Randy is THE MAN

[BleedingOrange]

Did anyone see the NBA All-Star dunk contest a few weeks ago? The one that was totally fixed so Blake Griffin would win no matter who was better? The one he won by jumping over the very front of the hood of a car (but everyone said he "jumped over a car")?

If you did, then you need to see a REAL dunk. Our very own Randy "The Rocketman" Culpepper makes Griffin's weak-ass dunk look like a layup. Check this out!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u8oNgbtSAo&feature=player_embedded

Damn I'm gonna miss seeing him play.... best of luck, Randy. I hope you get a shot in the pros.

[Realm]

I was never a fan of Culpepper... and it was because he never struck me as a team player.

The guy pouted on the bench like a spoiled, little child... he was a defensive liability... and Randy never saw a 3 point shot he wouldn't take.

A guy like that should have done a better job of meshing with the team instead of always looking to pump up his own stats.

Still, though, the guy was a walking "ESPN" Highlight Reel. I'll give him that.

And he stayed... when it looked like he could have left when Barbee skipped town. That's gotta count for something.

I truly wish him well in his future endeavors... BUT I'm looking forward to seeing a new guard at his position next year.

I feel bad about writing this post... but I felt even worse not replying and offering my opinion. Anything less AND I would know I wasn't being completely honest.

Realm...

[BleedingOrange]

I totally respect your opinion, Realm, but I gotta disagree with you on a couple of things. Allow me to offer my humble observations....

Yes, you are right on the money when you say that Randy loved to shoot. No doubt about that whatsoever. To his credit, though, he was just doing what Tony Barbee told him to for three years. (Remember that from the moment he got here, Barbee ran a watered-down form of "Calipari Ball," which consisted of flying up the court and jacking up the first shot you have.) I can remember Barbee saying in post-game interviews that "Randy has the eternal green light" to shoot whenever and wherever he feels like it, and it took a while for Floyd to break him of that habit (although he did regress at times). He was also a rather streaky shooter, but when he was on, he could hit five or six in a row and put a game away all by himself. Unfortunately, he ended the year on a very bad shooting streak, and resorted to taking some foolish shots, maybe to try and find his groove.

I really saw him mature as a senior under Floyd, though. He passed the ball more times this year than I ever recall the last three; I haven't actually looked at the stats, but I'd bet he had more assists this season than he ever had before. I also noticed that he played under control a LOT more than in the past; Floyd really harnessed his freakish athleticism and made him a better guard and teammate than Barbee ever did.

I also noticed that Floyd made him stop the tomahawk slams on fast breaks. This was a bitter-sweet change for us fans, since I haven't seen a dunker like Randy since Mark McCall (and Randy is a good four or five inches shorter, making it even more impressive). But I was glad to see him reduce the risk of getting injured while attempting one of his aerial shows, and he laid the ball in more often than not. He also played within the offense the majority of the time, only jacking up an ill-advised shot every so often instead of constantly.

As for his defense, he kinda ran hot and cold, but any time he was challenged by the coaches or embarrassed by an opposing player, he usually turned it up a notch and did well. Granted, you need to play solid D all the time (like Stone, for example) but he really was a better than average defender when it really counted.

Last point I'll make is that he seemed to be a very nice kid. I watched several interviews with him, and also actually met him a couple of times, and he was always very gracious and pleasant. Although he was such a popular player and could have developed a major ego (Omar Thomas a few years back, for example, was an arrogant, stand-offish ass when it came to dealing with the fans) he never let his local celebrity seem to affect him. He really did put the team first, though it may have seemed at time like he was trying to pad his stats; I rather think he shot so much in an honest belief that the team needed him to do so. If you think about it, who else was a constant scoring threat? Polk, maybe? Certainly not Stone... it therefore fell to Randy to take a few more shots than the others and appear to be more of a stat-hound than I personally believed him to be.

Anyway, I just thought I'd respond. After watching him play for four years, my assessment is that he was a team-first, genuinely nice kid that could fly through the air like MJ and (more often than not) nail threes like AI. He really matured this year, and would have been so much better even than he was if Barbee hadn't instructed him to fling it up whenever he crossed half court. I loved every minute I got to watch him play, and hope to see him play again at the next level.

Anyway, thanks for responding, Realm. I really enjoy conversations such as this!

[Realm]

First one is that Randy did improve under Floyd and was more of a team player.

2nd, Randy was expected to carry the offensive load because we were limited. Therefore there were games when it looked like he was was a gunner. Good observation here.

3rd, Realm was being hostile towards Randy because of my dislike for Coach Barbee. That is totally on me.

Apologies for my post because it wasn't warranted.

Realm...

[BleedingOrange]

Nonsense... no apologies necessary for expressing your opinion. That's what this blog is for! I just wanted to share with you what I saw of Randy over the four years he played for us. I'm glad I was able to shed some light on his career.