I got my bulldozer warming up to tear down his house if the need should arise.
CBS Sports’ Norlander says he believes Cal is done at UK
- Thread starter JFCats22
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This. I would LOVE to have Pearl as our coach next season ; talk about the excitement that would instantly bring to the Bluegrass!!!!
I have 2 bad knees and a bad heart, but I'm willing to take the chance on helping you get him here. I'm ready to go!! Either him or Hurley (which is highly unlikely).
Just considering the chatter about "buyout" into consideration. Nothing more. It's time for him to step-down now!
I get this- most definitely understand. I’ll cancel my season tickets if he is the coach. Might do it anyway. Guy is a liar and hypocrite/rat. Just trying to hang on long enough for Cal to get out of town.
Oakland’s pays their coach $330k a year plus some bonuses that will equate to less than $500k per year. Our assistants make $900k, $600k, and $350k.
We were beat by a program that spent $17.6 million on their entire athletics program (all sports, all genders). UK’s 2023 operating expenses for men’s basketball was $23,6 million. Embarrassing isn’t really the word to describe this debacle.
We were beat by a program that spent $17.6 million on their entire athletics program (all sports, all genders). UK’s 2023 operating expenses for men’s basketball was $23,6 million. Embarrassing isn’t really the word to describe this debacle.
Pearl is an egotistcal POS lol, but so is Cal. The difference is Pearl is hungry and energetic and wants to win. Cal...., well we all know who and what Cal is, no need to beat a dead horse in another thread.
Pitino? Yeah, I's even take him for a couple of years at this point.
I'm no troll and I'm not gullible and definitely not getting paid for this opinion.
I get the unhappiness with Calipari....but...
Isn't recruiting about 60-70% of being a successful D-1 coach? When UNC was eating Dukes lunch in the 2000s, the Duke fans were saying Coach K is behind the times. UNC is getting the players and Roy's dominating. Flip the switch and K goes all-in on one and done (follows Calipari's lead and surpasses him). and the rivalry flips towards Duke and in terms of popularity, is ahead of UNC. Got all those NBA players for recruits to see.
So Calipari continues to bring talent to Lexington and won't stop. Why would you tell him to stop or tell someone else to come in and recruit top 50-75 players when you can get top 20 players?
Okay, so now you get all these young, super talented players. Now it's about what you tell them.
You tell them and coach them just like I said above. You ease the constant talk about the NBA and the greatest day of UK history being the NBA draft. That's terrible. Calipari's pay check is not from the NBA although if you listen to him long enough, youd think Adam Silver is his boss, but instead he is being paid by YOU...you Kentucky fans. You Kentucky fans want banners 1st! (and so do Carolina fans and Duke and KU). The byproduct is NBA success of players.
Anyone who says Calipari is some great great coach is mistaken. He's a great recruiter. He doesn't make NBA talent. He brings it in. Anthony Davis? Please. AD, Wall, Cousins, Monk, Fox, KAT were NBA talents before arriving in Lexington. Kyle Wiltjer? not so much.
The messenging? Tweak it, not remove the messenger. Calipari just needs to focus on silencing the NBA talk once practices start and the last game is played. Focus all eyes and minds on banners.
The interview prior to the Oakland game, Calipari is bragging about 73% of his players get to the NBA and most get 2nd contracts and he's helped them make $4 billion with a B...
why say that stuff on the eve of the NCAA Tournament game vs Oakland? It's unbelievable. He took the focus off the team and distracted his players with money and NBA...on the eve of the game!
Who is Kentucky going to get? Who are the best names in the sport not already at a blue blood? Scott Drew? Nate Oats? Those 2 coaches get a OAD or 2 but that's it. Can you UK fans get excited if you aren't getting 5 star recruiting classes? You will have to get used to top 75 players then. and then you will have to watch over the next 2 or 3 season as these non-OAD develop and take their lumps and the team take its lumps. Do you have the patience?
Another coach will not win immediately. Not even everybody's favorites...Billy Donovan and Brad Stevens. It will take them a couple of seasons to get new players and develop a winning team.
The easiest and I'd argue to most effective approach is for some influential boosters, the AD and Calipari to sit down and for those not named Calipari to discuss his current messenging. It messes up the mentality of his players.
Let's say you are an accounting or engineering major and are in the 1st semester of your final year... after on campus interviews, you earn some job offers and accept one and you're start date is after graduation in May. How hard will you study during that senior year? You'll probably coast a little bit, sleep in once or twice, not go to this study group like you did the first 3 years. You've got your job waiting for you.
That's human nature.
Your guys clearly play hard but can they play harder? work harder to get around screens a little faster to stop jump shooters? Getting 3-4 inches closer to a shooter can make the difference between a make or miss. Can your players study game film of opponents a few more minutes? Nail down their defensive assignments better? Shoot a few hundred more shots a day?
Calipari doesn't need to be run out of town. He needs to be refocused on who signs and contributes towards his pay check. And how to psychologically set up his team to succeed. The talent is there. The minds are there. But not the proper mindset and motivation. The NBA talk is absolutely a distraction.
Calipari, instead, is too focused on trying to set up his individual players for post UK success. and doesn't talk enough about winning games and hanging banners.
It's messaging.
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The college basketball landscape is unrecognizable from the last time Donovan coached in college. There is zero evidence that says he knows how to build a program in the NIL and transfer portal era. We need a guy who is familiar with and can navigate the current system, not someone who won a title almost 20 years ago.
Like Jay Bilas said post game...why is UK defending Oakland's shooter in the manner last night? That kid, I mean, man, made 120 three pointers during the season and only made 8 two-pointers. 2! So why trail him around screens?
And watching the highlights...how does 7'1" Onyenso let a clearly shorter player keep scoring on him in the post?
I would look at Calipari's Xs and Os as well as his player development as culprits more than just his players are young. Who coaches your big men? Why is Onyenso display poor shot block technique? Just put your arms straight up and jump straight up. Don't swing wildly (and late) at the ball and wiff.
This version of UK had super "old" Mitchell and Reeves. There's enough experienced talent, to join the inexperienced, to win 1st game of the NCAAT.
And watching the highlights...how does 7'1" Onyenso let a clearly shorter player keep scoring on him in the post?
I would look at Calipari's Xs and Os as well as his player development as culprits more than just his players are young. Who coaches your big men? Why is Onyenso display poor shot block technique? Just put your arms straight up and jump straight up. Don't swing wildly (and late) at the ball and wiff.
This version of UK had super "old" Mitchell and Reeves. There's enough experienced talent, to join the inexperienced, to win 1st game of the NCAAT.
He’s also a northeastern guy who has had a history of depression and doesn’t handle media/fan criticism very well. That sounds like a bad fit for UK.
