I feel like he loves to "Lucy" us. Gives us a taste of what can be with the Auburn win and then gives us LSU. I honestly think he's doing it on purpose. He's untouchable and he's rubbing our noses in it.
Is Cal toying with us?
- Thread starter Boyd94
- Start date
I don’t know, I think he’s truly just a washed up coach who refuses to adjust.
NO!!!!!
He just SUCKS at coaching in today's game!!!
He creates a roster that makes it difficult to succeed now.
I mentioned this in another thread that our top 3 recruits(Edwards, Wagner, Bradshaw) were on the FREAKIN BENCH for the last 20 seconds!!!
Cal is still stuck in 2010 and teaches to help on ALL drives and leaves 3 pt shooters WIDE open!! Then you add how HORRIBLE he is at teaching Pick-and-Roll defense and ROTATING, so we give up TOO MANY offensive rebounds to win close games!!!
He has become FAT and LAZY!!!
He just SUCKS at coaching in today's game!!!
He creates a roster that makes it difficult to succeed now.
I mentioned this in another thread that our top 3 recruits(Edwards, Wagner, Bradshaw) were on the FREAKIN BENCH for the last 20 seconds!!!
Cal is still stuck in 2010 and teaches to help on ALL drives and leaves 3 pt shooters WIDE open!! Then you add how HORRIBLE he is at teaching Pick-and-Roll defense and ROTATING, so we give up TOO MANY offensive rebounds to win close games!!!
He has become FAT and LAZY!!!
He's of course not trying to lose, but it's clear he HATES everyone and everything associated with being at Kentucky (fans, media, athletics admin, etc). When your primary motivator is your hatred on the inside of the program, versus the outside noise like it was from 2009 through the late 20 teens, it's a recipe for disaster.
4-22 from 3 for Auburn, 9-20 for LSU. Both teams had plenty of open looks. Auburn just missed.
You have to look at it from Cal's perspective. It's about getting these guys drafted. Who cares if you lose 10+ games? June is what really matters. Winning comes secondary to draft stock. We're a farm league for the NBA. So no, losing a mid week game at LSU doesn't bother Cal
Yup, Fox basically said Cal could care less about winning college games.
C'mon, now. Cal's ego is HUGE. I guarantee you all this losing is killing him.
Saying he doesn't care is just silly. The problem is, he can't fix it. Doesn't know how. The game passed him by.
Saying he doesn't care is just silly. The problem is, he can't fix it. Doesn't know how. The game passed him by.
Nope, it's the dance known as the Cal 3 step shuffle. 1. Hear the fan unrest after loss to unranked team. 2. Quits being lazy and actually game plans for ranked team. Wins. 3. Fan unrest subsides and it's back to rolling the ball out, AAU ball, no game plan, and about draft night. (Repeat dance step for going on 15 years)
As they should have been. Problem was 2 of the 3 (Edwards and Wagner were on the floor during the 15-2 run early in the 2nd half which wiped out our lead. Wagner needs to playing 10 minutes per game as a backup and the same for Edwards. Bradshaw needs to sit with the walk-ons. Z needs to be coached and instructed and play maybe 10-15/game between now and end of season to see if he can get up to speed but it’s obvious he is receiving zero instruction from staff on what to do. Reeves/dilly/shep/theiro/mitchell/Ugo/Z is our team that will give us the best chance at success. Wagner/edwards/burks can offer spot duty when needed.
I think he for sure wants to win. Anyone who says he doesn't want to win is just crazy. But he can't reach these kids the way he once did. I also get that he has a sense of desperation these days because his ego has taken a major hit. I honestly think he prefers playing on the road. He no longer coaches loose at rupp and I think he feels the heat.
Which was my point by posting that!!!
When the top 3 ranked kids Cal brings in can't be relied upon at the end of games, UK will suffer and lose. Cal has been bailed out by Antonio, Reed and Rob or we would lose by double digits and have twice as many losses.
Cal's OAD system is getting beat by even MEDIOCRE teams with players that won't even get a SNIFF at the NBA!!!
I kinda disagree , this new ( BAD) version of Cal isnt the motivated guy he was 10-15 years ago. Heck I'm 57 working 2 days a week and its a challenge to maintain my level of productivity .. at I least I care . How can the entire state know simple things this moron cant get ? Because the losing is NOT killing him .
Well he's clearly promoting an "us against them" mentality within the program. Us against the rest of the world is fine, but it feels like he's also promoting an "us against our own fans" mentality as well. Just toxic.
Then the SOB doesn't need to be a college coach.
Especially at the University of Kentucky.
Get him out of here. Now!!
Cal’s psychotic demeanor on the sideline indicate a coach who desperately wants to win. He just isn’t smart enough and/or is too stubborn to coach his team to wins in evenly matched games
He wants to win but the problem is he wants to win “his way” instead of doing what it takes to win which is a very big difference. If he really wanted to win he would do what it takes so there is definitely some gray area in this as far as his “wants to win” is concerned.
I think he is starting to be reactive rather than proactive. The problem with that is he only reacts after another loss and those are piling up. I thought he said we would just go small. Didn't he say that a couple weeks back? Last night he went big during an important stretch. But to play devils advocate, the game was essentially lost in the first half and the 5 min stretch after we went up 15. I believe we were small during those spells. He has to coach them through bad nights and he isn't doing a good job of that. Last night was a bad night.
Bingo
That’s why we beat Auburn
They just couldn’t hit anything
Especially in the first 10 minutes
Cal cannot get out of his own way. He knows Wagner/edwards/bradshaw are not key to this teams success yet he continues starting 2 of the 3 and Bradshaw has no business playing any minutes at all. 48 minutes for these 3 last night. 9 points (all Edwards) 4 rebounds (3 by Wagner). They are providing nothing but cal will not stop playing them. Seeing Ugo/bradshaw in at the same time again last night for about a 3 minute stretch, I mean good lord!!!!
Y'all think last night was a coaching loss?
Even though we scored on almost every out of time out play?
Mixed in some zone even.
Cal told them to miss lay ups and dunks and wide open 3’s? He told Sheppard to pass up open shots?
He told them to just throw the ball into the stands?
I’m as disappointed as anyone in a loss. But it’s not always on the coach.
The UConn fans that post here don’t blame Hurley for losses. So they can be objective except when it’s Cal.
This team is a work in progress. And the finished product will be great.
There are posters here pretending to be UK fans.
Here’s a quote from the game thread last night;
“I hope this team loses in the first game of the SEC tourney and then loses the first game in the NCAA tourney…”
That’s a UK fan?
No frickin way??
Even though we scored on almost every out of time out play?
Mixed in some zone even.
Cal told them to miss lay ups and dunks and wide open 3’s? He told Sheppard to pass up open shots?
He told them to just throw the ball into the stands?
I’m as disappointed as anyone in a loss. But it’s not always on the coach.
The UConn fans that post here don’t blame Hurley for losses. So they can be objective except when it’s Cal.
This team is a work in progress. And the finished product will be great.
There are posters here pretending to be UK fans.
Here’s a quote from the game thread last night;
“I hope this team loses in the first game of the SEC tourney and then loses the first game in the NCAA tourney…”
That’s a UK fan?
No frickin way??
Every loss has one thing in common, plenty of blame to go around. Last night the kids played shitty. Cal didn't get them straightened out. It could have been poor prep or maybe just a bad night. It matters not, Cal is the coach and he will always have to answer for his team. Teams like UCONN, Duke, UNC, etc are in the honeymoon phase with their coaches. Cal would have gotten the same grace early in his tenure. Folks around here expect more and they are right to expect better than we are getting. We do have some loony fans that would just assume see kentucky lose so they can bitch about it. We also have some loony fans with their head in the sand. It takes all types I guess.
You spent a lot of time saying this was going be a 1 seed team. What’s your prediction now?
His lack of actual coaching, though, shows he isn't motivated enough to do anything more than get agitated on the sidelines.
How much does the basketball team pay you to post on here?
That’s the same guy that said we didn’t need Reeves to come back.
you know how there are people that hate their job but they stay in it because its got good health insurance and a 401K?
I'm convinced Cal hates Barnhart, he hates the fans, he hates being in Lexington and the only thing that brings him pleasure is putting kids in the NBA.
He knows at this point he really can't do that anywhere else so he stays
and this is reflected in every win or loss.
I will submit that a coach that has 3 straight losses at Rupp isn't prioritising winning and there isn't a single person that will convince me otherwise. He hates being here to the extent that he just isn't motivated in doing what it takes to win, especially if its contrary to what he enjoys doing. Wins are a by-product of his coaching approach, he doesn't coach to win. I shouldn't have to explain what that means to anyone paying attention.
He sounded like a guy just wanting to yell a big F.U. to everyone after the Auburn game.
He just wants to do what he is motivated to do and is highly irritated at anyone holding him accountable for what he doesn't. That irritation includes having to appear like he wakes up every morning caring about Kentucky basketball as a title contending team.
and Mitch just hides every day hoping it all goes away
I'm convinced Cal hates Barnhart, he hates the fans, he hates being in Lexington and the only thing that brings him pleasure is putting kids in the NBA.
He knows at this point he really can't do that anywhere else so he stays
and this is reflected in every win or loss.
I will submit that a coach that has 3 straight losses at Rupp isn't prioritising winning and there isn't a single person that will convince me otherwise. He hates being here to the extent that he just isn't motivated in doing what it takes to win, especially if its contrary to what he enjoys doing. Wins are a by-product of his coaching approach, he doesn't coach to win. I shouldn't have to explain what that means to anyone paying attention.
He sounded like a guy just wanting to yell a big F.U. to everyone after the Auburn game.
He just wants to do what he is motivated to do and is highly irritated at anyone holding him accountable for what he doesn't. That irritation includes having to appear like he wakes up every morning caring about Kentucky basketball as a title contending team.
and Mitch just hides every day hoping it all goes away
He's never been a great x and o's guy. He's a very good recruiter but an awful roster builder. The dude literally recruits like I did when I was 15 and played NCAA Football, just go after the highest rated 5 star players you think will come and fill in any gaps with 4 stars. He pays no attention to position, style of play, or experience needs. He cares not about the players skill sets, just that rating.
With that being said, I think this roster could actually be very good, with someone who has basketball IQ and cares about winning more than draft picks. But that's not Cal. He has no idea what to do with what he has, and would rather pleasure himself with thoughts of how many NBA all stars played for him as opposed to actually figuring shit out and winning games. That's just too much work for a measly 9 million a year. Ain't nobody got time for that.
With that being said, I think this roster could actually be very good, with someone who has basketball IQ and cares about winning more than draft picks. But that's not Cal. He has no idea what to do with what he has, and would rather pleasure himself with thoughts of how many NBA all stars played for him as opposed to actually figuring shit out and winning games. That's just too much work for a measly 9 million a year. Ain't nobody got time for that.
The ironic thing is, he isn’t even getting players drafted at a good clip anymore. This is a breakdown from the previous three drafts, petty bad for a guy who touts it so much.
2021
#22- Isaiah Jackson
#51- BJ Boston
2022
#7- Shaedon Sharpe**
#29- TyTy Washington
2023
#10- Cason Wallace
#58- Chris Livingston
His highest draft pick, was a guy who couldn’t bother to take his warm ups off. Only one other lotto pick. He’s not winning games nor is he getting guys drafted. The only thing benefiting from this is Cal’s bank account.
I have to believe if this continues as status quo, in 6 weeks the Calipari era of Kentucky basketball is over.
I believed it was possible last year but I felt like he wanted redemption and thought Wagner was the answer. Him coming back to give the fan base a big flip off with a final four freshmen led team was what his ego needed.
as of February 22, 2024, that has turned out about as badly as anyone could have imagined.
I believed it was possible last year but I felt like he wanted redemption and thought Wagner was the answer. Him coming back to give the fan base a big flip off with a final four freshmen led team was what his ego needed.
as of February 22, 2024, that has turned out about as badly as anyone could have imagined.
Knecht and the portal kid at Bama from North Dakota are better 3/4s than anyone Cal has recruited in forever.
Cal is a stubborn loser. He will not change. Cat fans are stuck.
Cal is a stubborn loser. He will not change. Cat fans are stuck.
First the frustration is not about one game. It is about the body of work, definitely for the last five years, and really the last ten. When you consistently have these top recruiting classes and mediocre, at best, results who else do you blame? You can’t blame this team for the last ten years of mediocrity.
Second, it is the coaches job to motivate his team threw off nights. This team consistently underperforms with spurts of brilliance. You can not convince me that we don’t have the talent to win these games. Especially against a very poor 500 team. That is what he is paid to do. The line ups make no sense, they aren’t being taught any defense, at least not that you would notice, and they are SOFT. That is 100% on the coach. The fact that people like you are so accepting of the mediocrity that we are being fed baffles me. I can only guess that you either weren’t around, or weren’t fan when we were kings of college basketball. We certainly aren’t there now. How could you not want the coach of our team to be clawing and chewing our way back to the top? We certainly are not getting that type of leadership now.
I’m still trying to pick if he’s a former, banned member trolling us as a super Cal fan or if he really believes what he posts. He plays it well ha
He can coach, but he cares more about NBA draft night than UK's current season, it's really that simple.
