This is my big Calipari post…but if we all think about it..that night was where it all went wrong. None of us were the same. We couldn’t really be mad at Cal in the moment, 4 Final Fours in 5 years plus a title. But we all died a little that night and the relationship soured. The last 5 years finally broke the relationship, but the end happened that night in Indy.
I always start the clock of Cal’s decline around that time. Calipari entered Kentucky wanting a national title and respect of his peers. He won the title. But he wanted 1 more to become legendary. To pass Rick and become immortal.
I think Cal truly wanted to win one more title and leave after the 2014 season. He built the super team. They failed and it got rough, and then they made the run. Cal got motivated. Remember the “Cal to the Lakers” rumors and Cal to the Cavs? I think had we beaten UConn, Cal and all the players leave…we didn’t….
My next case about it is that Cal wanted one more legendary team. Cal pushed for that group to all return. He knew the class coming in was great too. When did Cal ever encourage guys to return like that? All in one year. He wanted 40-0…the HOF was coming after the season. He wanted to win that title and drop the mic.
He lost and it was never the same. His heart wasn’t in it. And the fact that we reached that point where an immortal 40-0 season was a possibility, expectations were now too high and he knew he could never get a team like that again.
His plans failed and you could tell that by the 2016 team…remember we didn’t have a good team until we got Jamal Murray in August. He let Coach O leave and then Slice…replaced them with Justus. I think he thought maybe Fox/Monk could do it…but they had bad luck. On and on…lazy staff hires. We were no longer cutting edge. Duke passed us in recruiting.
The longer he was here…the less motivated he was. He arrived young and hungry, ready to take on the world. At the end, he was the highest paid coach of a blue blood. He won a national title and was elected to the HOF. He was the establishment.
I truly believe the 2012 Cal would’ve ran through the 2024 NCAA tournament and would’ve been killing it with NIL/Portal. But that man ceased to exist after the 2015 loss to Wisconsin.
History was changed by 1 night in Indianapolis….because history would’ve been different had Cal either won the title in 2014 with the greatest story ever told… or went out 40-0 as an immortal with his 2nd title. But his final memories were 9-16, St Peter’s, and Oakland. Instead of 4 final fours in 5 years as our final memory, we remember Dillingham/Sheppard/Reeves not being played together.
It should’ve ended in glory 10 years ago, but it didn’t. And he never got back to old Cal. It broke him. It broke us. That second title that never came. I’ll always love Cal for what he did, but let’s be honest… that loss to Wisconsin hurt more than Duke in 92, because there wasn’t one moment it doesn’t hit…and in 92 we knew Pitino was back. But 2015 stole our hearts.
I always start the clock of Cal’s decline around that time. Calipari entered Kentucky wanting a national title and respect of his peers. He won the title. But he wanted 1 more to become legendary. To pass Rick and become immortal.
I think Cal truly wanted to win one more title and leave after the 2014 season. He built the super team. They failed and it got rough, and then they made the run. Cal got motivated. Remember the “Cal to the Lakers” rumors and Cal to the Cavs? I think had we beaten UConn, Cal and all the players leave…we didn’t….
My next case about it is that Cal wanted one more legendary team. Cal pushed for that group to all return. He knew the class coming in was great too. When did Cal ever encourage guys to return like that? All in one year. He wanted 40-0…the HOF was coming after the season. He wanted to win that title and drop the mic.
He lost and it was never the same. His heart wasn’t in it. And the fact that we reached that point where an immortal 40-0 season was a possibility, expectations were now too high and he knew he could never get a team like that again.
His plans failed and you could tell that by the 2016 team…remember we didn’t have a good team until we got Jamal Murray in August. He let Coach O leave and then Slice…replaced them with Justus. I think he thought maybe Fox/Monk could do it…but they had bad luck. On and on…lazy staff hires. We were no longer cutting edge. Duke passed us in recruiting.
The longer he was here…the less motivated he was. He arrived young and hungry, ready to take on the world. At the end, he was the highest paid coach of a blue blood. He won a national title and was elected to the HOF. He was the establishment.
I truly believe the 2012 Cal would’ve ran through the 2024 NCAA tournament and would’ve been killing it with NIL/Portal. But that man ceased to exist after the 2015 loss to Wisconsin.
History was changed by 1 night in Indianapolis….because history would’ve been different had Cal either won the title in 2014 with the greatest story ever told… or went out 40-0 as an immortal with his 2nd title. But his final memories were 9-16, St Peter’s, and Oakland. Instead of 4 final fours in 5 years as our final memory, we remember Dillingham/Sheppard/Reeves not being played together.
It should’ve ended in glory 10 years ago, but it didn’t. And he never got back to old Cal. It broke him. It broke us. That second title that never came. I’ll always love Cal for what he did, but let’s be honest… that loss to Wisconsin hurt more than Duke in 92, because there wasn’t one moment it doesn’t hit…and in 92 we knew Pitino was back. But 2015 stole our hearts.
