Fire Tubby?

Opinions. Ok, I might as well go ahead and give mine on the coaching situation. Who the new one will be that is. This is purely my opinion and I’m sure TFGimel and Hefty Lefty have their own. My list is only three people, just to keep this simple. These aren’t the only people I would be happy with. If you have your own opinion please scroll down and vote in our poll and be sure to leave your comments as well. Here we go.

I think there are two guys you have to hear a no from before you move on. Billy Donovan and Rick Pitino. Decide which of those is your top guy and go after him first. That first choice may end up being Pitino because he is already at home and Donovan is unavailable until the tourney is over. If the job can be filled within a short period there is a better chance to land one or both of the recruits. I’ve taken opportunity to simulate how the converstaions between Mitch Barnhardt and those two guys may go. Enjoy.

Hey Billy, we’ve got this uh, new practice facility. I’m sure you’ve heard all about it, it’s got this new underwater treadmill and stuff. It’s pretty awesome. Uhh, it’s already been named the Joe Craft Center but I’m sure Mr. Craft wouldn’t mind if you wanted to go ahead and put your name on it. How does the Billy Donovan Center sound?

and Pitino,

Mr. Pitino sir, we’ve got this street on campus that used to be called Hal Mumme Boulevard, we’ve gone ahead and renamed it Rick Pitino Boulevard. Is there anything else that you might want? The boosters here gave me this blank check to bring along to give to you. Go ahead and fill that in with whatever you think is appropriate.

That’s pretty much the scale of what it would take to bring in either of those guys. That was the “Go Big” section of this post. Next you have the “Come Home” portion.

Travis Ford. I know, I know. It’s completely irrational. It makes no sense. He’s to young. He’s to inexperienced. He’s not ready. All probably true. BUT, Billy Donovan only coached at Marshall for TWO years before going to Florida. I just feel (damn you Kentucky pride, shakes fist) that rather than go after someone else and possibly end up with an Indiana situation where the choice of Kelvin Samson felt underwhelming you bring Ford in as a young guy and see what he can do.

Everyone pretty much agrees they would like to see Travis be the head coach at “some point” but just not yet. If you can’t land a big, known name give him the chance. How much time will the new guy have? Will they give him three, four, or five years to get to the final four? By that time, and yes this is pure Kentucky smugness and speculation on my part, Travis could already have “his Florida”. That’s what I think about it, I’d like to know your opinion.

I say this quite often and I’m sure I speak for the other guys on the site when I say we really do appreciate everyone that visits the site and leaves comments. It’s fun to read even when we don’t agree. As you would expect the end of this site is quickly approaching but we will surface somewhere else after the coaching dust settles. When that happens I’ll be sure to point to our new home if you would like to follow along. In the mean time be sure to keep checking in. Thanks! Go Cats!!

So lets hear it? Who do you want to lead the return to greatness? If your pick is other leave a comment and let us know who you want.

Thanks for stopping by everybody.

WKYT 27 is reporting that Tubby has left the Wildcats. WCCO in Minnesota is reporting Tubby will be taking the U of Minnesota job. UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart and UK President Lee Todd have released their official statements regarding Tubby Smith. Their statement reads, “Thanks Tubby, enjoy Minnesota.”

Following is a real-time blog of me scrambling to get more information. Plus I delve into the putrid depths of Dynasty Defenders (the “Concerned” fans who have been wanting to get rid of Tubby for a while) to see how they are celebrating. Feel free to discover the horrid truth after the jump.

Last Updated: 7:41 EDT

Edit 1: J. P. Blevins is now talking to Dave Baker on WKYT. He has had enough of the poor recruiting. (I’m paraphrasing.) I’m wondering if J. P. can’t find a stairwell to drunkenly fall down nowadays.

Speaking of drunkenness, J. P. said that Pitino has set the “presidents” for UK Basketball. I know working live TV interviews is tough, but that made me laugh.

Edit 2: Back online with Dave Baker at WKYT’s streaming site. Baker is talking with “Mike” who clearly has a up north ‘eh accent. (Sorry, I can’t see the screen graphics right now, so I can’t really tell who Baker is talking to.) Said that Tubby’s name for the U of M job has never came up until today.

Mike says that “the buzz” says a press release for U of Minn will be released today, and a press conference tomorrow.

Edit 3: Poor Kentucky Sports Radio’s blog is getting hammered. A Sea of Blue has their piece out, with more details:

Smith apparently met with Athletic Director Mitch Barnhardt to tell him the news, and sources also say he has informed his team. No word yet on the status of transfers, Randolph Morris or the two recruits who were waiting to find out about Tubby’s situation.

Edit 4: ESPN’s article is sparce right now. Nice breaking story, Andy Katz! WKYT is reporting that Tubby was seen in the airport terminal with U of Minn’s AD. Dave Baker is lamenting eloquently about how Tubby is a great person, always shaking hands with everybody and asking the media and other workers of basketball games how their families are doing, etc.

Edit 5: Keith Morehouse with WSAZ TV in Huntington says that Patrick Patterson said that if Tubby were to leave UK it would have a “major impact” on Patterson’s college choice. It was an open secret that Patrick’s family was a huge fan of Tubby, and probably was the main reason UK was in the race for Patrick. Could somebody get Stephon Pettigrew on the phone and let him know UK likes him? Thanks.

Edit 6: webmaster has weaved his magic on our banner. I’m alright, nobody worry about me. You gotta give me five! Why don’t ya just let me be!

Edit 7: WLAP TV is reporting that ESPN is reporting that Tubby is getting 1.8 Million instead of the 2.5 Million that’s been floating around. Correction: ESPN.com is reporting that U of Minn will be paying him 1.8 Million, it is not the contract buyout number. WKYT is showing footage of Tubby boarding a small jet at Bluegrass Airport. I half expected Tubby to turn around and flash us a Nixon-esk victory sign.

Edit 8: It might have been my internet stream flaking out, but I could have swore Rob Bromely was starting to choke back the tears when talking about Tubby. Rob said that he spoke to Tubby on cell phone, and Tubby declined to have an interview with Rob.

Edit 9: Kentucky Sports Radio is still hammered. I think Crow and the rest of the Concerned are pounding refresh in order to get their comments in.

Edit 10: WCCO is now reporting that the AP said that a U of Minn official has confirmed Tubby is their new coach.

Edit 11: Saw on the ESPN article the following: “Gonzaga coach Mark Few and Notre Dame’s Mike Brey are expected to be candidates to replace Smith.” I seriously choked back a gag reflex. Yuck.

Edit 12: The very objective firetubbysmith.com has yet to update with victory messages. KatMan2000 has already got his victory thread and victory movie posted at Dynasty Defenders. “This is the greatest news that Kentucky Basketball has ever received!”

He also labels the situation as “flush[ing] the terd down the bowl”. You stay classy, Wildcat fans.

I’m now reviewing why I never come to the site… good gravy, this deserves a screenshot (its a thumbnail, click on it to see the whole image):

Yeah, real classy. They are also taking credit for getting Tubby out of UK. They’ll have to fight with the FireTubbySmith.com folks, who are also taking credit.

Edit 13: The more I think about this, the more interesting this becomes. There is no way in hell U of Minn was talking to Tubby before this week, or else folks would have heard about it. If Tubby was to jump, everybody had him pegged to go to Michigan, not Minnesota. Most of the media folks were all saying the same thing: more than likely, Tubby was coming back, and that his staff would see some changing. This is just completely out of left field.

We may never know the truth, but I’d like to find out exactly why Tubby chose to left.

Edit 14: As usual, Aaron compiles all the breaking “Tubby resigns” news stories into one beautiful post.

Edit 15: DeadSpin has finally picked up the story. The comments are full of crazyness. Reports out of Detroit that Tom Izzo has been contacted. The five letters C-R-E-A-N are said over and over, which would make most of the Concerned even more concerned. A crack was made about UK’s fans collective amnesia regarding Rick Pitino. Basically, this is a crazy time where rumors are going to dominate discussion.

Edit 16: Dave Baker said that Tubby’s agent has evidently been in discussion with U of Miss administrators, and evidently heard the right number (1.8 as stated above).

They played a clip of Cameron Mills from the Sweet 16 Kentucky High School basketball tournament at Rupp. Here’s what I was able to jot down that Cameron said:

[The UK Fans’] undying love for this program is going to get this program in a mess… There’s no way we get Patterson now… You wonder if [other coaches will] second guess the opportunity to come here.

Dave Baker believes that Tubby has already gotten his 1.5 Million loyalty bonus. I’ve read somewhere else that says that UK will honor the 1.5 Million loyalty bonus on April 3rd. In other words, who the hell knows? I have a report on that below.

Edit 17: More info leaking out, courtesy of the ESPN article:

Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi contacted Barnhart on Thursday morning requesting permission to speak with Smith, the statement said, and at that point Smith confirmed to Barnhart that his agent had been in discussions with Minnesota.

According to sources, Smith called [Former U of Minn coach] Monson for an education about the opening, Minnesota’s basketball facilities, the atmosphere around the program, and how the job compares to others in the Big Ten. The program was on probation for five of Monson’s seven seasons after an academic scandal under former coach Clem Haskins.

Edit 18: AJ Stewart is still coming to UK, reports the Courier-Journal. Good for him. And good for us. Depending who sticks around after this shakeout, we may need him ASAP.

I’m still waiting to hear comments on WKTY regarding Patrick Patterson, but my WKYT stream is crapping out.

Edit 19: The C-J’s Brett Dawson is reporting that Tubby’s salary at U of Minn could be 2.5 Million.

Duke’s Josh McRoberts has declared himself eligible for the NBA draft. How much you want to bet that Coach K or one of his staff was texting Patrick Patterson with news about McRoberts and then Tubby’s departure? “PAT UR NO1 CM DNCE WIT K” (Note: I have no idea what I just typed.)

Edit 20: Okay, finally starting to read our beautiful Herald-Leader. This article states that UK will pay the $1.5 Million loyalty bonus, and that there was no buyout clause in Tubby’s contract, which means Tubby won’t have to pay UK any money for ending the contract early.

Jerry Tipton’s article, like the ESPN article in early revisions, makes a point to mention Billy Donovan and the Florida’s AD comments about UK contacting Donovan. Honestly, I don’t see anything that UK can offer Donovan that Florida couldn’t match. Plus, its Florida; who wouldn’t want to coach in 70-degree weather during Basketball season?

Edit 21: Poor Kentucky Sports Radio’s website is completely submerged, although I’m sure the boys are doing a great job keeping everyone up-to-date on their radio show in Louisville. Its sad, really; they have done a fantastic job at becoming a source of Kentucky rumors and news, that when something huge happens, they get swamped. Such is life on the Internets, I suppose.

Edit 22: Official UK statements from Mitch and Dr. Todd. Seriously, this is part of Dr. Todd’s statement (emphasis mine):

I wish him every success, except if they ever play us, in this new chapter in his coaching career.

That’s just hilarious. I think we take winning seriously at the University of Kentucky. Dream, Challenge, Succeed.

Edit 23: Gregg Doyle proceeds to take a giant shiat all over Tubby. He must have an account at Dynasty Defenders. Seriously, Doyle says that Tubby is a horrible recruiter. But he’s generalizing; Tubby was one of the primary recruiters for Pitino’s UK staff, and I don’t call Prince/Finch/Hayes/Jason Parker/Hawkins/Daniels/Estill horrible or “not UK caliber” recruits. There is no defense for Tubby’s recruting after Team Turmoil, however.

Edit 24: The Herald-Leader gets some comments from Tubby:

“You always want to be wanted,” Smith told the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com after landing in Minneapolis this evening. “You know they have a need.”

Interesting.

BigBlueHistory.net has already bookended Tubby’s Tenure with the team.

And with that, I’m going off-line for a while. I have the little Fake Gimels to play with while this whole situation sorts itself out. I hope you enjoyed my massive non-up-to-date live blog of this groundbreaking event.

As pretty much everyone expected, Kansas out-manned, out-gunned, and out-played the Cats. Packer and Nantz had it right at the end of the game when they said that Kansas never felt threatened. The season is over and now we get to see how everything surrounding this team pans out. Scott Rigot and Reggie Hanson should probably already have their house on the market, because I don’t see any way they will be around at the beginning of next season. As for Tubby, my feeling is that he will get one last season to turn things around. I say that because Mitch Barnhardt has felt the need to make two statements in the last couple of weeks and the second one was in my opinion purely to get those last two recruits to sign. But I won’t be surprised by anything that happens around this program.

Not only didn’t UK make it out of the first weekend of the tournament but neither did my brackets. No, I didn’t pick Kentucky to beat Kansas. The tourney pool I’m in has 20 people participating. Oh, by the way, it’s only for fun. Playing for cash would be uhhh, wrong. Gambling is illegal in this state you know.

Back to my point. In years past, you could always count on one or two entries to have Kentucky making that miracle run and winning it all. Well this year 16 people had UK beating ‘Nova and out of those 16 only one person had them beating Kansas.

I’m sad the season is over and that they lost, but at the same time I’m excited to see how everything turns out. There are a lot of questions still to be answered. Next year there won’t be a Bobby Perry, Sheray Thomas or Woo to blame the problems on. Can this underachieving Junior class step it up as Seniors? Will Tubby be the coach next year? Will Randolph sign with an NBA team? I look forward to seeing what TFGimel has to say about everything.

I would just like to thank everyone who stopped by the site this season and hope you keep checking in to hear what we think about the crazy, crazy, Kentucky Wildcat basketball world.

If you haven’t heard about the all new Rondo you might be in for a little bit of shock. Click on to check it out.

That would be the Kia Rondo.

We can hope can’t we?

Whew. Edge of the seater yet again. I’m not sure what the safe margin is for this team but it is NOT 7 points with two minutes to go. Not only do the players have to earn the victory but it seems as though us fans have to as well. The streak is intact. No not that one, the streak for consecutive games that Billy Packer has annoyed me. Even the usually likable Jim Nantz was irritating at times. CBS, please get him away from Packer before you ruin The Masters for us all. Seriously.

It’s late so how about some bullet points to end the day on.

• Since UK won the hairy Perry situation will go from being more proof of the incompetence of Tubby and the staff to simply a footnote. Actually correct that, it will still be used.
• Joe shaved his beard, Randolph grew one. (Ok this site has now gone to far and may have just jumped the shark)
• Anyone else getting pissed at the officials near the end of the game? They were calling a foul nearly every time on the defense end under 8 minutes.
• I’m sure you saw the scroll fellow HD fans. Here is the entire answer as to why we couldn’t watch the game in HD in Lexington.

Nice win by THE Wildcats. Up next: Kansas

Dwight Perry got the start tonight. It was just a lineup card mistake but a trivia question in the future nonetheless.

I thought that I would pass on these quotes from The Devils Den forums courtesy of Truth About Duke It might sound just a little familiar.

i’m sick of slow ass players. it’s killing those program.

i’m sick of some of you being defensive about us having slow ass players. i’m sick of you guys not understanding that having elite athletes often offset mental mistakes and missed free throws. having elite athletes who can take an outlet pass and race 60 feet for a damn layup is NICE once in a while. hell, i enjoy it!

i’m sick of people using “we’re spoiled” as an excuse. look, we know what we signed up for. when we invest the level of emotional energy for MONTHS that we do rooting for duke basketball…c’mon, you expect a certain reward.

next year is critical. all of those guys had better pan out. every last one of them. or we are cooked. K doesn’t have many years left, man. he’d better get it back on track.”

When it was announced that Louisville would be playing its first two rounds at Rupp, I was actually very happy for them. They were looking at a potential second-round matchup with Texas A&M, a strong team that traded blows with the top of the Big 12. Having a nearly home-court advantage would help them continue a fantastic second half of the season.

I’ve always been of the belief that other schools in Kentucky should always be successful in basketball, so that we can all continuously proclaim that our state is the heart of Basketball. And as far as the Cardinals’ season of success is compared to the Wildcats’ season, allow me to direct your attention to the scoreboard.

Plus, I knew Cardinal fans would as giddy as a kid at Christmas to fill Rupp with red and black colors and “C-A-R-D-S CARDS!” chants. I expected the “Lessington” and “coRUPPt Arena” digs from Mike the Chronicler and other Ville fans. I expected the few Big Blue fans who snagged tickets to look around a Cardinals Red Rupp and smile nervously, shaking their head at how unbelievely RED our Big Blue House had turned.

So I entered Rupp today with a smile; today was a Louisville day and I was hoping that our brothers in backcourts would enjoy the experience. Arriving at my seat right before the last 20 minutes of a Cardinals Buzzsaw cutting through the Cardinal Redwood, I was happy. Even when I was told that Pitino’s Birdies rattled off a first half that hearkened to the Big Blue Pitino days of lore, I was happy for the Cardinals fanbase and not jeolous. I wanted Louisville have their moment in the bright lights at Rupp; and enjoy it with them, not as a rival but as a fellow fan of basketball in this great Basketball state.

But then Hefty Lefty, my blogger-in-arms who had witnessed the pre-game and first half activities, told me a terrible truth. “They showed Laettner’s Shot on the screens. You know. Laettner’s Shot. And the Louisville fans gave a standing ovation.”

Little Brother, that’s crossing the line.

Of course, rooting for the struggling Lopez brothers and their teammates was hopeless. So we sat there, stewing in a burgoo peppered with angst. The Cardinals continued to fly high in Pitino’s old den, and as they left the court, I was not relieved.

Cardinals fans, I hope you enjoy your next game in our wonderful arena as the home team. Remember that Rupp Arena and its honored place in basketball history, is not yours, nor will it ever be yours. Also, forgive me for rooting that the Law IV will drop 25 on you to sour your Sweet 16 dreams.

For a great breakdown of the Kentucky & Louisville rivalry, check out BigBlueHistory.net’s article.