Coach Kelsey just surpassed Kenny Payne on the all time wins list. Well done Coach! Climbing that ladder.
Congrats Coach Kelsey!
- Thread starter Knucklehank1
- Start date
But...I thought a coach needed 3 or 4 seasons to do what Kelsey is doing...
It's so unbelievable that what transpired here the last two years ever happened. How can anyone ever defend the hiring of KP or even more giving him that second season?
Two seasons seem like such a short period of time, but it had all but destroyed Louisville hoops in the media. It looked like the University wasn't taking the men's basketball program seriously, so why should anyone else?
And all that changed with the arrival of a spirited young coach getting his shot with the big boys and putting together the most cohesive group of effort driven players not seen in over a decade.
I don't know how KP could ever step foot in this city for a long damn time.
Two seasons seem like such a short period of time, but it had all but destroyed Louisville hoops in the media. It looked like the University wasn't taking the men's basketball program seriously, so why should anyone else?
And all that changed with the arrival of a spirited young coach getting his shot with the big boys and putting together the most cohesive group of effort driven players not seen in over a decade.
I don't know how KP could ever step foot in this city for a long damn time.
Look at the bright side this year has been really fun to watch. Also, you know who is more upset with KP than fans, all the former players that made that hire happen. They know how bad it was because they actually got to see behind the curtain.
There is nothing worse than throwing your support behind someone and that person doing the exact opposite of what you expected. KP took the opportunity they gave him and pissed it away. He was lazy in everything he did. Let’s say Bridgeman was a major factor in bringing KP. The way KP treated this job had to piss Bridgeman off. It disrespectful to all those guys.
Guess what you no longer hear the negativity from the former players. KP put them on permanent mute. The former players that matter and aren’t bitter will support Kelsey because they understand basketball.
There is nothing worse than throwing your support behind someone and that person doing the exact opposite of what you expected. KP took the opportunity they gave him and pissed it away. He was lazy in everything he did. Let’s say Bridgeman was a major factor in bringing KP. The way KP treated this job had to piss Bridgeman off. It disrespectful to all those guys.
Guess what you no longer hear the negativity from the former players. KP put them on permanent mute. The former players that matter and aren’t bitter will support Kelsey because they understand basketball.
I don’t really blame Payne because I don’t think he wanted the job.
But Former players who knew him, his mentality, his personality, his ambitions, de facto FORCED him into the job. They KNEW him, and still pushed him into a position to fail
And to fail miserably.
Shame on them. In reality they were, and are not friends. To him or to UofL.
Any anger and hostility should be focused on that group.
Side note:
Karma is a bitch. I don’t know how much Jr is affected, but Wendy’s recently closed 700 franchises. That had to hit him somewhere.
But Former players who knew him, his mentality, his personality, his ambitions, de facto FORCED him into the job. They KNEW him, and still pushed him into a position to fail
And to fail miserably.
Shame on them. In reality they were, and are not friends. To him or to UofL.
Any anger and hostility should be focused on that group.
Side note:
Karma is a bitch. I don’t know how much Jr is affected, but Wendy’s recently closed 700 franchises. That had to hit him somewhere.
They can share some blame but KP is a grown ass man. He is a loser. Took over a golden opportunity and treated it like shit and shit on a lot of supporters in the process. The man has no pride.
I agree to a degree.
But, to me, he looked like Alfred E. Newman standing on the sidelines. (You youngsters can google that 😉)
I’m not convinced the man is of sound mind….. Forest Gumpesque.
And his “supporter's” KNEW it and convinced him to take the chance.
Some fans have erased their memories of that timeframe from cutting down nets to the hiring of KP. Some things happened. It is for sure easier to lock in on the atrocious KP era than it is to wrap your head around everything else and be forced to point fingers at some places you don't want to point them at. We do that because if we're being honest all we care about is wins.
I'm also not sure how many people truly had their hand on that hire either. I don't see how anyone claims to know. The entire thing was handled in secrecy.
There are narratives, talk shows, Tweets, etc.... there are opinions. If somebody asks a former player from the 70s or 80s if they want KP to be the next coach and they say yes I'm unsure how much clout that really is. But there wasn't a lot that you could track down as fact with any of this. Eaves, maybe Junior. Maybe Beard.
I do not recall a group of players giving long interviews, standing outside YUM or on campus chanting give us Kenny. I recall a politician and a few other activists weighing in. The politician should not have, the activists have their rights to share their opinion, whoever they were.
That hire was aligned to many other hires of this era at other major programs, and it didn't work out for us. Or maybe it did. It went so horribly wrong we cut bait nearly immediately. Timing. If you give him one year maybe you don't get PK and you get something else.
As the attendance drops admin is forced to steer their goal back to winning and we may have lucked out on a dice roll. People are returning to games and so are wins so now we are happy again.
I'm also not sure how many people truly had their hand on that hire either. I don't see how anyone claims to know. The entire thing was handled in secrecy.
There are narratives, talk shows, Tweets, etc.... there are opinions. If somebody asks a former player from the 70s or 80s if they want KP to be the next coach and they say yes I'm unsure how much clout that really is. But there wasn't a lot that you could track down as fact with any of this. Eaves, maybe Junior. Maybe Beard.
I do not recall a group of players giving long interviews, standing outside YUM or on campus chanting give us Kenny. I recall a politician and a few other activists weighing in. The politician should not have, the activists have their rights to share their opinion, whoever they were.
That hire was aligned to many other hires of this era at other major programs, and it didn't work out for us. Or maybe it did. It went so horribly wrong we cut bait nearly immediately. Timing. If you give him one year maybe you don't get PK and you get something else.
As the attendance drops admin is forced to steer their goal back to winning and we may have lucked out on a dice roll. People are returning to games and so are wins so now we are happy again.
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If you go back to what he said at his opening press conference, it was very clear that he didn’t want the job, didn’t believe he could do it, and was going to refuse responsibility for failing at it. It was going to be everybody else’s fault but his, because fans are vicious and demand accountability and results. He needed 3 or 4 years to do the job, so he insisted on that ridiculous 6 year, $3.5 million per year contract.
There’s plenty of blame to go around, including for Heird and his bosses for even considering hiring a career assistant whose skill is counseling players. But I cannot absolve Kenny Payne for taking a job that he didn’t want and knew he couldn’t do.
There’s plenty of blame to go around, including for Heird and his bosses for even considering hiring a career assistant whose skill is counseling players. But I cannot absolve Kenny Payne for taking a job that he didn’t want and knew he couldn’t do.
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