A Cal recruit. He's got some truth. At the same time, if JQ and JL were healthy.... important parts of the team...We'd be able to win more games.
"I hate the state of Kentucky Basketball right now" - D. Cousins
- Thread starter OliverSimmonsTwinBrother
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Boogie also said he loved Cal but his heart was in Kentucky. Need that guy back as an assistant or something. I bet he’d be a hell of a recruiter.
He "blasted" Cal "for years" because it was clear for about 2yrs longer than he "blasted" him that Cal wasn't getting it or getting it done. MJ isn't clairvoyant. He's political. He read the audience, as HE SHOULD, and of which Cal was INCAPABLE because he can't admit failure or take responsibility that is actually his.
Cal is uncoachable. That's his problem. MJ was doing what any coach would for a player that needed it, just like the knowledgeable fans had been doing for years.
Cuz played for Cal. Of course he’d have loyalty. News flash, Matt wasn’t the only media member to have or express those thoughts. If Cuz has an issue with Matt over that stuff, that’s a Cuz problem and not a Matt problem.
Also not accurate. He didn’t “blast” Cal “for years”. In fact, he held out until about halfway through Cals last year. That’s when the gloves truly came off, and that in large part was due to Cal playing DJ and Edwards over the lineup of Rob/Reed/Reeves. And he ripped him over that because the numbers proved it and he knew why he was playing DJ and Justin.
Me telling you guys to go cheer for Calipari doesn't make me a Pope pumper. You retards were cheering for us to lose against Santa Clara. Not once have I said Pope was the right hire but getting rid of calipari was 100% the right choice. You guys have been sitting and spinning on Cal, Golden, Oats, etc all year guys who aren't coming here and are coaches from rival sec programs, those fans see that **** and think you guys are pathetic I do too. Me shitting on you crybabies who get your rocks off crapping on the team is all I'm here for. Never will I cheer against my team, Pope will be back next year if we suck he gets fired, go beat a different dead horse.
Cousins is an idiot. He must have really hated the last 4 years of Calipari.
????? he ain t got the power to run people off.that snake cal slid away on his own
No. He got tired of it not being about how great he is, and didn't want to do what it took to BE great. It was no longer about him, (though it never was about him to UK fans), and he couldn't stand it.
Thanks for your opinion.
Meanwhile, Cal is dancing.
He blasted Cal for years. He is terrible just like Pope.
My view is the opposite. Cal and Jones were chummy until 9-16. Cal used to call in after big wins just like Stoops did.
Matt went hard on Cal that year, Cal cut off his access. The next year was St. Peter’s and a team that peaked in mid January and fell apart, in part due to injury, late.
2023 was the Benny lineup Cal refused to play in favor of 3 non shooters until injuries forced his hand … and the team performed better but that team with the reigning NPOY returning still was about as pedestrian as this year’s UK team.
2024 was Reed and Rob off the bench while Edwards got blocked by the rim and Wagner missed yet another layup.
A sports radio host wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t call those things out. I just can’t buy into the notion that a radio host ran a HOF coach out of town when said coach did everything he could for at least 3 seasons to spite the fanbase and administration. That’s when Cal got all preachy, started talking down to the fans as if we didn’t understand the game, and thought he was somehow above taking criticism because he’d won big in the past but not so much lately.
I am going to guess his NIL donation amount was the same as yours.
Cal got permission to speak with Arkansas but did not get permission to speak with Ohio State he contacted them while coaching in the tournament that's how Mitch got him.
It is easy to cherry pick all the mistake DJ and Justin, but forget all the bad shots and no defense that Rob played. It was his man that hit the wide open 3 in the corner when Kentucky was down 1 with 45 seconds left. Cal never like Jones and Jones never liked Cal.
In another recent post, I also wondered how the “it’s all about March” philosophy could impact our overall view of a season.
I am certainly not saying so many early exits are in any way acceptable. But I also know that last memory of how an otherwise “good” season—by most everyone’s standards, UK fans notwithstanding—can get marred by an ugly upset. (Btw: I’m glad the BBN gets dissatisfied with mediocrity and wants to always be the best, year in and year out)
Here’s Cal’s record his final three seasons at UK:
2023-24 was 23-10
Final AP Ranking: 12
NCAA Tournament 3 Seed
No post season wins (2 first-round losses)
2022-23 was 22-12
Final AP Ranking: Unranked
NCAA Tournament 6 Seed
1 first round SEC Tournament loss, 1 NCAA Tournament win and loss
2021-22 was 28-8
Final AP Ranking: 7
NCAA Tournament 2 Seed
Had the consensus National Player of the Year
1 one SEC Tournament win and loss, 1 first round NCAA Tournament loss
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Mark Popes biggest downfall in recruiting is trying to ingrain the history of the place into everything he does. He tries to cram it down their throats that this place is special. These kids who are top flight recruits don't GAS. They want $ and to play in a place that will feature them and get them ready for the NBA which is right up Cals alley if dumb dumb didn't upset every booster or whatever they say he did and you gave peak "hungry/Swaggy" UK Cal 22 million he wouldn't have to worry about being a ****** coach because he would've just had the top 10 and could pay the fringe NBA guys to not go he's still ending poverty and all that with their UK contracts so maybe he wouldn't feel the need to push them out the door I thought UK would rule the world with NIL and Cal. Life's funny sometimes.
LOL the ONLY issue I have with this is that Boogie said nothing when Cal was turning out first and second round exits with the NPOY and the best rebounder ever EVER had! LMAO
That sounds like John Calipari or people on the staff or people close to the team like Tyler ulis.... have told DeMarcus Cousins that Matt Jones's MOUTH is what is behind him not coaching at Kentucky anymore.
He didn't get that from nowheres.
He didn't get that from nowheres.
Here's my problem with Matt/media/fringe fans on this, or at least my 2 cents. The 9-16 was of course, awful. And yes, it's almost something that an elite coach should never have happen. But, Cal's model really has to cram a lot early in the season and the practices leading up to it, something he didn't have much of due to COVID.
Practices were reduced, shortened and restructured. 8 guys leave the year prior, so hes got 6 new freshman and 3 incoming transfers.. all he returns is Keion Brooks (I believe, I try and wipe that year from memory). We get off to a HORRIFIC 1-5 start, and then mostly go .500 the rest of the way. The team actually does improve a bit, as all Cal's teams do. But its of course, not enough. Sure enough, Duke is another school with lots of freshman that also had IT'S worst season, just mild-y better than us. Meanwhile a team like Purdue is fine, because they had the team set, the experience and team cohesion was there. They don't need the early season workouts and practices like Duke and UK did. So it just feels to me like any program that had a new team was never going to get the wheels off the ground, so to speak.
So that brings us to Matt Jones (the media and the fans included). Tensions rise. Matt Jones went at him and Cal probably didn't want to talk about the season was lost and he wanted to move on. Cal dug his heels, for right or wrong. Probably didn't help because he does have a huge ego. But the point is, everything changes on one really bad year. The year prior gets cancelled with us as 4/3-seed, the year prior to that was an Elite 8. It really was one lost year. Almost as if none of the last 10 years meant anything.. and it's at that point that Cal started to give up as well.
Is it a coincidence that Cal's (and Coach K's) worst year with freshman was the COVID year where he really couldn't get the most time with them? Because he's never had NEAR as bad of a year as he had since then.. coincidentally when COVID wasn't an impediment. It just feels like COVID made it extra difficult for any coach to get things going with a brand new team. And now that we have 5-6 years since then, it's clear that it really was just the COVID year that screwed him (early losses to SPU and Oakland not withstanding, because again, I think he checked out)
I don't know. long winded way of me saying: Maybe we jumped on Cal a little too early for a lone bad season that even legitimate miracles wasn't going to fix.
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I can agree with this for the most part, but at the same time, every team dealt with the pandemic and had to adjust. It’s a valid excuse but still an excuse. Cal didn’t really ever own it and seemed offended we collectively began to question his methods. By this time it wasn’t fringe fans. It was at least half the fanbase.
I was an ardent Cal supporter until 9-16. I gave him a pass but wasn’t pleased. This board was howling for his firing that year.
Saint Peter’s turned me apathetic to Cal. I didn’t care if he stayed or left. He seemed checked out and started taking digs at the fans for being mad we lost to St. Peter’s with the NPOY.
The next year pissed me off because it felt like he was playing a crap lineup on purpose to spite the fans when one combination was statistically the most offensively efficient group in the nation. That, to me, felt like putting his ego ahead of the program to prove a point that he was smarter than everyone else.
I went into 2024 very excited, and that team was fun other than losing at home to UNCW. You can’t do that with that much talent. As that year wore on, it became obvious he wasn’t starting his best guys and that team liked to dog 12-2, 14-6 type holes until Reed and Rob came in. Some times we never dug out of the hole. The Oakland loss was it for me because it indicated a pattern.
I also noticed Cal started tightening up in SECT and NCAA games and it would spread to the team. That tells me he felt the pressure but wouldn’t admit it publicly.
I think he was ready to leave because of the pressure more than he was “ran off” by a radio host or fans.
I would say that he did try to adjust but it wasn't working. He wasn't just running a bunch of Freshman out there like he did the first 10 years, yet that worked a lot better for him when he did go with mostly highly ranked frosh.
2023–24 Season
The final starting five of the Calipari era featured high-scoring guards, though notable freshmen like
Reed Sheppard
and
Rob Dillingham
primarily came off the bench.
- G:
D.J. Wagner
(Fr.) - G:
Antonio Reeves
(Sr.) - F:
Justin Edwards
(Fr.) - F:
Tre Mitchell
(Gr.) - C:
Ugonna Onyenso
(So.) - Outcome: Lost to #15 Saint Peter's (1st Round)
2022–23 Season
This lineup was anchored by reigning National Player of the Year
Oscar Tshiebwe
and veteran shooters.
- G:
Cason Wallace
(Fr.) - G:
Antonio Reeves
(Sr.) - G:
Chris Livingston
(Fr.) - F:
Jacob Toppin
(Sr.) - C:
Oscar Tshiebwe
(Sr.) - Outcome: Lost to #3 Kansas State (2nd Round)
2021–22 Season
A season marked by the dominance of
Tshiebwe
in the paint and a backcourt led by transfer
Sahvir Wheeler
.
- G:
Sahvir Wheeler
(Jr.) - G:
TyTy Washington Jr.
(Fr.) - G:
Kellan Grady
(Gr.) - F:
Keion Brooks Jr.
(Jr.) - C:
Oscar Tshiebwe
(Jr.) - Outcome: Lost to #15 Saint Peter's (1st Round)
2020–21 Season
Note: Due to a losing record (9–16), this team did not make the NCAA Tournament. The following was the most common starting lineup used during the season.
- G:
Davion Mintz
(Gr.) - G:
Devin Askew
(Fr.) - G:
Brandon Boston Jr.
(Fr.) - F:
Isaiah Jackson
(Fr.) - F:
Olivier Sarr
(Sr.)
Yeah the big issue for me was the Reed Sheppard year, where I agree, that season he was completely done, thumbing his nose to the fans, and again favoring the high recruits (and family friends) over the players he knew was better. And ebcause of that, he lost opening round. Reed would have been an absolute star if he was given the reigns a few months earlier.
It was a pattern that some recognized earlier before it crystallized with the Oakland loss.
What we saw in his first year here and heard from players as well. It didnt "start" later. It just became glaring in 2015.
Yep. When he was applying the pressure he was fine. When the fanbase got a glimpse of him without the high-priced suit and without makeup, things changed. We were really blessed with the teams and players we got to see play here. The 2012 title was really an anomaly when you look back at it. Talented players can only overcome.so much poor coaching.