Never Thought it Would Get to This!

philstat

Heisman
Jan 3, 2004
10,922
10,423
56
Essentially, JVC is now fully reliant and more importantly, dependent on the transfer portal, this is what his definition of the “Gold Standard” has been reduced to. Myself and many others have known he was a marginal, at best, game coach, though he was able to offset that early on with his recruiting, now we are without both for the most part. He’ll still get some great players, though they’ll likely never be part of a complete team, they’ll always be huge gaps and voids on the roster. The vast majority of the kids we’ll get will be trying to do one year and roll out…they’ll never be fully vested and therefore will mostly fall short of the collective goals of the team as they focus on their individual goals. A JVC Hallmark!
 
Nov 15, 2008
38,645
57,515
0
 

MdWIldcat55

Heisman
Dec 9, 2007
21,526
86,561
113
The "Transfer Portal" era is really only two years old. So far the portal has produced players like Oscar Tschiebwe, the unamimous College Basketball Player Of The Year for Kentucky, as well as guys like Toppin, Grady, Wheeler and Fredrick who may not have lived up to our hopes but were all key players on a team that -- at its peak -- was arguably the best in the country. So I'm not sure what your beef is with the portal.

As for "Portal" players looking to maximize their value and move on -- What do you think the Top 20 High School recruits plan to do?

This feels like a rant looking in vain for any sort of substance to which to attach itself. We get it. You are like this guy:
 

philstat

Heisman
Jan 3, 2004
10,922
10,423
56
The "Transfer Portal" era is really only two years old, so to say "I never thought it would come to this is meaningless. Never thought it when? Last April?

So far the portal has produced players like Oscar Tscheibwe, The consensus College Basketball Player Of The Year for Kentucky, as well as guys like Toppin, Grady, Wheeler and Fredrick who may not have lived up to our hopes but were all key players on a team that -- at its peak -- was arguably the best in the country.

As for "Portal" players looking to maximize their value and move on -- What do you think the Top 20 High School recruits plan to do?

This feels like a rant looking for any sort of substance to which to attach. We get it. You are like this guy:

You’re in Dreamland if you don’t see the problem at hand is only going to become more problematic moving forward.
 

Catman100

Heisman
Jan 3, 2003
7,073
10,565
96
My concern with the PORTAL is relying on players who played 3-4 years at directional colleges and small conference schools.

Just because they lit up the Patriot League or the Southland conference doesn't mean they are going to light up the SEC. Probably have more faith in an experienced college player from one of those leagues than a 20-50 ranked high school player, but as we saw this year, there are no guarantees.
 
Sep 13, 2003
23,905
33,655
0
My concern with the PORTAL is relying on players who played 3-4 years at directional colleges and small conference schools.

Just because they lit up the Patriot League or the Southland conference doesn't mean they are going to light up the SEC. Probably have more faith in an experienced college player from one of those leagues than a 20-50 ranked high school player, but as we saw this year, there are no guarantees.
I would include lower level SEC schools also. Because your post is EXACTLY what happened to Grady and Wheeler in the biggest games of the year(SEC vs UT and NCAA). Grady was so scared he couldn’t even catch and shoot. If you watch the replay of the Saint Peters game, whenever he caught the ball, he would take a dribble before shooting. A clear sign of doubt.

Then you saw Wheeler get fouled at the end when we needed EVERY point and he looked like a deer in headlights then proceeded to BRICK 2 Free Throws. He also just threw the ball away out of bounds even trying to make an entry pass at the end also.

WHY would Cal bring in ANY player not ready for the BIGGEST moments???!!!!!
 

Bluefaithful

All-American
Mar 30, 2009
5,081
7,970
113

Catman100

Heisman
Jan 3, 2003
7,073
10,565
96
I would include lower level SEC schools also. Because your post is EXACTLY what happened to Grady and Wheeler in the biggest games of the year(SEC vs UT and NCAA). Grady was so scared he couldn’t even catch and shoot. If you watch the replay of the Saint Peters game, whenever he caught the ball, he would take a dribble before shooting. A clear sign of doubt.

Then you saw Wheeler get fouled at the end when we needed EVERY point and he looked like a deer in headlights then proceeded to BRICK 2 Free Throws. He also just threw the ball away out of bounds even trying to make an entry pass at the end also.

WHY would Cal bring in ANY player not ready for the BIGGEST moments???!!!!!
Oh I was in Indy with 3 buddies and all of us realized Grady was scared to friggin death. I had never seen a UK player like that in a big game before.

And I agree with Wheeler as well, but I would take Pippen Jr in a heartbeat. lol
 
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senonesy

All-American
Nov 30, 2017
4,173
8,512
113
Essentially, JVC is now fully reliant and more importantly, dependent on the transfer portal, this is what his definition of the “Gold Standard” has been reduced to. Myself and many others have known he was a marginal, at best, game coach, though he was able to offset that early on with his recruiting, now we are without both for the most part. He’ll still get some great players, though they’ll likely never be part of a complete team, they’ll always be huge gaps and voids on the roster. The vast majority of the kids we’ll get will be trying to do one year and roll out…they’ll never be fully vested and therefore will mostly fall short of the collective goals of the team as they focus on their individual goals. A JVC Hallmark!
Look around CBB. It’s happening everywhere, but of course the whiners on here think it is just Cal who is dealing with roster changes. The transfer portal has changed everything. Just an exhausting board to read nowadays. Here is some data to back it up for you slow learners.

 
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MissingWCC

Senior
Apr 7, 2022
409
751
0
The issue isn't that he uses the portal, but the fact that he can just fall back on less talented transfers if he misses quality HS talent. And he is using the experienced, less talented player over the newcomer that needs the time to be of better quality by the time that the big tournament comes around. The biggest issue this last season is that he couldn't find a replacement for Tyty that was of good enough quality in the portal so when he was injured there was a glaring hole in the lineup.
Use the portal to provide quality depth, not as a crutch to find middle of the road talent just so you don't have to teach them like you do freshmen. It's just laziness as far as I can tell. More than once this year Cal remarked about how easy the fourth and fifth year guys were to coach because you didn't have to work on fundamentals and mistakes all the time. That is good, but those guys, except Oscar, have pretty much peaked and show little to no improvement as the year goes by whereas a talented freshman has a much higher ceiling. Just my two cents.
 
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Kats23

All-American
Nov 21, 2007
8,683
5,913
63
The "Transfer Portal" era is really only two years old. So far the portal has produced players like Oscar Tschiebwe, the unamimous College Basketball Player Of The Year for Kentucky, as well as guys like Toppin, Grady, Wheeler and Fredrick who may not have lived up to our hopes but were all key players on a team that -- at its peak -- was arguably the best in the country. So I'm not sure what your beef is with the portal.

As for "Portal" players looking to maximize their value and move on -- What do you think the Top 20 High School recruits plan to do?

This feels like a rant looking in vain for any sort of substance to which to attach itself. We get it. You are like this guy:

The problem with Cal having to continually pilfer the portal is the number of players he has to rely on, not the quality. Yes, it sure looked like it might work in January but as Cal went to the half-court style in late February, it became pretty obvious why some of the transfers were playing at lesser programs the year before. Players like Grady and Toppin couldn't create in the half-court, the entire team struggled all year defensively against better competition, even Oscar. You also saw some of these guy buttholes tighten up in the tournament bc they weren't ready for the spotlight. Cal needs elite talent and the elite talent isn't in the portal from the way of Davidson and Arkansas State.

Here lies the conudrom. Cal has lost his recruiting fastball when it comes to getting multiple Top 10 players so he tried the portal but that didn't work out in the end when it comes to results. So what do you do and where do you go if you're Cal.
 

Cawood86_rivals

Heisman
Feb 20, 2005
36,711
64,715
0
The "Transfer Portal" era is really only two years old. So far the portal has produced players like Oscar Tschiebwe, the unamimous College Basketball Player Of The Year for Kentucky, as well as guys like Toppin, Grady, Wheeler and Fredrick who may not have lived up to our hopes but were all key players on a team that -- at its peak -- was arguably the best in the country. So I'm not sure what your beef is with the portal.

As for "Portal" players looking to maximize their value and move on -- What do you think the Top 20 High School recruits plan to do?

This feels like a rant looking in vain for any sort of substance to which to attach itself. We get it. You are like this guy:

How many tournament wins has it produced or SEC titles?
 

Cawood86_rivals

Heisman
Feb 20, 2005
36,711
64,715
0
Look around CBB. It’s happening everywhere, but of course the whiners on here think it is just Cal who is dealing with roster changes. The transfer portal has changed everything. Just an exhausting board to read nowadays. Here is some data to back it up for you slow learners.


If you're using Tucker to prove your point, you've already lost. Guy is more of a dangler than some of the folks on here.
 
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senonesy

All-American
Nov 30, 2017
4,173
8,512
113
If you're using Tucker to prove your point, you've already lost. Guy is more of a dangler than some of the folks on here.
It’s a literal list of players that have left early from other blue blood schools. Nothing for him to dangle. It is in black and white.
 

bigsmoothie

All-American
Sep 7, 2004
11,161
8,851
0
Essentially, JVC is now fully reliant and more importantly, dependent on the transfer portal, this is what his definition of the “Gold Standard” has been reduced to. Myself and many others have known he was a marginal, at best, game coach, though he was able to offset that early on with his recruiting, now we are without both for the most part. He’ll still get some great players, though they’ll likely never be part of a complete team, they’ll always be huge gaps and voids on the roster. The vast majority of the kids we’ll get will be trying to do one year and roll out…they’ll never be fully vested and therefore will mostly fall short of the collective goals of the team as they focus on their individual goals. A JVC Hallmark!
Grow up.
 

Bluefaithful

All-American
Mar 30, 2009
5,081
7,970
113
What has the transfer portal helped Cal do?
Sorry to you and all the Nancies today, I'm not talking to any stupid today. You want to be miserable go right ahead. I'm watching the Masters. Tiger is one under after 16. It's awesome. Oh yes idiot, Transfer portal brought Oscar, NPOY and Toppin. I like both of them.
 

HydroCat

Senior
Mar 30, 2022
214
442
0
Sorry to you and all the Nancies today, I'm not talking to any stupid today. You want to be miserable go right ahead. I'm watching the Masters. Tiger is one under after 16. It's awesome. Oh yes idiot, Transfer portal brought Oscar, NPOY and Toppin. I like both of them.
And Wheeler and Grady.
 

philstat

Heisman
Jan 3, 2004
10,922
10,423
56
Many keep using Kansas and Remy as an example, no comparison, he joined a very solid KU team that also had a first team AA on the roster and Self runs different defensive schemes (zones) and offensive sets, which are beyond Cal’s abilities.
 

Gold_Standard

Freshman
Mar 19, 2022
81
52
0
Essentially, JVC is now fully reliant and more importantly, dependent on the transfer portal, this is what his definition of the “Gold Standard” has been reduced to. Myself and many others have known he was a marginal, at best, game coach, though he was able to offset that early on with his recruiting, now we are without both for the most part. He’ll still get some great players, though they’ll likely never be part of a complete team, they’ll always be huge gaps and voids on the roster. The vast majority of the kids we’ll get will be trying to do one year and roll out…they’ll never be fully vested and therefore will mostly fall short of the collective goals of the team as they focus on their individual goals. A JVC Hallmark!
The transfer portal is another tool for coaches to utilize to build their teams. No one has done a better job of this than Self and Calipari and maybe Pearl. The bluebloods will use the lesser programs as feeder programs, similar to the pro leagues and the minors.
 

HagginHall1999

Heisman
Oct 19, 2018
16,175
28,752
113
The "Transfer Portal" era is really only two years old. So far the portal has produced players like Oscar Tschiebwe, the unamimous College Basketball Player Of The Year for Kentucky, as well as guys like Toppin, Grady, Wheeler and Fredrick who may not have lived up to our hopes but were all key players on a team that -- at its peak -- was arguably the best in the country. So I'm not sure what your beef is with the portal.

As for "Portal" players looking to maximize their value and move on -- What do you think the Top 20 High School recruits plan to do?

This feels like a rant looking in vain for any sort of substance to which to attach itself. We get it. You are like this guy:


There is some truth to this and to what @STL_Cat said. You are a true spin doctor.

Hard to argue that most of our transfer portal guys have been productive. I think the challenge is we haven't had a guy like Sharpe (well we did but didn't) to go with them. You plug those guys with a Top 5 pick and you may have something special.

I'd rather have the transfer portal guys that a 25-40 ranked Freshman though...that's for sure.
 

Bungalow Bill

All-Conference
Apr 8, 2007
2,048
3,894
113
What has the transfer portal helped Cal do?
Piss off the lunatic fringe. Oh wait. That's everything he's done. My bad. Will somebody please start another dump on Calipari thread. It's been at least 10 minutes.
 

HydroCat

Senior
Mar 30, 2022
214
442
0
Piss off the lunatic fringe. Oh wait. That's everything he's done. My bad. Will somebody please start another dump on Calipari thread. It's been at least 10 minutes.
Are you saying this entire board is mostly the lunatic fringe? Because polls here have been overwhelmingly dissatisfied with Cal.

If so, why are you here?
 
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Bungalow Bill

All-Conference
Apr 8, 2007
2,048
3,894
113
Are you saying this entire board is mostly the lunatic fringe? Because polls here have been overwhelmingly dissatisfied with Cal.

If so, why are you here?
A lot of it is definitely is. There are people trolling every thread saying the same hateful stuff. After posting the same thing 100 times it becomes lunacy. I 'm here because I'm a UK alum, played sports there and want to be. Do I need permission just because I like to support our guys, staff included?

This poll seems to say it's less overwhelmingly anti Cal than you might think. The people who wait and see what happens next year without crucifying anybody tend to be less vocal I think.

 

Bluefaithful

All-American
Mar 30, 2009
5,081
7,970
113
I understand you're uncomfortable hearing the truth. I'm sure you're not coming to this board and saying the same stuff over and over again, amirite? LOL
I live in my truth, my life. My family is Safe. I'm enjoying every second I have with them. I do not put all my happiness in a basket with college basketball. I am a huge fan of KY Basketball. The crying over and over. There is no truth to that. We lost. Everyone lost but Kansas. We beat the crap out of them. No injuries down the stretch and we are talking different outcome. But, we are knocking on the door, we were close. Go spend some time with your family. Plz don't tell me you're walking around saying "Wheeler and Grady, Wheeler and Grady, Wheeler and Grady"

Go Cats
 

Catman100

Heisman
Jan 3, 2003
7,073
10,565
96
The problem with Cal having to continually pilfer the portal is the number of players he has to rely on, not the quality. Yes, it sure looked like it might work in January but as Cal went to the half-court style in late February, it became pretty obvious why some of the transfers were playing at lesser programs the year before. Players like Grady and Toppin couldn't create in the half-court, the entire team struggled all year defensively against better competition, even Oscar. You also saw some of these guy buttholes tighten up in the tournament bc they weren't ready for the spotlight. Cal needs elite talent and the elite talent isn't in the portal from the way of Davidson and Arkansas State.

Here lies the conudrom. Cal has lost his recruiting fastball when it comes to getting multiple Top 10 players so he tried the portal but that didn't work out in the end when it comes to results. So what do you do and where do you go if you're Cal.
This is EXACTLY correct.... Every bit of it.
 
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cats#1again

All-Conference
Nov 27, 2011
8,011
4,587
0
The portal also produced Wheeler and Grady. How'd that work out for us?
Pretty dang good
One was 2nd team all sec and avg 7 assists per game
The other led the sec in 3 point fg% until the last 2 weeks of season
Lol
 

Joerules19

Senior
Sep 7, 2015
1,360
683
0
Many keep using Kansas and Remy as an example, no comparison, he joined a very solid KU team that also had a first team AA on the roster and Self runs different defensive schemes (zones) and offensive sets, which are beyond Cal’s abilities.
Time will tell on the portal. To me, right now it seems like the portal can be used to add a key missing piece??? Without looking it up (the final four teams), KU got Remy, UNC had Manik. Did Duke or Nova have multiple impact players that were found in the portal? I am just thinking out loud but it may seem that you can pick up a piece but if you are depending on it for multiple impact players to lead you to a final 4, that might not be the path. With that being said, we are only in year 2 of it so the sample size is small
 
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