted to play and couldn't. Diallo could have but wouldn't.
that is the inherent problem...99% of the top players are not going to care as much as YOU or I... That era seems to have passed since the OADs era has moved in...IF the NBA changes it rules to straight out of HS or 2 (3) years removed...there will a crop of less talented kids playing THAT will care more....But, still not nearly as much as us fans. JMHO
its fun to try and guess who posters are conversing with...when one is on ignore
How do I know it didnt affect another good recruit?
Because I trust the judgement of the best recruiter in the business ever.
If you think you know more than Cal with all the info he had then ok, but I am not privy as to which players would have came here without Diallo.
I am assuming Cal thought the risk were indeed worth it or he wouldnt have pulled the trigger.
Those of you upset at Cal over this are simply stating publicly that Cal is wrong in his recruiting decision.
I do think if Diallo is not given assurance of 1st round status and he still stays in the draft then an understanding between he and Cal may have been broken. But I dont know for sure.
He gave UK a 5 star practice squad participant that helped our starters every single day in practice. Every day Monk and Fox and Briscoe had to lock down on Diallo and guard him. Bam had to switch on him. We really had no one else like him on our roster. If you think about it our practices would probably look a bit like this:
Fox Hawk
Monk Diallo
Briscoe Mulder
Willis Gabriel
Bam Hump
If you take out Diallo then we really don't have an actual backup shooting guard. So, you either have to get creative with the guard play or you have to play a big lineup, or you play a walkon as that shooting guard position. So, Diallo filled a role even if it was just at practice. I guarantee that the starters greatly benefited from having to guard him, and may have been a big key on why our defense improved so much at the end of the year. Yes, Diallo may have gotten more out of UK, but let's not pretend like he gave nothing back.
I trust Cal in recruiting. Please don't put words in my mouth.
I just think the agreement was a bad one. Diallo used UK to help himself, but what did UK get in return? He may return and I hope he does because he is a dynamic player.
I highly doubt he does if he has improved as much as Cal says he has.
It should be a two way street. This is not an unreasonable request. Cal and UK have helped this kid tremendously, especially if he is a 1st round pick.
Your employer affords you a job and benefits. They provide with the ability to help yourself and your family. All they ask in return is for you to do your part to help them. Still haven't showed me what Cal or UK got in return?
Well if he used anybody it was the University of Kentucky, not "us". Yeah, he used the facilities and coaching staff to better himself, but the last I checked UK was doing just fine financially and won't go bankrupt from this. You're upset because he didn't give anything back to "you" by scoring points and winning games next year if he doesn't come back. This kid doesn't owe "you' anything and if he can go pro this year I wish him the best.
Best post I've read in a long time. For some reason a large segment of posters on this board don't think the fans have any skin in the game. When people's dying wish is to go to a UK game with a loved one (and it happens all the time whether you like it or not) posters gush with UK pride. But when threads like this pop up a huge amount of posters say 'screw the loyal fan teenager and get the heck out of Lexington whether you can play pro ball or not. Don't wait a few more months. Hell, you're 18 years old so you need to hurry up.
Is it anyone's dying wish to go to a game with a loved one who bitches constantly about a highly successful system that produces a contender almost every year?
