Calipari's greatest coaching job?
- Thread starter Smashcat
- Start date
If not for Anthony Davis, CCC is probably no longer here.
You would think with all of the muscle added and training that AD would be less fragile than when he was at UK. Strange.
Fun game to play. If not for Jamal Mashburn, Rick Pitino probably never makes it to '96.
JM didn’t play with a team full of pros.
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Point is players make coaches, not the other way around.
Really...how many pros did RP have at UK vs CCC? Every talks about OT. I give you Naza Mohammed.
In retrospect, it was indeed incredible luck.
AD’s only had one fully healthy season in his entire basketball career …and it just happened to be the one and only season that he was with us.
AD’s only had one fully healthy season in his entire basketball career …and it just happened to be the one and only season that he was with us.
His best coaching job at UK was the Knight, Lamb, Miller (Liggins), Jones, Harrelson team.
Old bodies break more easily than young ones. No amount of added muscle can change that fact.
In fact, added muscle can sometimes make one MORE injury prone if it means more weight/impact on the legs.
2021-2022 team had no lick of talent but TyTy and Oscar and killed the team that went on to win the title, plus Cal got the team to a 2 seed in the tournament.
The Baylor Elite 8 game provided a serious scare in '12 for a few minutes.
Laugh at the media who fires shot at Davis. If it was just him....get it. Saw that Bucks and Giannis did a load management thing in Game 3 of a Playoff Series. They are now down 2-1 and Spoelstra/Heat organization isn't who I'd to "play" with. Guy is jumping up and down on the sidelines in short set and can't play?
That said, AD has carried MKG's theatrical reactions to the NBA with him. As enjoyable as the '12 team was to watch play, I thought MKG died at least 5 times that year on the court. Only to see him limp up and then go coast to coast after a blocked shot and get a serious dunk at other end. LOL
Laugh at the media who fires shot at Davis. If it was just him....get it. Saw that Bucks and Giannis did a load management thing in Game 3 of a Playoff Series. They are now down 2-1 and Spoelstra/Heat organization isn't who I'd to "play" with. Guy is jumping up and down on the sidelines in short set and can't play?
That said, AD has carried MKG's theatrical reactions to the NBA with him. As enjoyable as the '12 team was to watch play, I thought MKG died at least 5 times that year on the court. Only to see him limp up and then go coast to coast after a blocked shot and get a serious dunk at other end. LOL
You can pretend that is the case if you want but Mashburn put UK back on the map (ala John Wall). We wouldn't have landed half the guys we got a couple years later without him. The biggest thing coaches can do at a top school is recruit. It is literally the most important thing. Name me a coach that won a title without NBA talent.
Pitino obviously deserves a ton of credit, just like Cal does for what he achieved. Been a bad bad run lately though, not disputing that.
It is not an apples to apples comparison coaching freshmen who can leave after 1 year when they couldn't 25-30 years ago. Pitino got 4 years of Tony Delk, 2 years of Ron Mercer, 3 with Mashburn, etc. Calipari has had far more talent but it has always been very young.
Absolutely. Him putting Liggins on Craft threw Ohio State's offense off. That OSU team killed teams with Sullinger dominating down low drawing double teams and him kicking out to their deadly shooters. So Cal had Jorts battle Sullinger alone and we didn't leave their 3 elite shooters. Jorts more than delivered.
Against UNC he put Liggins at PG and moved Knight to the two where he could have more screens and handoffs for better shots. We lit it up from 3.
I’ve often thought guys can add too much muscle, making them too tight, less flexible. Now I don’t know the types of injuries he’s had, some types that not help prevent. They say bigger guys can “absorb contact” better. Ok. Maybe it’s better to “bounce off contract” than absorb it.
I do think yoga (which I don’t do) would be good for athletes. Maybe dancing for their footwork. Rock climbing for their grip strength. In basketball grip strength more important than bench press, for a football lineman bench press, for a WR grip strength, for a RB maybe both, but footwork and balance more.
No doubt 2011 was his best coaching job. And recall unto l the season started we thought we would have Kanter, they Jorts was just a backup.
Pitino made UK (after its death penalty). The guy was a master coach. No other coach in America would have resurrected the program that quickly and to that extent.
If not for Jordan Chicago never wins a championship.
I agree, it can go both ways. Very few coaches could have done what Rupp, Wooden, K, Pitino, Few & some others did. Other times it has been the players. But often a coach is good or very good, EARLY ON, and then because he is good he gets Good/Great players making his teams even better, but then either he loses his me-against-the-world fight or the game changes but he loses some or much of his coaching prowess. That last step is where Cal is now, and why it's time to move on. He was never "great", but at one point he was a good coach, but he also had other qualities that while may not be important for most coaching jobs is important at Kentucky.
Cal did the same damn thing at UK. Lol. We were recruiting 2 and 3 star players when he came on campus and 11 years removed from a FF.
Regarding my original point, yes, Pitino did turn things around just like Calipari did and they both did it on the back of great players. Pitino had the luxury or grooming them in a system for years, Cal does not- his choice is to go after the most Elite and try and win in a year. Either way, great players generally equal great success.
2011 and 2014 was his best coaching jobs, imo. Why that Wichita State game is never up there when talking about the best NCAAT games is beyond me. It's the best tourney game I have ever seen from any two teams.
Was a great game. That whole tourney was incredible. Only better I've seen was Duke game in '92....outcome aside.
The NBA regular is season is much more arduous than that of college basketball. It's over twice as many games and each game is 8 minutes longer with more possessions per minute.
A NBA team could play like 15 games in a month while college basketball teams play 8-10 during the conference season. College basketball teams will even play less than that a month before the New Year.
A NBA team could play like 15 games in a month while college basketball teams play 8-10 during the conference season. College basketball teams will even play less than that a month before the New Year.
I had literally forgotten about Kanter. Jorts more than delivered. Thanks for the reminder.
Pitino certainly was the perfect coach for Kentucky at that time. However, if it wasn’t for the 4 Kentucky boys plus Woods he likely wouldn’t have had the early success that he did and therefore been able to recruit the way he did. Don’t underestimate the influence that the heart and effort that the Ky boys and Woods had in resurrecting Kentucky back. Pitino’s system plus those players were perfect for each other.
No?
Delk and Rhodes were coming regardless. They were as much a key to our mid-90s success as anyone. Pitino also won a title with those guys, not Mashburn.
1. Rhodes came to UK because of Mashburn's success. He was projected to be "the next Mashburn"
2. Rhodes didn't win a title at UK. He left after EE loss to UNC
3. My point stands. Mashburn kept UK relevant in the darkest of periods and led to ramped up recruiting. Imagine the Unforgettables without Mashburn....enough said.
His best coaching would have probably been during his tenure at UMass. That's before his "higher mission delusion" to end generational poverty. SAT.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was making people think he isn't real. The greatest trick Cal ever pulled was making people think he is a real coach.
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