The Kentucky Wildcats didn't go long without a head coach as they inked John Calapari to an 8 year 31.65 million dollar deal, making him the NCAA's highest paid head coach. This is something I go back and forth with all of the time. Is it right for a coach to just get up and leave his contract. Everyone bitched up a storm when Rich Rodriguez took the Michigan job, but I'm here to defend the two.
Coaches get into coaching to land that dream job and win a title. Michigan is one of those jobs in Rodriguez case. No knock on West Virginia, but that is a rich and storied program in Michigan. Michigan will always be Michigan and WVU will always be WVU. It's no knock on the program, but Michigan is a dream job for a coach.
The same goes for Calipari and the Kentucky job. It's Kentucky basketball. He had to take the job. I have no problem with it. It just happens so much that the NCAA has to regulate it somehow.
You can say it's not fair to the kids, but when the kids leave after 1 or 2 seasons, is that fair to the coach? Not at all. Calapari had landed 3 of the top 6 recruits in the nation while at Memphis. It is likely they all will follow him to Kentucky. If a player decided to transfer, he would have to sit out a year. Should the same apply to recruits? Should the same apply to coaches? The Memphis program will never be the same, while the Kentucky program just got revitalized.
I do feel bad in both cases for the kids that commit to a coach that suddenly hasn't committed to them, but only so much. They still have a free athletic scholarship and have a chance at a free education. The only rule I would consider implementing if I were the NCAA, would be to allow certain kids to transfer after a coaching change and waive the mandatory one year period to play. I would have this be a case by case situation though. With Rodriguez going to Michigan, I would have been more inclined to allow this because his offense doesn't suit every player.
With the Calipari situation I would be less inclined though. For all these guys that will play pro basketball, it won't be the first, nor will it be the last time they will go through a coaching change. It's life. deal with it.
Don't hate Calipari for taking the job. There are only so many Kentucky's out there. I applauded Ben Howland for taking the UCLA job and I do the same to Cal. The kids likely would have left him first anyway.
Showing posts with label University of Kentucky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label University of Kentucky. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
NCAA Basketball Player of the Year
I have been hearing alot of talk about who is the player of the year in men's basketball this year and quite frankly, I can't even believe that there is a discussion. We have heard names thrown around all year, but there is truly only one guy that should be talked about here.
Right now, I think U Conn's AJ Price is playing as well as anyone in the nation, but he isn't even in the running here. I have limited it down to the top 5 candidates and here they are in reverse order.
5. Jodie Meeks- Kentucky This kid is very exciting and can flat out score. he averages 25.1 ppg, good for 5th in the nation. Out of the 6 games of 45 point or more this season, Meeks has 3 of them.
4. Tyler Hansbrough- North Carolina Last years player of the year is averaging 21.2 per game and 7.8 rebounds. Maybe we have just gotten used to his consistent production, but he has done nothing that jumps off the page to give him the award. He has a chance to go down as the NCAA's all-time leading scorer, but the award is for this year.
3. Stephen Curry- Davidson The switch to point guard hasn't slowed Curry down one bit. He leads the nation in scoring at 28.4 per game and also averages 6 assists and nearly 5 rebounds per.
2. Dejuan Blair- Pitt maybe I'm a little too high on him, but i feel he is one of the two most dominant players I have seen all season. Blair averages over 16pts per game to go along with 12.8 rebounds. His 6.0 offense boards per game leads the nation.
Out of that list, I would give the award to Blair, but not even Dejuan should be talked about when it comes to player of the year. That distinction goes to Oklahoma's Blake Griffen and it should be unanimous.
Both Blair and Griffen are truly men among boys on the court, but Griffen's performance has truly been the most dominant of the season. He averages 21.9 ppg and 14 reb per game and has kept the Sooners in the top 5 in the nation all season. Blair maybe the front runner next season if he stays, but this year, Blake Griffen is hands down your player of the year.
That's not to say he is the better player, he has though had the best season. I for one would love to see the Pitt-Oklahoma game and the Blair-Griffen duel. Hopefully we will see it in Detroit.
Right now, I think U Conn's AJ Price is playing as well as anyone in the nation, but he isn't even in the running here. I have limited it down to the top 5 candidates and here they are in reverse order.
5. Jodie Meeks- Kentucky This kid is very exciting and can flat out score. he averages 25.1 ppg, good for 5th in the nation. Out of the 6 games of 45 point or more this season, Meeks has 3 of them.
4. Tyler Hansbrough- North Carolina Last years player of the year is averaging 21.2 per game and 7.8 rebounds. Maybe we have just gotten used to his consistent production, but he has done nothing that jumps off the page to give him the award. He has a chance to go down as the NCAA's all-time leading scorer, but the award is for this year.
3. Stephen Curry- Davidson The switch to point guard hasn't slowed Curry down one bit. He leads the nation in scoring at 28.4 per game and also averages 6 assists and nearly 5 rebounds per.
2. Dejuan Blair- Pitt maybe I'm a little too high on him, but i feel he is one of the two most dominant players I have seen all season. Blair averages over 16pts per game to go along with 12.8 rebounds. His 6.0 offense boards per game leads the nation.
Out of that list, I would give the award to Blair, but not even Dejuan should be talked about when it comes to player of the year. That distinction goes to Oklahoma's Blake Griffen and it should be unanimous.
Both Blair and Griffen are truly men among boys on the court, but Griffen's performance has truly been the most dominant of the season. He averages 21.9 ppg and 14 reb per game and has kept the Sooners in the top 5 in the nation all season. Blair maybe the front runner next season if he stays, but this year, Blake Griffen is hands down your player of the year.
That's not to say he is the better player, he has though had the best season. I for one would love to see the Pitt-Oklahoma game and the Blair-Griffen duel. Hopefully we will see it in Detroit.
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