Kansas st last year. Yeah, we will see. Not losing hope but the next few games should interesting and the SEC is legit.
Cal knows more than I do
- Thread starter DerekMcPwn
- Start date
Last year's team lost to KSU in the Sweet 16. It ain't like they were a juggernaut. Lost a lot of games, including 4 in a row.
Cal started out here like a house of fire. Seems more like a lot of smoke right now.
It's not that hard to win and win a lot of games whenever you've got some of the most talented players in the nation via a charismatic mouth. Just roll the ball out on the court and players often-enough are equipped enough to know what to do by themselves and win. It's not that hard as what most seem to make it out to be. Some of our past teams would have fared much better had Cal not been on the sidelines screaming like a madman causing some to become paralyzed with fear of being taken out of the game. It's true.
Now, if Cal knew more than I do (aka "we do"), then Cal would not have tried to either birth or die on that last lame heaved Hail Mary "3" that cost us the game. He would have called a timeout, set up a play (of which I don't think he's capable of doing), and would have had it "driven to the basket", instead of what was done. Our lost to Seton Hall was completely on Cal and I think he keeps our players in states of confusion with little to no on-court guidances. Gift of gab and phycological counseling isn't what's needed upon the court.
Last edited:
Last year’s team won the conference tournament against a very strong SEC, and did it without Jarred Vanderbilt. If you follow advanced metrics you’d know our highest +/- lineup included JV, and that in the final quarter of the season, UK’s combined offensive and defensive efficiency was among the highest in the nation. Even in the KSU loss, when it seemed like we couldn’t buy a bucket, we had a game plan to win. I don’t blame Cal for missed free throws, or when our best deep shooters repeatedly miss open catch-and-shoot threes.
Last season, the strength of our coaching was as evident as it has ever been. I can’t help the people who don’t know enough about basketball to recognize it.
You cannot rest on laurels. This world is a what have you done for me lately environment.
The problem with looking at the past is Cal had top flight players. The same cannot be said about this group.
I hope you are right Derek .. I have no issue being personally wrong about what I see on the court these days . But without serious change of approach I don’t see it happening . The college game 20 years ago at Umass Vs today’s game are two diffeent animals . My eyes just don’t see a well prepared , well instructed team . I saw one in the Bahamas , confident , loose , cohesive , what the heck happened ? 4 months of practice ?
In your original post you make good points when you bring up Cal’s past. It’s not like he forgot how to coach, but their is a key difference in what he did back then compared to now. The way he built rosters then was a lot different because he relied on veteran players. He has become to dependent on young and elite talent. His best teams here had solid veteran players like Darius Miller, Josh Harrellson, and DeAndre Liggins. Having upperclassmen is extremely important on the floor whether they are role players or stars of the team. Experience is valuable and that is something that Cal needs to remember. The best teams that he had in the past had veteran players and that is what got him here in the first place.
Cal is hall of fame coach, but he is a human being like all of us and he does make mistakes. Every coach or person makes them, idc who they are. Some posters have a hard time accepting fair criticisms on him and that’s just as outlandish as the ones that say he can’t coach. I think he needs to go back to his roots moving forward inlcuding if he can’t recruit the elite talent in these classes. Build rosters with some multi year players and I’d like to see him coach like he always has. With a chip on his shoulder and a hard nosed attitude.
And we may make it to a Final 4. But this program is defined by championships Unlike some programs we do not hang banners for Final 4's. Even last year we had a lottery point guard as we did the previous year. Hagans , Greene, and Quickly will never be NBA starters. I am not sure anyone has ever won a national championship without great guard play.
edv
I can’t believe someone on here finally admitted that. I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone else, besides myself, that would actually admit it..
You're trying to bait me into posting that "Airplane" GIF...but I'm NOT doing it...NOPE!
So you're the one who knows basketball better than everyone else? Is that what you're saying?
UK didn't have JV for most of the season. You seem to be leaving out some info here. The bracket fell open for UK perfectly last like no year I can remember.
I'm sure UK has a plan to win every game. I am a Cal guy but that doesn't mean he is without or above criticism.
I hate negativity among a fan base but I do wish Cal would put more emphasis on winning some titles. Taking a couple good 3-4 year players every couple years. Etc.
1. No, I don’t know basketball better than anyone else and never claimed to. But the people who do know basketball are all relaxed right now. They see this team’s fundamental talent, the roster balance, the depth, and Cal’s track record, and they know what’s coming. It’s the people who don’t understand basketball, and just care about winning every game because they need it for ego reasons, who are screeching like babies right now.
2. The fact that JV was out for much of the season makes it more understandable, not less, that a good coach with a young team could lose ten games.
3. I never said Cal is above criticism, and I haven’t called for censorship or attacks on the people with concerns. I have only argued that 99% of their criticisms and angst is misplaced for the reasons I laid out in the original post.
Any random message board poster that honestly believes that John Calipari - thirty-year Division 1 head coach with an unbelievable track record including multiple Final Fours - knows less about some aspect of basketball, his multimillion dollar lifetime pursuit, or less about recruiting, the calling card of his career’s success, or less about this team, that he coaches for hours every single day of every single week, than they do, is an idiot. What I’m calling for is having the intelligence and humility to temper criticisms with those undeniable facts.
I certainly am not one that believes I know more than Cal or any other coach on the staff. You seem to feel you are superior in knowledge to all other posters though.
I am a big defender of Cal and have been since he has been here.Still am, but I see problems, If you don't, that's on you.
To get the schools he has gotten to a FF speaks for itself. That Cal is the best in CBB imo.
Don't know what has happened with recruiting, but something has and it's obvious. That has to be addressed. It's the lifeline of a program. UK has not looked like a good team all year really. They have in spurts, but no consistency.
Seton Hall was 5-3. They were not some hot team. UK has struggled against most teams this year. UNCG has been their best game imo.
I , and those in my circle that have coached at various levels disagree with a lot of segment # 1 .
I imagine for better or worse we’ll revisit this thread in late March or early April and find out who was right. I’m calling Elite Eight or better.
Man, I sure do appreciate your positive outlook and sort of wish I had it myself. I’m not sure how you’re looking at this team and seeing loads of fundamental talent, depth, etc ... This is a flawed team.
Dammit man......:chairshot: don't try to let facts slow down the hate train....this is their lot in life.....they are miserable and want to make everyone else as miserable as they are.......[eyeroll]
you know that? you are just another example of liberal trash. I honestly hope nothing but the worst for you. go back to sleep.
Just do not think Hagans can become an outside threat. He may at this point be the worst shooter among the guards recruited by Cal. Has no confidence in his shot and form seems off. So seems that Quickly or Greene will have to step up but Greene is a turnover machine and poor on defense and of course the shortest player on the team. So hopefully Quickly fulfils his promise.
Well depending on the draw and how beats who , EE might be great , or might be highly disappointing . Losing to Kansas St last year was horrible . So kinda hard to classify reaching a certain level until you see how the draw is .. we get beat by 25 in the EE by a 8 seed I dont think you would revisit this and claim some happiness about being right . I'll always try to remember we are on the same side in this and Merry Christmas .
I see great shooters that don’t always know which shot to take. Cal will fix that. I see two good point guards who are sharing the role while they learn, which creates dysfunction. Cal will fix that. I see a truly elite bruising frontcourt duo that is forced into looking subpar as rim protectors (that they aren’t) because freshman guards aren’t stopping or disrupting dribble penetration. Cal will fix that.
Fix all three of those issues - and I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that Cal does fix them - and this is a completely different team. I’m expecting this group to jell like the Randle squad, with hard-nosed defense, superb rebounding, and getting to the foul line. Reid Travis and PJ Washington are going to be Randle, finishing everything in the paint and destroying the offensive glass; Keldon Johnson is going to be Andrew Harrison, attacking the rim and drawing fouls; Herro will be James Young, scoring at all three levels; and Immanuel Quickley will be Aaron Harrison, a sound backcourt companion that makes good decisions and hits clutch shots. We also have a few wildcard talents the 2013-14 roster didn’t possess. I’m looking forward to watching it develop.
You are a bit dense aren't you.....I never said that the last two years were awesome......that is your wording......I just said it hasn't changed the trajectory of my life.......capiche? You and your crowd have nothing better to do that to complain that basketball at UK isn't up to your standards.......tough stuff! Capiche? It seems to be directly connected to a large part of your being. So, if UK loses the next game.....do you die...do you have a stroke.......maybe.......just maybe you need a f'ing life.....something that......well, in the over all scheme of things.....maybe has some real importance...? Your constant moaning is getting monotonous.....
I hope that you’re right with your comparisons. It’s going to take a lot of hard work from the staff and team to fix their issues. Cal has done it before and I won’t say that he can’t do it again. The SEC has gotten so much better and it’s going to be a very difficult road ahead of them.
Oh buddy, my life is fantastic. Career great, family great, couldn’t ask for more. I’m also a huge Kentucky fan, and when things kinda suck I’m going to say so. Constant morning? Come on. Whether Kentucky wins or loses or grows mushrooms out of their cracks means nothing in the grand scheme of my life. However, I do bleed blue and am a damn passionate fan. That’s what we do as Kentucky fans.
What happened to the Nick Richards that played in the Bahamas? He was active, relaxed and not afraid to shoot. He was involved in the offense. But KP was coaching then and Cal is coaching now. Those teams were not that bad, plus they were physical. We played great down there and I have seen that once since the season started. Richards has been rendered useless. Thoughts?
EJ was hurt in the Bahamas so we were rotating three bigs regardless. Maybe he struggles with the reality of competition.
Great post. It is a relatively simple concept, unfortunately alot on this board are too simple to understand simple.
Cal is the best. I'd roll the dice with him over any active coach today.
Horsesh*t. I disagree with posters all the time on here, and they disagree with me. But I know they are Kentucky fans. You however aren't fooling anyone, and do NOTHING but degrade our team. Grow the hell up.
negative predictions is all they have. arguing with a poster about facts and probable trends is useless. they’ll just say “see how that works out for you”. amazing to think some of these people may be fans.