Oh Well- Say what you want but they were the best team

[UConn5]

Who knows what will happen going forward, but Kentucky got it done. I'm thankful that UConn has won 3 titles in the time it has taken Kentucky to win another one. Pretty sure we have the same amount of titles since the late 1978.

 

[Fishy]

Who knows what will happen going forward, but Kentucky got it done. I'm thankful that UConn has won 3 titles in the time it has taken Kentucky to win another one. Pretty sure we have the same amount of titles since the late 1978.

Yup.

The best team won. I hate it, but the best team won.

The rest is just noise.

 

[Huskymaniac]

And college basketball will forever be as tainted as a Nevada whore's vagina.

 

[uconnbaseball]

I don't mind UK's players (who seem like decent kids). It's Calipari who is a complete tool.

 

[Fishy]

And college basketball will forever be as tainted as a Nevada whore's vagina.

Well, this is one of the creepier posts we've seen in a while.

 

[upstater]

I don't mind UK's players (who seem like decent kids). It's Calipari who is a complete tool.

Calipari pulled the reins in during the second half. Didn't want to beat Kansas too badly. According to him.

 

[Ricky1Moore]

Yup.

The best team won. I hate it, but the best team won.

The rest is just noise.

Def the best team... Just annoying that the press gives Cal a pass just because he's at Kentucky now. C'est la vie it was gonna happen eventually... Hopefully the Knicks are next on the agenda and the Kentucky recruiting domination stops here

 

[Ricky1Moore]

Calipari pulled the reins in during the second half. Didn't want to beat Kansas too badly. According to him.

Calipari is a terrible game coach. Good recruiter, good prep, terrible in game. He was lucky that Kansas was tonight or they might have stolen it

 

[UConn5]

I have to say -- and I know Pitino said this as well -- I didn't like Calipari's first Kentucky team. The John Wall/Demarcus Cousins team was simply unlikable. Last year's team was whatever, we beat them early in the year and they weren't dominant so I didn't mind them. This year's never bothered me other than the fact that Calipari is their coach. I hate Calipari as much as the next guy, but those kids seemed to just bust their ass for him and each other all year and they never gave anyone a reason to think they are anything other than good kids.

 

[Prezidint]

The best team won. The rest is just noise.

Nah.
The rest isn't noise.
The rest is the growing unrest among fans of college basketball that we've just taken the final step across the threshold that divides amateur basketball from something else. Something less pure. Something even more tethered to monied interests.
The not-always-bright line between amateur and pro basketball has just gotten a lot wider and a lot blurrier and we're probably never going back.
Given that many think that Cal is dirty, it will be salt on the wounds if it turns out that the final, stumbling steps toward the de-amateurization of the college game were caused by a guy pushing who cheated to get it done.

 

[Fishy]

Nothing significant tonight happened other than Kentucky winning a basketball title.

No sea change occurred. There is no growing unrest. Nothing. Nada.

Business as usual - next year, someone else will win and the world will keep spinning.

 

[TheChamps990411]

congrats to those kids. they really busted their tails and played together with no egos good for them. good for coach calipari as i have no issues with the guy. my only gripe is i question his loyalty and i dont think hes a great x`s and o`s guy and is definitely not in the company of the elite coaches of today.

 

[RuffRuff]

Easily the best team, not sure there was even a close second. That was a team, that if they stuck around another year, could have been one for the ages. They didn't pulverize teams like some of the other greats, but that was a damn good team that played great u selfish team basketball on both ends of the floor. If you scrape away all the drama with Calipari, you have to appreciate that.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Nah.
The rest isn't noise.
The rest is the growing unrest among fans of college basketball that we've just taken the final step across the threshold that divides amateur basketball from something else. Something less pure. Something even more tethered to monied interests.
The not-always-bright line between amateur and pro basketball has just gotten a lot wider and a lot blurrier and we're probably never going back.
Given that many think that Cal is dirty, it will be salt on the wounds if it turns out that the final, stumbling steps toward the de-amateurization of the college game were caused by a guy pushing who cheated to get it done.

That threshold was crossed a long time ago. How is last night going to change anything? It was a matter of time before Calipari won a title - that's what tends to occassionally happen when you have the best players.

Calipari's not going to change the way he goes about his business and neither is anybody else. If you're claiming that Calipari winning is proof that you have to be dirty to win, wouldn't Brad Stevens making back-to-back title games be proof that you don't?

 

[Dogdeacon]

I agree with HuskyBballFan and Fishy. UConn fans certainly have a reason/history to dislike Calipari from his tenure at UMass, but really that should be water under the bridge. UConn won the war and UMass lost. I think a lot of the negative reaction to Calipari this year is simply that his team was SO much better than everyone else that people want it to be cheating and unfair. Fact is he simply had the best players and best team and they deservedly won the title.

It doesn't mean anything other than that and it'll be just as difficult to do again as it is anywhere else.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Easily the best team, not sure there was even a close second. That was a team, that if they stuck around another year, could have been one for the ages. They didn't pulverize teams like some of the other greats, but that was a damn good team that played great u selfish team basketball on both ends of the floor. If you scrape away all the drama with Calipari, you have to appreciate that.

I really do think that Syracuse, with Melo, would have been a brutal matchup for Kentucky. I came away thinking that the Wildcats had individual brilliance, especially on defense, but really don't play very well as a team. Minus a few brain farts by KU, they could have stolen that game. Davis' offense was completely shut down by Withy. Yet Jones' D on Robinson was also very good. The Kentucky guards/wings made the shots and got to the rim, and that carried them. Lamb won the game for them, not Davis. But I think the Syracuse zone would have given them fits.

 

[Inyatkin]

Doron Lamb is like their fifth best player and he couldn't miss for a while. Tough to beat a team like that.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Calipari is a terrible game coach. Good recruiter, good prep, terrible in game. He was lucky that Kansas was **** tonight or they might have stolen it

Oh God. He was "lucky." Jesus, c'mon. They were the best team in the country. They were certainly better than Kansas. If that was UConn we'd all be talking about how annoying it is when Calhoun deflates the ball with a second half lead. Say what you want about Calipari, but that is a really, really good basketball team. Head and shoulders better than anyone else, I think. They've got individual talent up and down, but they're probably the most unselfish team I've seen all year. They share the ball, run good offense, play with poise, every single one of them defends, and they play hard. They're very, very impressive and to say they got "lucky" in a game that was never seriously in doubt is just dumb.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I came away thinking that the Wildcats had individual brilliance, especially on defense, but really don't play very well as a team. Minus a few brain farts by KU, they could have stolen that game. Davis' offense was completely shut down by Withy. Yet Jones' D on Robinson was also very good. The Kentucky guards/wings made the shots and got to the rim, and that carried them. Lamb won the game for them, not Davis. But I think the Syracuse zone would have given them fits.

Davis completely dominated the game without scoring. And to say they don't play well as a team is just ridiculous. This is the farthest thing from an all-star team. If you put a different name on the front of those jerseys everyone on here would be marveling at them.

 

[upstater]

Davis completely dominated the game without scoring. And to say they don't play well as a team is just ridiculous. This is the farthest thing from an all-star team. If you put a different name on the front of those jerseys everyone on here would be marveling at them.

They don't play offense well, and Terrence Jones is clueless out there. That being said, Davis is an incredible player on both offense and defense. Miller is just clutch. But the freshman, as talented as they are, frequently play like freshman.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I dont agree with that at all. They don't get rattled. And they don't run complicated offense but they run it well.

 

[Huskymaniac]

That threshold was crossed a long time ago. How is last night going to change anything? It was a matter of time before Calipari won a title - that's what tends to occassionally happen when you have the best players.

Calipari's not going to change the way he goes about his business and neither is anybody else. If you're claiming that Calipari winning is proof that you have to be dirty to win, wouldn't Brad Stevens making back-to-back title games be proof that you don't?

Oh, I think other coaches will definitely change how they recruit based on the squid's success. It has now been shown that collecting one-and-dones can win you a championship. More coaches will now be doing whatever it takes to get them. If I thought it would mean that Calipari would lose some, I would say no biggie. The problem is that Calipari will still get the best of the one-and-dones (thanks to WWW, Jay-Z and Nike) and the rest will be divided up by a larger number of coaches (Kansas, Memphis, Ohio State, Baylor and others who are willing to do what it takes to get these kids). The divide you saw this year will now be an annual event so long as the squid sticks around.

Brad Stevens is a bad example. He won with a veteran group of lesser recruited players but struggled when it came time to re-load with new lesser recruited players. The squid will never have to suffer through a season like that. Coaches who are willing to suffer through an NIT season now and then and work hard to build players and a team over several years won't fall into the one-and-done squid trap. But coaches know that winning means job security and more money so there will be a growing number that will want to win every year like the squid.

 

[sparky]

Congrats to the UK players. The kids were classy all year. They were the best in the tourney and they won. Cal is not a great in game coach, but he does teach his system well. I truly believe in a tight game, JC would out coach him even though cal may have better players.

 

[Ricky1Moore]

Oh God. He was "lucky." Jesus, c'mon. They were the best team in the country. They were certainly better than Kansas. If that was UConn we'd all be talking about how annoying it is when Calhoun deflates the ball with a second half lead. Say what you want about Calipari, but that is a really, really good basketball team. Head and shoulders better than anyone else, I think. They've got individual talent up and down, but they're probably the most unselfish team I've seen all year. They share the ball, run good offense, play with poise, every single one of them defends, and they play hard. They're very, very impressive and to say they got "lucky" in a game that was never seriously in doubt is just dumb.

Dude you said lucky not me

 

[SkyWalker2011]

I'll tip my hat to the Kentucky players. Say what you will about The Squid and some of their fans, but they played well all season. We'll have to wait and see what effect this has on college ball in the future, both the positives and the negatives.