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To be fair, he’s also starting with an entirely new roster, so it isn’t like he had returning players he coached last year that could be building upon what they learned allowing them to start the season stronger out of the gate.

I mean, if he’d had a good core to start with…maybe even something as minimal as one guard, one wing, and one big who knew his complex offensive and defensive schemes, they could help their teammates along. But alas, he is completely hamstrung with an entirely new roster…oh, wait a minute…🤔


🤣🤣
Oh yes I’m sure in the history of all these guys careers they have never played a zone before. I didn’t know Davis, Thiero, Aidoo, Wagner, and Z have never played college ball before. That’s just a shitty excuse for his poor coaching.
 
Don't worry... They should win 9 out of the next 11!

There non conference schedule is very weak!
Honestly they should win out til conference play starts! Mich/Illinois are the only teams capable of challenging them!
 
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To be fair, he’s also starting with an entirely new roster, so it isn’t like he had returning players he coached last year that could be building upon what they learned allowing them to start the season stronger out of the gate.

I mean, if he’d had a good core to start with…maybe even something as minimal as one guard, one wing, and one big who knew his complex offensive and defensive schemes, they could help their teammates along. But alas, he is completely hamstrung with an entirely new roster…oh, wait a minute…🤔


🤣🤣
Wait till he tells the Hog people how Hard it is for these players. How he likes his team and that they will be fine come March. Already complaining about injuries.
 
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Don't worry... They should win 9 out of the next 11!

There non conference schedule is very weak!
Honestly they should win out til conference play starts! Mich/Illinois are the only teams capable of challenging them!
I think I see Oakland on the schedule. I'm sure Cal won't lose to a team that has less talent though.
 
I think I see Oakland on the schedule. I'm sure Cal won't lose to a team that has less talent though.
With cal it possible, but I don't think Oakland is a tournament team this year! The schedule is so weak that IMO they will be overrated to start conference play. It's so weak it will hurt there development, you don't improve much when you just overwhelm team athletically. So I see the scenario where the expectations are high starting conference play, and suddenly hits a wall!

Only thing I don't like about there conference schedule is they get 7 days to prepare for us!
 
With cal it possible, but I don't think Oakland is a tournament team this year! The schedule is so weak that IMO they will be overrated to start conference play. It's so weak it will hurt there development, you don't improve much when you just overwhelm team athletically. So I see the scenario where the expectations are high starting conference play, and suddenly hits a wall!

Only thing I don't like about there conference schedule is they get 7 days to prepare for us!

I'm a little confused by the portion in your post I highlighted. Unless I'm mistaken, I heard Cal NUMEROUS times over the years claim, "we don't worry about other teams, we just focus on us".

Hopefully, that continues as he returns to Lexington b/c we all know how that lack of preparation often turns out.
 
I'm a little confused by the portion in your post I highlighted. Unless I'm mistaken, I heard Cal NUMEROUS times over the years claim, "we don't worry about other teams, we just focus on us".

Hopefully, that continues as he returns to Lexington b/c we all know how that lack of preparation often turns out.
That's what he says! But i can promise you he will
Scout us! This game means more to him then any other game he plays this year. I hope we win, but can see a scenario where they play out of there mind in this one.
I still don't know how good we will be! But by then we will be seriously battle tested! And hope we can continue improving and make a tournament run in March. Regardless win loss record, I give coach Pope a pass due to not having time to fill his roster needs to be elite.
 
So you think this 1 game defines the entire season? I'll bet anyone right now that we have the better season. Arkansas is losing 10+ games. The end.
I think we very well will have a better conference record. But overall? Have you looked at there schedule? They don't play a top 25 team til conference play!
 
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That's what he says! But i can promise you he will
Scout us! This game means more to him then any other game he plays this year. I hope we win, but can see a scenario where they play out of there mind in this one.
I still don't know how good we will be! But by then we will be seriously battle tested! And hope we can continue improving and make a tournament run in March. Regardless win loss record, I give coach Pope a pass due to not having time to fill his roster needs to be elite.

I agree with you…

I’m just really sarcastic and absolutely hated Cal’s lack of coaching and condescending arrogant demeanor toward the fanbase…hence my response
 
This isn’t a home game for him, it’s not a tourny game either. We’ve talked for years about how UK plays better away than at home, and I have examples of impressive wins where we were underdogs and Cal came through.

I’m not saying we won’t win, but to think it’s in the bag isn’t wise.
Let's hope it's a rupp arena thing!! 🤫
 
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Oh yes I’m sure in the history of all these guys careers they have never played a zone before. I didn’t know Davis, Thiero, Aidoo, Wagner, and Z have never played college ball before. That’s just a shitty excuse for his poor coaching.
I bet they played zone in high school.
 
In a few years Arkansas fans will be singing Happy Trails to Cal. some of their fans act like they stole him from Kentucky, you can't steal something if someone wants to give it to you. Their fans might not admit it but some are already talking about it amongst themselves as to whether what Kentucky fans have been saying is true, it's true.
 
I live in Arkansas, and have a buddy that was over the moon to get Cal. We’ve been going back and forth all summer. He told me after the Lipscomb game that he thinks everything I was saying to him appeared to be true. He said they played like everybody is just trying out for the NBA, and that Cal’s press conferences are nonsensical. He thinks now this is Cal’s only season at Arkansas.
 
I live in Arkansas, and have a buddy that was over the moon to get Cal. We’ve been going back and forth all summer. He told me after the Lipscomb game that he thinks everything I was saying to him appeared to be true. He said they played like everybody is just trying out for the NBA, and that Cal’s press conferences are nonsensical. He thinks now this is Cal’s only season at Arkansas.
Ask him to count the amount of charges the team takes……they don’t play hard for him. So glad he’s somewhere else. GBB!
 
I live in Arkansas, and have a buddy that was over the moon to get Cal. We’ve been going back and forth all summer. He told me after the Lipscomb game that he thinks everything I was saying to him appeared to be true. He said they played like everybody is just trying out for the NBA, and that Cal’s press conferences are nonsensical. He thinks now this is Cal’s only season at Arkansas.
IDK about his only season in Arkansas, but you can tell from the first moment he arrived at Arkansas, literally walking in to the presser etc, he doesn't want to be there and was blindsided at how the events unfolded.
 
I live in Arkansas, and have a buddy that was over the moon to get Cal. We’ve been going back and forth all summer. He told me after the Lipscomb game that he thinks everything I was saying to him appeared to be true. He said they played like everybody is just trying out for the NBA, and that Cal’s press conferences are nonsensical. He thinks now this is Cal’s only season at Arkansas.
truth points to itself.
Great share, thanks for that insight Celticat!

Go Big Blue !
 
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Go easy OP.

If Cal comes in Feb 1 and gets us, you’re inviting every Hog fan to rub it in for months.

Cal might be a little behind the times, but he did pretty well against better opponents last year. Beating UT in Knoxville on senior day wasnt easy. And walking into Auburn and beating Pearl wasn’t cake either. He also destroyed KU at KU one year.

That game Feb 1 isn’t a guarantee yet.
Don’t forget handling a very high ranked UNC team and Miami as well very early in the season. Cal’s winning percentage speaks for itself. You don’t get there recruiting athletes alone.

I think he got bored and lost some passion the last few years and if we had won in 2015, I think the last 8-9 years would have been very different as it puts him within striking distance of UCLA.
 
I live in Arkansas, and have a buddy that was over the moon to get Cal. We’ve been going back and forth all summer. He told me after the Lipscomb game that he thinks everything I was saying to him appeared to be true. He said they played like everybody is just trying out for the NBA, and that Cal’s press conferences are nonsensical. He thinks now this is Cal’s only season at Arkansas.
You just nailed the perfect description of a Cal coached team. They are just a bunch of individual players treating the game like a pro-day. The only winning these kids worry about is their own individual draft projections.
 
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That’s an instant replay of lines he used at UK. Yeesh, the dude’s been coaching for over four decades and still acts like zones are some newfangled thing he hasn’t had a fair chance to prepare for yet.

He’s become an excuse machine.
What's sad for me personally is that I used to fall for that same line pretty often from Calipari. Now I can clearly see it for what it is- BS. There is no excuse not to prepare for a zone, especially when you're playing against a coach like Scott Drew who is well known for using zone often. As for the injuries, why are Calipari teams always struggling with injuries? It's become a staple of Cal's teams. I think it's about how soft Cal has become toward his players. That players first mantra leads a coach to not demand his players prepare themselves, which includes work outs, stretching, lifting, and even hydrating. And when they have an injury, it seems he's not demanding that guys work as hard as possible to get back. Cal covers for them and their handlers instead of holding feet to the fire. I'm so glad he's not at UK anymore.
 
I live in Arkansas, and have a buddy that was over the moon to get Cal. We’ve been going back and forth all summer. He told me after the Lipscomb game that he thinks everything I was saying to him appeared to be true. He said they played like everybody is just trying out for the NBA, and that Cal’s press conferences are nonsensical. He thinks now this is Cal’s only season at Arkansas.
He’ll be there at least 3 years if he doesn’t retire first and save face. The Ark donors better start bringing in the AJ Dybansta’s and Cooper Flaggs of the world, if they want to hide Calipari from himself 🤣
 
Don’t forget handling a very high ranked UNC team and Miami as well very early in the season. Cal’s winning percentage speaks for itself. You don’t get there recruiting athletes alone.

I think he got bored and lost some passion the last few years and if we had won in 2015, I think the last 8-9 years would have been very different as it puts him within striking distance of UCLA.


I think saying he got bored and lost some passion is over inflating Cals coaching. Almost like a genius kid that could get 100% in every class if he was more engaged. He had top 3 recruiting classes for almost 18 straight years and one championship and not even a number 1 seed in over 10 years. It’s an absurd amount of talent for a sport that is incredibly reliant on talent. I think a more accurate description is the game passed him by and he was unable to adapt to the new modern way the game is played and he’s essentially washed up. It happens more times then not.
 
As of today Arkansas and Kentucky are tied +2500 to cut down the nets that’s good for 12th best odds to win the Natty.
 
I think saying he got bored and lost some passion is over inflating Cals coaching. Almost like a genius kid that could get 100% in every class if he was more engaged. He had top 3 recruiting classes for almost 18 straight years and one championship and not even a number 1 seed in over 10 years. It’s an absurd amount of talent for a sport that is incredibly reliant on talent. I think a more accurate description is the game passed him by and he was unable to adapt to the new modern way the game is played and he’s essentially washed up. It happens more times then not.
Yeah Ron, I'd say you're on to something there. All that talent and nothing to show for it. 2 NBA lottery picks sitting on the bench to start every game last season. It's hard to understand. And your point about the game passing him by is legit also. He refused to change his approach, and even when he tried to say the right things, his teams usually defaulted to his old style.

I think the "Players First" approach was thrown into overdrive when Covid-19 hit. Calipari already was leaning that direction pretty heavily before covid, but when that happened, he became even more hyper-focused on not upsetting players and their handlers. He stopped pushing players to their limits. And he also became even more focused on getting guys to the NBA than on winning championships for the university. So, you end up with players who have one eye on the NBA and aren't being pushed to their limits. And when things get more tense (like in the SEC-T or the NCAA-T), those players wilt under pressure. That's what we saw over the last several years.
 
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I’m fascinated watching Arkansas because that was going to be our team this year. I wasn’t looking forward to it. And now we see why.

February 1st can’t come soon enough. I truly believe we are 10 points better than them on a neutral floor.
We might have gotten VJ Edgecomb if Cal stayed.
 
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