Cal "It never entered my mind that we were going to lose"

[YouKay]

Lot in common, I believe in the Super Bowl ending & our loss

2 coaches wanting their favorite player to be the hero, at the expense of the greater good of doing what it takes to win the game.

I'm not saying that - but the situations are similar. Pete Carroll didn't "want" his QB to be the hero, he had faith in him because he had come through in those situations so many times before. That is how Cal felt about the Harrisons. He trusted the guys that had earned his trust. Nothing wrong with that IMO.

I probably won't ever watch that game again, but I remember thinking that Bo Ryan had surely watched UK enough to know that the Harrisons were going to have the ball on the last several possessions, Andrew was going to start running down the shot clock and then driving and trying to draw fouls, and Aaron was going to be looking for his shot. So they took those things away. And it worked. In fact they made some effective adjustments early to Andrew, he had 11 points in the first 13 minutes and then only two the rest of the game. Many coaches, including Mike Krzyzewski, would have noticed that and gone with someone else, but Cal sticks with his guys.

 

[YouKay]

Kay, I think that, if not most of the year, at the end of the season you would prefer Ulis and Booker much more. If Cal was really trying to feed the ball inside my guess is Tyler could have, of course Jackson was bullying him on the defensive end.

Of course I wish Ulis and Booker had been on the floor at the end. But there is no way on Earth that was going to happen. Not the way Cal works.

 

[EvilMD]

Cal is still covering for the Harrisons. He expected them to win the game. They were bigger and better than Wisconsin's guards. They won the Notre Dame game and he had no reason to think they were not going to win this one. They were playing in their 80th college game and he did not think he needed to call timeouts to tell them what to do. But they didn't get it done. End of story.

Thank you.

 

[Mojocat]

I probably won't ever watch that game again, but I remember thinking that Bo Ryan had surely watched UK enough to know that the Harrisons were going to have the ball on the last several possessions, Andrew was going to start running down the shot clock and then driving and trying to draw fouls, and Aaron was going to be looking for his shot.

That was going on, but it was secondary. I didn't really notice it in real time, but after the game, several interviews suggested strongly they were looking to get the ball to Townes down the stretch. I can't fault that strategy, considering he's the one true star on this team, will be the overall first player picked in the draft, and we saw how that worked the previous game. Watching it again, I see that we were pretty clearly trying to force it inside to Townes, and either because Bo had scouted that or because he had the size and length to prevent it (probably both), we just couldn't get it to him. In the end, we were where you say - with Andrew dribbling and 6 seconds on the shot clock. And I suspect Cal was comfortable with that plan b since plan a didn't pan out. I'm not the biggest fan of the Harrisons. I have said often I can't see either having a career to speak of in the NBA. Their games frustrated me in several ways on many occasions. But I will say this: they were clutch. In the closing seconds of a tight game, or on a big stage, they were the kids you could count on. I won't complain about the Harrison's being Plan B in the waning moments of a final four game, considering their history.

All the complaining about game management down the stretch. To me, the biggest culprit in the loss, if you want to assign blame, is the rotation. We played 9 all year, it had a decided impact on teams - who usually wilted down the stretch. Then we get to a rotation of 7 in the tournament. Just like that a huge advantage is gone. But, just like grinding out close games, shortening the rotation is who Cal is, it's what he does. Reminds of the nature of the complaints about Pitino after the '95 UNC loss. They played that game the way his teams played. Doesn't make sense to complain about that......

 

[wildcatdonf]

We wanted to get the ball to KAT. He was our stallion. We couldn't/didn't do it. Get off of Cal's azz. Enjoy remembering that 38-1 season. Let this downer game go. We had a wonderful season.

 

[brianpoe]

We wanted to get the ball to KAT. He was our stallion. We couldn't/didn't do it. Get off of Cal's azz. Enjoy remembering that 38-1 season. Let this downer game go. We had a wonderful season.

Stop being such an angry sunshine pumper.

When was that photo taken? I'm guessing mid 70's?

 

[wildcatdonf]

You're dang good. 1974. I was 31 years old.

 

[wildcatdonf]

Sunshine pumper I am, but not angry though. Frustrated to see all of the negative posts.

 

[brianpoe]

You're dang good. 1974. I was 31 years old.

Great photo brother!

 

[EvilMD]

You look like Thomas Haden Church.

 

[brianpoe]

You look like Thomas Haden Church.

Don could have been on Starsky and Hutch with that mug. Those bell-bottomed, boob-tube wearing chicks would have been all over him.

 

[wildcatdonf]

You look like Thomas Haden Church.

That dude resembles my daddy.

 

[kybassfan]

Wow, coming back to this thread it sure seems we're reading a lot into the statement: "It never entered my mind that we were going to lose".

He didn't continue by saying, 'so I gotta make the Harrisons's look good' or 'so I gotta remember not to play Ulis and Booker' or 'so I sent out for pizza', or 'so I starting signing autographs' or 'so I already started not watching Duke film' or 'so I took a nap'. Looks like to me he was merely sharing a transient thought he had during the game. I have transient thoughts during games, particularly after they flash a view of Ashley Judd. I won't share those.

After the bashing he's gotten in this thread I suspect he probably learned his lesson and it will never happen again. I don't expect to be privy to many if any more of his transient thoughts, even those involving Ashley.

And I STILL SAY Pitino should have put a guy on Hill's inbound pass!!!!

 

[jrm693]

That dude resembles my daddy.

He also bears a striking resemblance to that guy who was the dad of the Brady Bunch can't remember his name Florence Henderson played the moma.

 

[Joerupp]

Don could have been on Starsky and Hutch with that mug. Those bell-bottomed, boob-tube wearing chicks would have been all over him.

Would have? Heck, they were! Haven't you seen any of his movies. Weak plots but lots of good music and action.

 

[chevyman 50]

Wis. just outplayed us the last five min. of the game, and the Harrison twins did not play well during that time, WCS had one of his worse games of the season, but I figured we would still win because we had won so many close games all yr..

 

[The_Answer1313]

Wis. just outplayed us the last five min. of the game, and the Harrison twins did not play well during that time, WCS had one of his worse games of the season, but I figured we would still win because we had won so many close games all yr..

Right. Unlike the Notre Dame game where we executed down the stretch, we just did not in the Wisconsin game. It happens. It's hurts but it happens.

 

[KyFaninNC]

By the time Cal retires, UK will literally have twice as many NBA players as the next best school and most likely 5+ perennial all-stars, maybe as many as 8 or 9 depending on when he decides to leave.

Right now, Davis, Wall, and Boogie are going to be in there every year for well over a decade, and Bledsoe, Knight are knocking right at that door, and you have reasonable shots with Rondo, Towns, Randle, Nerlens, Kanter, Skal - and then maybe one of Willie, Young, MKG, Briscoe, and then we haven't even touched on recruits going forward into the future.

We could literally have 1/3 of the All Star game when he retires.

Tell me that doesn't benefit the program. It won't last forever, but do you remember what it was like recruiting against UNC in the early-mid 2000s? They were nearly doing what we are now, because they had such a sick NBA alum roster - even over coaching instability, they had great talent coming in

Now obviously, it's in our best interest to get a guy who can recruit in his own right, but you're crazy if you don't think kids growing up watching the NBA and seeing a bunch of stars with UK announced as their alma mater wouldn't make a difference.

Really? This what you care about? I am a UK fan, not a NBA fan. Once the guys leave, I don't keep up with them,but I keep up with UK basketball year round. I want championships, piss on the NBA.

 

[bookerfan66]

One thing that does make me laugh is people have a fit if anything negative is said about Cal but find it perfectly fine to bash the Harrisons and blame them for the loss.Kind of a double standard.

 

[brianpoe]

Really? This what you care about? I am a UK fan, not a NBA fan. Once the guys leave, I don't keep up with them,but I keep up with UK basketball year round. I want championships, piss on the NBA.

I think those talking of the NBA are expressing the fact that recruits are zeroed in on the NBA and if we have a lot of NBA players it will help with recruiting. Shouldn't be too difficult to comprehend.

 

[Jkwo]

Really? This what you care about? I am a UK fan, not a NBA fan. Once the guys leave, I don't keep up with them,but I keep up with UK basketball year round. I want championships, piss on the NBA.

Woooooooooooossssssh

 

[KyFaninNC]

I think those talking of the NBA are expressing the fact that recruits are zeroed in on the NBA and if we have a lot of NBA players it will help with recruiting. Shouldn't be too difficult to comprehend.

I understand that. but if that is the case it is not working this year. Personally I rather have 2-3 OAD mixed in with some guys that will stay 3-4 years. thats why I kinda like the guys we got coming in next year. I'll take some early losses to see the team improve as the year goes on. We did nto improve much, in fact our D and rebounding got worse his year.

 

[brianpoe]

I understand that. but if that is the case it is not working this year. Personally I rather have 2-3 OAD mixed in with some guys that will stay 3-4 years. thats why I kinda like the guys we got coming in next year. I'll take some early losses to see the team improve as the year goes on. We did nto improve much, in fact our D and rebounding got worse his year.

We still have a top 2-3 class again this year and probably #1 if we sign another high level kid, so it's hard to say it isn't working this year. It doesn't matter what we want, Cal is going to do his thing and it's hard to argue with the results.

I do not disagree we didn't get better on defense and rebounding at year's end. Of course we played a couple very good opponents.

I think we need to wait until recruiting is over to pass any judgement.

As to guys we have coming in, I'd say Skal and probably Briscoe are both OAD's don't you?

 

[michaeluk26]

One thing that does make me laugh is people have a fit if anything negative is said about Cal but find it perfectly fine to bash the Harrisons and blame them for the loss.Kind of a double standard.

The Harrison's are always being blamed for everything even though they not only kept us in that game, but saved our bacon numerous times the last 2 years. Watch, people will blame them for things that go wrong in next years games. That's how irrational the Harrison haters are.

 

[yoshukai]

Right. Unlike the Notre Dame game where we executed down the stretch, we just did not in the Wisconsin game. It happens. It's hurts but it happens.

I was thinking Ulis was in the game at crunch time against Notre Dame .

 

[crestcat]

Lets start hanging banners for the # of players drafted, burning couches in the streets of Lexington

That will be great for the players--which I am happy about--but I don't see any mention of any National Championships in there anywhere...Where does that fit into your equation?...Dosen't that matter at all anymore with what the fan base wants to see also?

 

[Jkwo]

That will be great for the players--which I am happy about--but I don't see any mention of any National Championships in there anywhere...Where does that fit into your equation?...Dosen't that matter at all anymore with what the fan base wants to see also?

How is it possible that 3 different people failed or refused to read a significant chunk of that post?

Cal has us on a post-season success run as good as any in the history of UK, and while he's doing it, he's turning NBA broadcasts into UK propaganda fests for up and coming kids who grow up with ESPN on 24/7, like it was for UNC in the late 90s/early 2000s - again, even when they had their worst seasons in modern history with rough coaching waters, they still brought in recruits because of their league presence.

What in the world is so hard to understand about that?

And the guy who disagreed with me before you made his case by saying "it's not working now" - based on us having only two top 10 players and another high 4 star along with possibly 1 or 2 more coming in.


Do you guys understand how insane you're sounding?

 

[hoodro]

Didn't read the entire thread, so this may have already been said, but I like that in a coach. If a coach lets doubt and the thought of losing creep in, then that mindset could be picked up on by the players, ultimately leading to the players having doubts and thoughts of losing. It's a coach's job to always make his players think/feel that they can win under any circumstance, and by purveying a losing mentally - either directly or indirectly - he's doing them an injustice.

 

[AGEE11]

Thing is, Cal's strategy was sound. You are up with limited time against a very good 3 point shooting team. You have to assume they will hit a 3 every possession while you score 2.Not doing so would set the team up to lose. So if they are gaining a point each possession, you limit their possessions.

The strategy was sound and good, the execution was not. Same strategy closed out the Notre Dame game a week before.

You also do not assume 3 of the "best" officials in the game give them a 37 second shot clock.

 

[joester5612]

By the time Cal retires, UK will literally have twice as many NBA players as the next best school and most likely 5+ perennial all-stars, maybe as many as 8 or 9 depending on when he decides to leave.

Right now, Davis, Wall, and Boogie are going to be in there every year for well over a decade, and Bledsoe, Knight are knocking right at that door, and you have reasonable shots with Rondo, Towns, Randle, Nerlens, Kanter, Skal - and then maybe one of Willie, Young, MKG, Briscoe, and then we haven't even touched on recruits going forward into the future.

We could literally have 1/3 of the All Star game when he retires.

Tell me that doesn't benefit the program. It won't last forever, but do you remember what it was like recruiting against UNC in the early-mid 2000s? They were nearly doing what we are now, because they had such a sick NBA alum roster - even over coaching instability, they had great talent coming in

Now obviously, it's in our best interest to get a guy who can recruit in his own right, but you're crazy if you don't think kids growing up watching the NBA and seeing a bunch of stars with UK announced as their alma mater wouldn't make a difference.

I agree with your post, I love the fact that we have great players in the NBA, I have always closely followed our guys in the league. However, you also helped prove my point in regards to Cal and his ability to close; with so much talent coming through, one title in 6 years is not overwhelming. I understand we cant win the title every year, but I also believe when you have the best team and you keep getting close, you have to win your share of those. One final thought, you mentioned UNC and how well they recruited in the mid 2000's and you are correct they did; with that great recruiting Roy got 2 championships in a five year period. When they have the best team, they usually win it; us on the other hand, that has not been the case.

 

[Jkwo]

I agree with your post, I love the fact that we have great players in the NBA, I have always closely followed our guys in the league. However, you also helped prove my point in regards to Cal and his ability to close; with so much talent coming through, one title in 6 years is not overwhelming. I understand we cant win the title every year, but I also believe when you have the best team and you keep getting close, you have to win your share of those. One final thought, you mentioned UNC and how well they recruited in the mid 2000's and you are correct they did; with that great recruiting Roy got 2 championships in a five year period. When they have the best team, they usually win it; us on the other hand, that has not been the case.

That's fine, but once you get to the F4, you're playing 1 seeds, sometimes great ones, like UNLV did in '91 vs Duke or like we did, facing the highest ranked Kenpom Offense ever in Wisconsin.

There's no team in CBB history that that Wiscy team couldn't take a game from in a 7 game series - and unfortunately in college, you only get that one game, not 7 or even 5 or 3.

All you have to do is look at another first ballot HOF UNC coach in Dean Smith to see that it's no guarantee, no matter how many first round draft picks you have, and he coached at an elite school much, much longer than Cal has.

 

[kybassfan]

That's fine, but once you get to the F4, you're playing 1 seeds, sometimes great ones, like UNLV did in '91 vs Duke or like we did, facing the highest ranked Kenpom Offense ever in Wisconsin.

There's no team in CBB history that that Wiscy team couldn't take a game from in a 7 game series - and unfortunately in college, you only get that one game, not 7 or even 5 or 3.

All you have to do is look at another first ballot HOF UNC coach in Dean Smith to see that it's no guarantee, no matter how many first round draft picks you have, and he coached at an elite school much, much longer than Cal has.

JKWO, good post. I just wanted to add an additional point regarding Dean Smith and the comparison of talent. Smith's teams did have some great athletes, plus they were more experienced for the most part. Calipari's results has been with some of the youngest teams in the NCAA for the years he has been here. Even this year, we returned a backcourt of sophmores. Prior years, we often had a freshman point guard. I'm frankly amazed at the very high degree of success we've had with our experience. You don't accomplish that without a considerable skill at managing a game (x's and o's) while teaching your young players at the same time.

 

[Mojocat]

Yes, there are two reasons why the Calipari/Smith analogy does not work. One, Dean was at UNC for 22 years before he won a title, and his reputation for not winning "enough" given his unreal talent level was earned over 36 years. Way too soon for that here, even in a microwave society. Two, he could stockpile talent in a way Cal has not. Example, Dean gets a class headlined by James Worthy, next year gets a class headelined by Sam Perkins, the next year a class featuring Jordan. So in year 3, he has them all - Worthy, Perkins and Jordan. Cal loses the headliners every year, no stockpiling....

 

[.S&C.]

Yes, there are two reasons why the Calipari/Smith analogy does not work. One, Dean was at UNC for 22 years before he won a title, and his reputation for not winning "enough" given his unreal talent level was earned over 36 years. Way too soon for that here, even in a microwave society. Two, he could stockpile talent in a way Cal has not. Example, Dean gets a class headlined by James Worthy, next year gets a class headelined by Sam Perkins, the next year a class featuring Jordan. So in year 3, he has them all - Worthy, Perkins and Jordan. Cal loses the headliners every year, no stockpiling....

 

[Jkwo]

Yes, there are two reasons why the Calipari/Smith analogy does not work. One, Dean was at UNC for 22 years before he won a title, and his reputation for not winning "enough" given his unreal talent level was earned over 36 years. Way too soon for that here, even in a microwave society. Two, he could stockpile talent in a way Cal has not. Example, Dean gets a class headlined by James Worthy, next year gets a class headelined by Sam Perkins, the next year a class featuring Jordan. So in year 3, he has them all - Worthy, Perkins and Jordan. Cal loses the headliners every year, no stockpiling....

Well, considering I was using the Smith analogy to give Cal the benefit of the doubt, I obviously don't disagree with you.

The point is that what Cal has done is remarkable, and other legendary recruiting HOF coaches have certainly done less relative to their time at an elite university.

 

[TangledUpInWildcatBlue]

All I can say to that statement is REALLY?!

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

If we go up 6 its over. I think UK chocked under pressure and it pains me to say that but that left handed prayer shot by Aaron was the proof.