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Who would you choose?

  • If you could choose 1 former UK player and bring them forward in time to play for Cal who would you choose and why? Personally I would choose Rex Chapman because of his freakish athletic ability and his motor. I thought he was kind of wasted during his real stint at KY. The game was too slow for all the things he could do. Man it would be great to see him play for coach Cal in his dribble drive motion offense with some great talent to go along with him.

    sleepydog

  • Interesting topic. I'd have to go with Rondo. Could you imagine what he would have looked like with that talent and Cal coaching him!? He'd hold the single game and probably the single season assist record for all of CBB.

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    Nate87 ●

  • Nate87 said...

    Interesting topic. I'd have to go with Rondo. Could you imagine what he would have looked like with that talent and Cal coaching him!? He'd hold the single game and probably the single season assist record for all of CBB.

    You are right, it would have been great to see Rondo play under Cal with the talent he would be surrounded by the assist records he would have set like you said would have been incredible. Another guy Ive been thinking about is Kenny "SKY' Walker WOW.

    sleepydog

  • Rondo or Prince.

    montana81

  • I'd love to see Issel. Freakish scoring ability and completely overlooked by history as a rebounder, he'd probably score less with the talent around him but my God. I'm old school. There has never been anyone that could light it up from both inside and out like him. Or pure stroking guard? Put Louie Dampier in Cal's offense. Both would flourish.

    BenSam

  • Rondo or Mashburn

    ajp40505

  • Love this topic, and as I read through each post in order, my reaction was "yeah, that's it" until I read the next post. I go back to the Runts, and Dampier, Issel, Mike Casey, Kenny Walker, Rex Chapman, Prince, Rondo, ... I think all of them would have prospered with Calipari's coaching, and systems. But then, any player with talent would prosper under Calipari's coaching and system today.

    I am going to take a slightly different view of this question, and instead of using a time machine to move a past player to the present, I would use that time machine to move Coach Calipari, and his present ability to coach the 1985-86 team instead of Sutton.

    Kenny Walker (6-8 Sr. F) 20.0
    Winston Bennett (6-7 Jr. F) 12.7
    Ed Davender (6-2 So. G) 11.5
    James Blackmon (6-3 Jr. G) 9.4
    Roger Harden (6-1 Sr. G) 6.8

    That team fell victim to a NCAA tournament seeding that mandated a clearly superior UK team defeat both Alabama and LSU for a 4th consecutive time in the same season to advance to the Final 4 where UK would have been favored to win. I believe Calipari would have found the way to get that done, and if you change that single season outcome, I don't believe the program takes a nose dive over the following 3 years of Sutton's reign.

    That one game, that one loss, was a pivot point for the Sutton tenure.

    Therefore, my answer for a single player would be Kenny Walker, but I would put Calipari in that seat for the 86 season.

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    TheProfessor

  • Mashburn or Walker, both extreme talents who could play both ends of the floor and take over games. Although all of the names mentioned would do well with the talent that Cal would surround them with. Great topic!

    Katfan4

  • Tough one. I'd go with Tony Delk. Just because I think his shooting could be the missing ingredient in a national championship this year.

    tWhit

  • BenSam said...

    I'd love to see Issel. Freakish scoring ability and completely overlooked by history as a rebounder, he'd probably score less with the talent around him but my God. I'm old school. There has never been anyone that could light it up from both inside and out like him. Or pure stroking guard? Put Louie Dampier in Cal's offense. Both would flourish.

    I remember listening to those games that Issel played in and he was the first to come to mind when Iwas thinking of this topic. You just dont hear his name mentioned much as one of UKs all time greats but if Ihad to pick 1 player I would want it would be Issel for the reasons you stated.

    sleepydog

  • No one but Rondo would make the other players perform better.

    poliglotcat

  • Great question.

    My first instinct is Jamal Mashburn, my favorite Cat ever. His ability to score inside, shoot from the outside and handle/pass the ball would be terrific on any team.

    I also thought Anthony Davis, but with Noel and Cauley Stein on this team, would that be a bit redundant? Still, the thought of a 2nd year of Davis - wow, that would be fun.

    Doron Lamb is another - his shooting would help the team, plus he is familiar with Cal's coaching and having a bit more continuity might be helpful. Other shooters like Delk and Dampier or even Kyle Macy (if Cal can play Wall & Bledsoe together, imagine Harrow and Macy) would be great choices too.

    All the names mentioned above would be terrific, but those were the first 3 guys I thought of. If you want to disqualify guys who played for Cal, let my 2nd choice be a healthy Derek Anderson. Let's see him do some dribble drive offense :)

    UKFlounder ●

  • poliglotcat said...

    No one but Rondo would make the other players perform better.

    My sentiments exactly.
    Go Cats!
    cheers

    KickAssCats ●

  • Chris Mills....

    LvilleKidd

  • Great thread. Not trying to steal it but it makes me think. I'd love to see any of the guys Cal has recruited playing in blue as a senior. 35-3 with a freshman dominated group that would be seniors this year. Or last years group having 3 more to play. If we're playing what if? I can't imagine anyone stopping either of those teams if it was 30 years ago and players stayed four years. UCLA's 88 straight wins would have been in trouble.

    BenSam

  • I have talked about what a shame it is that Cal wasn't here to coach Rondo since Cal's 1st season.

    blueboy

  • BenSam said...

    Great thread. Not trying to steal it but it makes me think. I'd love to see any of the guys Cal has recruited playing in blue as a senior. 35-3 with a freshman dominated group that would be seniors this year. Or last years group having 3 more to play. If we're playing what if? I can't imagine anyone stopping either of those teams if it was 30 years ago and players stayed four years. UCLA's 88 straight wins would have been in trouble.

    Yeah, that would be amazing to see. hoops

    MaineCat

  • BenSam said...

    Great thread. Not trying to steal it but it makes me think. I'd love to see any of the guys Cal has recruited playing in blue as a senior. 35-3 with a freshman dominated group that would be seniors this year. Or last years group having 3 more to play. If we're playing what if? I can't imagine anyone stopping either of those teams if it was 30 years ago and players stayed four years. UCLA's 88 straight wins would have been in trouble.

    Hey, no problem thats why I bring up things on this site is to get people to think and that includes what ifs. What you brought up was a good thing to consider too bad we will never know what your comment or mine would be like.

    sleepydog

  • UKFlounder said...

    Great question.

    My first instinct is Jamal Mashburn, my favorite Cat ever. His ability to score inside, shoot from the outside and handle/pass the ball would be terrific on any team.

    I also thought Anthony Davis, but with Noel and Cauley Stein on this team, would that be a bit redundant? Still, the thought of a 2nd year of Davis - wow, that would be fun.

    Doron Lamb is another - his shooting would help the team, plus he is familiar with Cal's coaching and having a bit more continuity might be helpful. Other shooters like Delk and Dampier or even Kyle Macy (if Cal can play Wall & Bledsoe together, imagine Harrow and Macy) would be great choices too.

    All the names mentioned above would be terrific, but those were the first 3 guys I thought of. If you want to disqualify guys who played for Cal, let my 2nd choice be a healthy Derek Anderson. Let's see him do some dribble drive offense :)

    OP did not say the retro player would play THIS YEAR, just play for Cal SOMETIME. Davis and Lamb have ALREADY played for Cal. I would pick "The Blur" - Dwight Anderson - because Joe B. just did not know how to use his speed!

    This post was edited by jimlowe7 on 10/20/2012 at 8:01 PM

    jimlowe7

  • Yeah - not the best reading comprehension there, huh? Still, I'll go with Mash and DA, though the Rondo choice is fascinating

    UKFlounder ●

  • Derek Anderson. No question.

    stillDA23

  • stillDA23 said...

    Derek Anderson. No question.

    Derek was a great player and I know Pitino would have won 2 straight Nat. Championships if Anderson had played in that game against Arizona no doubt.

    sleepydog

  • I took it as this year too. If its just one player that would benefit the most from Cal's coaching versus the coaching he had while he was here then its Rondo for me no question.

    tWhit

  • It remains to be seen what the missing ingredient or person will be this year. Like Cal said, toughness is what might be ailing them early on. But toughness is not a talent, its learned through experience. Which is the ability to get back up after you have been taken down. Maybe they will get better with it later down the road. So with all that being said, MKG is my pick.

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  • If tough is what's missing from this team I'd say he could bring in James Lee and/or Charles Hurt.

    BenSam

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