I am not arguing with you there but I am just saying it is easy to pile on when you aren't sitting in that chair. Other than Mussleman and maybe Pearl I can't think of any other SEC coach that could handle this job. It takes a special guy (guy with an ego) to handle this job like it or not or should I say a certain personality. Calipari used to have it, maybe he lost it when Robic left, I don't know. Seems to be clueless now for whatever reason.
Athletic article on Cal (damning quotes from coaches)
- Thread starter RunninRichie
- Start date
Our coach has to go. Easy as that.
I didn't even bother watching the game on Wednesday. As soon as I saw Wheeler was 1-4 in the first 10 minutes, I knew we were doomed. I like Wheeler, but he shouldn't be starting. He doesn't lead this team. That decision is on the coach.
I didn't even bother watching the game on Wednesday. As soon as I saw Wheeler was 1-4 in the first 10 minutes, I knew we were doomed. I like Wheeler, but he shouldn't be starting. He doesn't lead this team. That decision is on the coach.
If you wouldn't have said these were anonymous quotes from coaches I would have thought these were RR posts. This just confirms what most of us already know is true.
There’s a reason everyone wants to play UK these days. Easy win for most named programs for their resume. Sad but true.
On paper, there is no way Shabazz Napier and UConn beat the Wildcats in the national title game in 2014, or Frank Kaminsky and Wisconsin stops the undefeated Cats in the Final Four. Luke Maye had no business dropping 17 in the Elite Eight in 2017. “And I mean seriously,’’ one coach says. “How did Saint Peter’s beat them?”
OUCH!
OUCH!
He has a bad habit of recruiting pgs who can’t shoot.
Well, there you go, Cal nut huggers. Come explain this one away. Same shit we’ve been saying on here for years. When your team is constantly getting beat down in a game and the team continues doing the same things that led to said beat down, chances are your coach has no clue how to adjust. That’s what’s been happening here for years! Pathetic!
It is still hard for me to fathom that , with that roster , we could only muster 54 points in our loss to Wisconsin . I realize Wisconsin was an excellent offensive basketball team, but not that great defensively. We attempted 5 threes and made 2 (going on memory here).
It was a rough game. So painful.
I agree - we are not that talented- how many guys can really handle the ball? How many knock down shooters - elite playmakers?
Just a bunch of dudes - athletes
Not here to defend Cal, but this is just a stupid quote. On paper half the teams that win games in the tournament had no business winning those games. That's why the tournament is so great. Kinda crazy to use a buzzer beater in the Elite 8 against the eventual national champions as a point against any coach. Unexpected players step up in the tournament all the time. You could reframe the above quote to literally any accomplished coach in America if you wanted to.
Every single point in there is true, the coaches quotes are exactly what we complain about every game. Good to hear that teams basically love playing us because it’s so easy to negate what we do. Very insightful to see how we have lost so many games in his tenure we should have won and why we disappoint so often now.“I’ll be honest. We just talked about this the other day. I’m not sure what Cal wants,’’ says one coach, who like all, asked for anonymity when interviewed. “At first it was about talent, beating Duke. Then it was winning the recruiting wars. Now it’s the transfer portal. It’s like get the best players and hope it works. But that’s just not how it works. It’s like there’s an identity crisis.’’
Since Kentucky’s title only one national-championship team — 2013 Louisville — has shot worse than 36 percent from the arc. In that same span, Kentucky has shot better than 36 percent just twice, this year and in 2016. “Their offense is archaic,’’ says one coach. “It’s gotta be the same s— he was running with the New Jersey Nets.” Predictable is how another coach describes it, so much so that his team spent little time worrying about sets and simply concentrated on player tendencies. “Yeah, he’s been running the same stuff for years,’’ adds another. “When you have stud players, though, it works. When you’re running floppy action for Tyler Herro, that’s a bucket. It’s a little different if it’s not him.’’
Calipari purposefully went out and sought shooters in the transfer portal (Antonio Reeves from Illinois State and C.J. Fredrick from Iowa). Yet it hasn’t made a significant bounce in the overall offense. “Well, that’s because if you don’t run good offense to get open shots, it doesn’t matter how many good 3-point shooters you have,’’ a coach says.
Another coach specifically pointed to the Wildcats’ pace and lack of precision, that they “jogged” through cuts. “You sprint, and the defense is like, what are they doing? Where are they going? Otherwise it’s pretty easy,’’ he says.
Oscar Tshiebwe is still putting up big numbers but the reigning national player of the year is being asked to carry UK. (Jay Biggerstaff / USA Today)
The upshot is that not only is scouting Kentucky less than challenging, but it’s also far easier to keep up with the Wildcats than it should be. On paper, there is no way Shabazz Napier and UConn beat the Wildcats in the national title game in 2014, or Frank Kaminsky and Wisconsin stops the undefeated Cats in the Final Four. Luke Maye had no business dropping 17 in the Elite Eight in 2017. “And I mean seriously,’’ one coach says. “How did Saint Peter’s beat them?”
“You know how people always say that with Virginia, you can hang in a game with them because of their style of play?” one coach says. “It’s why they can lose to a 16 (seed) and then win a national championship. But with Tony (Bennett), he’s going to hang on to that defense, on the fact that guys know how to get shots and do what they’re supposed to. That’s who he is and what he trusts. With Cal, you can always hang in because of the lack of an offensive scheme. There’s no sense of purpose. They don’t know who they are.’’
Some of that, coaches believe, is a byproduct of the portal. Tshiebwe (West Virginia), Reeves, Fredrick, Sahvir Wheeler (Georgia) and Jacob Toppin (Rhode Island) are all transfers. Granted, all but Reeves are at least two years into their Kentucky tenure (Fredrick transferred in 2021 but missed the next season due to injury), but mix in Tshiebwe’s preseason absence due to injury, and there’s a clear lack of connectedness on this year’s roster. “You got guys not knowing what plays they’re running,’’ one coach says. “And you don’t have any leaders that you grew. That’s some of it. Not all of it, but definitely some of it.’’
An offensive intervention might help. Calipari didn’t invent the dribble-drive. He got it from high school coach Vance Walberg and made it his own. Coaches think maybe he needs a similar voice whispering in his ear now. Two of his assistants count as Calipari disciples. Bruiser Flint started on his UMass staff in 1989, and Orlando Antigua joined in 2008 at Memphis. Chin Coleman is in only his fourth year as a high-major D1 assistant. They aren’t, most coaches agree, the sort who are going to push back on Calipari, or even offer much of a dissenting opinion. “An offensive coordinator, someone new or an NBA guy, that could help him,’’ one coach says. “So long as he listens.’’
For the past two seasons, at least, the identity has been pretty clear: get the ball to Tshiebwe. “Tshiebwe is an oak tree,’’ one coach says. Another laughed as he lamented going over and over the scout on Tshiebwe only to watch as his players did everything right and still couldn’t stop the big man. “What can you do?” he says. “Just yell, ‘Try harder.’”
But the solution to Kentucky’s offensive largesse also is part of its problem. Tshiebwe as bailout is not really an offense, and yet it’s the Wildcats’ most effective plan. “He can’t do it alone,’’ one coach says. Teams understandably are collapsing more and more defenders around Tshiebwe, but the rest of the lineup isn’t answering the call.
Coaches question whether some are good enough. Wheeler’s lack of scoring (9.1 per game) and outside shooting doesn’t make him enough of a threat to keep defenses honest, and Reeves, at least in some people’s opinions, shoots too much (he averages the same number of shots per game as Tshiebwe). They wonder if others are in the proper position. “Last year, Washington and (Kellen) Grady could stretch the floor and create lanes for guys,’’ one coach says. “But Toppin isn’t talented enough to be like a dude. He’s a decent player, but he’s not the sort of stretch four now required at the position.’’
It all adds up to a Tshiebwe-or-bust plan. “Tshiebwe is a bucket, but look at (Wednesday). Missouri had a guy who was a bucket (Kobe Brown), too,’’ one coach says. “So what do you do? You need to run good offense. You need connectedness. You need pace. I think a lot of times, he gets the ball and guys stand around to watch him operate. They aren’t cutting off the ball. That’s the thing: What do they do when he has the ball? Are they just waiting and watching? Because in the SEC, you’ve got guys who can negate Tshiebwe.”
Navigating playing time — especially with the lure of the transfer portal — is a nuance for everyone. Keeping players happy and even more, keeping them loyal is maybe more difficult than it’s ever been. Reeves, for example, might be taking as many shots as Tshiebwe, but he’s also taking five less than he did when he was the center of the offense at Illinois State. “I don’t like the word culture,’’ one coach says. “It’s very vague. We use program. Your program is who you are academically, and what’s expected of you. Your program is how you behave socially, and it’s how you’re going to play athletically. It basically means you have a plan. For guys like Cal, it’s so hard to have a plan when you have so many moving pieces.’’
While they missed the NCAA Tournament in 2021, six other SEC teams earned a bid. Along with that, some of the mystique has faded. No doubt they still walk into frenzied road atmospheres — evidenced at Missouri three days after Christmas — but the air of invincibility and inevitability that usually came with the sight of a Kentucky uniform is fading. “People don’t fear them,’’ one coach says. “I think they play hard for the most part. I do. But I also think Cal is trying to figure it out himself. Can he? Absolutely. Will he? That’s a different question.’’
Is John Calipari now the Jimbo Fisher of college basketball?
Coaches who've scouted Kentucky this season describe an "archaic" offense that is easy to scout. "It’s like there’s an identity crisis.’’theathletic.com
Half? really? There are upsets. It ain't half.
People should blow these quotes up and post them on signs to make sure he see them.
That was in the article, just recruit the best players, fit and roster construction be dammed. Just get the highest rating.
It’s also about getting them shots as the article said, nobody cuts hard on the cuts we do, we jog and go thru motions. It’s easy to watch, we are like robots going to spots that’s why our passes get picked off easily some games. He doesn’t have any action to get our shooters good looks.
They are just LOD.“I’ll be honest. We just talked about this the other day. I’m not sure what Cal wants,’’ says one coach, who like all, asked for anonymity when interviewed. “At first it was about talent, beating Duke. Then it was winning the recruiting wars. Now it’s the transfer portal. It’s like get the best players and hope it works. But that’s just not how it works. It’s like there’s an identity crisis.’’
Since Kentucky’s title only one national-championship team — 2013 Louisville — has shot worse than 36 percent from the arc. In that same span, Kentucky has shot better than 36 percent just twice, this year and in 2016. “Their offense is archaic,’’ says one coach. “It’s gotta be the same s— he was running with the New Jersey Nets.” Predictable is how another coach describes it, so much so that his team spent little time worrying about sets and simply concentrated on player tendencies. “Yeah, he’s been running the same stuff for years,’’ adds another. “When you have stud players, though, it works. When you’re running floppy action for Tyler Herro, that’s a bucket. It’s a little different if it’s not him.’’
Calipari purposefully went out and sought shooters in the transfer portal (Antonio Reeves from Illinois State and C.J. Fredrick from Iowa). Yet it hasn’t made a significant bounce in the overall offense. “Well, that’s because if you don’t run good offense to get open shots, it doesn’t matter how many good 3-point shooters you have,’’ a coach says.
Another coach specifically pointed to the Wildcats’ pace and lack of precision, that they “jogged” through cuts. “You sprint, and the defense is like, what are they doing? Where are they going? Otherwise it’s pretty easy,’’ he says.
Oscar Tshiebwe is still putting up big numbers but the reigning national player of the year is being asked to carry UK. (Jay Biggerstaff / USA Today)
The upshot is that not only is scouting Kentucky less than challenging, but it’s also far easier to keep up with the Wildcats than it should be. On paper, there is no way Shabazz Napier and UConn beat the Wildcats in the national title game in 2014, or Frank Kaminsky and Wisconsin stops the undefeated Cats in the Final Four. Luke Maye had no business dropping 17 in the Elite Eight in 2017. “And I mean seriously,’’ one coach says. “How did Saint Peter’s beat them?”
“You know how people always say that with Virginia, you can hang in a game with them because of their style of play?” one coach says. “It’s why they can lose to a 16 (seed) and then win a national championship. But with Tony (Bennett), he’s going to hang on to that defense, on the fact that guys know how to get shots and do what they’re supposed to. That’s who he is and what he trusts. With Cal, you can always hang in because of the lack of an offensive scheme. There’s no sense of purpose. They don’t know who they are.’’
Some of that, coaches believe, is a byproduct of the portal. Tshiebwe (West Virginia), Reeves, Fredrick, Sahvir Wheeler (Georgia) and Jacob Toppin (Rhode Island) are all transfers. Granted, all but Reeves are at least two years into their Kentucky tenure (Fredrick transferred in 2021 but missed the next season due to injury), but mix in Tshiebwe’s preseason absence due to injury, and there’s a clear lack of connectedness on this year’s roster. “You got guys not knowing what plays they’re running,’’ one coach says. “And you don’t have any leaders that you grew. That’s some of it. Not all of it, but definitely some of it.’’
An offensive intervention might help. Calipari didn’t invent the dribble-drive. He got it from high school coach Vance Walberg and made it his own. Coaches think maybe he needs a similar voice whispering in his ear now. Two of his assistants count as Calipari disciples. Bruiser Flint started on his UMass staff in 1989, and Orlando Antigua joined in 2008 at Memphis. Chin Coleman is in only his fourth year as a high-major D1 assistant. They aren’t, most coaches agree, the sort who are going to push back on Calipari, or even offer much of a dissenting opinion. “An offensive coordinator, someone new or an NBA guy, that could help him,’’ one coach says. “So long as he listens.’’
For the past two seasons, at least, the identity has been pretty clear: get the ball to Tshiebwe. “Tshiebwe is an oak tree,’’ one coach says. Another laughed as he lamented going over and over the scout on Tshiebwe only to watch as his players did everything right and still couldn’t stop the big man. “What can you do?” he says. “Just yell, ‘Try harder.’”
But the solution to Kentucky’s offensive largesse also is part of its problem. Tshiebwe as bailout is not really an offense, and yet it’s the Wildcats’ most effective plan. “He can’t do it alone,’’ one coach says. Teams understandably are collapsing more and more defenders around Tshiebwe, but the rest of the lineup isn’t answering the call.
Coaches question whether some are good enough. Wheeler’s lack of scoring (9.1 per game) and outside shooting doesn’t make him enough of a threat to keep defenses honest, and Reeves, at least in some people’s opinions, shoots too much (he averages the same number of shots per game as Tshiebwe). They wonder if others are in the proper position. “Last year, Washington and (Kellen) Grady could stretch the floor and create lanes for guys,’’ one coach says. “But Toppin isn’t talented enough to be like a dude. He’s a decent player, but he’s not the sort of stretch four now required at the position.’’
It all adds up to a Tshiebwe-or-bust plan. “Tshiebwe is a bucket, but look at (Wednesday). Missouri had a guy who was a bucket (Kobe Brown), too,’’ one coach says. “So what do you do? You need to run good offense. You need connectedness. You need pace. I think a lot of times, he gets the ball and guys stand around to watch him operate. They aren’t cutting off the ball. That’s the thing: What do they do when he has the ball? Are they just waiting and watching? Because in the SEC, you’ve got guys who can negate Tshiebwe.”
Navigating playing time — especially with the lure of the transfer portal — is a nuance for everyone. Keeping players happy and even more, keeping them loyal is maybe more difficult than it’s ever been. Reeves, for example, might be taking as many shots as Tshiebwe, but he’s also taking five less than he did when he was the center of the offense at Illinois State. “I don’t like the word culture,’’ one coach says. “It’s very vague. We use program. Your program is who you are academically, and what’s expected of you. Your program is how you behave socially, and it’s how you’re going to play athletically. It basically means you have a plan. For guys like Cal, it’s so hard to have a plan when you have so many moving pieces.’’
While they missed the NCAA Tournament in 2021, six other SEC teams earned a bid. Along with that, some of the mystique has faded. No doubt they still walk into frenzied road atmospheres — evidenced at Missouri three days after Christmas — but the air of invincibility and inevitability that usually came with the sight of a Kentucky uniform is fading. “People don’t fear them,’’ one coach says. “I think they play hard for the most part. I do. But I also think Cal is trying to figure it out himself. Can he? Absolutely. Will he? That’s a different question.’’
Is John Calipari now the Jimbo Fisher of college basketball?
Coaches who've scouted Kentucky this season describe an "archaic" offense that is easy to scout. "It’s like there’s an identity crisis.’’
Everything they're saying has already been said here.
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That is what is really telling, St. Peter’s with a dude nobody knew and a squad of dudes who barely had a gym to workout in and got worked over, then this first year head coach didn’t even look flustered just that his style and preparation would work and it did.
I dontbsee any unfair criticism. Coaches saying the same stuff we've been saying; but hey we're just basketball bennies.
Article out about how bad his defense is also. I just don't see how you can fix a coaches ability to coach offense and defense and on top of that has always had a problem motivating. I am afraid we may be in for a lot of dark moments for quite some time. He would have to have the ability to be open to changing and having the ability to change things like he has never done before. If you can't figure out who your best players are weeks ago how could you do any of the things coaching offense and defense?
It is. And what is even worse? I think teams look forward to playing us.
Cal has even lost one of his favorite lines in defeat living him even more lifeless at the podium. "We had a chance to win the game, we were right there."
Ummmm frickin Mizzou was putting their walkins in against us. Can't use that one.
Ummmm frickin Mizzou was putting their walkins in against us. Can't use that one.
Yep. We’re fvcked as long as Cal is here.
I was at the Florida A&M game and we noticed that they were setting screens for CJ but he was still having a really hard time getting open. I'm sure that's a little on CJ but prob mostly on the screener. I'm positive if you go back and watch him at Iowa the screening was much better for him.
Haven’t read the whole thread, so I’m sure it’s already been said: it feels reassuring to hear echoed sentiments from actual professionals. Not that it’s a good thing, but now he can’t fall back on calling us ‘Basketball Benny” when complaints are made, which is no doubt his little inside-joke buzzword that translates to “hillbilly dimwit” in his mind. We’ve all seen these issues, his competition obviously sees it too and finally, there’s a unified, voiced consensus about his offense. I’ll be curious if this causes him to dig in even further or if it’ll open his eyes (I’ll guessing the former).
He doesn't have a single guy on his staff that is a target for someone's coaching vacancy.
Some of you just don't get it. You just don't seem to be able to stop piling on Wheeler. Wheeler is far from being the only problem with this team. Wheeler isn't the reason why guys can't hit wide open shots. Wheeler isn't the reason we try to force the ball to Oscar when he is guarded by 4 defenders. Wheeler isn't the reason the coach has no offensive strategy. You could replace Wheeler with any point guard in the country and it wouldn't make a difference because that person would be coached by Cal. Wheeler's ability to push the ball up the court is the only reason we are able to make some easy baskets. THE PROBLEM IS CAL!!
Cal's pride is smaller than his lifetime contract. It isn't that complicated. If he could walk while keeping his money, he wouldn't hesitate to leave.
Very unsettling comments. That’s for sure.
I’m sure Cal would blow these comments off as coaches that are mad because he beat them out of this player or that player.
I’m sure Cal would blow these comments off as coaches that are mad because he beat them out of this player or that player.
You either know nothing about basketball or you simply want to use Wheeler as an excuse for your coach's inability to coach. I don't recall a single one of Cal's peers blaming Wheeler for Cal's coaching. If Wheeler is the problem, why isn't there an improvement when he goes to the bench?
Thanks for the personal attack. I know you have nothing once you go personal.
There is tremendous improvement when Wheeler is out. First, the defense improves dramatically. Second, you can actually run an offense. Third, we are not playing 4 on 5 anymore. I can go on.
I get it, you have some Wheeler love. That's on you. Your boy couldn't win playing with Anthony Edwards either. Ga got better when Wheeler left too.
Lowest basketball IQ point guard I've even seen on the court. For any team.
Exactly! The quotes are almost verbatim of our observations on this board. It's just glaringly obvious to everyone, us bennies and coaches alike. It's glaringly obvious to everyone but CCC.
Provide the stats that prove the team's performance improves without Wheeler? You don't have any. However, history has shown the team plays better when Cal isn't on the bench which is why the team looked so strong during the exhibition games last summer. Previous years the team performed better when Cal was tossed from the bench. He realizes this, so he has no desire to get tossed because he doesn't want fans to see the team's improvement when he isn't around them.
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Or …..are they “basketball bennies “. thats the term Cal likes to use .
OK , it’s official. The LOD was alive during the tubby wars. The LOB is what we are now . I’m a card carrying member of both !
This is what I meant when I said it seemed like he was running an out of date system, and like he was coaching as if he was in the NBA, consequences be damned. It's no wonder it's failing. I'm not the only one seeing it, which makes me feel a little better that I'm not going crazy, and also worse at the same time.
We used to. Last year as a matter of fact. I know what you are saying. Good point.
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