To me the best player to ever play for Kentucky was Jamal Mashburn..
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Don't know if he was the best but he's definitely im the conversation. But he will always be my favorite because of when he played and the role he had in restoring the program to glory.
Davis will always be the best. He won every award possible and led us to a national title in only 1 season. He was the consensus player of the year and a number 1 pick. He's now a top 5-10 player in the NBA and is only 24 years old.
Mashburn was amazing for his time and did great things for the program and is an all time great to play here..but nowhere near as dominant a force as AD.
Mashburn was amazing for his time and did great things for the program and is an all time great to play here..but nowhere near as dominant a force as AD.
There's a few more you could make the argument for UK's goat, but it's impossible to argue against Mash...
Mash was to basketball what Smooth is to starting threads.
But, one was an all time great and the other is just the opposite. Is that what you were going for?
AD could dominate a game without scoring.
Mash was tremendous and was a huge get from a recruiting perspective considering the probation. But AD could guard 4-5 positions on the floor. Shot blocker. Had a mid range game plus good in the post.
Proud of you for making this one an opinion and not a factual statement.
With that said, AD.
With that said, AD.
Question is......what does Smooth as Batter think?
I tend to agree w/ this...taking nothing away from AD, but he played on the same team as 3 other 1st round NBA picks. The '92 unforgettables and dominant '93 team had nobody other than Mash who was welcome in an NBA arena w/out buying a ticket. He elevated the play of every teammate on the floor w/ him.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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Yeah, people post about players they actually saw play and discount the fact that there were lots of great players at UK. Issel played three years and broke every scoring record and was nearly impossible to guard by anyone. Had Mike Casey not broken his leg there would have been a very strong argument for him as well.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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You just described Dan Issel's game but left out the fact that he could step out and hit what today would be three point shots.
I don't know if Mash was the best but for that time period he was the most important kind of like Wall was for Cal
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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This is true; he came at a time when we badly needed a talent such as him to rebuild the program. IMO, he gave us a jump start to future success.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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Agree 100%. It's obvious that the majority of fans that think that Issel was not the best never saw him play, and I don't mean watching a few film clips. He was STILL banging heads in the NBA in the mid to late '80's.
This. If everyone would just take moment and imagine Anthony Davis as a sophomore .
Now imagine him as a junior.
Now imagine him as a senior.
That equals game freaking over. There is no argument that defeats that. AD as a freshman was better than damn near any senior you can think of. That's amazing .
Yeah, most people don't know this, but AD was like the 4th leading scorer on the team.
Plus, Willie Cauley Stein played wide receiver in high school.
Mind blown right?
Someone played volleyball but I can't remember who.
You have to judge AD on 1 year. I always say AD is the most accomplished UK player in history. His competition was very weak compared to what guys like Issel and Mash faced.
@Steelers2012
Can you please ban OP? Calling on you cause i know you know how. Wondering why the mods here don't do it???
I kid I kid......kinda.
Can you please ban OP? Calling on you cause i know you know how. Wondering why the mods here don't do it???
I kid I kid......kinda.
Unless one just insists the best player "played in my lifetime" as so many do, this question is trivial. Dan Issel. Period. There are no grounds for discussion.
That said, if Davis had stayed for three years, I think the answer would have been different. Also, Mash was an outstanding player. One of our very best.
That said, if Davis had stayed for three years, I think the answer would have been different. Also, Mash was an outstanding player. One of our very best.
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Loved Mash! Loved AD! But I go Issel. Plowhourse, couldn't stop him, only hope to contain him.
Were there recruiting services and rankings back in Mashburn's high school days? Just wondering where he would have been ranked nationally in today's era of 24/7 analysis.
I think it's safe to say Mash was the single most important recruit ever for UK, and he is, without question, in the top 3 all GOAT here, IMHO.
I'll soon turn 55, and I go back as far as Issel. He is, again IMHO, the greatest to ever play at UK.
That said, if Davis had played 2-3 years, then things may be different, but he didn't, and Big Dan just ABUSED other teams. He's our all time leading scorer, and did it in 3 seasons.
Davis is the most talented, and awarded player at UK, and I would love to have seen him play another year or two. He was special, but Issel is still the GOAT at UK, IMO.
I'll soon turn 55, and I go back as far as Issel. He is, again IMHO, the greatest to ever play at UK.
That said, if Davis had played 2-3 years, then things may be different, but he didn't, and Big Dan just ABUSED other teams. He's our all time leading scorer, and did it in 3 seasons.
Davis is the most talented, and awarded player at UK, and I would love to have seen him play another year or two. He was special, but Issel is still the GOAT at UK, IMO.
Best ever - very debatable
most important - No question
I wouldn't sleep on him though
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