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Tired of the pointless what ifs...

StubbornPenny

All-SEC
Nov 2, 2009
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getting real sick of the trolls and/or idiots on here making up scenarios to try and criticize the program.

Now, legit criticism is one thing. I fully understand the frustration with the 3 empty possessions versus Wisconsin. That's fair. Also, remember, in every single final four there's three losing coaches.

But to make up idiotic scenarios like "I know tubby could have won win Cal's talent" is absurd. Okay, good for you. I think Superman would have made a better astronaut than Neil Armstrong. I think bananas would be better if they were orange. I think of sharks could breathe oxygen, we'd all be dead.

SO WHAT!? It didn't happen, it can't happen, and it won't happen. DEAL WITH REALITY. There is no coach out there, and I'm including K, that has kept his program consistently in the hunt like Cal has. He is responsible for 1/3 of our FFs and 1/8th of our titles in a mere 6 years on the job. You whine and bitch about a "down" recruiting year that, as we see now, includes the #1 C And overall #1, the #1 PG, and a rising star already in the top ten.

I hate one and done too. But that is CBB right now. He's using the rules the best he possibly can. I prefer his method over one legit shot every 4-6 years, which is the old model.

Titles are rare. They come once about every 12-15 years even for the best programs. And they've always included luck. 1998 had no business winning. But they did. Can you argue we've had some bad luck in FFs lately? Yes. But luck has a way of evening out and regressing to the mean. As much as it sucks to not capitalize on your best chance, we are just as likely to win a title out of nowhere. You can't nitpick each year; look at the full forest. THE RATE OF WINNING TITLES REMAINS ABOUT THE SAME, YOURE JUST SEEING IT IN RAPID SUCCESSION, albeit with us on the side of a some bad luck.

You're the kind of people who panic when you lose one hand of blackjack, and veer off the strategy, hoping to strike gold hittin on 17. This is not a sprint. This is a marathon and WE ARE WINNING.

More chances = more titles, ALWAYS. Cal always gives us a chance. Not one other coach out there can provide that so consistently.

I guess though, all these trolls really prove that Cal is doing well. I mean, when you literally have to make stuff up to criticize, that's got to be a good sign...
 
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I'll give that to you for sure. I laugh when people said "Well Rick Pitino could of won with that talent." That's a moot point bc Pitino never could or would have assembled that kind of talent. Same for Tubby. Every coach has a weakness and Cal's is just bench coaching. It's frustrating with what happened this year with the amount of talent UK had on the roster but the tournament is a crap shoot and I think it wasn't Cal's best coaching job.

I think the overwhelming talent and the 40-0 thing really got to Cal as much as it did the players. UK never really changed things because they had no reason too. What UK was doing on the floor was very successful so there wasn't any reason to switch things up. I look at that roster and UK was the deepest and tallest team in the country but they never seemed to fully take advantage of that esp in March. UK got out rebounded a lot and really seemed to settle for a lot of jump shots. I think Cal wanted to showcase everyone bc that's his job and UK kept winning so there were no needs for tweeks or adjustments. I think that caught up with them against Wisconsin. UK didn't play their A game and were still up 4 with 4 to go.

UK is getting there and every year but one Cal has been in the position to take a title. This year was a wasted opportunity but it happens. I think I would rather be in the hunt and not at all. I was frustrated at the end of the season and still am but you can't be mad at the success UK is having right now.
 
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I'll give that to you for sure. I laugh when people said "Well Rick Pitino could of won with that talent." That's a moot point bc Pitino never could or would have assembled that kind of talent. Same for Tubby. Every coach has a weakness and Cal's is just bench coaching. It's frustrating with what happened this year with the amount of talent UK had on the roster but the tournament is a crap shoot and I think it wasn't Cal's best coaching job.

I think the overwhelming talent and the 40-0 thing really got to Cal as much as it did the players. UK never really changed things because they had no reason too. What UK was doing on the floor was very successful so there wasn't any reason to switch things up. I look at that roster and UK was the deepest and tallest team in the country but they never seemed to fully take advantage of that esp in March. UK got out rebounded a lot and really seemed to settle for a lot of jump shots. I think Cal wanted to showcase everyone bc that's his job and UK kept winning so there were no needs for tweeks or adjustments. I think that caught up with them against Wisconsin. UK didn't play their A game and were still up 4 with 4 to go.

UK is getting there and every year but one Cal has been in the position to take a title. This year was a wasted opportunity but it happens. I think I would rather be in the hunt and not at all. I was frustrated at the end of the season and still am but you can't be mad at the success UK is having right now.

All 100% fair criticisms. I agree he did not coach well that game. I literally thought Ulis was hurt because he really should have been in the game. It was a poor job, exacerbated by trying to showcase Andrew, and we still had a shot before some of the insane calls. C'est la vie, but one game does not define a coach! Excellent post, sir.
 
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Yeah, you just have to ignore the trolls. Tubby sucked big time with more talented teams. 2001-2002, 2005-2006 was pretty good as well. He lost 9 games with 98-99. His team with the frosh Morris and company did go 28-5, but he could not even beat a 5 seed to make the Final Four...where that team would have been beat down by 2005 UNC again.
 
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Honest question: was Cal a bad bench coach vs. OSU and UNC in 2011?

How about vs. WSU, UL, UM, or UW in 2014?

Or in those games did everything just work out? Did players just make plays?

I know the losses sting, but people have tunnel vision around here. You can't criticize Cal's coaching and then ignore all the times he's had masterful results.
 
Honest question: was Cal a bad bench coach vs. OSU and UNC in 2011?

How about vs. WSU, UL, UM, or UW in 2014?

Or in those games did everything just work out? Did players just make plays?

I know the losses sting, but people have tunnel vision around here. You can't criticize Cal's coaching and then ignore all the times he's had masterful results.

Agree, he's had some good games where he has coached his butt off. I've said it before, I just think the majority of the time it's a weakness for him. It's going to let him down more than it doesn't. When I look at 2014 tourney run, I credit his ability to keep changing and trying different things before games. He finally found something that worked before the SEC tourney. I don't think it was as simple as he made it out to be and to that I give him credit. No coach is perfect.
 
Agree, he's had some good games where he has coached his butt off. I've said it before, I just think the majority of the time it's a weakness for him. It's going to let him down more than it doesn't. When I look at 2014 tourney run, I credit his ability to keep changing and trying different things before games. He finally found something that worked before the SEC tourney. I don't think it was as simple as he made it out to be and to that I give him credit. No coach is perfect.

You are contradicting yourself, unless your definition of "let him down more than it doesn't" is that most years he won't ultimately win a title.

I'll give you that occasionally his coaching lets him down. But that's true of every single coach. But your contention that it is a weakness "the majority of the time" is absurd.
 
Cal's done a remarkable job here, glad he's in charge - doesn't mean he can't have some bad coaching moments (every coach has)- The way he held the ball, after we had clear momentum and Wisconsin on their heels, was a bad moment - he clearly had us hold the ball until the shot clock was down to 5-6 seconds on several straight possessions - it bit him.
 
You are contradicting yourself, unless your definition of "let him down more than it doesn't" is that most years he won't ultimately win a title.

I'll give you that occasionally his coaching lets him down. But that's true of every single coach. But your contention that it is a weakness "the majority of the time" is absurd.

I'm saying he has strengths and weaknesses. Just like every coach in America. His strengths are recruiting, getting all this talent to buy in and play together and public relations. He's the best I've ever seen at what is being the head coach at UK and marketing the UK brand. His weakness is bench coaching. He struggles at in game adjustments. I think when he's had more talent than the other team, there have been more times he's been out coached in March. That's not to say there aren't exceptions. There have been plenty of times he has out coached guys. 2011 is a perfect example when he beat Ohio St and UNC. I think he can come up with some solid pre game attacks that are fantastic. I look at last year against Wisconsin as one of them.

This is what I'm talking about.
 
Coach Cal is great. Coach Cal has definitely made some mistakes.

If you can't acknowledge both of the above then you are a freaking idiot.
 
it took almost that much talent for Pitino to win in 96
he had great talent in 95 and failed to reach the FF
the title he won at ul he hit lightning in a bottle with a group of kids and CBB being down
remember 2 years before his title the majority of ul fans wanted him fired

every fanbase has a lot of "Lazy Boy" coaches
 
I think Superman would have made a better astronaut than Neil Armstrong.

[roll]
 
getting real sick of the trolls and/or idiots on here making up scenarios to try and criticize the program.

Now, legit criticism is one thing. I fully understand the frustration with the 3 empty possessions versus Wisconsin. That's fair. Also, remember, in every single final four there's three losing coaches.

But to make up idiotic scenarios like "I know tubby could have won win Cal's talent" is absurd. Okay, good for you. I think Superman would have made a better astronaut than Neil Armstrong. I think bananas would be better if they were orange. I think of sharks could breathe oxygen, we'd all be dead.

SO WHAT!? It didn't happen, it can't happen, and it won't happen. DEAL WITH REALITY. There is no coach out there, and I'm including K, that has kept his program consistently in the hunt like Cal has. He is responsible for 1/3 of our FFs and 1/8th of our titles in a mere 6 years on the job. You whine and bitch about a "down" recruiting year that, as we see now, includes the #1 C And overall #1, the #1 PG, and a rising star already in the top ten.

I hate one and done too. But that is CBB right now. He's using the rules the best he possibly can. I prefer his method over one legit shot every 4-6 years, which is the old model.

Titles are rare. They come once about every 12-15 years even for the best programs. And they've always included luck. 1998 had no business winning. But they did. Can you argue we've had some bad luck in FFs lately? Yes. But luck has a way of evening out and regressing to the mean. As much as it sucks to not capitalize on your best chance, we are just as likely to win a title out of nowhere. You can't nitpick each year; look at the full forest. THE RATE OF WINNING TITLES REMAINS ABOUT THE SAME, YOURE JUST SEEING IT IN RAPID SUCCESSION, albeit with us on the side of a some bad luck.

You're the kind of people who panic when you lose one hand of blackjack, and veer off the strategy, hoping to strike gold hittin on 17. This is not a sprint. This is a marathon and WE ARE WINNING.

More chances = more titles, ALWAYS. Cal always gives us a chance. Not one other coach out there can provide that so consistently.

I guess though, all these trolls really prove that Cal is doing well. I mean, when you literally have to make stuff up to criticize, that's got to be a good sign...
Well said, I agree.
 
Honest question: was Cal a bad bench coach vs. OSU and UNC in 2011?

How about vs. WSU, UL, UM, or UW in 2014?

Or in those games did everything just work out? Did players just make plays?

I know the losses sting, but people have tunnel vision around here. You can't criticize Cal's coaching and then ignore all the times he's had masterful results.



Yep, it is a 2-way street. Cal's coaching style is to trust his players, ultimately. That's just his way, and it's the foundation of the relationships he builds with his guys.

If it's a play Cal called, or the kid just taking the situation into his own hands... the ball still has to go through the hoop for it to work. Sometimes, the shot doesn't fall, regardless of whether it was the greatest play ever drawn up in the history of CBB.

In 2011 vs. the Cons... I'd bet it was supposed to be Lamb taking that 3 (if anyone was going to put up a 3 right then) for the win near the end. Instead, Liggins (probably still on a high from his shot against UNCheat) felt like he was open and he took the shot... and that was that.

If Coach Cal & UK had been on the fortunate end of a couple lucky bounces, or received the Dook-style let-us-bail-you-out whistle from the refs.. there wouldn't be too many questions about Cal's coaching. If the NCAA had given UK the overall-1 path they deserved in the Tournament, instead of giving it to Dook... or if UW had been called for the shot-clock-violation... all of us might be discussing more pleasant topics. Sports, like Life, isn't always fair.
 
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