Nobody wants to say it but

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Is this season disappointing? Yes. Is Tubby a disappointment? No.

Clem took us to the NCAA's in 1989, 90, 94, 95, 97 and 99. Included in that run were 3 Sweet 16's, 2 Elite 8's and a Final Four. He also missed the tournament in 1986, 87, 88, 91, 92, 93, 96 and 98. In the non-tourny years we got hosed in 1996 and were semi-bubble candidates in 93 and 98 IIRC. Disregarding the scandal, I think most people consider what Clem did here on the court to have been a success. Forgiving the first 3 years, since he was rebuilding, he took us to the NCAA's 6 times (should have been 7), 3 Sweet 16's and a Final Four in 11 years.

My broad expectations for Tubby are similar or even slighly higher. If he's here 10 years, I hope we make the tournament at least 7 times (considering it was nearly impossible in year 1), make the Sweet 16 4 times or so, and make at least 1 Final Four (or die trying.) Maybe Kentucky fans consider this settling for mediocrity, I don't. Through two years Tubby was absolutely meeting my expectation. I certainly expected this year to be another of those NCAA bids and maybe the first Sweet 16. Instead, just about everything that could have gone wrong (outside of injuries) has gone wrong. Just about every close game has gone the wrong way. And so we are where we are. Tubby did not suddenly lose his ability to coach or stop caring. Some years, stuff happens.

All that said, we are 4-5 in the conference, it's not the end of the world. It's entirely possible we could run off 3-4 wins and put ourselves right back on the bubble. Everyone needs to calm down.
 

How

howeda7 said:
Is this season disappointing? Yes. Is Tubby a disappointment? No.

Clem took us to the NCAA's in 1989, 90, 94, 95, 97 and 99. Included in that run were 3 Sweet 16's, 2 Elite 8's and a Final Four. He also missed the tournament in 1986, 87, 88, 91, 92, 93, 96 and 98. In the non-tourny years we got hosed in 1996 and were semi-bubble candidates in 93 and 98 IIRC. Disregarding the scandal, I think most people consider what Clem did here on the court to have been a success. Forgiving the first 3 years, since he was rebuilding, he took us to the NCAA's 6 times (should have been 7), 3 Sweet 16's and a Final Four in 11 years.

My broad expectations for Tubby are similar or even slighly higher. If he's here 10 years, I hope we make the tournament at least 7 times (considering it was nearly impossible in year 1), make the Sweet 16 4 times or so, and make at least 1 Final Four (or die trying.) Maybe Kentucky fans consider this settling for mediocrity, I don't. Through two years Tubby was absolutely meeting my expectation. I certainly expected this year to be another of those NCAA bids and maybe the first Sweet 16. Instead, just about everything that could have gone wrong (outside of injuries) has gone wrong. Just about every close game has gone the wrong way. And so we are where we are. Tubby did not suddenly lose his ability to coach or stop caring. Some years, stuff happens.

All that said, we are 4-5 in the conference, it's not the end of the world. It's entirely possible we could run off 3-4 wins and put ourselves right back on the bubble. Everyone needs to calm down.
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Excellent post and I agree.

I for one am proud to have Tubby Smith as our head coach.

+10

:clap::clap::clap:
 


The-Real-Truth said:
Great, it is time for you to go back to your racist Uk board also. Bye bye.
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So let me get this straight.

If someone disagrees that Tubby is the greatest you
write them off as a KY racist.

FYI
Rodney King - California
Harvard Professor who was arrested trying to get into his own house - Mass.
Funny how stories of racial profiling, racial abuse, are NOT coming from Kentucky.

If you want to debate b-ball fine, others do have a point of view.
If all you can do is call someone with a different viewpoint a racist I would
say you have a rather weak argument for you case.
 



akoch6767 said:
nonsense... this guy has won a national championship... trust me things will turn around... tell me who would be a better fit to coach this team and then we'll talk... tubby is an oustanding recruiter... the team that he has taken over were guys left over from monson anyway... his players are only sophomores... Joseph and sampson are likely to be big ten stars by the time they get to their senior year(sims and harris of michigan). You can't tell me that tubby smith wasn't responsible for taking a 1 star recruit like al nolen was and teaching him how to become a great defender(one of the best in the country)....johnson was a 2 star recruit...and is now the best defensive player in the big ten...hoffarber we knew had a great shot coming in, but Tubby has shown him how to be a clutch shooter, and has taught him what to work on when the 3's aren't falling...and look at sampson...this guy had raw potential at best...but tubby has transformed him into one of the best...sophmore big men in the Bten... if not the best...Tubby also has many connections...kalin lucas and Cole aldrich would probably gophers right now if Tubby had come in a bit earlier...now tell me who would be better fit to coach this team?
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Tubby is NOT an outstanding recruiter. That's his downfall. He's a great man and excellent defensive mind, but certainly not a top-notch recruiter. Look at the two best players on the team: Hoffarber and Johnson. Neither is a Tubby guy.
 

BigGopherFan said:
Tubby is NOT an outstanding recruiter. That's his downfall. He's a great man and excellent defensive mind, but certainly not a top-notch recruiter. Look at the two best players on the team: Hoffarber and Johnson. Neither is a Tubby guy.
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A little excerpt from an article by Friend of Tubby...

Myth #3 – Tubby Smith can’t recruit. He only wins when he coaches players recruited by someone else.
Reality #3 – Not exactly. Let’s look at several examples. When Tubby took his first head coaching job at Tulsa in 1991, the roster contained just 4 scholarship players returning. He went to work and recruited some excellent players for his system. After 2 seasons, he took the Golden Hurricane to consecutive Sweet 16 appearances (in 1994 and 1995) with 23-8 and 24-8 records. Those were the first NCAA wins ever recorded by Tulsa. Nolan Richardson coached at Tulsa but never won an NCAA game there.

Another example is Georgia. Tubby moved from Tulsa to Athens in 1995. His first team had 8 seniors and produced a third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance for Tubby. That team had 21 W and defeated #1 seed Purdue (my alma mater) in the NCAA tournament. His next Bulldog team was almost completely his own recruits but proceeded to set a school record with 24 W and defeated SEC champion South Carolina (twice) on the way to the first ever (and only) back-to-back 20+ W seasons at Georgia.

Tubby moved to Kentucky in 1997 when Rick Pitino left UK for the Boston Celtics. UK had experienced uncommon success (best since the 1940’s and 1950’s) during the Pitino era. UK averaged 30 W per season and won 81% of its NCAA games from 1992 through 1997. How can you top that?

Well, Tubby did just that. Despite UK losing 6 players to the NBA draft in the 2 seasons prior to his arrival, he finished out the 1990’s by averaging 31 W per season and winning 90% of his NCAA games. He took players that had never played a major role at UK and coached them to 35 W while defeating three straight 30+ W teams (Duke, Stanford, Utah) to earn the NCAA title in 1998. That’s never been done (before or since) in NCAA tournament annals.

Tubby recruited 6 (of 9) classes at UK that earned Top 15 or better ratings from the RSCI (recruiting consensus) Winners method. No other coach – not Roy Williams, not Billy Donovan, not Mike Krzyzewski, no one – signed more Top 15 rated classes in that timeframe. The RSCI process was created in 1998 by Jeff Crume and is a well respected recruiting Web site.

With 100% his own UK recruits the past 5 seasons, Tubby Smith won 77% of his games (131-40). From 2003 through 2005, he was 87-15 (85%) for the #1 record in Div I Men’s basketball. I’m reminded of the remark by ex-Houston Oilers’ coach Bum Phillips, who once said, “He’ll take his (players) and beat yours or he’ll take yours and beat his.” Tubby Smith wins with HIS players, whether they are his recruits or not.

Myth #4 – Tubby can’t develop players. His players never seem to reach their potential.
Reality #4 – Once again, not even close to being accurate. Tubby had 3 players at Tulsa drafted by the NBA. He had 2 players at Georgia drafted by the NBA. Collectively, he had 7 players make All-Conference teams at Tulsa and Georgia.

He continued that pattern at Kentucky. A total of 14 of his UK players either were drafted by the NBA or made it as free agents. And 16 of his Wildcats made All-SEC. Tayshaun Prince became the first 2-time All-American at UK in almost 20 years. His UK players dot the UK all-time best lists – Keith Bogans, 4th best scorer ever at UK. Chuck Hayes, 7th best rebounder at UK. Erik Daniels and Marquis Estill, the best lefthanded (Daniels) and righthanded (Estill) FG percentage shooters at UK.
 

Good post all the way around. I am very pleased to have Tubby as coach. However, he is open to criticism. His half court offense is pathetic and needs work. The way he has handled the MWBWKE/White cases are open to question. Also, we may not get all 5star recruits but like Wisconsin we should be able to develop players and win. I am disappointed with Iverson and am not sure he has the raw talent that can be developed to be a big10 player. SO, I am happy to have a coach with a great resume'. However, lets not put him up so high on the pedestal that we cannot question his style and ability to grow talent.

We should all expect this team to make the NCAA every year-how far they go will be up to the coach and the talent.
 

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