As a neutral observer in this discussion, I don't get where Memphis fan is coming from with the bashing of Cal's coaching? Look how he performed at UMass and Memphis without the "elite" talent. Prior to his arrival, the last time anyone took Memphis seriously was with Dana Kirk coaching William Bedford, Andre Turner, Keith Lee, Baskerville Holmes, etc....and while Larry Finch had talent he couldn't coach a lick.
So you want to bash his work at Kentucky while leaving out the fact that he's coaching in a system that has guys on campus from June-April and new crop comes in the following June. I'd argue his success rate with that type of approach to building a roster/with the pressure of the job he's holding is quite high. If this was 1980's to mid 2000's I see your criticism as being more valid but in a 1 and done format for selecting a champion, things happen. You know this from seeing what Villanova did in Lexington in '85 as a Gtown fan I was praying Memphis would win that game so Hoyas could go back to back and knowing how tough Nova played them during Ewing era. He's won a NC in 2 NC games, been to 4 Final Fours, 6 Elite 8's, and only missed NCAA's in '13 when Noel was out with torn ACL. The UConn team he lost to was undefeated outside of conference play in '11, and like they had in '14 had veteran guards. If you want to be critical, I'd say '15 semifinal was lost due to coaching decisions against Wisconsin, and should've had his 2nd title against them, but 38-1 isn't anything to sniff at either.
If you think players don't develop at UK under their staff, you are a hater. The material is there, but you have to get them to not only work on aspects of their game that aren't strong but doing so while incorporating it into a team concept and sacrificing personal stats to get better and to win. How many coaches using the approach Calipari has have done it better or at a rate you can justify bashing his coaching with the approach?
In the my lifetime, I've seen Duke and UNC win 5 titles, UK and UConn 4, Indiana and UCLA win 3, Villanova, Florida, Michigan St, Louisville (* for my BBN friends) and Kansas 2, Just turned 43, so that's 11 programs making up 34 of the 43 titles during a span. Out of that group, Kentucky in '12 and Duke in '15 won with 1 and done core--but both had key veterans (Darius Miller, Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones) (Matt Jones, Quinn Cook, Amile Jefferson, Plumlee part 100) to give minutes. So 2 out of 43 champs were built with a strong emphasis on 1 and done players.
Now what has Memphis done in that same span? Should've won in '08, and who was coaching? Did he miss the FT's? Did he have as talented of a team as Kansas? Looking at NBA rosters I'd say no, so it wasn't talent that came up short, it was guys not executing which happens in college sports and yet Cal took the fall and protected the players from criticism. That's life in coaching.
I get your enthusiasm for Hardaway and for your sake I hope he's all that he's been proclaimed to be. Just think a lot of fans simply want to see it happen and not be told it's inevitable. Some of these media guys want it to happen and have their own agendas and reasons for it--with Wiseman recruitment it's far more anti Calipari then it is pro Memphis. Good luck to you, but I guess I'm curious why you'd come to a UK board to trash their program, coach, and fans when you have such a great program about to take off? Think there would be plenty of sites/discussion and fans to talk hoops/recruiting with then to come to another site to push some agenda and get sensitive when fans don't share your take?
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