@_IsaiahBriscoe: Uconn Was Love !!! Goodlookin Out @rpurvis44 @sam2ss2ll
husky99 said:George Briscoe had one word to describe Isaiah's UK visit so far: "Wow."#NJhoops #BBN That not good![]()
After reading his father's excitement after having met with Calipari for 2 hours at home I'll have to agree. I mean the guy sounded like he was in love.He is going to UK - no need to get worked up over the word game.
He is going to UK - no need to get worked up over the word game.
Gotta ask but how many people can UK bring in... sounds like they have a scholarship offer into 20 guys and they all can't play there. Someone is going to get left or some poor kid on the team is going to be kicked off for the next best guy.
Interestingly Tubby Smith was ousted because he was unable to bring in the best recruits. Certainly Calipari is much better than Smith at being able to tell recruits what they want to hear vs. what they need to hear. But it still doesn't account for the separation between him and other "smooth" coaches with successful programs.I'd love to be a fly on the will so I could see what UK really has, says and does on these visits. What creates the "wow"? All I can think of is a really unique presentation or the player living facilities are just so outrageous comparatively. The new practice facility should be up to par with theirs.
Interestingly Tubby Smith was ousted because he was unable to bring in the best recruits. Certainly Calipari is much better than Smith at being able to tell recruits what they want to hear vs. what they need to hear. But it still doesn't account for the separation between him and other "smooth" coaches with successful programs.
I accept that Kentucky has a winning tradition and recent success. And that John let's the kids showcase themselves and gets them into the NBA! But he isn't the only coach that has had this success. I begin to get suspicious when I observe a gap between the really great coaches. Tom Izzo for instance. He continues to get great recruits, but I just don't understand the degree of separation between his program and Kentucky and Arizona or even between him and Thad Matta!
One part of me weighs and puts merit to all the valid arguments supporting John Calipari's success. And one part of me is skeptical. He has the history behind him in which NCAA championships were taken away from the universities he coached. @upstater has demonstrated the ties in the past between members of the NCAA and the sleaze that exists in the recruiting world. Is it at play currently?
It's a murky world. I remember asking some buddies of mine in the 90's why was Walmart so good relative to Kmart. They stated what they read about Walmart's best attributes - better distribution centers, better stocking, better arrangement of the wares. Not being a shopper I decided to go into the stores myself and I observed basically the same items in both stores presented in a similar fashion. And then I noticed the real difference. That difference was where the items were being made for each store. Walmart was far ahead of the other retailers in having their items made in China. To me it was a no brainer. The primary factor in Walmart's success was that their goods cost them less and they were able to pass this savings onto the consumer. All the other explanations were covers to this fundamental underlying truth. Although this in not cheating, the point I'm making is something major causes imbalances and it isn't always the things that we see on the surface.
Should Briscoe commit to KY, then Newman might just eliminate KY and it'll be down to us and Kansas.
The analogy isn't perfect and I stated that. I also stated that both are retailers. What I observed was that the labels indicating where the various items were manufactured were different. This was at the time when Walmart was rapidly expanding stores nationally. At that time the origination of the suppliers for Walmart was primarily from China. The other retailers were still utilizing markets in which labor costs were greater. That was the primary economic advantage Wal Mart had over it's competitors, imo, although not the exclusive factor. Since that time other retailers have followed suit. But by then Wal Mart had catapulted itself into the lead. All the retailers continue to move to the cheapest labor markets for their suppliers pretty much in sync now. They've learned their lesson. But Walmart was the primary moving force in that particular drive to find the cheapest suppliers. I'll hand it to them. They had the guts to move to a 3rd world country, in which there were no guarantees of stability, to get their supplies. It could have backfired on them completely. That's about as far as my admiration goes for Wal Mart.Walmart is a retailer and therefore doesn't manufacture anything (except maybe store label stuff). It was their supply chain in addition to in store stocking and inventory management that set them apart. A stick of Old Spice deodorant sold in Wal Mart and K Mart was most likely manufactured in the same place. P & G doesn't make it in China for Wal Mart and Cincinatti for K Mart.
Overall a pretty strange analogy. KY is all about flash and wow factor. Wouldn't say the same about Wal Mart. ...

The analogy isn't perfect and I stated that. I also stated that both are retailers. What I observed was that the labels indicating where the various items were manufactured were different. This was at the time when Walmart was rapidly expanding stores nationally. At that time the origination of the suppliers for Walmart was primarily from China. The other retailers were still utilizing markets in which labor costs were greater. That was the primary economic advantage Wal Mart had over it's competitors, imo, although not the exclusive factor. Since that time other retailers have followed suit. But by then Wal Mart had catapulted itself into the lead. All the retailers continue to move to the cheapest labor markets for their suppliers pretty much in sync now. They've learned their lesson. But Walmart was the primary moving force in that particular drive to find the cheapest suppliers. I'll hand it to them. They had the guts to move to a 3rd world country, in which there were no guarantees of stability, to get their supplies. It could have backfired on them completely. That's about as far as my admiration goes for Wal Mart.
This is nothing new. Businesses always try to find an advantage over their competitors. I'm not implying that Wal Mart reinvented the wheel when it took advantage of the Chinese opportunity. What I'm stating is that the information we, who are not directly related to a particular matter, receive isn't always balanced and complete. There was no mention originally of the manufacturing advantage Wal Mart had over it's competitors. At least I didn't see any in Baron's or WSJ. That's a big oversight imo. It may sound like I'm bragging or arrogant or like Chief00, but I was ahead of the curve concerning the negative repercussions this advantage was going to bring to the U.S. I warned my friends that any advantages we as consumers would gain as a result of inexpensive items would ultimately result in disadvantages with our trade gap, never mind the labor consequences. We only had to go back to the 60's to observe our economic "fall" relative to Japan. Unfortunately I was too far ahead of the curve. The critical information wasn't discussed by the talking heads of the time. Furthermore there were enough important differences between the 90's and the 60's which gave ammo to anyone who wanted to refute the argument that this movement into China would result in similar negative consequences as took place in the 60s. And of course there was the seduction of cheap goods which was an inertia dampener to any of us attempting to begin any discussions regarding this issue.
How does all this relate to Kentucky? Some things are obvious, some are not. We all suspect Duke has a recruiting advantage. We all feel it even if it can't be quatified. Dukie V assured them of that. Having a significant media personality constantly extolling the virtues of one university and coach (which ends up being at the expense of all other coaches and institutions) is a valuable advantage for that coach when it comes to recruiting. That is obvious and visceral to many of us and the reason why so many fans of other schools love to hate Duke. The situation at Kentucky is more obtuse, more opaque. You have to read between the lines to be even suspicious because there are so many positive legitimate factors with Kentucky (Just as there were a multitude of factors that could be pointed to about Wal Mart that it was easy for us to overlook the salient anti U.S factor that lead to Wal Mart's success ).
All I'm doing is being suspicious. If it smells like a skunk and waddles like a skunk it could still be a mink. But then again it might very well be a skunk. If this was a critically important issue, such as the U.S. economy, I might continue to be vigilant about the situation. But alas this is just sports and KO has Calipari's number. So all is good.
I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but I feel the need to respond. Wal Mart and K Mart basically sell the same crap, which is for the most part manufactured in the same place.
Wal Mart has been able to get it into and out of its stores faster and for cheaper and managed this process better limiting wasted product or unsold inventory. This allows them to continue to order more, and over time it becomes a snowball effect, where their prices become cheaper and cheaper as their volumes improve, and as they continue to buy more their power over the supplier continues to increase, which even further lowers their purchasing price.
I'm with you on that assessment, though based on seeing just one of his games on TV, which is often not a good or fair way to draw conclusions on a recruit. With that said, reminded me a lot of a stronger and bigger Marcus Williams. He's a point that seems to be a pass first PG, but can turn on the scoring switch when needed. He's very strong and has a tight handle. He seems to use his strong frame to ward off defenders. I can't remember if his first step was quick or not. One thing is for sure, his 2nd, 3rd, etc, didn't look to be blow-by capable. He has a nice quick trigger deep J. As for his defense I have no idea. Hard to glean that from any player unless you get to see them play often for their high school team, assuming defense is stressed.Am I the only one who isn't completely in love with his game? Really slow first step, not the best athlete, not overly impressive size, lazy on defense.. with that said I would love to land him seems like the kid can ball out. Just not sold he's a top 20 type player . He's certainly not the type of player UK has recruited during the cal era.

It seems he left UK without an offer. If that is true....why? Is he Calipari 's plan c. If he still chooses UK in the end.... they deserve each other.
I wondered how high Cal had him, considering he's on so many elite recruits. He is the highest rated PG in a few top # list, but that doesn't mean that he's what Cal wants most. It did sound like from a number of insiders that Cal wanted Briscoe, and Briscoe's camp was not shy in making it sound they were drooling all over the Wildcat logo.It seems he left UK without an offer. If that is true....why? Is he Calipari 's plan c. If he still chooses UK in the end.... they deserve each other.
There's an entire thread on the UK site with multiple fans saying "just offer him already" and asking whether UK has offered yet. Not sure how accurate that is.where did you read that?