No Sunday Silence: Myths & Truths

It's become next to impossible, even for a blue-tinted optimist like myself, to remain positive about the state of the Kentucky hoops program in recent weeks. After a third straight loss -- the first time in five years that has happened -- on Saturday, 68-64 to a depleted Alabama, things in the Wildcats' den went from bad to worse. And then from worse, they went to downright depressing.

But once again, instead of seeing a fanbase concerned with how this year will shake out, I have witnessed a piling on of titanic proportions. There is little doubt that Tubby Smith's job has gotten beyond difficult for, were it not bad enough to have a team lacking confidence and focus and desperately in need of some direction, now he has a daily call for his job, something that were it even feasible would not happen for months.

For a group of die-hards as generally knowledgeable and involved as those of UK, this myopic focus on what isn't going to happen is kind of sad. Tubby will not be fired during the season, thus making the incessant crowing about his being fired something just beyond useless. This isn't to say folks aren't well within their rights to call for it ... it's just not going to change anything right now.

But this post isn't another attempt to equate message board fans' behaviour with any real and tangible results. Among the greatest myths surrounding the UK program is that fans complaining to 500 other fans, many of whom don't agree with them, are changing much of anything except perceptions about their mental abilities. Fan forums are just that, forums for fans. While the occasional player's mother or lazy sportswriter may stop by, it's 99% other folks with a need for an outlet. And count me among them.

All that said, the clamoring for a coaching change is not going away, so maybe better to focus on some reality, rather than the dream state that pervades so much of the projection. A few ground rules: (1) the grass is always greener not necessarily bluer, (2) the truth of unreal expectations cannot be ignored and (3) the myth that one man makes the program has to die. With that, here's my take on the irritatingly ubiquitous debate before Big Blue Nation. ...

(1) Rick Pitino will return to coach Kentucky: MYTH

Ever have a friend get left by a girlfriend for his best friend and he can't shake the feeling that any of his new girlfriends aren't as good as the old one so he starts to fantasize about her friends, and about girls who look and dress sort of like his ex-, but ignores the girlfriend he's got until she starts to feel neglected and leaves? And the more he pines for the one that got away, the sadder it gets because everyone else can see that he's not getting over it and she's moved on and is married with a kid with some other dude but still your friend leaves her messages and eventually she agrees to have coffee with him but it's really awkward and she has to tell him, "Look, those times were great ... and I had a lot of fun, but I've moved on now and you need to as well."


That's what happens when folks tote "Bring Back Pitino" signs to games on national television. You make us all look like that depressing guy. Time to move on. We may get a new coach, we may not ... but we won't get our old coach back, no matter how much you wish it will happen. And the sooner this idea dies, the sooner the non-Kentucky universe will be able to stop laughing at the depressing guy.

(2) Mark Few will bring his recruiting and coaching prowess to UK: MYTH

The Gonzaga phenomenon has become rather baffling. Would that any program could grab a preseason top 5 ranking, an annual darling status and the devotion of the basketball punditry all for the following: 2 Sweet Sixteens since 1997 (1 since 2000), 1 Elite Eight since 1997.

First of all, Few is not a recruiting genius. He has done well to maintain and build on the small school success started by Dan Monson. But his best players have been great diamonds in the rough, not stellar names. Much akin to Tubby, Few does great things with good players, rather than the other way around.


There is no denying that Few's club is fun to watch. They run, they rebound, they shoot a lot. Defense is not paramount to them, but with offensive talents like Adam Morrison and Ronny Turiaf they can hope to simply outscore the opponent.

But where's the beef? Is Tubby Smith's style so bad that Kentucky fans are willing to toss him out for a guy whose biggest wins come in December and whose postseason resume reads worse than that of some MAC teams? If so, those fans to whom style circumvents substance need to seriously examine what they need from their basketball team.

(3) The program is suffering in national prestige: TRUTH

Most who have been around me for a few years know I'm a fervent Tubby apologist. But one thing is hard to ignore -- Kentucky is not feared in the same way it was in 1998. The reasons for this are many and varied, though -- despite the hand-wringing and screams of a few -- much of it is not Tubby Smith's fault.

From 1993-1997, Pitino worked his media magic as much as he did his Xs & Os. One thing that made Kentucky a haven for recruits and pundits was The Don's ability to convince everyone he had his own camelot. That included his teams. The 1996 team was loaded with good pro players, and yet there remains exactly one NBA All-Star on that squad (Antoine Walker). The rest of the draftees (Delk, McCarty, Mercer, Pope, Anderson, Mohammed*, Padgett*) are NBA vagabonds and serviceable players at best. Is this because they weren't talented? No. But it probably says something about Pitino's motivational techniques. When Pitino left, A.D. C.M. Newton made a bold and strong choice in tabbing Smith as the new head man.


Tubby is a totally different kind of person from Pitino. He's humble where Rick is brash, who's savvy where Smith is quiet. Rick is gaudy where Smith is understated. In short, he's style over substance. This difference is much preferred to many UK fans, and much perturbing to others. But it's reality.

However, Tubby's weaknesses in media and salesmanship do hurt in recruiting and coverage. In an ideal world, perhaps steady stewardship and humility would be the hallmark of great coaches and great programs. In this world, they too often seem to leave UK in the lurch with 18-year-old recruits enamored of ESPN highlights and flashy media coverage and wanting when it comes to free exposure via that same cable sports cabal. Again, this isn't right or wrong so much as it is reality.

From a performance perspective, it's hard to justify that Tubby Smith's UK tenure has been a failure by any stretch. That he hasn't lived up to a legacy immediately preceding him is hardly surprising. Few could.

That he hasn't lived up to his own first season is tougher to swallow. That he hasn't lived up to the expecations befitting a program coming off two NCAA titles in three years is unfortunate, if not damning. Much has been made of a Bogans twisted ankle and a series of Spartan offensive rebounds being the difference between two potential titles and two Elite Eight finishes, however that's part of the deal. You earn breaks and you take advantage of good luck.

But the bottom line in all this is that for all Tubby Smith's strengths, it's his weaknesses in the job that provide his critics with a bullseye target to shoot at. And in many real ways, those weaknesses are starting to become a bigger problem, as recruiting misses become suspect upperclasses and a lack of media savvy equal a lack of requisite free advertising courtesy of the national press.

(4) Tubby Smith is the one and only coach to lead UK: MYTH

One myth that is equally perpetuated by the pro-Pitino crowd and the pro-Tubby crowd is that either is the difference between success and failure at UK long-term. Both have had their glittering moments -- Rick the Unforgettables and '96 title, Tubby the '98 title and 26-game streak in '03 -- but both have also benefitted heavily in stature from the UK program. Pitino was a good pro coach with a reputation with small schools. Tubby a midmajor star with a bright future. Now both are potential Hall of Famers.


By the same token, while I naysay the idea that Mark Few is an upgrade over Smith, it's highly likely that the combination of Kentucky's prestige and Few's offensive focus could have unforseen successes. In other words, the program makes the man as much as the converse is true.

To that end, I hope that Kentucky fans will soon realize that the best way to react to this year's struggles is through examination of the things that can be fixed to salvage 2005-2006, not to obsess about what could happen in 2007 and beyond. Otherwise, fans stand to make a long year even longer, and to be bitterly disappointed if they end up with a joke like Bob Huggins, P.J. Carlissimo or John Calipari as the new coach. At what price style and change for change's sake over status quo?

Here's to hoping Tubby Smith can make all of this talk go away.