For Cal's record since the 38-1 team failed to cut down the nets. So many former Cats excelling in the NBA. The amount of talent Cal had and didn't utlize properly is downright criminal. If Coach K had had Cal's rosters he would have 5 more titles.
Tyrese Maxeys MVP Performance just one more black eye...
- Thread starter cardkilla
- Start date
Coach K had plenty of Cal type rosters lmfao..
I disagree. K couldn't win with Zion and company. You've gotta have upperclassmen to win. We don't win in 2012 without Darius Miller and unexpected returnees due to the lockout
K also had 5 titles.
It speaks more to the nature of a one and done tournament rather than the one and done player TBH.
OK? We're not talking about his titles from the early 90s lol.
Look if some of you want to slurp Coach K, fine. But please stop with this non sense about him winning "if he had Cals talent". It's flat out wrong and its not the first time ive heard this recent. He couldn't win shit from 2016 to 2022, when his rosters were at their PEAK talent.
If he couldn't win with Zion, RJ and Cam, the 1, 2 and 3 recruits.. he wasn't winning with PJ Washington and Herro lol.
Tyrese didn't get to play post season games. Covid and all.
I agree that Cal underachieved more than any other coach in college basketball history given how much talent he recruited. But coach K hadn’t solved the equation in freshman led teams either.
I’ve always been consistent and specific on my critique of Cal. Cal’s problem is not an inability to coach young talent. It’s his unwillingness to do so. Pope flying to reaffirm Williams’s commitment is already more effort than Cal ever exerted in 7 years towards getting someone to return. At least that we heard about.
Looking back in hindsight I would say that Cal saying the platoon is hurting recruiting is where the crack began. When you can’t defend your strategies and what makes your team great then you have diminished as a coach.
I’ve always been consistent and specific on my critique of Cal. Cal’s problem is not an inability to coach young talent. It’s his unwillingness to do so. Pope flying to reaffirm Williams’s commitment is already more effort than Cal ever exerted in 7 years towards getting someone to return. At least that we heard about.
Looking back in hindsight I would say that Cal saying the platoon is hurting recruiting is where the crack began. When you can’t defend your strategies and what makes your team great then you have diminished as a coach.
Even if Maxey played in the postseason, he was 18. Stuff happens. He averaged 8 points in his first NBA year. Yes he improved rapidly, but none of that means he was gonna run rampant over increasingly experienced teams in a one and out tournament.
Plenty to bitch about with Cal, but this isn’t it
Plenty to bitch about with Cal, but this isn’t it
Lol, do you all honestly think NBA Maxey was the same as UK maxey? 🤣
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Wasn’t Maxey the Covid year??
There will be a lot of revisionist history regarding Cal. First, I’m happy we made the change and he saved UK $30 mil by flirting with Ark. He also saved us a tortuous year, and a probable parting of the ways next year.
Cal was great at spotting talent, and getting them to the league. That worked great at UK until Covid + new transfer rules. College basketball changed and Cal refused to change. The most honest thing I’ve ever heard him say was, “Ky basketball needs another voice.”
I said the week after he went to Arkansas that this coming year would be his best at Ark. (People accused me of being a Cal slurper w/o reading just based on the title.
He was FORCED to bring in transfers this year to mix with hs recruits. Small and Aidoo are two good pieces. He’ll be forced to get a couple more who pull out of the draft. That’s a good combination. But, this will be LAST year he brings in high end transfer talent because he’ll load up again next year with hs recruits.
Regarding OP, few people accused Cal of mismanaging talent before Covid. The ‘15’team was 1 game away from modern day college history!!! However, the game changed and he refused to change with the game. He brought in phenomenal talent. 99% of that young talent was already out of Lex just as they were figuring out how to compete against older players.
The change needed to happen! But, things were good up till ‘20. The last few years were brutal! They did include a 2 and a 3 seed, but everyone still expected the wheels to fall off in the tournament.
There will be a lot of revisionist history regarding Cal. First, I’m happy we made the change and he saved UK $30 mil by flirting with Ark. He also saved us a tortuous year, and a probable parting of the ways next year.
Cal was great at spotting talent, and getting them to the league. That worked great at UK until Covid + new transfer rules. College basketball changed and Cal refused to change. The most honest thing I’ve ever heard him say was, “Ky basketball needs another voice.”
I said the week after he went to Arkansas that this coming year would be his best at Ark. (People accused me of being a Cal slurper w/o reading just based on the title.
He was FORCED to bring in transfers this year to mix with hs recruits. Small and Aidoo are two good pieces. He’ll be forced to get a couple more who pull out of the draft. That’s a good combination. But, this will be LAST year he brings in high end transfer talent because he’ll load up again next year with hs recruits.
Regarding OP, few people accused Cal of mismanaging talent before Covid. The ‘15’team was 1 game away from modern day college history!!! However, the game changed and he refused to change with the game. He brought in phenomenal talent. 99% of that young talent was already out of Lex just as they were figuring out how to compete against older players.
The change needed to happen! But, things were good up till ‘20. The last few years were brutal! They did include a 2 and a 3 seed, but everyone still expected the wheels to fall off in the tournament.
It's just too incredibly hard to win titles with freshman talent, when there's really just two teams doing it (UK and Duke) and they are going against a field of 62 other great teams.
And really, Cal was the only one to really do it with a bunch of freshman, a few sophomores and Miller. Coach K kind of did it, but his team in 2015 was a little more balanced with some upper classmen. Cal also seemed to have a little more success getting to Final4s with freshman as well, with the 2014 team REALLY relying on freshman.
Regardless, it's just not a winning formula, especially with how the game is played now. The talent spread, etc.
And really, Cal was the only one to really do it with a bunch of freshman, a few sophomores and Miller. Coach K kind of did it, but his team in 2015 was a little more balanced with some upper classmen. Cal also seemed to have a little more success getting to Final4s with freshman as well, with the 2014 team REALLY relying on freshman.
Regardless, it's just not a winning formula, especially with how the game is played now. The talent spread, etc.
It’s such stupid revisionist thinking. It’s the same thing some do in regards to Booker.
The Maxey of 2024 is MILES better than the Maxey of 2020. It’s such lazy thinking.
And that’s not even mentioning that Maxey didn’t even get to play in the tournament.
That UK team was 350th in 3 pointers taken. Maxey is just one example of Cal not putting his players in a position to excel. Maxey and Quickley were 2 of the fastest guards in the NBA but they were not allowed to take guys off the dribble. Instead we had a bunch of non-shooters starting.
From Sports Illustrated:
If you look at the NBA top scorers list for this 2023-24 season, six of the top 25 scorers went to Kentucky.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is number four in scoring, averaging 31.0 points a game;
De'Aaron Fox is seventh, averaging 28 points;
Devin Booker is 11th, averaging 26.2 a game;
Tyrese Maxey is 12th, averaging 26.1 a game;
Anthony Davis is 17th, averaging 25.1 a game
Julius Randle is 20th, averaging 24.2 a game
How many tournament games did those guys above not named Davis and Booker win? Yeah they continued to improve in the NBA but its not like these were 3 star guys at UK.
Thank god Cal stepped down because it's evident we still have a roster of apologists. He knew he wasn't getting it done otherwise him and his ego would still be here.
From Sports Illustrated:
If you look at the NBA top scorers list for this 2023-24 season, six of the top 25 scorers went to Kentucky.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is number four in scoring, averaging 31.0 points a game;
De'Aaron Fox is seventh, averaging 28 points;
Devin Booker is 11th, averaging 26.2 a game;
Tyrese Maxey is 12th, averaging 26.1 a game;
Anthony Davis is 17th, averaging 25.1 a game
Julius Randle is 20th, averaging 24.2 a game
How many tournament games did those guys above not named Davis and Booker win? Yeah they continued to improve in the NBA but its not like these were 3 star guys at UK.
Thank god Cal stepped down because it's evident we still have a roster of apologists. He knew he wasn't getting it done otherwise him and his ego would still be here.
What makes you think the Cats would have won any games in that tournament anyhow with Cal roaming the sidelines?
Look at the UK guys in the NBA.
They're elite. The elite of the elite. Shai, Maxey, Davis, Booker, Cousins, Wall, Randle...
Superstars and UK has little to show for it.
It's not even about Maxey, seeing him excel is just another reminder of how much talent came through UK over the past 8-10 years and have just gotten embarrassed in the 2020s.
But I'm stoked for a new regime. I started at UK in 92 and have fond memories of those teams.
But I'm stoked for a new regime. I started at UK in 92 and have fond memories of those teams.
I agree however Maxey was on the 2020 team that never got a shot (covid). He, Quickly and Richard's were having a great year. Then covid killed Cal.
I hate this argument. Couldn't have won without Daivs. Couldn't have won without Lamb. Couldn't have won without Jones. ETC>>>
But none after 2015.
Embracing the one and done comes with a cost.
Nevertheless, he was a great coach.
stonethecrow
Sophomore
The biggest head scratcher for me will always be this.
247sports.com
How that line “so am I just trying to win college games?” still kind of stings when you look at the almost 10 million dollars a year he was getting paid by a university to, well, win games?
Calipari explains why he doesn't play zone defense
It's no secret that John Calipari is not a fan of playing zone defense. But why? He explained during an appearance on Kentucky Sports Radio Tuesday.
247sports.com
How that line “so am I just trying to win college games?” still kind of stings when you look at the almost 10 million dollars a year he was getting paid by a university to, well, win games?
Same posters also harp on you can't win with freshmen.
So we know we need upperclassmen to win titles and UK had raw freshman talent that doesn't win yet people act outraged we didn't win more?
I'll agree there should have been a 2nd title in there somewhere. 2010 or 2015 or 2017. 2011 and 2014 weren't as good but to make it to where they did they could have won it. It's a random one and done tourney though. It's nit a real playoff.
So we know we need upperclassmen to win titles and UK had raw freshman talent that doesn't win yet people act outraged we didn't win more?
I'll agree there should have been a 2nd title in there somewhere. 2010 or 2015 or 2017. 2011 and 2014 weren't as good but to make it to where they did they could have won it. It's a random one and done tourney though. It's nit a real playoff.
Yeah he only played 35 mins a game and averaged almost 15 points and over 4 rebounds and 3 assists and led UK to a sec title.
Yeah. Maxey was totally misused in the sec tourney and ncaa tourney. Oh wait didn't play them.
Tyrese was 18 when here fresh out of high school. He has had years of doing nothing but training and getting bigger/stronger. He is nothing like the player he was here.
When will you all quit making this argument? It makes little sense? You are using his performance from today to judge what he should have done while here.
When will you all quit making this argument? It makes little sense? You are using his performance from today to judge what he should have done while here.
The second sentence of your post reminds me of an Adolph Rupp story. When he interviewed for the UK job, a major part of his pitch to the hiring committee was a new fangled fast paced offense (Johnny Mauer, the previous coach had run a slow paced offense called submarine ball) that would give more talented players more and better opportunities to use their skills. BTW, at that time the hot beds of pro basketball were in the northeast and Chicago area. At a time when schools played local schedules, Rupp started scheduling road trips to areas where pro scouts were able to see his players. Eventually this led to reffing conflicts and forced the NCAA to make rule changes as reffing was not constant in various parts of the country. This was the beginning of the NCAA hatred forRupp.
We were not very good this past year. And I saw that early on before the seven footers came. I was hoping those twenty one feet would help us, but actually they hurt us. Defense and rebounding were putrid. And the coach didn't care anymore. We are in a much better place now, even though we are rebuilding.
Players get better over time usually. What he's doing now in the NBA has nothing to do with Cal or how he was use at UK. Same goes with all former UK players in the league.
That team looked better when Hagans quit. Same thing with Tyty. Maxey got his minutes but was misused. You can deny it all you want.
Think about how pathetic of a POS you have to be to make new usernames to backup your own stupid post. Are you one of Cal's daughters or did he really suck you in that hard that you are going to waste everyday defending someone that bailed on you and left you behind?
Bring back, Cal, Maxey,Booker,Bam,Fox,Randle tomorrow. Cal would find a way to start 2 walk ons and lose in the round of 32. Lol.
The 2019-2020 Cats were a pretty darn good team. Sure it was frustrating that they rarely blew anyone out but they won a lot of games and won a pretty darn good SEC by 3 games. If Hagans was somehow kept in check they could have made a good run. Cal hadn't completely lost his shit yet.
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