Thoughts on Tubby

Tubby Smith is a classy guy. I met him in person only once, but he was exceedingly polite and seemed genuinely interested in our conversation. He coached UK through ten years with little hint of scandal and excellent academic records. Those are important in NCAA basketball.

Unfortunately, there are a few things that are just as important for University of Kentucky basketball. Recruiting may well have been Tubby’s downfall. UK went from a roster studded with McDonalds All-Americans to guys who ate at McDonalds. Wrose, they ate at McDonalds in Georgia or New York or somewhere, anywhere, except Kentucky. Kentucky has a rich history of basketball from top to bottom. So why did Tubby consistently pass up Kentucky stars?

But it wasn’t just the lack of recruiting talent that doomed Tubby. Travis Ford, Jimel Martinez, John Pelphrey, Deron Feldhaus, most of the teams that Pitino led in his early years, were not stars before they came to Kentucky. Most weren’t stars after they left Kentucky. While at UK, though, they learned to play up their strengths and work as a unit bent on one thing: winning. Pitino’s condition program was grueling. It had to be to keep up with the full-court style of play that Pitino coached and it had to be because in the early years Kentucky’s bench wasn’t deep.

Tubby’s players are winded after 15 minutes in the first half. He doesn’t have a deep bench either because of recruiting or because players haven’t learned their rolls. If your guys can’t run the floor with the likes of UNC, Flordia, and, God-help-us, Tennessee, then those teams are going to wipe the floor with you.

Good luck in Minnesota, Tubby and thanks for being a classy guy. I was a sports writer at UK during the Roderick Rhodes years and I saw what the crucible of expectations can do to a player. It could only have been worse for a coach.

As an ending, a note for Mitch Barnhardt: Find someone who inspires recruits to come to Lexington and learn about the University I love. Find someone who will teach a team how to run like thoroughbreds. Find someone with a heart of gold and a skin like a rhino. Find us a winner or find a new job.