Some of This Stuff Goes Through Two Coaches

[Will Lavender]

A lot of comments tonight that could've been made circa November 2006.

Of course we had a different coach then.

No question that Gillispie has to take some (most?) of the blame for the 0-2 start, but we're seeing the same mystifying stuff we saw when the last guy was here. I bet I heard "Why didn't he make adjustments?" a million times with the last guy. I bet I heard "He just sits over there and looks in over his head!" a million times. I heard "Why can't we guard the three!" and "We can't shoot the three!" and "We turn it over way too much!"

Same stuff, different coach.

My point?

It's still a personnel issue.

[UderricKY]

A lot of comments tonight that could've been made circa November 2006.

Of course we had a different coach then.

No question that Gillispie has to take some (most?) of the blame for the 0-2 start, but we're seeing the same mystifying stuff we saw when the last guy was here. I bet I heard "Why didn't he make adjustments?" a million times with the last guy. I bet I heard "He just sits over there and looks in over his head!" a million times. I heard "Why can't we guard the three!" and "We can't shoot the three!" and "We turn it over way too much!"

Same stuff, different coach.

My point?

It's still a personnel issue.

The old saying...you cant turn chicken *bleep* into chicken salad. We have better athletes this year....but we're still way behind in terms of talent. The current freshman class and the ones to come will change that culture.

The difference...the previous regime didn't try to correct this problem...while our current regime..works their rear ends off to make it better!

[swimuk]

Personnel indeed and this time something is being done about it!

[Rockober]

^^^^^and still complaints on recruiting. Why do we not have a point guard? Of course, I said this 25 times tonight and thats no disrespct to Porter/Liggins/ Galloway. They just need more time and losing Jasper hurts more than most people ever thought.

Talent is coming but its going to take a few more solid recruiting classes to right this ship back to the Final Four>

[Catdaddy24]

Patience is a big word most UK fans cant stomach. But this year we have no choice. Time is all that will heal the early wounds of defeat. I seen signs of improvement in many ways in the second half tonight and in time we will improve to a good team this year once everyone is on the same page. Good talent is there but we lost two pretty good players last year and until the point guard spot is filled with someone who can control the court then its going to be a slow go at it. Patience is the key to this season. It most definitely will be a better team than last when given some time. We just have to be able to stomach it and realize that the era of Ricky P style is long gone and this is what we have now.

[matt colvin]

They just need more time and losing Jasper hurts more than most people ever thought.

Same here. I actually thought Galloway would have been able to pick it up quickest. I can't help but think that things might have been a little better had they been cleared early on.

[Jody Porter]

Same here. I actually thought Galloway would have been able to pick it up quickest. I can't help but think that things might have been a little better had they been cleared early on.

I think Raleighcat had it right in another thread. (At least I think it was Raleigh...) Galloway must be in BCG's doghouse; I can think of no other reason why he'd not be out there, especially with that particular position being our most glaring weak spot.

[KY Native in IN]

one thing that's gotta be mentioned is the fact that Tubby inherited a Kentucky program with a MOUNTAIN of momentum behind it....we were as "at the top" as we could be....and we see how it all panned out.....that's not a diss on Tubby, he gave us some great years....but Coach G has inherited a Kentucky program with very very little momentum behind it....and we're seeing just how much wind has been knocked out the sails of the Kentucky program right now....and with programs that are under such heavy heavy media and fan scrutiny as is a program like Kentucky it's like waiting for grass to grow for us to get back "on top" so to speak and it seems like everybody is just whizzing by us while we're on the side of the road trying to change a flat tire...but as has been stated in other posts in this thread Coach G and Co. are actually "in process" trying to get this ship fixed....if he's not he's the biggest liar and phony ever.....but i don't think he is....personally i think he's the real deal and when the ducks are in a row we're gonna see Kentucky "be Kentucky" again....we just need to give him some time and hang in there with him....we'll be back....i believe Coach G will do everything in his power to get wins and banners in Rupp....and that's all any of us want...that's what it's all about....we can't have more expectations than someone like Billy G....that's what i think anyways

[DonnieKat]

Yes and no. There's a dearth of talent on these team, no doubt about that. At the end of the day, however, we still have:
3 stars - AJ Stewart, Kevin Galloway, Josh Harrellson
4 stars - Jodie Meeks, Darius Miller, Perry Stevenson
5 stars - Patrick Patterson, DeAndre Liggins

That's a respectable amount of talent. Not UNC talent, but as good as almost any team in the SEC and far better than VMI. Coming into this year, I was looking for incremental improvement. Don't get blown out of the water in games. Stay and look competitive. Show me flow on offense. Attitude and effort from whistle to whistle. Billy G is a defensive-minded coach with a blue collar approach? OK, show me blue collar and defense.

I haven't seen any of it. And the coaching is mind boggling. How many offensive sets did we run against UNC last night? What was our strategy for slowing down the game and secondary break? On an inbound play, how did we counter their pressure defense? I watched the entire game and still have no idea. And going back to the VMI game I still can't get out of my head Perry Stevenson defending a 6'2" player near halfcourt and getting burned big time. Why was he out that far? Because his coach instructed him to go out that far and defend. It's not his fault.

Here are the only positives I can take away from what I've seen so far:
- Miller and Liggins got some minutes in the Dean Dome. That's valuable for a frosh because it's one of the more hostile environments.
- Coach Gillispie called a few timeouts last night to slow the bleeding. We didn't see that at VMI. I guess that's good. I still didn't see him drawing up plays during the breaks. Only staring at people. WHAT GOOD DOES THIS DO????
- Ummmm....we have a good recruiting class coming in that's already inked??

That's really all I can come up with.

[Sir Richard F. Burton]

My vision is clouded by the fact that Pitino truly came in with no talent and was able to get so much out of the guys he had I expected that Billy would be the same way.

[Will Lavender]

I think Raleighcat had it right in another thread. (At least I think it was Raleigh...) Galloway must be in BCG's doghouse; I can think of no other reason why he'd not be out there, especially with that particular position being our most glaring weak spot.

I don't think this is it.

I think Kevin's just turnover prone. Our problem right now--our biggest one, anyway--is turnovers.

Makes no sense to chuck a guy out on the court who's had trouble in the preseason holding on to the ball. That's a confidence killer.

[Will Lavender]

My vision is clouded by the fact that Pitino truly came in with no talent and was able to get so much out of the guys he had I expected that Billy would be the same way.

Yeah, but it took a talent like Mashburn to be the foundation upon which the Pitino years were built. It wasn't like Pitino was doing it all with guys plucked from the scrap heap.

Mashburn was a once-in-a-quarter-century talent. There are no Mashburns on this team.

[UKhoov]

Yeah, but it took a talent like Mashburn to be the foundation upon which the Pitino years were built. It wasn't like Pitino was doing it all with guys plucked from the scrap heap.

Mashburn was a once-in-a-quarter-century talent. There are no Mashburns on this team.

Does Patterson not equate because of his lack of outside game?

[Sir Richard F. Burton]

Yeah, but it took a talent like Mashburn to be the foundation upon which the Pitino years were built. It wasn't like Pitino was doing it all with guys plucked from the scrap heap.

Mashburn was a once-in-a-quarter-century talent. There are no Mashburns on this team.

Meeks + Patterson = Mashburn

[KY Native in IN]

My vision is clouded by the fact that Pitino truly came in with no talent and was able to get so much out of the guys he had I expected that Billy would be the same way.

well, that is a good point....but one factor is they were all KY boys....and the passion and zeal for KY b-ball was still really high....but since they were in state guys they "got it"....just an opinion of course

our main hindrence is we don't have a NC in THIS decade, UNC does, Kansas does, duke does ('02 right?)....i think tha'ts been a momentum buster and a previous recruiting buster right there....seems recruits look at a programs last 5 years....just another opinion

[Will Lavender]

Does Patterson not equate because of his lack of outside game?

I don't think Patterson equates, no.

Great player. But he's no Jamal Mashburn.

I do think Pitino brewed the perfect storm in his early years in Lexington. He had the fanbase in a frenzy, he had a group of Kentucky kids with chips on their shoulders, he had an innovative and fan-friendly style of play, he had an experienced point guard who could control the action in Sean Woods, and he had a tremendous talent in Mashburn.

So I don't want to make it sound like Mashburn was coaching the team.

But any comparison of Gillispie in his second year to Pitino in his second is flawed, IMO.

[RaleighCat]

I think Raleighcat had it right in another thread. (At least I think it was Raleigh...) Galloway must be in BCG's doghouse; I can think of no other reason why he'd not be out there, especially with that particular position being our most glaring weak spot.

Yes, that was me. Thank you, I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

[RaleighCat]

I don't think this is it.

I think Kevin's just turnover prone. Our problem right now--our biggest one, anyway--is turnovers.

Makes no sense to chuck a guy out on the court who's had trouble in the preseason holding on to the ball. That's a confidence killer.

Will, who on our team ISN'T turnover prone right now?

If Galloway was doing anything right in practice he'd be on the floor. Maybe that's part of his problem- too many errors in practice. Goes back to the doghouse factor.

I'll be very interested to see if he makes an appearance on Saturday vs. Delaware State.

[Disgrantled]

losing Jasper hurts more than most people ever thought.

I'm beginning to realize that more and more which each mind blowing turnover.

[Will Lavender]

Will, who on our team ISN'T turnover prone right now?

Point noted.

Galloway must REALLY struggle with holding on to the ball.

I can only go by what Gillispie has said about Galloway publicly. Just last week he said, "Kevin's doing fine. He's just trying to learn his third system in three years."

So along with the turnover thing, it might be an issue of simply not knowing the plays.