And the hits just keep on commin' ...

by Glenn Logan on Mar 2, 2007 9:08 AM EST in Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

As you know, we here at A Sea of Blue have little tolerance for hyperbole and excessive rhetorical embroidery. We prefer more thoughtful and pithy commentary for our discriminating readers.

To that end, I will bring you a few of the more interesting reads I have found on Al Gore's Folly this morning. As you might expect, it is "All Smith, all the time", so if you are tired of reading about people's opinion of the head coaching situation at Kentucky, this post is probably not going to lighten your fatigue.

First of all, I bring you the deep ruminations of Seth Davis, who always seems to hold some kind of opinion about everything:

And when you're talking about ranked teams these days, you're usually not talking about Kentucky. The Wildcats have spent most of the past two seasons completely out of the polls. You can criticize UK fans all you want for having unreasonable expectations, but it's not unreasonable for them to expect better than that.

I think that's right. Whether you support Smith or not, the current situation UK basketball finds itself in is unsustainable. Will Tubby get a chance to prove it was just a couple of down years? I predict we will know by April 3rd.

Mark Bradley at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that he helped bring down Joe B. Hall, and now he wants to get into the act with Tubby Smith - so he proposes the novel theory that Chris Lofton is the straw that broke the camel's back:

Today there's another guy from Maysville, Ky., who could wind up bringing down the current Kentucky coach. His name is Chris Lofton, and he's the best shooter in college basketball. He plays at Tennessee because he wasn't recruited by the Big Blue, despite having led Mason County to the state championship on UK's own hallowed floor.

Personally, I think this guy is full of beans, but then, who knows? Lofton recriminations have been a fixture of the anti-Smith debate, and nobody seems to care about the fact that he was only a slow-footed 3-star and to take him, we would have had to withdraw a scholarship offer from a 5-star player.

Blame the rankings, but that's a hard pill to swallow - kind of like saying we should offer Stephon Pettigrew Patrick Patterson or Jai Lucas' scholarship. Maybe it would work out, but if it didn't ...

The Denver Post likens Kentucky fans to a "mob", and suggests Barnhart's statement may have made the situation even worse:

What's clear is that one of the premier coaching jobs in the land is in turmoil. Talking to prominent boosters and alumni this week, it's clear that Smith's fan base has eroded to the point of open hostility. A mob mentality is forming, and Barnhart didn't help Smith's nerves with Monday's vague statement that he understands the fans' concerns. He went on to warn fans not to evaluate the team until later this month when it "still can play up to its potential."

But there is a meme going round that's indefensible - that Kentucky lacks the "talent" to get to the Final Four ®, and the Denver Post repeats it:

However, the intangibles are what are killing Smith. His current team is void of the kind of talent that has built Kentucky into the winningest program in history. It's last in the SEC in turnover margin, has no power forward and can't win close games.

Smith recruited 3 McDonalds All-Americans, two of which are still on the team, along with four talented freshmen and 3 senior role players. Maybe that isn't this year's North Carolina team, but to call Kentucky "void ... of talent" is just baffling. True, the junior class hasn't lived up to expectation, but Smith hardly deserves the blame for that.

The Blogosphere also has some worthy comments. The NCAA hoops blog sees Smith as spinning the AD's statement of (non?) support. Netwire thinks that the situation at Kentucky will be 10 times as ugly as what happened at Indiana last year.

Finally, Monica Roberts at TransGoit is in full throat about the racial implications of the Tubby Smith drama. She makes some interesting points, some of which I agree with and some of which I don't. But this point is something I would bet the farm on:

So what would happen if the haters got their wish and Tubby got canned? First of all a coach with Tubby's pedigree wouldn't be unemployed long. He'd be coaching somewhere else before the next season started. UK would get lambasted in the national press and by the college coaching fraternity for doing so.

We will be seeing a lot more of this discussion in the coming days. It is simply unavoidable, and how we handle it will say a lot about how painful this entire situation will ultimately be.

Coming sometime today - the preview of UK vs. Florida II. With all the Smith talk, it is easy to forget we are just a fortnight away from the ides of March, and the biggest basketball events of the year are looming ...

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Comments

humm

The race issue will always be there. It's a fact of our society that some will make than an issue. Nothing can be done about that.

But to hold Tubby and staff harmless for not developing the number 1 recruiting class in the country seems strange to me. A coach is responsible for recruiting, in game coach AND developing the kids to their potential. They've got to be responsible for kids like Morris, Crawford, Buike, Barbour, Stone, and Rondo not developing their games. Just like they get credit for developing guys like Estill and Daniels. That's part of the job description imo.

We do not lack the talent to be a top 15 team, that's silly. We've got experience, depth, and good freshman. We're missing the PF that would give us the talent to be a FF team. But that doesn't mean we don't have the talent to be second in SEC East, or a top 15 club.

by kb22stang on Mar 2, 2007 10:50 AM EST reply actions

See ...

my post further down for a more detailed reply, but the "player development" meme is, in my humble opinion, just an unfair ad hominem. YMMV.

by Glenn Logan on Mar 2, 2007 11:35 AM EST up reply actions

Developing their games

You cannot put all of that onto the coach. Buike had 23 in 27 minutes two nights ago, Rondo, and Morris will all make the league, thats 3 out of the 6 named and all of these kids have had some off court issues and attitude problems. You can put the blame on Tubby, targeting and recruiting the wrong guys but to say tubby Smith cant develop a player, THAT WANTS TO WORK AND BE DEVELOPED, is rediculous.

by davw83 on Mar 2, 2007 11:10 AM EST reply actions

FACT

I forget the actual statistic but the vast majority of Mcdonalds AA's never make the pros.

That Tubby has put so many players into the league that never was a AA says somthing. He needs to go after his kinds of guys. His recruiting miscues are valid but the man can develop talent that desired to work. The problem is the past few years he has gone and gotten the worng kind of players, those who dont have talent and those who do but dont realize the work they have to put into their game to become a professional athlete. Pro players make it look so easy I think a lot of young men do not reliaze the sacrifices you have to make to get that good.

by davw83 on Mar 2, 2007 11:14 AM EST reply actions

Well ...

that isn't exactly true.

According to this analysis which you can find linked also in JL's excellent look at burger boy recruiting earlier this year, about 52% of McD's play some in the NBA. However, significantly fewer (43%) are ever NBA starters.

So while you are correct that player development isn't all on the coach, and a very significant number of McD's never reach the NBA, a tiny majority actually do.

by Glenn Logan on Mar 2, 2007 11:34 AM EST up reply actions

Tubby

Tubby Smith is probably the best thing that has happened to the Stte of kentucky in a hundred years. He is a great coach. He is highly respected throughout the country. He helped build the new practice facility. He contributes to charity all over Kentucky and represents the state with wisdom and dignity.

Let's face it. He is not God. Well, I guess we can't have everything.

by oldkentucky on Mar 2, 2007 3:28 PM EST reply actions

Your logic ...

...has no place here or anywhere else!

Joking.

There are lots of non-basketball reasons (and some basketball reasons) to keep Smith.

Just not sure anyone is listening.

The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...

by JL Blue on Mar 2, 2007 3:43 PM EST up reply actions

Good Point Tru

I knew I has seen that statistic somewhere but I didnt remember that it was as high as 52%. So of Tubby's MCdy's how many have made it pro? Of the Junior class it's looking like 2 out of 3 although I think Joe has the ability if his head ever straightens out. My simple point being that depsite his flaws, which I acknowledge, Tubby Smith can develop talent. I think he is handicapped by Hanson and Rigot having an influence on his current players though. (Here is the line about how Hanson and Rigot couldnt develop x into y ) though real hard but couldnt come up with anything,

by davw83 on Mar 2, 2007 4:05 PM EST reply actions

Well ...

according to the stats I linked:



drafted round 1      3      7.3%

        

drafted round 2     1     2.4%

       

played in NBA         7    17.1%

   

started in NBA         5    12.2%

       

total recruits         41

So it looks like 7 have played, and 5 have started.

by Glenn Logan on Mar 2, 2007 5:01 PM EST up reply actions

We just didn't have that many opponents in the 11-20 range. It was top 5 or 50-100.

And I have a big problem with rankings anyway. Isn't RPI supposed to matter? Won't an RPI of 7 or 8 keep us from being a 9 seed? Gotta be worth something, right?

by catlanta91 on Mar 2, 2007 9:57 PM EST reply actions