If the portal was around during the BCG era, the 2008-2009 squad would be strictly JuCo players and Kentucky kids.
Rajon Rondo...if there had been a portal I was gone
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BCG told Meeks to stop scoring and play team ball. It’s more common than you might think.
Yeah Tubby seemed to get mad when he dribbled too much instead of feeding the post. Feed the post and shoot jumpers when it gets kicked back out(instead of shooting layups which he was good at). Exactly the OPPOSITE of the way Rondo should have been used.
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Great post Ripcord! I would have added Mickey Gibson from Hazard to the 63 mega class. Rupp referred to Kron, Conley and him as the "Katzenjammers." Larry Conley told me during a conversation I had with him at the Atlanta Ap that Mickey Gibson was the best basketball player he ever played with or against. Mickey was 6'3" and had about a 40" vertical leap. Reportedly, he clashed with Rupp and left the team during his sophomore year. Many people believe UK could have won the 64 and 66 NCAA's if Mickey had stayed. He still holds most of the scoring records at Appalachian State where he starred in the mid 60's. The 55 class was also a mega class that had Johnny Cox(all american 58-59) John Crigler(all sec) and Donnis Butcher( played 6 years in the NBA with Detroit and was their head coach after he retired). If you remember Cox and Crigler were the starting forwards on the "fiddling five" 58 NCAA championship team,
Ripcord you must have been an airborne trooper. I was straightleg but served in the Army from 64-91.
Well, he did say Tubbys, not Kentucky.
Honestly, I think his use of Rondo was the start of his downfall. I still remember tons of Kentucky constantly questioning why doesn’t Tubby let me loose.
It was silliness he was playing plow ball with Rondo with all the talent Rondo showed
Crazy these HOF coaches get players and don’t play to their strengths, lol
Yeah, Tubby ball was very dull and boring, seeking to control the game and tempo with the ball line defense, build a small lead and hold onto it by walking it up. Having Rondo as the point guard on that team is like having a thoroughbred and using it for show jumping.
Thanks for your kind words, Tug ... and thanks for adding the info about Mickey Gibson, for the benefit of others who are interested like you and me. And yes, I was and am familiar with the Johnny Cox class - actually, that was the recruiting class who were freshmen at U.K. in 1956. I'm sure you recall that Cox led the Hazard Bulldogs to the State Tournament Championship in 1955.
About "the Fiddlin' Five" with Cox (a junior), Crigler (a senior), and Vernon Hatton (also a senior) ... Hatton went for 30 points in the NCAA Final Game against Elgin Baylor's Seattle team. (Cox had 25, and Crigler had 14). Another tidbit from my memory lane about the Fiddlin' Five: That '58 NCAA Championship Game was played at Freedom Hall in Louisville on the same night as the State Tournament Championship Game at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. In the final minutes of the State Tournament Championship game that night, a group of U.K. students paraded through the stands at Memorial Coliseum carrying a home-made banner (made out of a bed sheet) proclaiming "U.K. National Champs" (or something like that). The crowd erupted ! Quite a scene !
My "Ripcord" handle isn't military-related ... but I sure do appreciate your service. With 27 years in uniform, I'm guessing we should be calling you "General Tug" ! BTW ... my wife's late first husband, who was also a friend of mine from our hometown, was an Airborne Ranger (and West Point, 1966). He was in the same West Point class with, and was a friend of General Wesley Clark. My wife and I visited with General Clark a few times when he was running for POTUS back in '04.
Memories ... good stuff. Go 'Cats ! ! !
"Great coaching" that Rondo called out in the interview because Smith didn't coach to UK's strengths.
A true plow horse basketball clinic in Lexington from 1999-2007. Indicated by the absence of any Final Fours in that span, but keep clicking the smiley emoji because you don't like the reality of real history. It's what you do.
First mega class was the class with 4 Mr. Basketballs: Guyette, Grevey, Flynn, and Conner.
Wonder if Tubbys style of play helped prepare Rondo in them half court sets he ran in Boston? And Rondo was masterful doing so I might add he was the do it all Pg that didn't have to score on that team even bought a #9 jersey caused. I loved that team and Rondo that much.
It might have but I think we're now getting beyond preparing players for the NBA. A college coach's job is to use the talent he has the best way he can to achieve the goal of winning games. Rondo was better at beating his man off the dribble and getting to the rim than Dillingham, just to name one great iso scorer. Rondo could have forced double teams from the other team every trip down the floor and he was a great and willing passer. His only weakness was his perimeter shooting and Tubby's offense had him mostly shooting jumpers or feeding the post.
It was as bad a utilization of talent as what Cal did last year with his lineup combinations.
I've gotta say from talking to a few guys who played for Tubby and knowing one quite well, they didn't enjoy playing for him. He really restricted high level talent.
Cal should be arrested for not starting or having Reed or Rob in the game and at end of games but I expect Cal to now brag about that also like he does about other foolish stuff that really doesn't shine the best light on him like he thinks Jmo
I wasn’t a Tubby fan myself, was against the hire when it was made. But some of my all time favorite cats played for Tubby. Rondo being one of them.
What I’m saying is that by publicly saying these things only hurt these players, especially later in life. Not all these guys are set for life financially and might need employment in the future. It could become difficult if you’ve talk badly about UK, its fans or our state in the past.
Maybe I’m old and out of touch a bit but that’s how I see it.
I agree 100 its the cool thing to do now is bash the people that helps you with this career and a great one at that you don't gotta bash anyone or any place I'm like you
Thanks for the info Ripcord! The "fiddling 5" was my all time favorite UK team. I was fortunate enough along the way to spend some time with both Johnny Cox and John Crigler. Both of them were very down to earth, extremely friendly people. Cox was a close personal friend of my deceased cousin, Dr Herb Greene, who was a dentist in Lexington. He and Johnny were known to visit the watering holes in Lexington together and afterwards would often head to Hazard to roast potatoes. I spent a week on a Caribbean cruise with John Crigler and his family. I hung out every day with him and his brother who was a retired Air National Guard Major General.
No Rip I didn't make General. I retired as a full Colonel. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I consider myself to be a very fortunate person because I was able to spend the first 27 years of my adult life with the finest people in the world- the "dogface" soldiers of the United States Army.
Maybe it was Bobby Knight that he couldn’t handle. And that’s completely understandable.
Actually, he was treated poorly by IU players, namely, Kent Benson. A bit of hazing that Bird never forgot.
Well, Colonel ... one of my greatest regrets of my life is that I don't have any military service on my CV. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but that's just the way it is. When I disclose that information, though, I sometimes follow it with this: My father landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, as part of an engineering battalion attached to the 1st I.D. with some of the toughest of those dogface soldiers you mentioned. As you know, they fought across France, around to the east of Paris and up through Belgium. He was wounded at the Battle of Aachen (October, 1944). I've always been proud to mention his service, even though it's not my own.
You be well, Colonel. I'll be watching for those "tug1543" posts.
He did blame Knight for not giving a shit; said Knight wouldn't speak to him if he passed him on campus.
This board was completely polarized during the Rondo years. The Tubby supporters bashed him repeatedly as a cancer on the team. When Danny Ainge said Rondo would be a better pro than he was a college player some of our posters went nuts calling Ainge an idiot.
The Tubby critics often used Rondo as an example of a player being misused by Tubby. When Rondo left the story was that he didn't like playing for Tubby and left. A few years later Rondo said publicly that he didn't have a problem with Tubby and those stories were overblown. I thought, at the time, he was being diplomatic and trying not to burn bridges. That now seems to be confirmed.
I am aware that I'm in the minority on this one, but I've been a fan for nearly 60 years and Rondo is one of my least favorite Cats ever. I agree, that Tubby's style wasn't a fit for what Rondo wanted to do, but Tubby was the coach and coaches typically have a style of play that they want to run, and that's what Tubby did. He didn't change his style of play to suit one player. Their styles just weren't a great fit.
I don't like this garbage that goes on now where these players try to come out and bash their former coaches, former schools, etc., years after they were there and were able to have a good career because of those things. Their need to try to get attention is amazing at times.
I don't like this garbage that goes on now where these players try to come out and bash their former coaches, former schools, etc., years after they were there and were able to have a good career because of those things. Their need to try to get attention is amazing at times.
He never played for Knight. He was only on the IU campus for like a couple weeks, he left before practice even began.
Bird was dealing with some personal shit at the time …and was deeply insecure about being a dirt poor kid from the sticks surrounded by kids with money for the first time in his life. He’s been very clear that’s the main reason why he left, it had nothing to do with the basketball.
It’s actually rather similar to the reason why poor kids from the Eastern Ky mountains were long known for doing the same thing when they got a taste of city life. They just want to return home to what they know.
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