Rupp Rafters UK Basketball Draft (Complete)
- Thread starter DraftCat
- Start date
I love mine too. I feel like all of us could make a legitimate case that we have the best team. 😂
Fair enough man. Pretty much all of these teams have players I beloved growing up. It’s gonna be hard to vote on. These are harder to vote on than any of the other drafts we have, imo.
Bowie works as a 4 & played there the entire 84 season. And, pre-injury Bowie is a top 10-15 player, IMO. He was a decent shooter out to 18 feet & could’ve become a very consistent shooter had he not missed, essentially, 2 seasons.
But, he was a rebounding maestro & an elite rim protector. He was also as good of a passing big as I have seen. He could even handle the ball & we used him to bring the ball up the floor, regularly. After the injuries, his offense suffered. But, everything else was good, aside from losing a lot of explosion. He was quite athletic when he was healthy.
But, after the injuries, he more or less just flung the ball toward the hoop like he was more interested in following up the miss than making the shot. Seemed to rush every shot. Understandable, though, since he was shaking off 2 years of rust.
He is one of my all-timers & I’ll always believe that a never injured Bowie would be remembered much differently, with high odds of a HOF career. Dude was way ahead of his time. He & Ralph Sampson were the college unicorns of the 80s, IMO. Bigs were anchored to the paint, at the time. And, don’t believe the bust bs. He had a decade long NBA career with solid numbers.
This has been a blast so far. Thanks to whoever started it originally and @DraftCat for keeping it on track. Really fun.
Bout time someone stepped up. He's my Dad's (83) all time favorite player.
First draft I did was in 2017 and I'm the only one who's done them since. I think Gonzo may of been the first one to ever host a draft though.. but not sure.
I would be interested in knowing what each participant's first UK team that they really have knowledge about. For me...the 78 team, although I do remember some players from earlier but don't really know (first hand) their strengths and weaknesses.
Sorry for the delay, gents.
Every team needs a dog, and I'll go with a guy who comps well with Azubuike from a physical standpoint. Also needed an elite wing defender who can also hit the three or slash if he's defended too closely.
Give me Keldon Johnson.
14ppg,
6rpg,
2apg,
1spg
46% from the field
38% from three point land
He's the ultimate competitor, and the perfect 6th man. At 6'6", 215lb, he can guard pretty much any 2 or 3.
Updated:
1. @LukaszObrzut - Jamal Mashburn, Patrick Patterson, Jamal Murray, Rajon Rondo, Scott Padgett, Mike Phillips, John Pelphrey
2. @Cowtown Cat - Dan Issel, Keith Bogans, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Anthony Epps, Kevin Grevey, Nazr Mohammed
3. @Son_Of_Saul - John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Jodie Meeks, Antonio Reeves, PJ Washington, Keldon Johnson
4. @jrpross - Cliff Hagan, Malik Monk, Oscar Tshiebwe, Brandon Knight, Louie Dampier, Darius Miller
5. @chroix - Karl Towns, Julius Randle, Reed Sheppard, Jeff Sheppard, Tyrese Maxey, Jamaal Magloire
6. @JHannibalSmith - Ron Mercer, Kyle Macy, Rex Chapman, Melvin Turpin, Walter McCarty, Kelenna Azubuike
7. @Fox2monk - Tayshaun Prince, De'Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo, Chuck Hayes, Travis Ford, Cotton Nash
8. @drcats2013 - Tony Delk, Goose Givens, Sam Bowie, Shai Gil Alexander, Willie Cauley Stein, Immanuel Quickley
9. @RunninRichie - Derek Anderson, Tyler Ulis, Doron Lamb, Terrance Jones, Rick Robey, Devin Booker
10. @DraftCat - Antoine Walker, Kenny Sky Walker, Wayne Turner, Nerlens Noel, Gerald Fitch. Robert Dillingham
@Cowtown Cat , OTC.
1. @LukaszObrzut - Jamal Mashburn, Patrick Patterson, Jamal Murray, Rajon Rondo, Scott Padgett, Mike Phillips, John Pelphrey
2. @Cowtown Cat - Dan Issel, Keith Bogans, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Anthony Epps, Kevin Grevey, Nazr Mohammed
3. @Son_Of_Saul - John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Jodie Meeks, Antonio Reeves, PJ Washington, Keldon Johnson
4. @jrpross - Cliff Hagan, Malik Monk, Oscar Tshiebwe, Brandon Knight, Louie Dampier, Darius Miller
5. @chroix - Karl Towns, Julius Randle, Reed Sheppard, Jeff Sheppard, Tyrese Maxey, Jamaal Magloire
6. @JHannibalSmith - Ron Mercer, Kyle Macy, Rex Chapman, Melvin Turpin, Walter McCarty, Kelenna Azubuike
7. @Fox2monk - Tayshaun Prince, De'Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo, Chuck Hayes, Travis Ford, Cotton Nash
8. @drcats2013 - Tony Delk, Goose Givens, Sam Bowie, Shai Gil Alexander, Willie Cauley Stein, Immanuel Quickley
9. @RunninRichie - Derek Anderson, Tyler Ulis, Doron Lamb, Terrance Jones, Rick Robey, Devin Booker
10. @DraftCat - Antoine Walker, Kenny Sky Walker, Wayne Turner, Nerlens Noel, Gerald Fitch. Robert Dillingham
@Cowtown Cat , OTC.
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I'm a 91 baby so 32 years old. It's hard to say I have memories of the 96-98 run. But realistically the early 2000's
Would never have guessed that with your first 3 pics. So.......last name Walker?
Would never have guessed that with your first 3 pics. So.......last name Walker?
Last name starts with a W but not Walker...
My roster is big if you haven't noticed... I think in a March Madness style game it's going to be ugly. I think my roster will be ready for a Rock Fight with enough scoring punch to win.
Turner & Noel and Sky Walker IMO is an extremely difficult team to score against.
Exact same. 78 is the first team I remember & Kyle Macy was my first favorite player. Still my all-time favorite, too. But, same goes for probably 90% of the fans I know from that era. The region final against Magic & Michigan St was my introduction to March stress. And, I was hooked from that point on. That team spoiled me, though. I expected every UK team, thereafter, to go 30-2 or better & win championships, lol.
Watching the '93 team was my first experience as a UK fan. I experienced my first suicidal thoughts after Webber and company bested our guys in OT. lol
I had those same suicidal thoughts in '94 and '95 (I wasn't seriously considering death, but I felt overcome with pain).
I remember thinking, "How long must I wait for a title?" Ha ha! Little did I know how rare it is to win a natty, but thank God the '96 team answered my prayer in the most beautiful way imaginable.
I lean towards no because they haven't logged 1 minute in game time as a Kentucky Wildcat.
That was me in 83 after the “Dream Game”. Lol. Crushed me. Then, we follow that with the devastating FF loss to another team I despised, Georgetown. It’s still hard to accept & even harder to believe that we shot 3-33 in that 2nd half.
I still think 93 & 95, both, were the best teams in the country those years. 93 got hosed in the FF & I’m not one to blame officiating. That team was truly dominant on both ends of the floor & had cohesion like the 86 Celtics.
95 is one of the more underrated teams, IMO. I mean, I know ppl know that team was really good. But, they were pretty dominant, as well. They had lost 4 games by a grand total of 10 points entering the UNC game. And, they took teams’ souls, like 93 & 96, winning most games by 20+ & putting good teams away early.
I loathe UNC & their British cigarette shade of blue. Most hated school by far. And, I didn’t handle them ending our season very well, at all, lol. Punched a hole in my bedroom wall & was in a crap mood for days. And, I was in my mid-20s, lol. UK basketball can bring out the child in me like nothing else.
And, although I got to see a championship in my first season as a fan, I also wondered how long I’d have to wait for another one. I wasn’t old enough to truly appreciate 78, so, it was a long 18 years til our next one, with several more heartbreaks in between.
We must be close to the same age. My FIRST UK MEMORY was the Laettner shot in ’92 🤦♂️ then I remember watching Mashburn & co. in 1993 like it was yesterday.
We have much in common. In the early 70's Melvin Turpin actually attended my elementary school after desegregation. He was a few years older, but I remember him. Still have his pic in an old yearbook....somewhere.
You're absolutely right about that '95 team. They beat Arkansas, and had dominated the eventual champion UCLA in the Wooden Classic up until that mental breakdown in the last minute.
UNC didn't play Kentucky especially well either. That's the thing. You'd think that in a game where the final score in 74-61, UNC must have really shut them down. The reality, however, is that Kentucky just missed a ton of open shots. In fact, of their 29 missed three point shots, about 15 were relatively wide-open. You go 7/36 from three, and its "see ya" for any team.
Then you factor in that it was probably Rhodes' worst game of the year, and Tony Delk's second-worst game of the year, and it's no wonder UK barely broke 60 in that game. Those dudes combined to go something like 7/24 from the field.
You let UK play them in a 7 game series, and I swear UK wins the next 4 out of 6.
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Sorry guys. Had to mow grass today. Then took a nap before work.
You know you're dealing with the greatest program of all time when a guy who was a starter for a national title team, and who was probably that team's best player, and who also went on to play almost two decades in the NBA, ends up at the 59th pick in an all-time draft.
We've had so many great players here.
I'm a little tipsy but man it pisses me off how poorly the decisions were made from the stars that chose elsewhere.
They'd be absolute legends in Kentucky and either chose the money or the NBA. I don't even want to talk about it!
Bird, Iverson, and T-Mac were inches from coming here. Can you imagine how cherished those three would be if they had come to Kentucky?
Yes and that is what pisses me off.... some stupid agent got in their ear. We have a lot of NBA players but we really don't have generational names like a Bird, Iverson, T-Mac.
Anthony Davis is likely our only generational name out of the Calipari group.
SGA could end up in that camp when it's all said and done.
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