I listened to the announcement on the radio on my way home from work Friday afternoon and even though one part of me was shocked by the news another part of me wasn’t, but the thing I was most surprised about was the fact that I was a little disappointed. A couple weeks ago when I wrote a column about how I was undecided about what Billy Clyde’s future should be I was leaning toward giving him the boot, but as much as I wanted him gone when they missed the tournament for the first time since 1991, I think they fired him prematurely. Sure the Cats were down this year, even more so than last, but they only gave him two years to try to turn around a program that has been in decline since they won the championship in 1998. Gillispie was known for turning programs around before he came to Kentucky, but I think he was close with the Cats. He needed at least one more year and a point guard and another scorer to go with Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson (both of whom it would behoove to come back for another season in the blue and white).
I had my change of heart after watching their performance against Notre Dame in the NIT and decided that Gillispie was simply working with what he had and shouldn’t be shouldering all the blame for the Cats’ down season himself. He has some talented players on his roster, but they are nothing like some of the guys teams like North Carolina have in Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough, or Oklahoma in Blake Griffin, or Connecticut in Hasheem Thabeet. Instead some of the players on Kentucky’s team might have a hard time making the roster on the state’s good NAIA college teams like the University of the Cumberlands and Georgetown, teams that make the national tournament in their respected division every year. Because of this Barnhart and Todd should’ve given him a little more time to get Tubby’s mess out of the way and to get more of his own guys in and then look at making a change if he didn’t show any improvement.
I also learned something during this entire episode, that coaching is more than being about winning and recruiting, but is about chemistry and being a good fit as well, or is the case at Kentucky anyway. Being the head of Big Blue Nation might require a little public relations work, but I’m sure all of that would’ve been over looked if the Cats had won 30 games this year and made the NCAA tournament. If this was the case Gillispie would still be living in his posh pad in Jessamine County instead of announcing that it was for sale at his press conference on Saturday morning.
It didn’t take UK long to find Tubby Smith’s replacement [Gillispie] and after only a weekend they were already zeroing in on Gillispie’s replacement in John Calipari on Monday with talks of a big deal in the works. They go after the big names, like Calipari, Billy Donavan, and I’ve heard rumors of Pitino, but what did these guys do this year? Calipari’s number 2 seed Memphis Tigers lost to the third seeded Missouri Tigers in the regional semifinals, Donavan and the Gators didn’t even make the big dance and were beat out of the NIT in the same round as UK, and Pitino’s Cardinals, who were picked by many to go all the way, didn’t even make the final four. Are these guys good enough to coach the beloved Cats? Look how their seasons ended. But if Calipari is the man and it looks like he might be, I can live with that because he took Memphis from an unknown to national contender and that’s what Kentucky fans are looking for in Lexington.
UK fans are hard to please. We, with this fair-weather fan included, expect a lot out of the team and the coach, but no matter who the administration decides to name as Kentucky’s next coach some people are going to agree with the decision and others aren’t. All I know is that whomever is given the auspicious opportunity to lead the Cats had better be able to win, and when I say win, I mean win a lot and win often because getting those “W’s” is the one thing that will make all UK fans happy, chemistry or not.
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