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BB: 2003 Incredible Turnaround

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AJBlue

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Dec 16, 2015
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On the Leach Report this morning Tom mentioned it was on this day 2003 that incredible turaround started for the 2003 team under Tubby. This whole story gets lost in discussions of good teams, championships etc but the turnaround they made starting at Vandy is still one of the most remarkable things I've every seen in 60 years of watching UK basketball.

Most know the story. Team had high expectations but were underwhelming the first part of the year struggling to find their groove. Then go to Vandy and fall behind bad early looking totall lost and disinterested. Come out the second half with a COMPLETELY remade mentality and overwhelm Vandy with a defense I still havent seen since. Just smothering guys at all 5 positions with Cliff Hawkings picking pockets, Gerald Fitch locking guys up and Erik Daniels and Chuck Hayes shutting guy down on the inside. Everybody worked together and swithed and doubled like it was military drill.

Then the remarkable part . . . the kept that up for a long run the majority of the rest of the season. Never seen a transformation happen like that in a team before or since. Teams have short flashes of this but it rarely sticks for long. I rememer watching Sports Center with Scott Van Pelt about 6 games into it and they were so overwhelming on defense he was showing highights of the latest win and when one highlight of the othe team scored he quipped "and thats the first uncontested shot UK's given up in a month!".

Just a crazy good run that is underappreciated sometimes. The 98 Championship team also struggled pretty bad a lot of of the year then figured it out as well down the stretch. Maybe there's hope!
 
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UKSanders

Junior
Aug 27, 2007
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AJBlue said:
On the Leach Report this morning Tom mentioned it was on this day 2003 that incredible turaround started for the 2003 team under Tubby. This whole story gets lost in discussions of good teams, championships etc but the turnaround they made starting at Vandy is still one of the most remarkable things I've every seen in 60 years of watching UK basketball.

Most know the story. Team had high expectations but were underwhelming the first part of the year struggling to find their groove. Then go to Vandy and fall behind bad early looking totall lost and disinterested. Come out the second half with a COMPLETELY remade mentality and overwhelm Vandy with a defense I still havent seen since. Just smothering guys at all 5 positions with Cliff Hawkings picking pockets, Gerald Fitch locking guys up and Erik Daniels and Chuck Hayes shutting guy down on the inside. Everybody worked together and swithed and doubled like it was military drill.

Then the remarkable part . . . the kept that up for a long run the majority of the rest of the season. Never seen a transformation happen like that in a team before or since. Teams have short flashes of this but it rarely sticks for long. I rememer watching Sports Center with Scott Van Pelt about 6 games into it and they were so overwhelming on defense he was showing highights of the latest win and when one highlight of the othe team scored he quipped "and thats the first uncontested shot UK's given up in a month!".

Just a crazy good run that is underappreciated sometimes. The 98 Championship team also struggled pretty bad a lot of of the year then figured it out as well down the stretch. Maybe there's hope!
Click to expand...

IIRC, it wasn’t a halftime adjustment. Tubby lost his mind stomping mad and threw his sport coat. He may have called a timeout, and that moment changed everything.

That was one of the best passing teams I’ve ever seen.
 
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I’m The Village Idiot

I’m The Village Idiot

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AJBlue said:
On the Leach Report this morning Tom mentioned it was on this day 2003 that incredible turaround started for the 2003 team under Tubby. This whole story gets lost in discussions of good teams, championships etc but the turnaround they made starting at Vandy is still one of the most remarkable things I've every seen in 60 years of watching UK basketball.

Most know the story. Team had high expectations but were underwhelming the first part of the year struggling to find their groove. Then go to Vandy and fall behind bad early looking totall lost and disinterested. Come out the second half with a COMPLETELY remade mentality and overwhelm Vandy with a defense I still havent seen since. Just smothering guys at all 5 positions with Cliff Hawkings picking pockets, Gerald Fitch locking guys up and Erik Daniels and Chuck Hayes shutting guy down on the inside. Everybody worked together and swithed and doubled like it was military drill.

Then the remarkable part . . . the kept that up for a long run the majority of the rest of the season. Never seen a transformation happen like that in a team before or since. Teams have short flashes of this but it rarely sticks for long. I rememer watching Sports Center with Scott Van Pelt about 6 games into it and they were so overwhelming on defense he was showing highights of the latest win and when one highlight of the othe team scored he quipped "and thats the first uncontested shot UK's given up in a month!".

Just a crazy good run that is underappreciated sometimes. The 98 Championship team also struggled pretty bad a lot of of the year then figured it out as well down the stretch. Maybe there's hope!
Click to expand...
I mentioned this very team in a post yesterday.

When I wear my blue-tinted optimism glasses, I hope for a 2003 @Vandy moment. 99% of the time the eureka moment never happens, but as a fan, it’s nice to at least think about the possibility of a turnaround.
 
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JwUKFan11

JwUKFan11

Heisman
Nov 11, 2011
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That time has come and gone. The players Pope brought in for this team are weak mentally.
 
H

howitis_rivals115807

Senior
Aug 28, 2001
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to be clear we were 11-3 with wins over a ranked Gonzaga, North Carolina and #6 Indiana prior to the Vandy game. alot of the angst that year was the spanking Louisville gave us. We were ranked 16th and nowhere near as bad as we are this year.
 
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JwUKFan11

JwUKFan11

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Nov 11, 2011
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I’m The Village Idiot said:
We would have said the same thing about the 2001 Kentucky Wildcats who started 3-5. You’re 99% likely to be right but there’s still hope
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No hope. Starting PG - Out. Starting Center - Likely Out for the year. No clue why we wanted a guy that tore his ACL in like March, but OK.
Then you look at the rest of the roster and Oweh, MM, and Jasper are the only ones I feel like have the talent to play here.
 
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Dr.LutherSan

Dr.LutherSan

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Sep 6, 2019
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I would love to have that kind of optimism, but the issue with that 2003 team was never lack of talent. Also, the SEC at that time was piss-poor.
 
BBNinSCar

BBNinSCar

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Apr 23, 2013
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Most hated opponents in a villain role against UK:
Christian Laettner
Ricky Blanton
Dwayne Wade
 
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