On a positive note…

The Snoke

All-Conference
Dec 15, 2020
1,107
1,509
0
A team that gets beat by a 15 seed in the first round was not a threat to win it all. We had a very flawed roster this year.
Roster wasn’t the problem this year. It goes a little higher than that. With the exception of one starting position, the pieces were there. Even CCC liked my team… again. Same ol’ dance folks.
 

BlueThunderstruck

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2022
1,253
2,124
0
Roster wasn’t the problem this year. It goes a little higher than that. With the exception of one starting position, the pieces were there. Even CCC liked my team… again. Same ol’ dance folks.
Yeah it was. Cal was a big problem but so was the roster. We had no true SF at all. Our guards were slow with the exception of Wheeler, but he was too small and couldn’t shoot. Our two PFs were extremely inconsistent and Cal wouldn’t play Hopkins or Collins to any extent. There were definite roster issues aside from Oscar who was tremendous.
 
Jul 9, 2004
93,075
38,060
0
You aren't allowed to be positive on this board. You have to be a negative like farmer to have your discussions thrive here.
 

IrishMike409

All-Conference
Nov 27, 2011
902
1,504
0
Since there has been so much negativity lately, I thought I’d interject some positivity…

Despite the disaster that was last season, the fact is that Cal did manage to completely turn the team around and rebuild it. We were good enough to win it all this year. Yes, the loss to St. Peter’s was inexcusable and sucks, and we all would be feeling better about things if we’d at least won a couple of games and then lost in the Sweet 16 to Purdue.

But…Cal did pull off an amazing turn-around, and except for some bad luck, he might have pulled off an absolutely historic turn-around. Just two years ago, in the Covid-cancelled season, we had another team with a legitimate shot to win it all. So - in the last three years, 2 legit championship caliber teams.

Now imagine this season if just two things had gone our way. First, the loss of CJ Frederick was really huge in retrospect. Imagine the fortunes of the team not having to hinge as much on the mental state or shooting eye of Grady if we had CJ on the floor. Second, imagine that injury to Tyty in the Tennessee game did not occur and he’d continued playing like the best freshman guard in the country.

I have no doubt Cal once again is going to assemble an impressive roster in the off-season. Thanks to NIL and the transfer portal, I think the days of our having to rely on a team full of freshmen, and thus having to completely load up on Top 10 OAD guys is over. It appears Cal is adapting to this new reality pretty well. Plus, the checkerboards are out - which alone makes me feel more optimistic about things - and the Covid nightmare appears to be largely behind us.

Hang in there Cat fans, things really are looking up.
We lost decidedly to TN in the SEC Tourney, then turned around a week later and lost to a damn 15 seed. No a whole lot to feel positive about. Oh ya…..and the best players are leaving.
 

Ukbrassowtipin

Heisman
Aug 12, 2011
82,276
90,237
113
OP not allowed to post this. You HAVE to be miserable and go along with every topic. You cannot sway on anything...even though you said you were disappointed with the end...bc that makes you obsessed with Cal. There is NO nuance. You must be one or the other, and start the same thread and reply to everyone with the same thing. Or so I'm told.

There hasn't been one yet, but maybe youll get great feedback if you can create a fantasy about Cal being abducted by aliens that way we are forced to hire a new coach. Everyone would catch on and start building a space ship to help him along.
 

bigsmoothie

All-American
Sep 7, 2004
11,161
8,851
0
Yeah it was. Cal was a big problem but so was the roster. We had no true SF at all. Our guards were slow with the exception of Wheeler, but he was too small and couldn’t shoot. Our two PFs were extremely inconsistent and Cal wouldn’t play Hopkins or Collins to any extent. There were definite roster issues aside from Oscar who was tremendous.
Funny how no one was complaining about the roster when they were on a tear. Bottom line when the injuries happened it screwed everything up. And everyone assumed when they came back it would just pick right back up. And for whatever reason it didn’t. Ty Ty was never the same.
 

BlueThunderstruck

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2022
1,253
2,124
0
Funny how no one was complaining about the roster when they were on a tear. Bottom line when the injuries happened it screwed everything up. And everyone assumed when they came back it would just pick right back up. And for whatever reason it didn’t. Ty Ty was never the same.
And yet you did not address ANY of the facts I pointed out. Typical. Everything I posted was true. Sometimes the team overcame the shortcomings and sometimes it didn’t. Washington’s injury certainly had an impact, but it doesn’t change the facts I pointed out. We lacked athleticism at some spots and it showed against really athletic, quick teams. Ignore it if you want to.
 
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Cawood86_rivals

Heisman
Feb 20, 2005
36,711
64,715
0
I don't think that too many people would disagree with you there. We have had 2 deaths on our team last couple years. Maybe we are not looking clearly at the whole picture here with covid, 2 deaths. I remember eating with Bobby Cremins in Hilton Head after one of his players died from Georgia Tech. I can't remember his name but Bobby was a complete mess. It's not an easy thing with coach/player relationship when death is involved. If you never played ball then you wouldn't understand.
Cal sees what's on the table, it's time to set the ship straight. At least he's not doing what Tubby did, he packed his **** and hi-tailed out here at this point.
Nope Cal is still here cashing checks....just not earning them
 
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crxohio

All-Conference
May 6, 2009
1,570
1,855
113
We complained after duke game some and Notre Dame game, but not until Injury set in did we actually see it start to really affect overall team chemistry. Grady in bad slump was as much him not getting better looks as it was him just cold. Team as a whole started to look long and gas'd.
 

BlueThunderstruck

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2022
1,253
2,124
0
Aside from Oscar and Washington (first half of the season), what really talented players did we have? We had a bunch of role players, most with limited athleticism. It was a very flawed roster for what Cal tries to do. His simple offense and defense requires superior athletes to overwhelm the opposition. It CAN work if you have the types of teams he had his first 5-6 years at UK. He hasn’t had those types of players lately so they’re going to struggle trying to do what he wants. It’s really simple. Look at who we lost to. Primarily really quick, athletic teams.
 
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IrishMike409

All-Conference
Nov 27, 2011
902
1,504
0
Aside from Oscar and Washington (first half of the season), what really talented players did we have? We had a bunch of role players, most with limited athleticism. It was a very flawed roster for what Cal tries to do. His simple offense and defense requires superior athletes to overwhelm the opposition. It CAN work with you have the types of teams he had his first 5-6 years at UK. He hasn’t had those types of players lately so they’re going to struggle trying to do what he wants.
Grady was a 2000 point college scorer.
 

Ukbrassowtipin

Heisman
Aug 12, 2011
82,276
90,237
113
And yet you did not address ANY of the facts I pointed out. Typical. Everything I posted was true. Sometimes the team overcame the shortcomings and sometimes it didn’t. Washington’s injury certainly had an impact, but it doesn’t change the facts I pointed out. We lacked athleticism at some spots and it showed against really athletic, quick teams. Ignore it if you want to.
So we want athletes now? I thought we wanted to get away from that.

Also not new in basketball for teams to play three guards.

Brooks, while frustrating, you're saying he wasn't athletic? Toppin not athletic? Lol. I do wish he played toppin more than he did.

So what you want is a team, that is more athletic than anyone, also more skilled, shoots 50% from 3, has the best rebounder in history, and shoots 99% from the line. Yes, I want that team too.
 

Ukbrassowtipin

Heisman
Aug 12, 2011
82,276
90,237
113
Yeah, at Davidson where he took a lot of shots. He’s a nice player, but lacks athleticism for a Power 5 player. It was beyond obvious. He had trouble getting his shots off and Cal didn’t do him any favors with the archaic offense.
Not an unfair point, but the same ppl think Allen should've been on the court more...lol

He didnt have that much trouble getting shots off tho...typically the point gaurd gets those ppl open anyway. He did lead the sec in 3 pt %
 

crxohio

All-Conference
May 6, 2009
1,570
1,855
113
He saying in Cal's scheme, they not quite athletic enough. I agree to a point. Alot of energy was spent on offense, which gas'd our defense next trip. Not always, but more than sometimes. Alot of reasons, but definitely not even as athletic as Brandon knight team, just a better big man 🤣
 
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BlueThunderstruck

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2022
1,253
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So we want athletes now? I thought we wanted to get away from that.

Also not new in basketball for teams to play three guards.

Brooks, while frustrating, you're saying he wasn't athletic? Toppin not athletic? Lol. I do wish he played toppin more than he did.

So what you want is a team, that is more athletic than anyone, also more skilled, shoots 50% from 3, has the best rebounder in history, and shoots 99% from the line. Yes, I want that team too.
Toppin is definitely athletic and I called for him to get more playing time all season. His lack of playing time in the second half of the St. Peter’s game was blatantly stupid on Cal’s part. Brooks has average athleticism for a 6’7’/6’8’ Power 5 forward. He’s definitely nothing special in that regard. The primary issue was our guards. They couldn’t stay in front of their man on defense and had trouble getting their shots (partly due to physical limitations and partly due to our poor offensive sets). These are all facts that were on display for all to see.

And yes, you need skilled and athletic players to win titles these days. Cal was getting them several years ago, but he’s not been getting what it takes to win in his overly simplified system. You can’t out-athlete teams with the Gradys, Brooks, and Mintzs of the world. It just isn’t going to work, but Cal is still trying to do it that way.
 
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Bluefaithful

All-American
Mar 30, 2009
5,081
7,970
113
Nope Cal is still here cashing checks....just not earning them
Nice Fat Checks too for 7 more years. Do they get paid bi-weekly? Probably his 2 week check is more than most people make in a year in Ky. Does Cal have an agent? I believe the University only pays up to 500,000. Who are the people paying the rest? Crazzzzy
 

Cawood86_rivals

Heisman
Feb 20, 2005
36,711
64,715
0
Nice Fat Checks too for 7 more years. Do they get paid bi-weekly? Probably his 2 week check is more than most people make in a year in Ky. Does Cal have an agent? I believe the University only pays up to 500,000. Who are the people paying the rest? Crazzzzy
Was there a point in this post somewhere?
 
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IrishMike409

All-Conference
Nov 27, 2011
902
1,504
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Yeah, at Davidson where he took a lot of shots. He’s a nice player, but lacks athleticism for a Power 5 player. It was beyond obvious. He had trouble getting his shots off and Cal didn’t do him any favors with the archaic offense.
I don’t totally disagree. He’s not an elite “go get his” athlete, but:

1. He stopped making shots
2. Cals O did him no favors.

Grady could certainly be a starter and impact player on a title team. He would likely start for all 4 FF Teams.
 

wildcat111

All-Conference
Dec 9, 2020
1,581
1,784
113
Since there has been so much negativity lately, I thought I’d interject some positivity…

Despite the disaster that was last season, the fact is that Cal did manage to completely turn the team around and rebuild it. We were good enough to win it all this year. Yes, the loss to St. Peter’s was inexcusable and sucks, and we all would be feeling better about things if we’d at least won a couple of games and then lost in the Sweet 16 to Purdue.

But…Cal did pull off an amazing turn-around, and except for some bad luck, he might have pulled off an absolutely historic turn-around. Just two years ago, in the Covid-cancelled season, we had another team with a legitimate shot to win it all. So - in the last three years, 2 legit championship caliber teams.

Now imagine this season if just two things had gone our way. First, the loss of CJ Frederick was really huge in retrospect. Imagine the fortunes of the team not having to hinge as much on the mental state or shooting eye of Grady if we had CJ on the floor. Second, imagine that injury to Tyty in the Tennessee game did not occur and he’d continued playing like the best freshman guard in the country.

I have no doubt Cal once again is going to assemble an impressive roster in the off-season. Thanks to NIL and the transfer portal, I think the days of our having to rely on a team full of freshmen, and thus having to completely load up on Top 10 OAD guys is over. It appears Cal is adapting to this new reality pretty well. Plus, the checkerboards are out - which alone makes me feel more optimistic about things - and the Covid nightmare appears to be largely behind us.

Hang in there Cat fans, things really are looking up.
You are delusional....there is no way to put a positive spin on this program at this time.
 

Bluefaithful

All-American
Mar 30, 2009
5,081
7,970
113
Good post OP. Cal deserves an incredible amount of criticism for last year and the loss to St. Peter’s.

He also more than deserves a chance to correct this.

I’m in the camp that I need to see either a FF run, or some noticeable philosophy changes (namely stop being so damn predictable on defense… our year end “slumps” on D recently are eye opening) next year, or I think his seat gets very hot.

Where I think some on this board take it too far is calling Cal poison, a clown, etc. That’s the stuff that’s embarrassing and just hurts any legitimate point you are making. Cal’s success at Kentucky cannot be denied… the way some talk about him you’d think he was Billy G, both on the court and out there embarrassing us off the court. That’s the not the case, as much as the extremists want to paint him.

He has the goods to take over the reins from K as best active coach, he just needs to stop being so damn stubborn and put the program 1A with players 1B.
You know what. Great Post
Cal needs to throw some wrinkles in the offense. Let the assistants implement the offensive scheme and pull a Bear Bryant. Get on that tower and watch. Become self aware. I don't want Cal to fail. I don't want our cheerleading squad to fail. Women volleyball, Rifle team, gymnastics, track. You name it, I'm all in. We need tweaks now, this summer.
Go Blue!
 
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kentuckycriedfricken

All-Conference
Feb 8, 2022
884
1,648
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So we want athletes now? I thought we wanted to get away from that.

Also not new in basketball for teams to play three guards.

Brooks, while frustrating, you're saying he wasn't athletic? Toppin not athletic? Lol. I do wish he played toppin more than he did.

So what you want is a team, that is more athletic than anyone, also more skilled, shoots 50% from 3, has the best rebounder in history, and shoots 99% from the line. Yes, I want that team too.
I get what you're saying. But isn't it telling that we need to shore up so many things on this team to get what we want? Duke has flaws too, and they crapped the bed at the end of the season. But right now they're sailing along easily, they cruised to the Final Four. And at the end of the day, Banchero is a matchup NIGHTMARE for every other team.

The only reason a team needs to be perfect in every way is to overcome a major issue. Is Cal that major issue? Some people are saying he is. I'm sure time will tell, but all these discussions fleshing out the holes in our 'game' seem to always point back to the source, don't they? I've seen a lot of coaches win titles with imperfect teams because they maximized their strengths and exploited the opponents' weaknesses.
 

BlueThunderstruck

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2022
1,253
2,124
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I don’t totally disagree. He’s not an elite “go get his” athlete, but:

1. He stopped making shots
2. Cals O did him no favors.

Grady could certainly be a starter and impact player on a title team. He would likely start for all 4 FF Teams.
I don’t think he’d start for any of them. All four have better players starting at his position. I don’t think there’s even a question about it,
 

bbnkat02

Heisman
Nov 14, 2017
47,700
71,064
113
Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact we lost to a 15 seed. Why? We couldn’t guard them and our guards crapped the bed.
Which they weren’t doing all year long. Something went seriosuly bad after January and it wasn’t just injuries. Ty looked completely lost.
 

BlueThunderstruck

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2022
1,253
2,124
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Which they weren’t doing all year long. Something went seriosuly bad after January and it wasn’t just injuries. Ty looked completely lost.
Whatever the reason, it’s terrible as a 2 seed to lose to a 15. They were better prepared and outplayed us. That’s just not acceptable regardless why it happened.
 

kl40504_rivals

Heisman
Oct 5, 2018
15,258
11,184
0
Since there has been so much negativity lately, I thought I’d interject some positivity…

Despite the disaster that was last season, the fact is that Cal did manage to completely turn the team around and rebuild it. We were good enough to win it all this year. Yes, the loss to St. Peter’s was inexcusable and sucks, and we all would be feeling better about things if we’d at least won a couple of games and then lost in the Sweet 16 to Purdue.

But…Cal did pull off an amazing turn-around, and except for some bad luck, he might have pulled off an absolutely historic turn-around. Just two years ago, in the Covid-cancelled season, we had another team with a legitimate shot to win it all. So - in the last three years, 2 legit championship caliber teams.

Now imagine this season if just two things had gone our way. First, the loss of CJ Frederick was really huge in retrospect. Imagine the fortunes of the team not having to hinge as much on the mental state or shooting eye of Grady if we had CJ on the floor. Second, imagine that injury to Tyty in the Tennessee game did not occur and he’d continued playing like the best freshman guard in the country.

I have no doubt Cal once again is going to assemble an impressive roster in the off-season. Thanks to NIL and the transfer portal, I think the days of our having to rely on a team full of freshmen, and thus having to completely load up on Top 10 OAD guys is over. It appears Cal is adapting to this new reality pretty well. Plus, the checkerboards are out - which alone makes me feel more optimistic about things - and the Covid nightmare appears to be largely behind us.

Hang in there Cat fans, things really are looking up.
No positive posts allowed on this board. You will be horse whipped and put in the barn wet.