Amazing to me that Calipari routinely creates this incredible will to win in 18 year olds

[Mojocat]

just about every year we are led by freshmen. And with one or two exceptions, every year by tournament time we are tough, nearly ferocious. It's amazing to watch. A couple of those teams just had it, but usually he has to build it, has to teach them how to play, how to be tough, how to never give in. By all rights we should have been down 50-32 at the half today, and our kids simply refused to give in to that. That was the 16th top 4 seed we've played in the tournament since Cal has been at UK, and we're 12-4 in those game. (By comparison, Pitino, Roy and Self have played 16 top 4 seeds in that timeframe combined, and are 7-9.). And he's done that with frosh, essentially. We don't get to take this loss home with us and learn and grow from it, like UNC did with its loss to Nova last year. In October, he'll start over, and there will likely be rough spots along the way where we look bad and people will act the fool (check the threads from the night we lost to,Florida), as though they haven't seen it before. And come next March, unless something unusual happens, he'll have them toughened and relentless.

It's amazing, and it's easy to take for granted, and many will do so until he's gone.

 

[Mash 2.4]

I agree. Maybe his greatest trait

 

[ukfan03]

He's just one heck of a coach. If he had the luxury of having a team stacked with junior and senior McDonald's all Americans he would have multiple championships.

 

[Jamal Sunburn]

I agree.

 

[jayhovah]

This team had the odds stacked squarely against them and darn near pulled it off. Great job by Cal.

 

[BlueManToo]

Very well said OP.....Cal is amazing at what he does. We are blessed to have him at the helm of our program.....Just wish the talking heads (and some of our fans) who think he just "rolls out the balls" truly understood how difficult it is to get these kids to play together, to play hard, and to get kids with undoubtedly huge egos go buy in and sacrifice their game for the betterment of the team.

I've coached at the varsity level, and getting freshmen ready to compete at the varsity level in high school is extremely challenging regardless of their individual talent or skill level. Doing it on the brightest stage in college basketball where most of the world is rooting for you to fail and when everyone you play gives you their best shot is a whole different level of pressure I cannot even fathom. Yet, time after time, UK (under Cal) is almost always in the championship conversation and playing its best basketball in the post season. I've attended several of his coaching clinics, and know firsthand that Cal can flat-out coach. Period.

I did my share of griping mid-season when we didn't look very good, but as always, Cal proved me wrong, and I think, in hindsight, this season has been one of his best coaching jobs since he's been at UK. It's a testament to his great abilities as a motivator, as a coach (yes, a coach) and the quality of kids he recruits. I can't stand the one-and-done system (throughout all of college basketball-not just UK), but there's no one better at navigating it than Cal. His successor will have some massive shoes to fill, especially if the OAD rule does not change. Days like today suck and it doesn't feel like it now because the wound is still fresh, but we are experiencing one of the top 3-4 eras in the history of UK basketball, and Cal deserves more credit than he gets!

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Remember he is getting the best o the best out of hs and several of them yearly.

I'm not a Cal basher but let's be real.

 

[BlueManToo]

Remember he is getting the best o the best out of hs and several of them yearly.

I'm not a Cal basher but let's be real.

Indeed, let's be real....how'd K fare this year with the 'greatest collection of talent ever', or the great Tom Izzo with a talented freshmen class, or Auburn, or Arizona, or UCLA? We had a great freshmen class this season, and though we won a lot of games, they looked like stir-fried ass for a majority of the season on the defensive end --- and occasionally on offensive end as well. But somehow, Cal managed once again to get this talented group to play together and buy-in for a great tournament run.

Yes, sheer talent will win some games, but sheer talent with poor coaching will not get you to the Elite 8 or Final Four consistently, or have you within a last-second dagger of defeating the odds-on concensus favorite in the toughest region for what would have been our 5th Final Four in 8 years under Cal.

There's a reason the greatest college basketball tradition in history has 'only' 8 championships (and one of those under Cal) and 'only' 17 FF's (4 of which ---- nearly 1/4 --- were under Cal) since 1939: winning a championship is hard as hell in a one-and-done format. All you can hope for is to be in the mix, and get a few breaks with upsets or matchups (which seemingly never happens for us ---- even the '12 team had to run the gauntlet). Cal has done that every year with the exception of 2013 (which likely would have been a good year as well if Noel did not get hurt and if Teague did not unexpectedly bolt for the draft).

 

[brianpoe]

Indeed, let's be real....how'd K fare this year with the 'greatest collection of talent ever', or the great Tom Izzo with a talented freshmen class, or Auburn, or Arizona, or UCLA? We had a great freshmen class this season, and though we won a lot of games, they looked like stir-fried ass for a majority of the season on the defensive end --- and occasionally on offensive end as well. But somehow, Cal managed once again to get this talented group to play together and buy-in for a great tournament run.

Yes, sheer talent will win some games, but sheer talent with poor coaching will not get you to the Elite 8 or Final Four consistently, or have you within a last-second dagger of defeating the odds-on concensus favorite in the toughest region for what would have been our 5th Final Four in 8 years under Cal.

There's a reason the greatest college basketball tradition in history has 'only' 8 championships and 'only' 17 FF's since 1939: winning a championship is hard as hell in a one-and-done format. All you can hope for is to be in the mix, and get a few breaks with upsets or matchups (which seemingly never happens for us ---- even the '12 team had to run the gauntlet). Cal has done that every year with the exception of 2013 (which likely would have been a good year as well if Noel did not get hurt and if Teague did not unexpectedly bolt for the draft).

Ouch.... just let this go kwilt, this guy is dead on.

 

[coolioo1]

I haven't posted since the game, but why would anyone question Calipari. UK is in big time situations year after year. Seasons overall are fun and successful. No team is winning it every year, but UK has been at the top level consistently since Calipari has arrived in Lexington and most importantly, doing it with class, dignity and without cheating!!!! Our players overall have been outstanding kids and represented the school with both passion and honor. UK didn't play all that great, but still almost pulled out a win. Anyone who questions Calipari just needs to ask, who else would you want to be the coach?????? Only Coach K has done more while Cal has been at UK (2 NC) but Coach K is one of the best all time and has been the coach at Duke for like 30 years.....

 

[Mojocat]

Remember he is getting the best o the best out of hs and several of them yearly.

I'm not a Cal basher but let's be real.

Yes, let's be real. There are two primary components when assessing a player. Physical talent, and experience. Why do you focus on one and disregard the other. Why do you acknowledge no difference between the McDonalds AA that is a freshman and the McDonalds AA that is a junior.

And why are you conflating talent with will to win?

 

[HosCat]

I have to give Cal props, what he does when it comes to recruiting is unbelievable. It's not about just getting great talent but being able to recognize genuinely good kids. His success rate truly is amazing with the volume of players coming through the program.

 

[HarnessedCat]

I wonder if he thinks he fails these kids if they aren't really one and dones and go anyway?.Some kids just need more time,its not a knock on him but I wonder.I love where we are at its a amazing time to be a UK fan .We are so lucky to have Cal!!

 

[Cawood86]

Remember he is getting the best o the best out of hs and several of them yearly.

I'm not a Cal basher but let's be real.

You ain't real. Nothing you say is real. You're fake and your posts are fake. You've been outed. See the "Seeing a pattern here" thread and see what a fraud this person truly is.
Complete fraud.