Quick question - Bagley or AD?! Bagley the best prospect in ten or fifteen years my aching ass. No brainer - 18 year old AD would straight up handle that dude. Point blank period.
To me the best player to ever play for Kentucky was Jamal Mashburn..
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A lot of special players have played basketball for UK. Mashburn was a very good 1, and I enjoyed watching him play. But to call him the best Wildcat ever is a stretch. Cliff Hagan, Frank Ramsey, Pat Riley, Dan Issel were All Americans who had long professional careers. John Wall was the overall #1 NBA draft choice and is now an NBA all star. Anthony Davis and Karl Towns were both overall #1 NBA draft choice and are already among the best players in the NBA. Even Eric Bledsoe, Rajon Rondo have had more impressive NBA careers than Mash had. Not to diminish Mash in any way since he was a great All American. But we have had so many All Americans.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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This could not be more true. Although I'm not a fan of John Wooden, he actually predicted this after he retired. He felt that American Basketball needed to get back to fundamentals and stop trying to make the spectacular play. Another element lacking in today's game is the mid-range jump shot. For those that remember Bob Macadoo, he was one of the best. Today's game has turned into a hackfest and it's no fun to watch. When's the last time one can recall a NBA game that there wasn't a foul every trip down the court?
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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The game has certainly evolved but there were certain players in Issel's era that could've played today, and he was one of them. Others would be Artis Gilmore, Lew Alcindor (before he changed to Jabbar), Austin Carr, Elvin Hayes and Spencer Haywood, just to name a few.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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Casey, prior to his injury, had skills strongly similar to Jerry West. Quick first step, great shooter but could drive the lane with the best of them. Saw him play in person at Memorial in 1971 and he was good but nothing like he was prior to the injury.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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People forget that Issel had to go up against two 7 footers against Jacksonville; Gilmore and Pembrook Burrows. He fouled out with 10:16 to go in the game and still had 28 points and 10 rebounds. I can recall him using the head fake to great success in that game.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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By that criteria you could make an argument for guys like Nazr Mohammed, who had two rings. Yeah, Issel played so poorly in the tournament that he only had 44 against Notre Dame and 28 against Jacksonville and fouled out with over 10 minutes to go.
I think Frank Ramsey or Dan Issel should rate near the top but guess that was too long ago.
people just love to argue on here. Show me where I said tournament success is ALL that matters. Good luck finding that because I never said it.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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...no it isn't. I didn't imply anything. I said tournament success should play a factor at a place like Kentucky when deciding the goat. If it was all that matters I would just say Wayne turner is our goat. But I didn't say that. Again, people just love to argue on here.
I'm not saying it isn't Issel, nor it is Issel. But I don't think it is as simple as you say.
Could he be the leading rebounder partly because there were a lot more rebounds available back then, between lower shooting %'s, more shot attempts, and smaller less athletic guards not grabbing many rebounds. Didn't UK have a guy average 15+ (Burrow) rebounds a game back in the late 50's? That isn't even conceivable in today's game. Same kinds of statements can be made about scoring, although Issel didn't have the 3pt shot available like Mashburn did. Both played 3 years, but Issel had the 3rd yr as a SR whereas Mash had the 3rd yr as a FR. On the other hand Issel didn't play in as many games per season as Mashburn.
I'm just saying there are a lot of factors to consider, and you can't make it as simple as #1 scorer & #1 rebounder = best.
I think we have all agreed who those top 3 are, and there are valid arguments for each one.
There is really nothing to discuss or debate in regards to this topic....It begins and ENDS with...AD.... and it's not even close...not only did AD win every conceivable award there was to win in his freshman season at UK, he also won a national championship, was the number one pick in the NBA draft, and played for the gold-medal Olympics team! He is currently widely considered to be one of the 5 best players on the PLANET...and when his career is over, he will be in the discussions for Greatest PF of all time and Top 10 players TO EVER PLAY THE GAME OF BASKETBALL! To even consider ANYONE ELSE as the Greatest UK player ever is Blasphemy!
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Some other UK All American forwards with great midrange games. Grevey, Givens, Walker, Mercer. Out of these, Mashburn was the best of the 5 on the offensive board. But overall, it's very difficult to say Mashburn was a better player than Grevey, Hagan, Riley, Issel, Wall, AD, KAT. When I see this kind of a thread, I always wonder about the ages of fans who are so sure that 1 former UK player was the best ever. Over the years, we have had a lot of great All Americans at UK.
I don't remember big Dan as a cat. I do remember watching him in the pros a little bit. The man could score the basketball.
I can reasonably imagine a score of 198-194 if Mash and the Horse were to play a one on one game of 24 by 4.
I can reasonably imagine a score of 198-194 if Mash and the Horse were to play a one on one game of 24 by 4.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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Wrong, you obviously never saw Issel play. Doesn't matter what someone does post-UK it's what happens during their tenure their. It does not begin and end with AD.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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Mashburn was the most important recruit. Actually, he ranks second behind Issel in best all time at UK.
And still the leading scorer in UK basketball history. I think Dan averaged 30 ppg 1 season.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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His senior season he averaged 34 ppg; as a junior 27 and 16 as a sophomore. Still the all-time leading scorer.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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I've been watching U K basketball AVIDLY since 1957 and Dan Issel was the most dominant player to ever wear the uniform!!!! I was at the game where we lost to Jacksonville with Artis Gilmore. We had the best team in the tournament but they fouled Dan out on a very unorthodox play. Also the fact that Mike Casey was in a car wreck before his senior year had a profound effect on that team. Mike was the best player on the team when they were freshmen but Dan passed him up and kept on going.
Dan was the best in my lifetime and I've seen them all!
Dan was the best in my lifetime and I've seen them all!
Well yes but the best UK player ever? Even better than Dan Issel? Even better than the Fab Five (the real Fab Five, our Fab Five of '48)???
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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100% without a doubt. No other player comes remotely close to Issel's accomplishments. Yes, the team was really the best in the tournament even without Casey.
Issel's senior team shot a higher percentage than AD's team and Mashburn's junior team. The opponents of Issel's teams also shot a higher percentage than the AD and Mash teams so there would have been less opportunities to rebound. The Davis team actually had more attempts than Big Dan or the Mash team. Just a one year comparison but that makes Issel's records even more impressive.
every thread the op has ever done is the same. they predict something overly debatable that force the curbing of a significant uk player's aura.
who cares that he never responds unless it's to bump the thread. who cares that he's not even a fan. but for god's sake why some of you entertain this carefully worded bs is beyond me. he knows nothing about jamal mashburn. where does he mention any part of his game? where does he talk about the skills of ANY of the players he emphatically ranks??
who cares that he never responds unless it's to bump the thread. who cares that he's not even a fan. but for god's sake why some of you entertain this carefully worded bs is beyond me. he knows nothing about jamal mashburn. where does he mention any part of his game? where does he talk about the skills of ANY of the players he emphatically ranks??
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