A national champion…

[STL_Cat]

This thread has a huge "doing it the right way" vibe to it.

 

[saxonburgcat]

I was a huge Tubby supporter all the way until the end of his last season. Even then I didn't want to see him fired, simply because of how well he had done the job for a long time and had done it with such class. I found myself relieved when he left on his own, because I felt like it was time for the program to go a different direction. Tubby's program, much as I had liked him, had gone stale.

Good honest response.

 

[JoeSwag]

You are not recruiting high level recruits who are involved in the AAU circuit and with shoe companies and not involved with corruption. It's just the nature of the beast and that's basketball. Just imagine what is going on in football.

I think your fandom is clouding your judgment of reality. Recruiting is all relationships and dealing with connections and handlers. You're doing everything as a middle man. Again, the only reason anyone even knew the FBI stuff was because IT STARTED WITH A CRIMINAL SPILLING THE BEANS and then the feds convincing the runners to start directly paying coaches instead of the families.

You conveniently left out the opening line of that article you quote; "MERL CODE IS GOING TO FEDERAL PRISON SOON..." Believe a convicted felon looking to excuse himself by saying "everybody does it" while creating interest in a book with sensational and uncorroborated charges if that's what it takes to help you bash Kentucky . I'll stick with what has been credibly charged by legitimate officials.

You're so brainwashed. This is pure zealotry.

What exactly is credible to you? lol You think it has to be acknowledged by Cal and the players and be on video tape for you to believe it? But I'm sure you don't require that type of proof with our rivals. We aren't clean because none of the big programs are clean. You think Alabama football hasn't been one of the dirtiest?

 

[YouKay]

If I had to guess its because you can teach a guy who has been with you for 3 years, but when you have a new group of guys every year, you have to go with the basics. Its why Cal doesn't want to play anyone ( remember his I'll take talent over experience comments back in his early years here?) in the OOC.

The whole "he plays for March mantra" was based on the idea that by the time March came around he'd have these guys playing the kind of basketball you mention seeing in the 90's, but it hasn't turned out like that, his plan has always been to have the most talent and their talent would overwhelm the opposing team.

Once his recruiting leveled off and the talent dispursed the world changed.

It seems fairly obvious that his inability to develop a well disciplined teamed because of turnover and inexperience is killing any chances he has to dominate in March - or February, or January, or.....

This year he had the most experienced team but even with all the high profile wins, in the end they were still a cobbled together team that got bit in the end by a multitude of reasons, one of which had to be these guys had only played together less than 6 months.

Great points.

I think his biggest failure this year was not developing a solid bench and a good rotation. He kind of wore out Kellan Grady. Didn’t trust Ware or Collins enough to give Oscar some rest, and so Oscar missed crucial free throws in the tournament game because he was just exhausted. I had really expected Cal to either go big or go small in the second half of that game to try to shake things up and get some mismatches. But he just didn’t trust his bench guys enough. So when the starters got tight and tired late, he didn’t have any options.

 

[TankedCat]

For me personally I didn't think Cal was clean at Memphis and I was on board earlier than most wanting him.

Clean has a different meaning to some.

I felt Cal, with the influence of WWW, was driving a new direction for college basketball. You aren't getting the talent he was lining up for Memphis if you are just doing things the same way. The Bobby Knight/Dean Smith college basketball era was dying out, and even Tubby has said he despised getting into the dirt with the AAU circuit, but it was clear you weren't going to build a basketball program camping out in high school gyms in the middle of the corn belt.

If WWW as a detached 3rd party could influence kids to go to your school and Cal built his relationships that way, as long as it was out of reach by the NCAA, more power to him - and we need that guy as coach. You can draw your own conclusions about WWW's ability to influence. From what I understood at the time it was about the future promise of NBA connections and families. Really not much different that Duke getting a 6 figure job for a parent of a player in Durham after they signed.

But Cal now feels almost as out of touch as Bobby Knight did in his last years at IU. He is arrogant, stubborn and clings to an approach to basketball that doesn't lead to him putting the best team he can on the floor for UK.

I wish he'd change, I really do, but I'm not certain he can. He's in his 60's, I doubt he has gas in the tank to make it happen, and on top of that, he just landed the NPOY and beat Kansas/UNC by 20 points. Why should he change? That will be his attitude until he runs out of reasons to justify his performance.

 

[YouKay]

So just to be clear, did you change your opinion on Cal or do you think Cal became clean once he was on the UK payroll because your previous defense of UK doesn't jibe with your thoughts on Cal when he first arrived.

I know for sure he was given an extremely tight leash by Lee Todd and knew he had to stay clean. It’s just a whole other level of scrutiny at Kentucky, as opposed to Memphis.

Then I started to notice him backing off some big time recruits. Became clear to me that some kids had family or coaches who wanted to get paid immediately, and Cal wasn’t gonna do that.

 

[TankedCat]

I know for sure he was given an extremely tight leash by Lee Todd and knew he had to stay clean. It’s just a whole other level of scrutiny at Kentucky, as opposed to Memphis.

Then I started to notice him backing off some big time recruits. Became clear to me that some kids had family or coaches who wanted to get paid immediately, and Cal wasn’t gonna do that.

fair enough

Its interesting to me his contract says nothing about on court performance and focuses mostly on what happens if he gets UK on probation.

It would seem Sandy Bell wrote it moreso than the AD (joke)

 

[kybassfan]

You’re correct that he hasn’t had wins vacated at Kentucky, but the Commonwealth is paying about $10,000,000.00 per year to Cal. Not getting busted should be the bare minimum requirement for that salary, not something to brag about.

The commonwealth is NOT! The money is coming from other sources. Watch out for those facts. They’ll bite you in the ass.

 

[hotelblue]

You are not recruiting high level recruits who are involved in the AAU circuit and with shoe companies and not involved with corruption. It's just the nature of the beast and that's basketball. Just imagine what is going on in football.

I think your fandom is clouding your judgment of reality. Recruiting is all relationships and dealing with connections and handlers. You're doing everything as a middle man. Again, the only reason anyone even knew the FBI stuff was because IT STARTED WITH A CRIMINAL SPILLING THE BEANS and then the feds convincing the runners to start directly paying coaches instead of the families.


You're so brainwashed. This is pure zealotry.

What exactly is credible to you? lol You think it has to be acknowledged by Cal and the players and be on video tape for you to believe it? But I'm sure you don't require that type of proof with our rivals. We aren't clean because none of the big programs are clean. You think Alabama football hasn't been one of the dirtiest?

he stated clearly what is credible to him. yeah cal navigates the grey areas as much as anyone. he’s still managed to stay clear of trouble. it’s at best a silver lining when you’re losing. but it happens to be true. what other schools have a pat forde, jerry tipton or pete thamel standing by?

 

[bbncal02]

So after 13 years, tens of millions of dollars in salary, and hundreds of games played as a sample size, the last bullet in the official "our coach is still awesome" gun is the same one that Bob Knight used at the end of his career? At least we don't cheat like those other guys.

Let's start hanging ethics banners in Rupp Arena, because that's evidently what we're playing for these days.

So we should cheat like those other guys? Screw that. The day we start opening my doing it, I’ll hang up my fan hat.

This country is so morally bankrupt it make me sick.

And to be clear, I’m not talking about being self-righteous Clark Kent Polly Anna lily white clean here. I’m not naive. But what we’ve let society and it’s surrounding activities (sports, etc) is just wrong.

 

[KYFOSSIL]

Not for some. Some have written that year off as the "covid year", where everyone else was held accountable for their final product except for Calipari.

I for one do not blame Covid for last year. That season truly was unacceptable. Changes were made in coaching and with experience players and we had a much better season but it also had it unacceptable result.

 

[Schwagg]

Oklahoma State was banned from post season play this year. You know why? A single NCAA violation. One current player received $300. Not a recruit or family member. No lack of institutional control, head coach infractions, playing ineligible players, or academic fraud. It is absolutely preposterous that Kansas committed numerous major violations including the ones mentioned above & have been found guilty, but Oklahoma State got penalized for a paltry $300 bucks.

 

[hotelblue]

i’ll give you one good reason why ku/self will get tagged. he otherwise could break coach k’s wins record. coach k has 1202. self has 763. self’s season average win total would put him in the lead sometime during his 15th season from now. self is 60. k is 75. so it’s possible.

 

[ManitouDan]

This topic as presented by the OP wants to make me gag. Oh My ' the bullies are getting ahead , save me teacher !! Truth is the OP is a major " Cal just needs more time " guy and thinks Cal is doing well enough to just lay off the poor down trodden coach. IMO this thread is nothing but excuses for our own weakness led by Lord Calapari.

 

[JoeSwag]

This topic as presented by the OP wants to make me gag. Oh My ' the bullies are getting ahead , save me teacher !! Truth is the OP is a major " Cal just needs more time " guy and thinks Cal is doing well enough to just lay off the poor down trodden coach. IMO this thread is nothing but excuses for our own weakness led by Lord Calapari.

It's the same stuff you see with fanaticism in anything-- politics, cult, sports, religion, etc. Putting people on a pedestal, attack anyone and anything that threatens the perception you have in your mind. That's why you'll see the loyalty to coaches just like you'll see with pastors and politicians.

"Everyone else is bad but my guy" "Everyone else is dirty except us" "We're good. They're bad.' Anyone who speaks the truth or questions things gets bashed and smeared. Rinse and repeat. You'd think more people would be hip to this.

 

[Kybluedude]

Man, read something last night about the state of our program and damn! Nothing new to me really, but hopefully it opens eyes of many people over on HOB. So many people clinging onto Cal at UK and he isn’t the same coach or recruiter that he used to be. We aren’t the same program either. Was stated that the UK program’s brand was stale.

Was also talking about how damn bad our offense is and was toward the end of this season. So many want to point to our offensive efficiency rating. That rating was largely due to Oscar’s rebounding prowess. Just crazy to me that we don’t run anything for a backdoor cut, nothing to get people open. No OOB plays.

Watched the UK-UMass game from 1995-96 yesterday. It absolutely blew my mind. Was the first time watching it on a regular TV, our 65 inch flat screen. Anyway, Cal actually pressed a good portion of that game. He ran OOB plays. He played a ZONE! Ran traps at the ball handler. Also, UMass shot like 22-26 from the line. Now, why doesn’t he do that here?!

What a terrible whistle we got in that game. It was really unreal. Have watched it a couple times before, but on my phone. After watching it on a 65 inch screen, I was floored at the one sided whistle we got in that game. Pitino was losing his mind! 🤣

That’s interesting about Cal’s coaching. He remarks he has kept all of his practice notes from his first days. Why not find those UMass notes. I remember being shocked at how tough they were and well coached. Even back then I thought someday this guy could get it done here.

Now we hear we don’t have time to implement?

 

[bookerfan66]

At least Cal will get to brag about having the first none and done in Sharpe.I'm sure OP is very proud of that.

 

[Cawood86]

…charged by the NCAA and found guilty on appeal of loss of institutional control, of having a coach who directly participated in cheating, of buying players and so on. All this besides recruiting multiple players in recent years charged with battering women and other crimes.

They beat a program shown by an NCAA investigation to have players for nearly two decades kept eligible by given grades for no work and no attendance at classes that didn’t exist. The loophole by which it escaped punishment? That it was up to each university to say what it considered right, and UNC said totally fake grades did not violate its academic standards or honor system.

This is the state of college basketball and it is a damned disgrace.

As disappointing as this season was for Kentucky, no one has charged the coach or any of the players with unethical behavior during Calipari’s tenure. In fact, these Cats showed strong character on and off the court, notably in raising millions of dollars for tornado victims in western Kentucky.

Given the state of college basketball, having a clean program and players who behave in ways worthy of respect is worth something.

I'd rather have real titles. Your boy ain't getting it done.

Nothing has or will happen to either of them. Keep propping up Cal though.

 

[Catfanlou]

…charged by the NCAA and found guilty on appeal of loss of institutional control, of having a coach who directly participated in cheating, of buying players and so on. All this besides recruiting multiple players in recent years charged with battering women and other crimes.

They beat a program shown by an NCAA investigation to have players for nearly two decades kept eligible by given grades for no work and no attendance at classes that didn’t exist. The loophole by which it escaped punishment? That it was up to each university to say what it considered right, and UNC said totally fake grades did not violate its academic standards or honor system.

This is the state of college basketball and it is a damned disgrace.

As disappointing as this season was for Kentucky, no one has charged the coach or any of the players with unethical behavior during Calipari’s tenure. In fact, these Cats showed strong character on and off the court, notably in raising millions of dollars for tornado victims in western Kentucky.

Given the state of college basketball, having a clean program and players who behave in ways worthy of respect is worth something.

What UNC lawyers did was convince the Presidents of the schools that it was not wise to have the NCAA decide what classes were fake .
THE PROBLEM WITH THAT LOGIC IS THAT EARLY ON IN THE LITIGATION UNC ADMITTED THEIR CLASSES WERE FAKE.
WHEN THE ATTORNEYS WHO JOINTLY INVESTIGATED THE CASE WITH UNC CAME UP WITH THIS THEORY THEY ALLOWED UNC TO WITHDRAW THEIR ADMISSION. THATS WHERE THE WHOLE THING SMELLS LIKE DEAD FISH,
NCAA DIDNT HAVE TO DETERMINE CLASSES WERE FAKE . ALREADY ADMITTED TO.

 

[TankedCat]

UNC's AD said this in 2017

Cunningham: "Is this academic fraud? Yes, it is by a normal person's standards. "

 

[KneeBurns]

Oklahoma State was banned from post season play this year. You know why? A single NCAA violation. One current player received $300. Not a recruit or family member. No lack of institutional control, head coach infractions, playing ineligible players, or academic fraud. It is absolutely preposterous that Kansas committed numerous major violations including the ones mentioned above & have been found guilty, but Oklahoma State got penalized for a paltry $300 bucks.

Like you’ve even read the NCAA notice or Kansas’ response.

 

[KYFOSSIL]

MFer Take your bruised knees and chappedd lips back to that cheating university of yours. You should be celebrating a championship you must be a real punk to come over here

 

[Cawood86]

Like you’ve even read the NCAA notice or Kansas’ response.

Nobody here cares enough to read it....you all cheated and you know it...everyone knows it

It's the only way the rug doctor can compete...the only more than his titles is his hair