(03-22-2017 01:58 PM)tiger2000 Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:55 PM)HoopDreams Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:52 PM)tiger2000 Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:14 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:11 PM)Great Scott Wrote:  Its been a few years and I haven't googled any of this but is this roughly correct?

G John Wall
G Xavier Henry
G Eric Bledsoe
F Demarcus Cousins
F Will Coleman

Shawn Taggart wouldve been back too probably.

All those guys would have transferred out when the NCAA hammered us/Cal.

There wasn't a postseason ban, don't see why anything would affect them.

They wanted Cal. If Cal had stayed it would have been likely much worse than we received.

If they wanted him and had proof they could have had him. Leaving doesn't change that. However, instead, they specifically cleared him of wrongdoing.

(03-22-2017 01:55 PM)TigerTim Wrote:  That team would have never made the tournament. The NCAA would have dropped the hammer.

Yep, just like they dropped the hammer on North Carolina for academic cheating...oh wait nvm.

(03-22-2017 02:00 PM)SigEpMike Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:58 PM)tiger2000 Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:55 PM)HoopDreams Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:52 PM)tiger2000 Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:14 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  Shawn Taggart wouldve been back too probably.

All those guys would have transferred out when the NCAA hammered us/Cal.

There wasn't a postseason ban, don't see why anything would affect them.

They wanted Cal. If Cal had stayed it would have been likely much worse than we received.

If they wanted him and had proof they could have had him. Leaving doesn't change that. However, instead, they specifically cleared him of wrongdoing.

they KNEW it was him..they just couldn't prove it. Seeing as how Josh Pastner has just taken over...and how he had a squeaky clean image at the time, I strongly believe that is why they went so light on us.

110% the NCAA would have dropped the hammer.

Cal was never staying. He know he would be much safer at Kentucky in terms of NCAA sanctions.

The poster who said something about UNC made my point. The NCAA will never got after a blue blood and Cal knew it.

Why else would he leave that roster that could have been the most loaded college basketball team ever?

(03-22-2017 01:19 PM)HoopDreams Wrote:  G John Wall
G Xavier Henry
G Eric Bledsoe
F Demarcus Cousins
F Shawn Taggart

G Willie Kemp
G Roburt Sallie
G Doneal Mack
G/F Darnell Dodson
F Wesley Witherspoon
F Pierre Niles
F/C Will Coleman
F/C Angel Garcia

Unsure if we get Bledsoe with that roster coming in. Doesn't matter, that team would have been LOADED.

If Cal can't convince RC to keep the letter of inquiry quiet when we first got it, you'd have to think neither Kentucky nor Arizona would have even inquired about Cal.

No one would have been within 10 points of that team.

(03-22-2017 02:15 PM)TigerTim Wrote:  Why else would he leave that roster that could have been the most loaded college basketball team ever?

Because he had pretty much all of that roster anyway and added the clout of Kentucky.

(03-22-2017 02:15 PM)TigerTim Wrote:  that roster that could have been the most loaded college basketball team ever?

You think they would have been more loaded than the '82 Tar Heels? The '84 Tar Heels? The '92 Wolverines? The '96 Wildcats?

Before you get too excited remember that he won a national championship. Brought in the top recruiting class in the nation the next year and had one or two injuries and didn't even make the NCAAs. Then lost in first round of NIT.

(03-22-2017 02:41 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote:  Before you get too excited remember that he won a national championship. Brought in the top recruiting class in the nation the next year and had one or two injuries and didn't even make the NCAAs. Then lost in first round of NIT.

Yep, you're right. Lost in the first round to Robert Morris

LOL - I'll gladly take a first round NIT loss if it's sandwiched in between this:

2009–10 Kentucky 35–3 NCAA Elite Eight
2010–11 Kentucky 29–9 NCAA Final Four
2011–12 Kentucky 38–2 NCAA Champions
2012–13 Kentucky 21–12 NIT First Round
2013–14 Kentucky 29–11 NCAA Runner-up
2014–15 Kentucky 38–1 NCAA Final Four
2015–16 Kentucky 27–9 NCAA Round of 32
2016–17 Kentucky 31–5 TBD

(03-22-2017 01:11 PM)Great Scott Wrote:  Its been a few years and I haven't googled any of this but is this roughly correct?

G John Wall
G Xavier Henry
G Eric Bledsoe
F Demarcus Cousins
F Will Coleman

Don't know if Calipari goes after Bledsoe if he's got Henry and Wall coming.

(03-22-2017 02:15 PM)TigerTim Wrote:  110% the NCAA would have dropped the hammer.

Cal was never staying. He know he would be much safer at Kentucky in terms of NCAA sanctions.

The poster who said something about UNC made my point. The NCAA will never got after a blue blood and Cal knew it.

Why else would he leave that roster that could have been the most loaded college basketball team ever?

Cal was damaged goods when he arrived. He had just lost another NBA job and was working as a commentator. The NCAA was still keeping an eye on him. He was not on the radar of any P5 schools. He took the Memphis job to regain his stature and was failing at it until WWW started hand delivering players. Without the Laurenburg prep class he would have continued on winning 2 out of every 3 games and not going deep into NCAA.

He was not winning big until those last four years. Never won any titles until Louisville, Cincinnati and USF left CUSA. We all remember the last four years but forget the previous five years before that. 115-55 with only 2 NCAA appearances and 1 NCAA win and 2 losses.

(03-22-2017 02:58 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote:  ...

He was not on the radar of any P5 schools.
...

Since time travel isn't possible, I guess I have to rate that as true.

(03-22-2017 02:50 PM)HoopDreams Wrote:  LOL - I'll gladly take a first round NIT loss if it's sandwiched in between this:

2009–10 Kentucky 35–3 NCAA Elite Eight
2010–11 Kentucky 29–9 NCAA Final Four
2011–12 Kentucky 38–2 NCAA Champions
2012–13 Kentucky 21–12 NIT First Round
2013–14 Kentucky 29–11 NCAA Runner-up
2014–15 Kentucky 38–1 NCAA Final Four
2015–16 Kentucky 27–9 NCAA Round of 32
2016–17 Kentucky 31–5 TBD

Wonder how long the CUSA undefeated streak would have gone. Would the raw talent have been enough to have kept it going all the way through 2013? Or do we slip up in 10-11 or 12-13 when the Calipari teams weren't as good?

(03-22-2017 02:56 PM)Briskbas Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:11 PM)Great Scott Wrote:  Its been a few years and I haven't googled any of this but is this roughly correct?

G John Wall
G Xavier Henry
G Eric Bledsoe
F Demarcus Cousins
F Will Coleman

Don't know if Calipari goes after Bledsoe if he's got Henry and Wall coming.

Only went after Bledsoe after Pastner looked as if he was going to get him here. Was late decision to go after him. He already had Wall locked up, even if he had not of announced yet. So he really did not need two freshmen point guards.

(03-22-2017 02:50 PM)HoopDreams Wrote:  LOL - I'll gladly take a first round NIT loss if it's sandwiched in between this:

2009–10 Kentucky 35–3 NCAA Elite Eight
2010–11 Kentucky 29–9 NCAA Final Four
2011–12 Kentucky 38–2 NCAA Champions
2012–13 Kentucky 21–12 NIT First Round
2013–14 Kentucky 29–11 NCAA Runner-up
2014–15 Kentucky 38–1 NCAA Final Four
2015–16 Kentucky 27–9 NCAA Round of 32
2016–17 Kentucky 31–5 TBD

With his final four years at Memphis and these teams at UK he had talent level far and above 99% of the other schools. Yet only got one title out of the group. Imagine what Kirk could have done with that level of talent year after year.

(03-22-2017 03:05 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 02:56 PM)Briskbas Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:11 PM)Great Scott Wrote:  Its been a few years and I haven't googled any of this but is this roughly correct?

G John Wall
G Xavier Henry
G Eric Bledsoe
F Demarcus Cousins
F Will Coleman

Don't know if Calipari goes after Bledsoe if he's got Henry and Wall coming.

Only went after Bledsoe after Pastner looked as if he was going to get him here. Was late decision to go after him. He already had Wall locked up, even if he had not of announced yet. So he really did not need two freshmen point guards.

He also lost two pieces of the recruiting class he was going to bring here.

(03-22-2017 02:58 PM)ncrdbl1 Wrote:  He was not winning big until those last four years. Never won any titles until Louisville, Cincinnati and USF left CUSA. We all remember the last four years but forget the previous five years before that. 115-55 with only 2 NCAA appearances and 1 NCAA win and 2 losses.

The only thing I would counter that with (because it's an argument that Cincinnati fans frequently make against Memphis), is that our talent level was so strong those last four years, we still would have won C-USA regardless of the teams.

I think people forget that we continued to play Cincinnati from 2005-2009 after they had already left for the Big East. We went 4-0 against them winning every game by double digits. Some of the games were so embarassing, ESPN cut away to different telecasts.

You could make the argument that the Bearcats were down those years and that Louisville and Marquette would have provided much stiffer competition, but neither of those teams were as good as Acie Law's Texas A&M squad, the Texas Longhorns with Augustin and Abrams, and UCLA with Kevin Love and Westbrook.

He was going to Arizona if Kentucky didn't offer he was never going to be here after that season