[Old School Hound]

Here was the "Watch " list named by by the Naismith Awards back in February:


Greg Gard
Wisconsin
Big Ten

Dennis Gates
Missouri
SEC


Todd Golden
Florida
SEC


Penny Hardaway
Memphis
AAC


Tom Izzo
Michigan State
Big Ten


Pat Kelsey
Louisville
ACC


Dusty May
Michigan
Big Ten


Grant McCasland
Texas Tech
Big 12


Ben McCollum
Drake
MVC

Matt Painter
Purdue
Big Ten


Bruce Pearl
Auburn
SEC


Rick Pitino
St. John's
BIG EAST


Richard Pitino
New Mexico
MWC


Kelvin Sampson
Houston
Big 12


Jon Scheyer
Duke
ACC



Here are the four finalists, announced a day or two ago:


[Image: https://scontent.fosu2-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v...e=67EA3675]





Kentucky and BYU are both having pretty damn good  , Sweet 16 or better, seasons and not even a mention on the "Watch" list.  Is this a conspiracy? I know it's a bunch of shit !!!  Kevin Young and Mark Pope have done fabulous jobs at BYU and UK this season but can't even crack the Top 15 . Bunch of bullshit !!! Only two teams in the history of the sport have more Top 15 wins than this Kentucky team.  And not since Jimmer Fredette played has BYU had this level of success ...  Ridiculous !!!

[4 Quarters]

Here was the "Watch " list named by by the Naismith Awards back in February:


Greg Gard
Wisconsin
Big Ten

Dennis Gates
Missouri
SEC


Todd Golden
Florida
SEC


Penny Hardaway
Memphis
AAC


Tom Izzo
Michigan State
Big Ten


Pat Kelsey
Louisville
ACC


Dusty May
Michigan
Big Ten


Grant McCasland
Texas Tech
Big 12


Ben McCollum
Drake
MVC

Matt Painter
Purdue
Big Ten


Bruce Pearl
Auburn
SEC


Rick Pitino
St. John's
BIG EAST


Richard Pitino
New Mexico
MWC


Kelvin Sampson
Houston
Big 12


Jon Scheyer
Duke
ACC



Here are the four finalists, announced a day or two ago:


[Image: https://scontent.fosu2-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v...e=67EA3675]





Kentucky and BYU are both having pretty damn good  , Sweet 16  or better,  seasons and not even a mention on the "Watch" list.  Is this a conspiracy? I know it's a bunch of shit !!!  Kevin Young and Mark Pope have done fabulous jobs at BYU and UK this season but can't even crack the Top 15 . Bunch of bullshit !!! Only two teams in the history of the sport have more Top 15 wins than this Kentucky team.  And not since Jimmer Fredette played has BYU had this level of success ...  Ridiculous !!!

I really wish I hadn't read this at bedtime.  I'll be up all night worrying about this.

[-STAT-]

Have to take all things into consideration with what Pope had to do in a very short time as coach.

Had to start from scratch, had no returning player, and had just 1 player committed at the time that he didn't even recruit in Perry.

From building a staff, to hitting the portal hard and bringing in guys on the fly and asking them to gel and develop a great chemistry on & off the court was a tough thing to do, but everyone excelled at their responsibilities this season. Same goes for Pat Kelsey, seen his name on the list and have to give him all the credit in the world for doing basically the same at Louisville, but Pope definitely deserved to be on both the watch list, and one of the remaining finalists for COTY. I am sure he doesn't care one way or the other about it, but sure would've been a great honor and feather in the cap for him.

[plantmanky]

Have to take all things into consideration with what Pope had to do in a very short time as coach.

Had to start from scratch, had no returning player, and had just 1 player committed at the time that he didn't even recruit in Perry.

From building a staff, to hitting the portal hard and bringing in guys on the fly and asking them to gel and develop a great chemistry on & off the court was a tough thing to do, but everyone excelled at their responsibilities this season. Same goes for Pat Kelsey, seen his name on the list and have to give him all the credit in the world for doing basically the same at Louisville, but Pope definitely deserved to be on both the watch list, and one of the remaining finalists for COTY. I am sure he doesn't care one way or the other about it, but sure would've been a great honor and feather in the cap for him.

Why?
Ever coach has to rebuild new rosters every year now with the portal.


Finished middle of the pack in SEC regular season
Didnt even make semis of SEC Tournament
Lost in sweet 16 of NCAA

Thats not acceptable for Kentucky Basketball.

[jetpilot]

Have to take all things into consideration with what Pope had to do in a very short time as coach.

Had to start from scratch, had no returning player, and had just 1 player committed at the time that he didn't even recruit in Perry.

From building a staff, to hitting the portal hard and bringing in guys on the fly and asking them to gel and develop a great chemistry on & off the court was a tough thing to do, but everyone excelled at their responsibilities this season. Same goes for Pat Kelsey, seen his name on the list and have to give him all the credit in the world for doing basically the same at Louisville, but Pope definitely deserved to be on both the watch list, and one of the remaining finalists for COTY. I am sure he doesn't care one way or the other about it, but sure would've been a great honor and feather in the cap for him.

Why?
Ever coach has to rebuild new rosters every year now with the portal.


Finished middle of the pack in SEC regular season
Didnt even make semis of SEC Tournament
Lost in sweet 16 of NCAA

Thats not acceptable for Kentucky Basketball.

No they don't.

[-STAT-]

Have to take all things into consideration with what Pope had to do in a very short time as coach.

Had to start from scratch, had no returning player, and had just 1 player committed at the time that he didn't even recruit in Perry.

From building a staff, to hitting the portal hard and bringing in guys on the fly and asking them to gel and develop a great chemistry on & off the court was a tough thing to do, but everyone excelled at their responsibilities this season. Same goes for Pat Kelsey, seen his name on the list and have to give him all the credit in the world for doing basically the same at Louisville, but Pope definitely deserved to be on both the watch list, and one of the remaining finalists for COTY. I am sure he doesn't care one way or the other about it, but sure would've been a great honor and feather in the cap for him.

Why?
Ever coach has to rebuild new rosters every year now with the portal.


Finished middle of the pack in SEC regular season
Didnt even make semis of SEC Tournament
Lost in sweet 16 of NCAA

Thats not acceptable for Kentucky Basketball.

Well you're somewhat right in that every coach has to rebuild due to the portal, but not every coach has to start from scratch the way Pope did this past season. 

As for expectations not being acceptable? What were you expecting/accepting? A 40-0 season in the toughest conference in the country? Beating every opponent like the 96 team did? Sweeping through the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament? I hoped more than anyone that this team could've made a deeper run in the tournament, but making the 2nd weekend was something that hasn't happened I think 1 time in the last 6 years, which for Kentucky Basketball standards, isn't acceptable. But for this season, to make it as far as they did with all the injuries that occurred, having to start from scratch, I think most fans are good with that, I would think anyways. Of course you're going to have haters/doubters that would expect more or better results, but like I said with everything that happened, this season was about as successful as you could've asked for.

[plantmanky]

Have to take all things into consideration with what Pope had to do in a very short time as coach.

Had to start from scratch, had no returning player, and had just 1 player committed at the time that he didn't even recruit in Perry.

From building a staff, to hitting the portal hard and bringing in guys on the fly and asking them to gel and develop a great chemistry on & off the court was a tough thing to do, but everyone excelled at their responsibilities this season. Same goes for Pat Kelsey, seen his name on the list and have to give him all the credit in the world for doing basically the same at Louisville, but Pope definitely deserved to be on both the watch list, and one of the remaining finalists for COTY. I am sure he doesn't care one way or the other about it, but sure would've been a great honor and feather in the cap for him.

Why?
Ever coach has to rebuild new rosters every year now with the portal.


Finished middle of the pack in SEC regular season
Didnt even make semis of SEC Tournament
Lost in sweet 16 of NCAA

Thats not acceptable for Kentucky Basketball.

Well you're somewhat right in that every coach has to rebuild due to the portal, but not every coach has to start from scratch the way Pope did this past season. 

As for expectations not being acceptable? What were you expecting/accepting? A 40-0 season in the toughest conference in the country? Beating every opponent like the 96 team did? Sweeping through the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament? I hoped more than anyone that this team could've made a deeper run in the tournament, but making the 2nd weekend was something that hasn't happened I think 1 time in the last 6 years, which for Kentucky Basketball standards, isn't acceptable. But for this season, to make it as far as they did with all the injuries that occurred, having to start from scratch, I think most fans are good with that, I would think anyways. Of course you're going to have haters/doubters that would expect more or better results, but like I said with everything that happened, this season was about as successful as you could've asked for.

My expectations was 10 wins, but I also dont think Kentucky is a blue blood or top tier basketball program.

[4 Quarters]

Have to take all things into consideration with what Pope had to do in a very short time as coach.

Had to start from scratch, had no returning player, and had just 1 player committed at the time that he didn't even recruit in Perry.

From building a staff, to hitting the portal hard and bringing in guys on the fly and asking them to gel and develop a great chemistry on & off the court was a tough thing to do, but everyone excelled at their responsibilities this season. Same goes for Pat Kelsey, seen his name on the list and have to give him all the credit in the world for doing basically the same at Louisville, but Pope definitely deserved to be on both the watch list, and one of the remaining finalists for COTY. I am sure he doesn't care one way or the other about it, but sure would've been a great honor and feather in the cap for him.

Why?
Ever coach has to rebuild new rosters every year now with the portal.


Finished middle of the pack in SEC regular season
Didnt even make semis of SEC Tournament
Lost in sweet 16 of NCAA

Thats not acceptable for Kentucky Basketball.

Well you're somewhat right in that every coach has to rebuild due to the portal, but not every coach has to start from scratch the way Pope did this past season. 

As for expectations not being acceptable? What were you expecting/accepting? A 40-0 season in the toughest conference in the country? Beating every opponent like the 96 team did? Sweeping through the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament? I hoped more than anyone that this team could've made a deeper run in the tournament, but making the 2nd weekend was something that hasn't happened I think 1 time in the last 6 years, which for Kentucky Basketball standards, isn't acceptable. But for this season, to make it as far as they did with all the injuries that occurred, having to start from scratch, I think most fans are good with that, I would think anyways. Of course you're going to have haters/doubters that would expect more or better results, but like I said with everything that happened, this season was about as successful as you could've asked for.

My expectations was 10 wins, but I also dont think Kentucky is a blue blood or top tier basketball program.

Get real, if UK isn't a blue blood or top tier basketball program, just who is?

[plantmanky]

What has Kentucky done in the last decade that makes them a top Tier team?

National Championships 0
Final Fours 0
Elite Eights 1

SEC Regular Season Championships 3  ( 1 during covid year season canceled, 1 Shared with Texas A&M)
SEC Tournament Championships 3


The results prove it, not top tier.....tier of very good, maybe that will be year to year going forward.

[jetpilot]

Anybody know a good lawyer? I'm thinking of suing plant for causing loss of brain cells.

[Old School Hound]

Anybody know a good lawyer? I'm thinking of suing plant for causing loss of brain cells.

[Image: https://t3.ftcdn.net/jpg/04/07/96/86/360...iD4zJP.jpg]


I have some Communist friends who harrassed some lawyers. Does that count???

[Granny Bear]

^^

[-STAT-]

Damn, plantman is right up there with Stephen A & Skip Bayless w/ some of the most outlandish and wild takes I've ever seen, must be a regular watcher of their programming. While the success hasn't been there the last decade, they are a blueblood program. If they aren't in your words, I guess Indiana isn't one, UCLA, hell even Duke who last won a Championship in 2015, so in your reality, are there any bluebloods left at all?

[4 Quarters]

Anybody know a good lawyer? I'm thinking of suing plant for causing loss of brain cells.

You won't need a real good one.

[plantmanky]

Damn, plantman is right up there with Stephen A & Skip Bayless w/ some of the most outlandish and wild takes I've ever seen, must be a regular watcher of their programming. While the success hasn't been there the last decade, they are a blueblood program. If they aren't in your words, I guess Indiana isn't one, UCLA, hell even Duke who last won a Championship in 2015, so in your reality, are there any bluebloods left at all?

What makes Kentucky a current blue blood program?

[jetpilot]

Damn, plantman is right up there with Stephen A & Skip Bayless w/ some of the most outlandish and wild takes I've ever seen, must be a regular watcher of their programming. While the success hasn't been there the last decade, they are a blueblood program. If they aren't in your words, I guess Indiana isn't one, UCLA, hell even Duke who last won a Championship in 2015, so in your reality, are there any bluebloods left at all?

What makes Kentucky a current blue blood program?

What do you say to a guy who puts "current" and "blue blood" in the same sentence?

[4 Quarters]

Pearl and Ricky P. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Tied.

[Cactus Jack]

Pope and Kentucky lost too many regular season games for him to be considered. If there were fewer of our losses to teams like Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and the like, plus another big win (just one over Alabama or Auburn), then it's probably enough for Kentucky to land on the #2 line and for him to win the award.

All this isn't to say that I thought the job he did was anything short of spectacular, just that there were some stronger candidates with better resumes if we're looking at it from an unbiased perspective (i.e., looking at it as a sportswriter in Kansas City or Minneapolis, not as a Kentucky fan).

[Cactus Jack]

To add to the above post:

I should have also mentioned the non-conference losses to Clemson and Ohio State. One of those was much worse than the other.

Also should have mentioned Georgia and Texas in the conference losses (along with Vanderbilt and Arkansas).

It's going to be tough for any coach of a program like Kentucky to lose 10 regular season games and go into their conference tournament as the #5 seed but still have their coach win the award. Pope's job was obviously enough to be considered, but actually taking it home is a different story.

Hypothetically:
Flip the result of two of the following games: Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Texas, and Arkansas AND:
Flip the result of one of the following games: Alabama, at Alabama, and Auburn...

Now we're an eight loss team in a historically tough conference, and I'd say there's a 30-40% chance that Pope wins the award depending on how everything else plays out. I say this because what really weighed Kentucky down was too many losses to sub-par teams.

Ohio State didn't make the tournament and it's hard to say that Georgia, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, or Texas are still in without their win over Kentucky; maybe they all are, but none were considered a lock and Kentucky was easily one of their biggest signature wins.

The two losses that I didn't mention (at Clemson and at Ole Miss) obviously would have been nice to have, but I don't know how much those matter-- they were on the road to Top 25 teams. Yes, win those two and we're still at the same eight losses (and it's two more top 25 wins) but paradoxically, it might have been worse because six of Kentucky's eight losses would have been to bubble-level teams. Same goes for losing two of three in the series with Alabama and Auburn.

The only way that Clemson works is if you assume that Kentucky beats them AND Ohio State to go undefeated against a pretty tough non-conference schedule. With that, any losses in a strong SEC just makes those SEC teams look better; I don't know that a Kentucky team that's undefeated in non-conference play and also has a top 5 win over Alabama or Auburn to go with 7 SEC losses gets him COTY, but it's definitely a more compelling argument. Going two of three in the series with Alabama and Auburn gives us a ton of quality wins and bumps us up the SEC standings, but we probably still finish no higher than #3 in the SEC and have too many losses to Q2 and Q3 teams.


Even with how we finished the year, I think Pope should have at least been considered, but I can also see why he wasn't included if it were in mid-February. As of February 15th, we were 3-5 in our last eight games; we'd begun that streak getting beat by Alabama, but had also lost to Vanderbilt, gotten crushed by Ole Miss, lost to Arkansas at home, and had just lost to Texas. Considering that, yea... I can see why he might have been fading.

[Old School Hound]

Kelvin Sampson might very well be the best coach in the country, although Dan Hurley is absolutely convinced that he is the best.

[Cactus Jack]

Kelvin Sampson might very well be the best coach in the country, although Dan Hurley is absolutely convinced that he is the best.

Don't think he's the best, even if he is in the top 10-15.

100% think that he was the perfect fit for Houston at the time they crossed paths. Houston's program was in pretty rough shape when he took over-- around 1000 fans at games, people breaking into the player's locker room regularly, etc.; here's an article on that from 2019: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket...enaissance

I don't know that Sampson's style would work at a North Carolina, Kansas, Duke, or Kentucky. That isn't really part of the criteria for Coach of the Year though.