Post by Administrator on Feb 28, 2006 9:39:51 GMT -5
The proper response to which is just one word: balderdash.
Now, don't get me wrong. There are legitimate areas for concern about the present state of the UK men's basketball program.
One need only look at the forwards on the UK roster to see that Smith and Co. have had recruiting issues for which there is little excuse at a program of Kentucky's magnitude.
From the outside, it also seems that the UK coach and some of his more lauded players have never been on the same page this season. To coin a phrase, a house divided against itself cannot win.
But this fixation on 10-loss seasons is silly in the extreme.
We will note again that Tubby Smith's all-time winning percentage as Kentucky coach stands at 77.7 percent. Kentucky's all-time winning percentage since it started playing basketball is 76.4.
Furthermore, the worst winning percentage Tubby has ever had in a single season at UK is this year's 64.3.
To put that in perspective, Rick Pitino had one season (the first year of Kentucky's crippling NCAA probation) of his eight at UK which yielded a worst winning percentage than any year Smith has ever had at Kentucky.
Two of Eddie Sutton's four years at Kentucky yielded worse winning percentages than Smith's worst season. Three of Joe B. Hall's 13 years at Kentucky yielded worse winning percentages than Smith's worst season.
And three of Adolph Rupp's final 14 years on the Kentucky bench yielded worse winning percentages than Smith's worst season at Kentucky.
In an era when you play upwards of 35 contests a year (UK's average number of games played in Smith's eight full years) you can win more than 70 percent of your games in a season and still lose 10.
So rather than get hung up on an arbitrary loss figure, each season deserves to be evaluated on its own merit.
www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/basketball/13978840.htm
Now, don't get me wrong. There are legitimate areas for concern about the present state of the UK men's basketball program.
One need only look at the forwards on the UK roster to see that Smith and Co. have had recruiting issues for which there is little excuse at a program of Kentucky's magnitude.
From the outside, it also seems that the UK coach and some of his more lauded players have never been on the same page this season. To coin a phrase, a house divided against itself cannot win.
But this fixation on 10-loss seasons is silly in the extreme.
We will note again that Tubby Smith's all-time winning percentage as Kentucky coach stands at 77.7 percent. Kentucky's all-time winning percentage since it started playing basketball is 76.4.
Furthermore, the worst winning percentage Tubby has ever had in a single season at UK is this year's 64.3.
To put that in perspective, Rick Pitino had one season (the first year of Kentucky's crippling NCAA probation) of his eight at UK which yielded a worst winning percentage than any year Smith has ever had at Kentucky.
Two of Eddie Sutton's four years at Kentucky yielded worse winning percentages than Smith's worst season. Three of Joe B. Hall's 13 years at Kentucky yielded worse winning percentages than Smith's worst season.
And three of Adolph Rupp's final 14 years on the Kentucky bench yielded worse winning percentages than Smith's worst season at Kentucky.
In an era when you play upwards of 35 contests a year (UK's average number of games played in Smith's eight full years) you can win more than 70 percent of your games in a season and still lose 10.
So rather than get hung up on an arbitrary loss figure, each season deserves to be evaluated on its own merit.
www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/basketball/13978840.htm