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04-08-2012, 06:49 PM
When speculation emerged last week linking John Calipari's name with the New York Knicks head coaching job, the Kentucky coach issued a statement saying he was "chasing UCLA," not NBA positions.
UCLA, of course, is the all-time leader in men's NCAA Tournament basketball championships with 11. After beating Kansas on Monday night to claim the 2012 title, UK now has eight NCAA championships.
Is it realistic to think UK can catch UCLA?
There was a time when the answer appeared obvious: No way.
In 1995, after Jim Harrick coached the Bruins to their only post-John Wooden NCAA championship, the all-time tally stood at Bruins 11, Cats 5.
A margin of six seemed insurmountable.
But since that most recent UCLA title, Kentucky has now claimed three more championships, 1996 for Rick Pitino, 1998 for Tubby Smith and this year for Calipari.
If UK could repeat the same ratio â beating UCLA by three championships over the next 17 years â it would tie the Bruins in 2029.
Now, that isn't going to be easy to do. For one thing, there's obviously no certainty that Kentucky can win three more NCAA titles in the next 17 years. Consider: With all the emphasis and resources UK puts into men's basketball, it's won four NCAA Tournaments since 1958.
Secondly, UCLA could just as easily add to its championship total. Current coach Ben Howland took the Bruins to three straight Final Fours (2006-08) but failed to claim a championship in that run.
As Sports Illustrated detailed earlier this season, Howland has fallen on rough times in recent years. If he can't get the UCLA ship righted and soon, the Bruins will make a play for a coach who can.
Still, catching UCLA seemed impossible for UK in 1995; now it seems to have improved to very difficult in 2012.
One game, huge impact
In retrospect, the 1975 NCAA championship game between Kentucky and UCLA may be the most historically significant contest UK has ever played.
If you reverse the outcome of that one game, a 92-85 UCLA victory, then the all-time NCAA title count would now be UCLA 10, Kentucky nine.
That deficit would be very surmountable.
Miller's 'Triple Crown'
Before Darius Miller played his first season at Kentucky in 2008-09, I decided to look up how past Kentucky Mr. Basketball winners had fared in their UK careers.
Miller won the 2008 Mr. Basketball honor, given annually since 1956 to the top senior high school hoops player in the commonwealth, after leading Mason County to the '08 state title.
What I found surprised me in two ways.
First, at the time Miller became a Cat, he was only the 15th Kentucky Mr. Basketball to play for UK (current Wildcats guard Jon Hood, the 2009 Mr. Basketball winner, made it 16 the following year).
Secondly, I noticed back then that no player had ever played for a Kentucky state champion, earned Mr. Basketball honors and then gone on to play for an NCAA champion at UK.
Darrell Griffith â who led Male to the 1975 state title, claimed 1976 Mr. Basketball honors and then starred for Louisville's 1980 NCAA champs â was the only male player to ever hit "the Triple Crown" of Kentucky basketball.
On Monday night, when Kentucky claimed the 2012 NCAA crown, Miller achieved the triple.
Asked about the significance of joining Griffith on a very elite list in the state of Kentucky's basketball history, Miller was typically humble, talking about how much UK's title meant to "the people in the state. It's a big accomplishment for all of us here. We're proud to be a part of something like this," he said.
Another Miller record?
On Friday, Mason County basketball coach Chris O'Hearn emailed wondering if Miller holds another historical distinction. "I was curious as to who has played the most games on the Rupp Arena floor?" O'Hearn wrote. "I'm guessing it would be between Darius and Richie Farmer."
During his Clay County days, Farmer played in 14 games in the Kentucky high school state basketball tournament, but four of them in 1988 were in Freedom Hall, not Rupp.
Farmer played in 58 UK home games (he missed the first home game of his senior year in 1991-92, against West Virginia, with the flu), giving him 68 total games in Rupp by my count.
Miller played in nine Sweet Sixteen contests (three as an eighth-grader in 2004; two as a sophomore in '06; four in '08) in Rupp Arena for Mason County, and 69 UK home games.
Bottom line: It seems likely that no one has played in more basketball games in Rupp Arena than Darius Miller's 78.
Bittersweet for Hood
For Jon Hood, Kentucky's NCAA championship drive in 2012 was "bittersweet. Very frustrating." The ex-Madisonville High School star missed the entire 2011-12 season after tearing an ACL last summer.
"I've gotten used to it," Hood said of not playing. "I guess, maybe, you should say I've gotten on with it."
Speaking on the Sunday before Kentucky faced Kansas, Hood said the right knee he injured last July in a pickup game is now about "95 percent."
"I'm cleared to do everything but contact," Hood said. "I start agility drills this month, probably about a week after we get back. I'll resume full pickup (basketball games) in late May, early June."
The 6-foot-7, 215-pound Hood will be a junior next season. As difficult as it was sitting out what became a national championship season, Hood says he does think the year off will benefit his game, especially his shot.
"I think my (shooting) stroke has gotten better," Hood said. "I think I shoot it better. My rotation on the ball is a lot better. My fundamentals, the mechanics on my shot are extremely improved. I'm more consistent when I shoot now."
All-time wins
The men's college basketball all-time wins leaders ended 2011-12 ranked like this: 1. Kentucky, 2,090; 2. Kansas, 2,070; 3. North Carolina, 2,065.
In a season in which UK won a school-record 38 games, you'd expect it to be able to open some breathing room in all-time wins. Yet the Cats added only six victories on both Kansas and Carolina, who each won 32 times in 2011-12.
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/04/08/21436...rylink=cpy
UCLA, of course, is the all-time leader in men's NCAA Tournament basketball championships with 11. After beating Kansas on Monday night to claim the 2012 title, UK now has eight NCAA championships.
Is it realistic to think UK can catch UCLA?
There was a time when the answer appeared obvious: No way.
In 1995, after Jim Harrick coached the Bruins to their only post-John Wooden NCAA championship, the all-time tally stood at Bruins 11, Cats 5.
A margin of six seemed insurmountable.
But since that most recent UCLA title, Kentucky has now claimed three more championships, 1996 for Rick Pitino, 1998 for Tubby Smith and this year for Calipari.
If UK could repeat the same ratio â beating UCLA by three championships over the next 17 years â it would tie the Bruins in 2029.
Now, that isn't going to be easy to do. For one thing, there's obviously no certainty that Kentucky can win three more NCAA titles in the next 17 years. Consider: With all the emphasis and resources UK puts into men's basketball, it's won four NCAA Tournaments since 1958.
Secondly, UCLA could just as easily add to its championship total. Current coach Ben Howland took the Bruins to three straight Final Fours (2006-08) but failed to claim a championship in that run.
As Sports Illustrated detailed earlier this season, Howland has fallen on rough times in recent years. If he can't get the UCLA ship righted and soon, the Bruins will make a play for a coach who can.
Still, catching UCLA seemed impossible for UK in 1995; now it seems to have improved to very difficult in 2012.
One game, huge impact
In retrospect, the 1975 NCAA championship game between Kentucky and UCLA may be the most historically significant contest UK has ever played.
If you reverse the outcome of that one game, a 92-85 UCLA victory, then the all-time NCAA title count would now be UCLA 10, Kentucky nine.
That deficit would be very surmountable.
Miller's 'Triple Crown'
Before Darius Miller played his first season at Kentucky in 2008-09, I decided to look up how past Kentucky Mr. Basketball winners had fared in their UK careers.
Miller won the 2008 Mr. Basketball honor, given annually since 1956 to the top senior high school hoops player in the commonwealth, after leading Mason County to the '08 state title.
What I found surprised me in two ways.
First, at the time Miller became a Cat, he was only the 15th Kentucky Mr. Basketball to play for UK (current Wildcats guard Jon Hood, the 2009 Mr. Basketball winner, made it 16 the following year).
Secondly, I noticed back then that no player had ever played for a Kentucky state champion, earned Mr. Basketball honors and then gone on to play for an NCAA champion at UK.
Darrell Griffith â who led Male to the 1975 state title, claimed 1976 Mr. Basketball honors and then starred for Louisville's 1980 NCAA champs â was the only male player to ever hit "the Triple Crown" of Kentucky basketball.
On Monday night, when Kentucky claimed the 2012 NCAA crown, Miller achieved the triple.
Asked about the significance of joining Griffith on a very elite list in the state of Kentucky's basketball history, Miller was typically humble, talking about how much UK's title meant to "the people in the state. It's a big accomplishment for all of us here. We're proud to be a part of something like this," he said.
Another Miller record?
On Friday, Mason County basketball coach Chris O'Hearn emailed wondering if Miller holds another historical distinction. "I was curious as to who has played the most games on the Rupp Arena floor?" O'Hearn wrote. "I'm guessing it would be between Darius and Richie Farmer."
During his Clay County days, Farmer played in 14 games in the Kentucky high school state basketball tournament, but four of them in 1988 were in Freedom Hall, not Rupp.
Farmer played in 58 UK home games (he missed the first home game of his senior year in 1991-92, against West Virginia, with the flu), giving him 68 total games in Rupp by my count.
Miller played in nine Sweet Sixteen contests (three as an eighth-grader in 2004; two as a sophomore in '06; four in '08) in Rupp Arena for Mason County, and 69 UK home games.
Bottom line: It seems likely that no one has played in more basketball games in Rupp Arena than Darius Miller's 78.
Bittersweet for Hood
For Jon Hood, Kentucky's NCAA championship drive in 2012 was "bittersweet. Very frustrating." The ex-Madisonville High School star missed the entire 2011-12 season after tearing an ACL last summer.
"I've gotten used to it," Hood said of not playing. "I guess, maybe, you should say I've gotten on with it."
Speaking on the Sunday before Kentucky faced Kansas, Hood said the right knee he injured last July in a pickup game is now about "95 percent."
"I'm cleared to do everything but contact," Hood said. "I start agility drills this month, probably about a week after we get back. I'll resume full pickup (basketball games) in late May, early June."
The 6-foot-7, 215-pound Hood will be a junior next season. As difficult as it was sitting out what became a national championship season, Hood says he does think the year off will benefit his game, especially his shot.
"I think my (shooting) stroke has gotten better," Hood said. "I think I shoot it better. My rotation on the ball is a lot better. My fundamentals, the mechanics on my shot are extremely improved. I'm more consistent when I shoot now."
All-time wins
The men's college basketball all-time wins leaders ended 2011-12 ranked like this: 1. Kentucky, 2,090; 2. Kansas, 2,070; 3. North Carolina, 2,065.
In a season in which UK won a school-record 38 games, you'd expect it to be able to open some breathing room in all-time wins. Yet the Cats added only six victories on both Kansas and Carolina, who each won 32 times in 2011-12.
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/04/08/21436...rylink=cpy
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04-09-2012, 05:51 AM
Why can't they? Make free throws last year and we win it then. This year would have made us number 9. We have 8 they have 11. I see us winning three more before they win one more.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
âThis is a great tradition that we have to live up to. It feels good that we were able to do this for Kentucky.â Brandon Knight
âit was a tough one, but weâre the real blue.â Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
"This is MY state!" Anthony Davis
âThis is a great tradition that we have to live up to. It feels good that we were able to do this for Kentucky.â Brandon Knight
âit was a tough one, but weâre the real blue.â Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
"This is MY state!" Anthony Davis
04-09-2012, 07:39 AM
"Is it realistic to think UK can catch UCLA?"
Yeah.
Nuff said!
Yeah.
Nuff said!
04-09-2012, 01:43 PM
We'll catch them by 2017
04-09-2012, 04:27 PM
I am not counting my chickens before they hatch. Ben Howland is a good coach. Whatever happened at UCLA is unfortunate, but if he has a good team, he can get them there, make no mistake about it. He built such a good program at Pitt that Jamie Dixon has been able to keep success there.
If UCLA gets in trouble or a lame-duck follows Coach Howland, UK can catch up in less than 20 years.
If UCLA gets in trouble or a lame-duck follows Coach Howland, UK can catch up in less than 20 years.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
04-10-2012, 05:07 AM
If Cal will stay another 5 years or so, it's logical to think we'll get another one or two, because of his ability to bring in the top recruits year after year.
Last year, Bob Ryan had UK in the Final Four when few did. He predicted that UK will win 3-5 titles in the next 7 years.
My answer is yes, but of course it will be difficult. The best team don't always win. Well be upset like we was against WVU a few years ago. Maybe they'll be a year where we're not suppose to win it, and do. March Madness is so unpredictable.
Last year, Bob Ryan had UK in the Final Four when few did. He predicted that UK will win 3-5 titles in the next 7 years.
My answer is yes, but of course it will be difficult. The best team don't always win. Well be upset like we was against WVU a few years ago. Maybe they'll be a year where we're not suppose to win it, and do. March Madness is so unpredictable.
04-10-2012, 03:56 PM
It's possible, but it will be tough. Provided UCLA doesn't win one under Ben Howland (who is a good coach!) it is possible but it will take a few years. Remember, despite UK's success, It has taken us 14 years to win this title, 18 between the 78 and 96 titles, and 20 years between the 58 and 78 titles. I think we can pass UCLA up one day, but it is going to be a while.
04-11-2012, 03:49 PM
Yeap. Calipari will have a long run of titles if this keeps up.
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