When Billy G first got hired a lot of fans including me wanted Cal. Of course Billy wrecked the program. My question is knowing that if Cal would have came first time around then more than likely Rose comes too, so would you guys trade the 2 years that Billy was here and have Cal knowing the outcome of the Rose deal and knowing it would have been us vacating games. Please discuss.
Serious question for all posters
- Thread starter catfan111
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Yeah I think even Derrick Rose would get this one right if it was on his SAT test. This is like asking if there were two doors in front of you, one led you to piles of money, beautiful women and a luxurious lifestyle while the other door opened only to have someone light you on fire, which door would you choose?
The variable here is Sandy Bell and compliance. Would she have caught the problem before it became an issue?
If Cal and Rose would have been here, & if that would have went on here. We would have probably got the death penalty.
Four years of parties with hookers paid for by an assistant coach and they would have burned down the lodge and strung and quartered Cal.
A little hyperbole there but you get the point.
Not changing anything. It all worked out. Why tempt fate.
If Billy Clyde hadn't been hired, Cal would have never been here.
Give more Cal Bell. Sandy would have nipped the Rose situation in the bud and we get more winning under Calipari and no prick drunkard.
The payoff is that last year of Meeks and a 2010 Championship and/or even more talent rostered.
The payoff is that last year of Meeks and a 2010 Championship and/or even more talent rostered.
I see a lot of people with this sentiment, but I feel many of them are skewing things in hindsight. At the time, I thought Billy G was a home run hire. He'd just made a deep tournament run with a mid-tier power 5 school and was the hottest name among young coaches. I really thought he'd get us back on track from the last couple years of Tubby ball, and into the elites again.
Obviously, I was wrong, but I definitely wasn't alone in that thought pattern.
Of all the sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest of these....IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
What's more...you and I would have burned down the Lodge and strung/quartered Cal. We ain't Loserville.
Personally I was displeased. I felt UK deserved a Heavyweight Name.
However I didn't protest Billy. Like you, I believed he was a step up from Tubby.
We essentially vacated those two years under Billy G anyway. Might as well make them enjoyable memories.
Per an internet search, Rose signed an LOI with Memphis on February 7, 2007 well before Tubby the Smith bolted for Minnesota. So it's possible(probable?) he never would've been released by Memphis to play elsewhere.
Rose would likely not have come to UK. I have always said that Calipari today would unlikely pursue a player like Bledsoe and maybe even Cousins. Both have been great stories (especially Bledsoe) but UK and Sandy would today likely say, pass. Plus, Calipari doesn't players with baggage these days.
![[pfftt]](https://ct.yimg.com/mr/uploads/891/1682173.gif "Pfffttt [pfftt]")
Although I agree with Viking, having Billy G has made me appreciate what Cal has done. I am having a blast with Cal here. I was miserable during the Billy -run for your life- G tenure.
I was with you OP. I was ready for a change when Tubby left, but I did not want BCG. During our coaching search I heard Andy Katz say that if Calipari was offered the job he would crawl to Lexington to accept it. When I heard that I was all in, but it didn't work out at that time.
As to whether or not I would make the trade that you mention... I don't think so. Not only would it have been difficult to accept the punishment and shame, but suffering for those two years made the success so much sweeter.
As to whether or not I would make the trade that you mention... I don't think so. Not only would it have been difficult to accept the punishment and shame, but suffering for those two years made the success so much sweeter.
No way would I touch that deal.
As hard as Memphis got hit, Uncle NCAA would have hit us five times as hard and you know it.
And can you imagine the negative recruiting firepower the slimeballs out there would have turned that into afterwards?
We're sheltered from that more than we realize, since the new school made the appearance of a new Cal to a lot of folks whether it was true ( & needed) or not. And his clean track record here has reinforced that to where even his worst enemies have had to find different ways to attack him. Not that he actually did anything wrong at Memphis or was even actually accused officially. But if he'd been here while he was being accused in public sentiment, he still would not have lived that down. PLATOONING hurt his recruitment A LOT and that was actually a great thing both for the team and each player's stock. Guy gets it from both sides, gets killed by both every single knee-biting coach/assistant in America and all the NCAA swollen heads. So does UK generally. We multiplied his recruting power. We would have multiplied his getting stabbed in the back power too.
As hard as Memphis got hit, Uncle NCAA would have hit us five times as hard and you know it.
And can you imagine the negative recruiting firepower the slimeballs out there would have turned that into afterwards?
We're sheltered from that more than we realize, since the new school made the appearance of a new Cal to a lot of folks whether it was true ( & needed) or not. And his clean track record here has reinforced that to where even his worst enemies have had to find different ways to attack him. Not that he actually did anything wrong at Memphis or was even actually accused officially. But if he'd been here while he was being accused in public sentiment, he still would not have lived that down. PLATOONING hurt his recruitment A LOT and that was actually a great thing both for the team and each player's stock. Guy gets it from both sides, gets killed by both every single knee-biting coach/assistant in America and all the NCAA swollen heads. So does UK generally. We multiplied his recruting power. We would have multiplied his getting stabbed in the back power too.
After Sutton's similar statements I never want that crawling to Lexington type coach, I want them to act like they been in big coaching jobs before, lol. Seriously we got Cal at the right time and place when we did.
My response is similar to mine in the thread about compliance. Compliance is very important to me, so no I would not want those 2 years if it meant us getting in trouble and vacating games. The timing wasn't really ideal for Cal at that moment anyway. Let's just be glad Billy G was the screw-up he was, and paved the way for Cal to come to town.
Uh, Billy didn't wreck the program. He took over the pile of crap that Tubby left.
That being said, Billy was in over his head also, and if he wasn't as bad as he was, we wouldn't have been able to fire him and hire Cal.
It all worked out.
Cal for 2 more years. And I don't think sandy bell would have mattered. Someone in infractions wanted to hit Cal's reputation specifically. He was the victim of a witch hunt.
Rose was cleared not once but TWICE remember?
I think we've been more stringent and cautious than most programs. Maybe not initially but even though it turned out he really didn't do anything wrong, the Bledsoe stuff could have turned out really bad for us. From that point on it seems like Cal and compliance have taken few if any chances.
Rose was cleared not once but TWICE remember?
I think we've been more stringent and cautious than most programs. Maybe not initially but even though it turned out he really didn't do anything wrong, the Bledsoe stuff could have turned out really bad for us. From that point on it seems like Cal and compliance have taken few if any chances.
