Before you bash Padgett...........

[jalovell23]

remember that in his first year at UofL........Rick Pitino took UofL (19-13) to the NIT, and that was when UofL was part of the Conference USA. This is the first time David Padgett has EVER coached and he just went 20-13 in the ACC......the best conference in college basketball.

 

[vivid_red]

Not bashing Dave, but the talent level between Rick's first team and Dave's are night and day different. An experienced coach has this years team in the tournament

 

[CardsFirst]

Not bashing Dave, but the talent level between Rick's first team and Dave's are night and day different. An experienced coach has this years team in the tournament

Not bashing sounds like you are. Remember Rick didn’t walk in two days before practice and start without a coaching staff.

So, I call BS on your statement that an experienced coach has us in the tournament. You expected someone to walk in here two days before practice without a coaching staff. Then they probably would change the defense/offense scheme. Implement all of this prior to the first game. Goooood luuuuck. This season was doomed the minute Rick was fired. So in my book David did a fine job given the circumstances.

 

[Cue Card]

remember that in his first year at UofL........Rick Pitino took UofL (19-13) to the NIT, and that was when UofL was part of the Conference USA. This is the first time David Padgett has EVER coached and he just went 20-13 in the ACC......the best conference in college basketball.

Never will I bash David Padgett. He is UofL family. I feel bad for him and the kids. They had nothing to do with this crap, yet were punished because of what others before their time did to stain the program. It's pathetic.

 

[zipp]

Some members of Pitino's first team...

Reece Gaines
Ellis Myles
Larry O'Bannon
Luke Whitehead
Otis George
Carlos Hurt

I'm willing to give those guys to Padgett and replay this year to see how he does. And he won't care who his other reserves are...

 

[sdslba228]

Some members of Pitino's first team...

Reece Gaines
Ellis Myles
Larry O'Bannon
Luke Whitehead
Otis George
Carlos Hurt

I'll willing to give those guys to Padgett and replay this year to see how he does. And he won't care who his other reserves are...

Padgett should never been named the head coach....we had a top 20 team, we should have hired an experienced coach. We would be in the NCAA

remember that in his first year at UofL........Rick Pitino took UofL (19-13) to the NIT, and that was when UofL was part of the Conference USA. This is the first time David Padgett has EVER coached and he just went 20-13 in the ACC......the best conference in college basketball.

Padgett should never been named the head coach....we had a top 20 team, we should have hired an experienced coach. We would be in the NCAA tourney, not the NIT. Love Padgett though....wish him luch where ever he goes

 

[ShortCreek]

In retrospect, Scotty Davenport should have got the interim position. Padgett was in over his head, his staff was average at best. People can say Trent Johnson was a great asset for DP on the bench, as a mentor, etc but he was unemployed for a reason.

 

[vivid_red]

All that "talent" of Rick's first team, playing in the ACC, yikes!

 

[zipp]

This year's team didn't have that much talent. Pitino just got a lot outta them. And the little talent that was here wasn't suited to Padgett's coaching style. He and Pitino are polar opposites...

 

[teamcanada]

This year's team didn't have that much talent. Pitino just got a lot outta them. And the little talent that was here wasn't suited to Padgett's coaching style. He and Pitino are polar opposites...

He had Top 20 talent on this team. Besides Ray can you name 1 player who improved over the course of the season? Not bashing Padgett but in no shape or form is he ready to coach at the ACC level.

 

[CardsHoopsFaninPA]

This year's team didn't have that much talent. Pitino just got a lot outta them. And the little talent that was here wasn't suited to Padgett's coaching style. He and Pitino are polar opposites...

I agree. If Seth Greenberg said one more time how this was a final 4 team with Pitino coaching I was going to vomit.

Snyder-average at best...and slow.
King-potentially the worst 5 star ever. Makes Blackshear look like an All American.
Adel-Streaky. No defense. Very limited ball handling.
Anas-.....he did block some shots, so there was that.
Spalding-This kid worked hard to take his game to the next level. If the rest worked as hard maybe they'd have something.
McMahon-can shoot and usually passes well. that's it.
The freshmen/Sutton-Made for a solid bench, and probably should've played way more minutes.

Pitino maybe gets this bunch to the second weekend. But it wouldn't have been because they were good.

 

[zipp]

He had Top 20 talent on this team. Besides Ray can you name 1 player who improved over the course of the season? Not bashing Padgett but in no shape or form is he ready to coach at the ACC level.

Can you name one U of L player on ANY of the ACC all conference teams? Boston College, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and NC State had players on those teams. Four of those teams finished below Louisville in the final ACC standings.

I don't think any U of L player is on a majority of NBA mock draft lists either. In a conference as tough as the ACC, what all of that tells me is that Padgett was working with a roster short on talent.

And this flies in the face of fans who saw talent on this roster where it wasn't...

 

[yum center]

So what happens to this team? I know Anas and Snyder are graduating but will everybody else transfer? Who will be left when the smoke clears?

 

[Birdie King]

So what happens to this team? I know Anas and Snyder are graduating but will everybody else transfer? Who will be left when the smoke clears?

Care to tell us why you don't expect everyone back ?

 

[zipp]

I don't know why many players would transfer. Nwora might, but with DP unlikely to be the permanent hire, Jordan might as well try out the new coach.

All of these guys will get plenty of PT in a pretty good conference by staying. The likelihood of NCAA penalties next year is minimal...

 

[yum center]

Care to tell us why you don't expect everyone back ?

I hope everyone does come back! I just know some people have speculated that certain players might transfer or move on to the pros.

 

[shadow force]

I think Sutton, McMahon, and Enoch will be back no matter what due to already sitting out a year from either red shirting or transferring into the program.

 

[Cue Card]

I think Sutton, McMahon, and Enoch will be back no matter what due to already sitting out a year from either red shirting or transferring into the program.

Yep. Those 3 will be back for sure. All bets are off with regards to the rest of the players and who could blame them? I won't. What we all need to take notice to is the kids who decide to stay, AND the kids who decide to play for the University of Louisville. Those kids should be supported 100% by the fans because they'll have chosen to be a part of the UofL family in spite of its warts. That means something.

 

[CardAlum07]

I continue to find it interesting that people rush to defend DP, or I guess what they are defending him from. He got paid a far larger sum of money than most (if not all) of us on this forum make in a year to deal with a crap situation that had very little downside for his long term prospects as a D1 coach and development. Loved him as a player and thankful to have him continue to be part of our community (in whatever capacity). Yeah he got flak, comes with the territory and the dollar bills. Unless they flopped and went like 6-27 this was a an absolute dream assignment (and I think he's been extremely humble and handled the whole matter as maturely as anyone could have up to this point).

 

[Morgantown Card]

remember that in his first year at UofL........Rick Pitino took UofL (19-13) to the NIT, and that was when UofL was part of the Conference USA. This is the first time David Padgett has EVER coached and he just went 20-13 in the ACC......the best conference in college basketball.

Rick is a hall of famer. My guess is this team would be peaking as a #2 seed and a trendy pick for the Final Four.

David did the best he could given the situation. The first 3 weeks he was running practice alone while scrambling to put a staff together (people seem to keep forgetting this). Plus all the scandal stuff hanging overhead. David did great this year.

That 0.9 seconds against UVA doomed this team's chances; if we get that win people are feeling a lot differently today.

 

[nccardfan]

We are delusional to think that CRP makes this a Final 4 Team. We got smoked by UK, Duke and UNC and that wouldn’t have changed. Yes Rick is a HOF but he’s not Copperfield. He lost against Morehead State with Kuric, Siva, knowles, C. smith and Dieng.

 

[billoliver40]

Your team this year had hits that kept on coming. Several of your commits didn't show.
Had a coach.that had an entirely different style than the previous.
Had all the dark clouds swirling overhead.
The is he gonna play or is he not of Bowen.
Losing not just the head coach but also the assistants.

Personally, I thought twenty wins in the ACC was mighty good.

It's pretty apparent though the UofL fan base wants a new head man. Good luck. My crew got Eddie Sutton who all the analysts thought was HOF bound, and a search committee gave us Billy G. Two time COY who had one or two demons too many.

Coaches some guys have mentioned are fired, retired or in tourney mode. Gonna have to hit pretty quick for whoever you hire to see what he has and hit the recruiting trail.
I believe it'll set you back another year. Could well be wrong though.

 

[CardX]

I won't bash DP. I'll only offer two critiques, which played a role in the 13 losses. He absolutely lacked motivational skills, and he rarely chewed on the refs. The two are sort of related, because if the players see their coach with passion, they'll likely play with passion.

Also, don't be surprised if UofL loses tomorrow. The players voted not to play, but were overruled by VT.

 

[nccardfan]

I won't bash DP. I'll only offer two critiques, which played a role in the 13 losses. He absolutely lacked motivational skills, and he rarely chewed on the refs. The two are sort of related, because if the players see their coach with passion, they'll likely play with passion.

Also, don't be surprised if UofL loses tomorrow. The players voted not to play, but were overruled by VT.

Your post speaks volumes. How can a coach motivate players who don’t understand making team sacrifices and must win games. Now we got a bunch of players who don’t want to play? They feel cheated? I certainly do, but not because of the coach.

 

[zipp]

The players are the same players they were under Pitino. I don't blame them, and they really didn't sign up to play for Padgett. It's an eff-ed up situation made possible by the clowns now in charge. Freaking geniuses...

 

[CardsDan]

I won't bash DP. I'll only offer two critiques, which played a role in the 13 losses. He absolutely lacked motivational skills, and he rarely chewed on the refs. The two are sort of related, because if the players see their coach with passion, they'll likely play with passion.

Also, don't be surprised if UofL loses tomorrow. The players voted not to play, but were overruled by VT.

I have no problems with saying that you can't blame David Padgett for being who he is: an inexperienced coach given a treasure chest of a program like Louisville but having no tools or combination of knowledge to get that chest opened. I also am sick of hearing that Padgett didn't ask for the job and somehow found himself in it like he was abducted by aliens. I give him the benefit of the doubt that he had to have had some cognizant acknowledgment supported with a signature on a contract to accept around a million dollars in exchange for his services with full disclosure being made that he had no staff and it was only two days till the start of basketball practice.

I have a friend at work who is only a passerby basketball fan; meaning that if he passes by and it's on the TV he will watch it. His comment to me after once happening to change the channel and see Louisville was playing and not really knowing who the opponent was that our team didn't look as well coached as the other team. Too often that was the perception this season. We now have the excitement of getting a very good qualified coach. Let's pray VT doesn't screw it up.

 

[MikeMcCammon]

Padgett should never been named the head coach....we had a top 20 team, we should have hired an experienced coach. We would be in the NCAA

That is the bottom line and a failure of our current leadership. There were better options out there for an interim coach and hiring a relatively low level assistant with zero head coaching experience because the players demanded it was just weak. Just hope it is not a preview of things to come.

 

[billoliver40]

Who was lined up to take the UofL job when Pitinos stuff hit the fan a week before practice began?

 

[BPGhost]

I won't bash DP. I'll only offer two critiques, which played a role in the 13 losses. He absolutely lacked motivational skills, and he rarely chewed on the refs. The two are sort of related, because if the players see their coach with passion, they'll likely play with passion.

Also, don't be surprised if UofL loses tomorrow. The players voted not to play, but were overruled by VT.

Bottom line is that a good portion of the players - and all of the starters - did not respect Padgett in the manner needed for a successful D1 program. Did they like him? Of course - but they were "smart" enough to realize that he was simply a glorified substitute teacher for this year. Padgett had a tough job to be sure but, any chance that he had to make an impact on this team - this year - went out the window when he didn't demand their collective respect.

Mahmoud refering to him as "David" to his face and in the media was very telling. The first time that happened - Padgett should have ripped his ass and set the tone. He didn't and the rest is history.

 

[MikeMcCammon]

Who was lined up to take the UofL job when Pitinos stuff hit the fan a week before practice began?

Well we know at least one well known head coach was. Also times like that are when people earn their big salaries. How much effort was made to find someone?

 

[nccardfan]

Early in the season when we were having some success, I advocated to make David the permanent coach. Why? Not because I knew he was going to be a HOF coach some day and not because he wore the Cardinal uniform, I knew he wouldn’t get the respect he needed from his own players and even potential recruits. Since they didn’t make him permanent at the time I was ok with seeing the season played out but didn’t expect it to go as badly as it did. So as ShortCreek without a paddle often said, we ain’t giving you the keys to the Vette (even though it has 100,000 miles and four bad tires).

 

[CardinalDave]

We need not lose sight of the fact that what happened this year has NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE.
_A coach is fired 2 days before practice and a low level assistant takes over.
_He has to hire a complete staff from the leftovers who have no coaching position for the 2017-2018 season.
_He then has to work through what his coaching philosophy will be , how he will conduct practices, handle the media, discipline players, etc.

It is nearly miraculous that our Cardinals finished with 20 wins and are going in to any post season play at all.

 

[billoliver40]

Well we know at least one well known head coach was. Also times like that are when people earn their big salaries. How much effort was made to find someone?

I'm not trying to start an argument....I really just don't know the coach that petitioned for the job 2 days before seasons starts.
I will point out that the fact is UofL has an untenable situation when looking at coaches due to the fact the University has the word "interim" in front of all executive names, it seems.

 

[zipp]

It was like bringing in K-rag to coach Petrino's players. As Jurich said retrospectively, "bad fit" more than a bad coach. And that's 100% correct...

 

[CardX]

I'm not trying to start an argument....I really just don't know the coach that petitioned for the job 2 days before seasons starts.
I will point out that the fact is UofL has an untenable situation when looking at coaches due to the fact the University has the word "interim" in front of all executive names, it seems.

Hiring an outsider, given the timing, would have been nearly impossible for all parties involved. And, I know Louisville is Louisville, but an available coach would have looked at the situation, and likely held the belief "that's a lose/lose right there." He would have had to win over players, the fans, games, etc. in a very condensed time frame. What we would be hearing now is "they rushed to hire a guy."

 

[nccardfan]

We need not lose sight of the fact that what happened this year has NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE.
_A coach is fired 2 days before practice and a low level assistant takes over.
_He has to hire a complete staff from the leftovers who have no coaching position for the 2017-2018 season.
_He then has to work through what his coaching philosophy will be , how he will conduct practices, handle the media, discipline players, etc.

It is nearly miraculous that our Cardinals finished with 20 wins and are going in to any post season play at all.

I understand that. I accept that, but what I can’t understand is the inability to achieve any semblance of improvement from the team as a whole and the continuation of seeing the same players make the same mistakes without consequences. Either Padgett thought he was handcuffed by the players, assistants were scared to step on Padgett’s toes or whatever. I always believe that a coach is a motivator, there should have been reactions or adjustments, one way or the other, not just let it play out and get the season over, because that’s what it looks like happened.

 

[ShortCreek]

Early in the season when we were having some success, I advocated to make David the permanent coach. Why? Not because I knew he was going to be a HOF coach some day and not because he wore the Cardinal uniform, I knew he wouldn’t get the respect he needed from his own players and even potential recruits. Since they didn’t make him permanent at the time I was ok with seeing the season played out but didn’t expect it to go as badly as it did. So as ShortCreek without a paddle often said, we ain’t giving you the keys to the Vette (even though it has 100,000 miles and four bad tires).

The obsession continues...

 

[Chapman123]

I heard a brief snippet of Tyra today and it almost sounded like he is advocating to keep Padgett. Did anyone else get that feeling ?

 

[Cue Card]

I heard a brief snippet of Tyra today and it almost sounded like he is advocating to keep Padgett. Did anyone else get that feeling ?

I didn't hear it but it would fit the agenda IMO. I am beyond convinced this current collection of 'leaders' are committed to destroying UofL basketball first, then they'll undo everything one sport at a time until we're back in CUSA or worse. That's not knocking Padgett. It's knocking the collection of so called leaders in charge. David is a good guy, but he needs time to grow as a coach at a job not as high profile as UofL. The 'leaders' know that too.

 

[Chapman123]

I didn't hear it but it would fit the agenda IMO. I am beyond convinced this current collection of 'leaders' are committed to destroying UofL basketball first, then they'll undo everything one sport at a time until we're back in CUSA or worse. That's not knocking Padgett. It's knocking the collection of so called leaders in charge. David is a good guy, but he needs time to grow as a coach at a job not as high profile as UofL. The 'leaders' know that too.

Call me a bandwagon or whatever...but I'm out if they keep him. I AGREE, he's a good guy but I can't watch another year of that. If Tyra doesn't hire another coach I will never set foot in the Yum again