By: BLS

BLS
Thu, 09 Apr 2015 16:30:33 +0000

First, it's not an NCAA rule nor can they do anything about it. It's the NBA who sets this rule. The players union needs to come together with the owners and either drop the early entry rule or make changes to make it like baseball. Enter right away or wait 3 years. Second people talk about one-and-done players ruining NCAA basketball. You do realize that the number of one-and-done kids is less than .5% of all the NCAA basketball players? There are far more drop outs or guys that quit the team after one year across college basketball than there are one-and-done players going to the NBA. Yet some people talk about it like it's the plague. That it is ruining college basketball. Last time I checked the UK vs Wisconsin game was the highest rated FF game in the last 25 years or something insane like that. While the refs are down and the scoring is too, reality is college basketball is doing just fine. It can be improved with in what the NCAA can control but there unless the NCAA does something silly like go back to banning freshmen from playing, there isn't anything they can do to stop or prevent one-and-done players. You mention Duke's run winning with freshmen but fail to acknowledge UK did it in 2012. You also made this statement. "Kentucky losing might have been shocking to most, but I have come to expect that from a team filled with inexperienced players and a coach, John Calipari, who has come up short of a title in more than one occurrence." I can only assume that this is a slight in Cal's coaching ability. Let's take a look at what he has done the last 5 years. In that time he has been to the FF 4 times. OK who else has done that? Hmm John Wooden, Coach K. That's it. Wooden won a bazillion and Coach K won 2. So not to bad in that category. But let's look at before this season and see how Coach Cal has done compared to other great coaches/programs with his players vs. theirs. So that would be 3 Final Fours in 4 years. Here are those who have done it since Wooden in the 60's. UNC with Roy and with Dean Smith. Duke with K, MSU with Izzo, Guy Lewis at Houston, Denny Crum at UofL, UCLA with Howland, Kentucky combined with 2 coaches to do it, and John Thompson at Georgetown. Wow an impressive group. But how did they all do? Well Roy won a title but 2 of the FF's in his string of 3 out of 4 was with Kansas. Dean won once in that span as did Izzo, Crum and John Thompson. Guy Lewis didn't and neither did Ben Howland. Rick Pitiino and Tubby both won at UK but neither took a team to 3 ff's in 4 years...the school went. So really the coaches that have done that at one school all won just one title except for Coach K. I know what you are thinking and what you will say...but UK has all that talent. Yep there is a lot of it but look at say Guy Lewis, he had 2 of the NBA's top 50 all time players on his roster and didn't win a one. UK doesn't have that now. UCLA had 2 NBA All-stars and didn't do it. Dean Smith and multiple NBA All-stars and didn't do it. John Thompson had one of the best centers in the last 40 years and only got one with him. Izzo has done the most with the least, while all these teams have had NBA players on them, only his didn't have an All-Star on the roster when he went to those FF's. Yet here is the glaring difference. All those teams did it with the same core players. Cal has done with a new roster each year what these guys did with the same key guys each year. That is impressive. To win a title doing it that way is impressive. Look at Duke this year, early exit last year, rebuild with a core of new guys (that will be gone this year) and they win a title. Coach K is said to have adapted, where Cal has been said to have ruined college basketball. Wither you like Cal or not...wether you like UK or not...the facts still remain the same. It has been an impressive run by the Wildcats and Coach Cal has equaled all the great coaches (minus the greatest in K) in his stretch of 3 ff's in 4 years and has out done all but K and Wooden by going to 4 in 5 years.