TBT La Familia vs JHX Hoops

Smeegs

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Nov 19, 2025
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Yeah, that's how I took that comment as well. They arent Kentucky's guys, no they are his guys. 😠
And, of course, he overlooks the fact that not all of these players had a good experience playing for Cal. I rather doubt that Cal considered Khalil Whitney to be “my guy” before last night.

Oh, but now he does!
 
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ComebackCats98

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Jul 2, 2025
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Who is on the other side’s team?
It’s two non alumni teams. Davis Steel or The Mecca. Looking at their roster Davis Steel has Gabe York that played well on the team that eliminated La Familia last year. They also have two guys from South Carolina and I don’t remember them at all. The other team has a bunch of guys from smaller west coast schools. Fresno State, Hawaii, and Nevada.

edited to add: Davis Steel is the team that beat La Familia out last year and finished runner up. They have a new name, but some of the same players.
 
Oct 9, 2015
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It’s two non alumni teams. Davis Steel or The Mecca. Looking at their roster Davis Steel has Gabe York that played well on the team that eliminated La Familia last year. They also have two guys from South Carolina and I don’t remember them at all. The other team has a bunch of guys from smaller west coast schools. Fresno State, Hawaii, and Nevada.

edited to add: Davis Steel is the team that beat La Familia out last year and finished runner up. They have a new name, but some of the same players.
Was that Eberlein Drive or something like that? Can’t remember exactly.
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
47,004
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It’s two non alumni teams. Davis Steel or The Mecca. Looking at their roster Davis Steel has Gabe York that played well on the team that eliminated La Familia last year. They also have two guys from South Carolina and I don’t remember them at all. The other team has a bunch of guys from smaller west coast schools. Fresno State, Hawaii, and Nevada.

edited to add: Davis Steel is the team that beat La Familia out last year and finished runner up. They have a new name, but some of the same players.
Very cool, thank you. I hope we pull it out. Cool that we won the Alumni side at least. They should get some cash for that imho.
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
47,004
85,923
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Was that Eberlein Drive or something like that? Can’t remember exactly.
That team name sounds familiar to me, and after searching that is who they lost too in heart breaking fashion. I remember now. WCS got injured during the last play of the ELAM Ending and we were up 70-68(71 target). Archie Goodwin came in to shoot a FT for the win and missed. They came down and we forced two missed shots, but had nobody to rebound inside without WCS and they hit a 3 to win the game off the offensive rebound.
 
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Dward13

All-Conference
Feb 5, 2008
10,299
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Surprisingly, somehow, the response on X was much more positive than here, even wishing him to retire and return in some form or fashion. Also, bonus points for jealous Arkansas fans in the comments.

I go back and forth. Wish he hadn’t changed his priorities off winning games as much as he did but at the end of the day he was here 15 years and put banners in the rafters. I figure if our former players can still be his guys then Cal is still OUR guy.

Would be cool if we could put pettiness and bitterness aside as a fanbase and celebrate him pre game when he comes to rupp this year.

Are we really afraid of Arkansas? Even if we lose a single game to them, theyll never be in the same conversation as UK as a basketball program. So why not show the man theres no hate and we appreciate all the positive he achieved while he and us are all still alive to enjoy it.
 
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The Ganner

All-Conference
Nov 21, 2009
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Indeed. This tourney has made me realize how Cal should’ve used Whitney. Not as a 3 wing, but instead as defensive specialist/cleanup guy at the 4 spot. Khalil has been flying around like a maniac on the defensive end, it’s just the dribbling/perimeter stuff that he struggles with.
Cal often got tweener forwards and played them at the 3, and we suffered with ball handling and shooting as a result. Whitney, Livingston, Edwards. Hell, 2015 Poythress and Lyles were ours 3s. Throw in years when we played a guard at the 3 (Briscoe in 2016/17, Maxey in 2020 when Whitney was mostly off the bench, Grady in 22) and you could say that in Cal's last 10 years (2015-2024) we only started a true SF three times with Knox, Keldon, and Boston.
 

WeWant9

Heisman
Dec 18, 2013
6,980
18,593
113
I go back and forth. Wish he hadn’t changed his priorities off winning games as much as he did but at the end of the day he was here 15 years and put banners in the rafters. I figure if our former players can still be his guys then Cal is still OUR guy.

Would be cool if we could put pettiness and bitterness aside as a fanbase and celebrate him pre game when he comes to rupp this year.

Are we really afraid of Arkansas? Even if we lose a single game to them, theyll never be in the same conversation as UK as a basketball program. So why not show the man theres no hate and we appreciate all the positive he achieved while he and us are all still alive to enjoy it.
I don't think you celebrate the coach of an SEC rival, but that's just my opinion. It was a little different to celebrate Tubby b/c he was at a place like High Point. But I 100% believe Cal will be back in Lexington, after his retirement, and will get a lot of love from BBN- I just don't see that happening while he is still coaching in the SEC.
 
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JDHoss

Heisman
Jan 1, 2003
16,565
40,260
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Indeed. This tourney has made me realize how Cal should’ve used Whitney. Not as a 3 wing, but instead as defensive specialist/cleanup guy at the 4 spot. Khalil has been flying around like a maniac on the defensive end, it’s just the dribbling/perimeter stuff that he struggles with.
He wasn't capable of that at that point. He looked like a guy who had played very little organized basketball and had been poorly coached in the fundamentals. Besides, Whitney's handlers had him quit in the middle of the season. If Cal had tried to use him as that, they would have had him quit sooner. I'm guessing that at the age of 25, Whitney no longer has handlers; only an agent who tries his best to keep Whitney matched up with a team somewhere on the planet.
 

Padsfs07

All-Conference
Jan 19, 2013
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And, of course, he overlooks the fact that not all of these players had a good experience playing for Cal. I rather doubt that Cal considered Khalil Whitney to be “my guy” before last night.

Oh, but now he does!


Whitney said in the KSR interview that he still talks to Calipari.
 
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ComebackCats98

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Also I just saw this on KSR about Davis Steel and thought it was fascinating.

“Davis Steel is a Kentucky-based company. Their website says they work out of Russell Springs, KY.”
 

Supafuzz75

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Nov 30, 2014
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We should have kept Calipari. He has a better shot of making Final Fours each season then Pope does. His ambassador aspect for the UK program would have been great after he retired as well.
Hell no.. I had come to 100% hating that SOB by time he left,, no way i could of dealt with him staying.. Once i hate you its over,, yain't never getting back to my good side..
 

DirtyHarry

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Jul 12, 2026
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We should have kept Calipari. He has a better shot of making Final Fours each season then Pope does. His ambassador aspect for the UK program would have been great after he retired as well.
THIS YOU?

THIS YOU TOO?

 
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Son_Of_Saul

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Dec 7, 2007
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THIS YOU?

THIS YOU TOO?

Yes it's me. I own it all. It's called resigning yourself to the fates. I'd rather have Calipari knowing we can't win a title with him than have Pope knowing he will do even worse. I actually think the benefits of keeping Cal would have outweighed the benefits of hiring Pope. It's actually easy math for me.

I'm glad you were able to go down memory lane for me. I've actually written even worse about Calipari than that if you keep digging. It still doesn't change my position - which by the way is allowed to change - in that I would take Cal back tomorrow if given the chance.
 
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Smeegs

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Yes it's me. I own it all. It's called resigning yourself to the fates. I'd rather have Calipari knowing we can't win a title with him than have Pope knowing he will do even worse. I actually think the benefits of keeping Cal would havbe outweight the benefits of hiring Pope. It's actually easy math for me.

I'm glad you were able to go down memory lane for me. I've actually written even worse about Calipari than that if you keep digging. It still doesn't change my position - which by the way is allowed to change - in that I would take Cal back tomorrow if given the chance.
Yeah, I don’t really see your positions as inconsistent. It was perfectly rational to want Cal gone when we did not yet know who would replace him. Lord knows it certainly looked like change was needed near the end of his run here.

But now that we have seen who replaced him, it is also quite rational to realize “Oh shi*, this might be even worse.”
 

ComebackCats98

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Yes it's me. I own it all. It's called resigning yourself to the fates. I'd rather have Calipari knowing we can't win a title with him than have Pope knowing he will do even worse. I actually think the benefits of keeping Cal would have outweighed the benefits of hiring Pope. It's actually easy math for me.

I'm glad you were able to go down memory lane for me. I've actually written even worse about Calipari than that if you keep digging. It still doesn't change my position - which by the way is allowed to change - in that I would take Cal back tomorrow if given the chance.
I agree with you. It’s not popular on here, but it’s the truth. People were frustrated and done with Cal absolutely. However, they probably expected an actual coaching search for the best candidate. Not hiring a guy with 0 tournament wins because he played here 20 years ago. If he got the NIL Pope is along with the NBA players he produced UK could be loading up with talent. Whether that won anything I don’t know, but they did win the SEC tournament and go farther than UK last season. As far as UK season 1 under Pope
 

DirtyHarry

Sophomore
Jul 12, 2026
65
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Yes it's me. I own it all. It's called resigning yourself to the fates. I'd rather have Calipari knowing we can't win a title with him than have Pope knowing he will do even worse. I actually think the benefits of keeping Cal would have outweighed the benefits of hiring Pope. It's actually easy math for me.

I'm glad you were able to go down memory lane for me. I've actually written even worse about Calipari than that if you keep digging. It still doesn't change my position - which by the way is allowed to change - in that I would take Cal back tomorrow if given the chance.
Just razzin’ ya but I’d rather not have Cal. I would take Golden though.
 

DudahUK

Heisman
Jul 23, 2020
7,989
12,450
113
We should have kept Calipari. He has a better shot of making Final Fours each season then Pope does. His ambassador aspect for the UK program would have been great after he retired as well.
100 percent this as much as it pains me to say it. If it was Cal or Pope, 99 percent of fans who are smart would have chosen Cal. Pope literally hasn’t won a single thing in over a decade of coaching. And we hired him at the university of Kentucky. The best basketball program in the world.
 
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DudahUK

Heisman
Jul 23, 2020
7,989
12,450
113
Also I just saw this on KSR about Davis Steel and thought it was fascinating.

“Davis Steel is a Kentucky-based company. Their website says they work out of Russell Springs, KY.”
I guess you don’t listen to KSR. That’s been a big part of this week. Apparently they used to sponsor us last year and switched sides.
 

DudahUK

Heisman
Jul 23, 2020
7,989
12,450
113
Hell no.. I had come to 100% hating that SOB by time he left,, no way i could of dealt with him staying.. Once i hate you its over,, yain't never getting back to my good side..
I get this too. I was so tired of him but so far, Pope has been nothing but depression.
 

DudahUK

Heisman
Jul 23, 2020
7,989
12,450
113
I agree with you. It’s not popular on here, but it’s the truth. People were frustrated and done with Cal absolutely. However, they probably expected an actual coaching search for the best candidate. Not hiring a guy with 0 tournament wins because he played here 20 years ago. If he got the NIL Pope is along with the NBA players he produced UK could be loading up with talent. Whether that won anything I don’t know, but they did win the SEC tournament and go farther than UK last season. As far as UK season 1 under Pope
Bingo.
 

DudahUK

Heisman
Jul 23, 2020
7,989
12,450
113
Just razzin’ ya but I’d rather not have Cal. I would take Golden though.
You aren’t “razzin” a thing. You were just wrong and got called out on it. Of course we would rather have a title winning coach than Pope. We don’t have him.
 

DudahUK

Heisman
Jul 23, 2020
7,989
12,450
113
Oh wow I didn’t know that. I listen from time to time when I’m not busy with work.
Yeah man, the GM of their team came on said it’s cause they wanted naming rights to the team, Ryan lemond said they were mad about the lack of access they got with the players. Who knows? But yeah, they used to sponsor us until this year.
 
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Dward13

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I just think hanging on to Cal when we know hes never winning another natty sets us back further than hiring a guy we knew we can move on from in a few years if he doesn’t work out.

And i’m not sure Cal still having influence over the program is a good thing either. We needed to move away from freshmen dominated teams. You can consistently contend building your teams that way in this era.

Hanging onto Cal meant the UK AD had given up on being the best in basketball.

remember all the things you have to accept by retaining him. You have to accept the occasional non sensible shaedon sharpe scenario. You have to accept that hes sometimes going to knowingly play worse guys because they’re HIS guys, or because he’s in too deep with a specific agency (DJ, Livingston, Edwards, Klutch).

You’re gonna have to accept that hes going to sometimes straight up throw games away to do whatever he can to protect or improve certain guys draft stocks (Skal, DJ, Justin, Livingston) or to protect their feelings (Wheeler).

I feel like some of you are forgetting all the things we bitched about non stop during cal’s last 5-8 seasons.

It’s fine if you’re content with being just good and rarely if ever great again. But if you wanted to move on with actually trying to win things in basketball that matter again, that meant moving on from Calipari.

Sadly our former AD was not a basketball guy and when left to make the hire himself he did what we were afraid he’d do. No research, no consulting, no vetting, and little in the form of a backup plan.

What Barnhardt did when he hired mark pope was borderline criminal.

/rant. no one reading this **** anyways. Power outage and bored.
 
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Catlogic1552

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Jul 3, 2025
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I just think hanging on to Cal when we know hes never winning another natty sets us back further than hiring a guy we knew we can move on from in a few years if he doesn’t work out.

And i’m not sure Cal still having influence over the program is a good thing either. We needed to move away from freshmen dominated teams. You can consistently contend building your teams that way in this era.

Hanging onto Cal meant the UK AD had given up on being the best in basketball.

remember all the things you have to accept by retaining him. You have to accept the occasional non sensible shaedon sharpe scenario. You have to accept that hes sometimes going to knowingly play worse guys because they’re HIS guys, or because he’s in too deep with a specific agency (DJ, Livingston, Edwards, Klutch).

You’re gonna have to accept that hes going to sometimes straight up throw games away to do whatever he can to protect or improve certain guys draft stocks (Skal, DJ, Justin, Livingston) or to protect their feelings (Wheeler).

I feel like some of you are forgetting all the things we bitched about non stop during cal’s last 5-8 seasons.

It’s fine if you’re content with being just good and rarely if ever great again. But if you wanted to move on with actually trying to win things in basketball that matter again, that meant moving on from Calipari.

Sadly our former AD was not a basketball guy and when left to make the hire himself he did what we were afraid he’d do. No research, no consulting, no vetting, and little in the form of a backup plan.

What Barnhardt did when he hired mark pope was borderline criminal.

/rant. no one reading this **** anyways. Power outage and bored.
Good points. I do believe if our AD was more in sync with Calipari, Cal would have performed much better his last few years. You could cut the tension with a knife, and I believe it greatly affected Cal’s attitude. I.e. Cal wanted a new practice facility even if he raised the money himself. Barnhart said no. The beginning of the end.
 
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Im The Village Idiot

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Good points. I do believe if our AD was more in sync with Calipari, Cal would have performed much better his last few years. You could cut the tension with a knife, and I believe it greatly affected Cal’s attitude. I.e. Cal wanted a new practice facility even if he raised the money himself. Barnhart said no. The beginning of the end.
No Kentucky basketball coach should be denied a facility they believe can help the school. Mitch got the fanbase to agree with him about the identity of our athletics department and it’s no surprise we are struggling to return to form. We are a basketball school — at least we still barely are. That won’t remain to be the case if the next generation keeps drinking the kool aid imo.
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
47,004
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THIS YOU?

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To be fair everyone was tired of what Cal had done since 2020. He was burnt out here. That said, if for someway he could have renewed his energy and made the changes we wanted he was an easy keep. The majority really would have preferred that, but now we know how it played out too. Mitch being lazy and his relationship with Cal made it worse than it should have been.
 
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*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
47,004
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No Kentucky basketball coach should be denied a facility they believe can help the school. Mitch got the fanbase to agree with him about the identity of our athletics department and it’s no surprise we are struggling to return to form. We are a basketball school — at least we still barely are. That won’t remain to be the case if the next generation keeps drinking the kool aid imo.
Truth, it needs to get back on track and it can with the right leadership. We should be dominating in this environment, at least competing for ships a ton.
 
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