Ok, I overdid it a bit. I got 14. And please don't tell me because a guy hasn't won a NC means he's not as good as Pittino. Plenty of coaches have done way more with less talent and the draw of Louisville or UK to recruit big time players. Some would argue S Smart is one of the best around. Some would say Marshall. They have done way more with way less talent.
Donovan
Matta
Boheim
Self
Izzo
K
R Williams
J Wright is a good coach but probably not on Pittino's level yet
S Miller
M Few (nobody has done more with less than coach Few)
B. Fisher
B Ryan
Cal
Beilein
I agree if that happened but it didn't. They lost 1 guy and the core is back. They clearly still have the talent, they won their conference Title and they were agreed on in 2 polls as the 5th best team in the Country. The resime is there and so is everything else. How is the 16th ranked team in the Country a higher seed? A team that didn't win their conference Title and has NO resime in past tourneys when compared to Louisville. It is an absolute joke!
Team A (29-5) - Ranked 3 & 5 in both polls, Ranked 4 in BPI, returns core from National Title team, Pounds UCONN in Conference Title game. Team B (26-7) - Ranked 16 in both polls, Ranked 15 in BPI, has no great history in previous Tourneys, Lost to Providence in Conference Title game. Please tell me how Team B is a 3 seed and team A is a 4? It is laughable!
Enfuego. 9 guys played in the title game for Louisville last year. 6 of those 9 played Saturday night vs UConn. Ware was on the team both years but also hurt both times. He doesn't even count. Behanan is also hurt but still on the team. 6 of 9 who played and returned is a pretty good core imo so I disagree with you that it isn't true. Add in the great Guard play of Chris Jones in place of Siva and this team is certainly not far off from where they were last last.
Yeah, he (Ware) played 5 mins in the elite 8 against Duke in a 22 point win and they won in the Final 4 without him. Is he good? Sure. Have they proven they can win without him last year and this year? ABSOLUTELY!!! You can say 4 all day long but when one does nothing in the final 3 crucial games, he simply doesn't count and when you replace Siva with Jones and almost the same exact numbers, you are now down to basically 2 guys lost, no matter how you sugar coat it. The fact also still remains that 6 of 9 who played in the Title game last year also played Saturday night and that doesn't include Jones. If you don't call that a core returning, I don't know what else to say.
I agree their schedule wasn't great but that was in part to the sudden breakup of their conference last year and there is a reason why most are picking them to go much further than teams seeded higher than them. That's because of the guys they do have returning. They have the talent and experience that other teams do not have. The eye test has told most people that.
