CoachCal.com: Tempering Early Expectations

[Smashcat]

CoachCal.com ‏@CoachCalDotCom 46m46 minutes ago
Prior to January each season, it is quite common to hear Coach Cal say, "it's early." Well, it's early. Story: http://www.coachcal.com/36769/2015/12/tempering-the-early-expectations/…

 

[Xception]

It's too bad that some UK fans aren't savvy enough to see a pattern of growth in this system and learn to enjoy the maturation process instead of bemoaning the lack of polished play . Every year I know to expect lots of mistakes and struggles but we still win . No matter who we lose to or struggle to beat in the regular season I feel confident that we're going to have one of the best teams come tournament time .

Marquis Teague was blasted all year for his mistakes and yet he was amazing in the title game . We need more fans that find what a player does right and what he needs to improve on , instead we have a good many who are only capable of finding faults and never praise that particular player under any circumstance .

 

[MegaBlue05]

UK fan's tempering expectations?



It's really like some of us don't know how this works nearly every year since Cal's been here.

 

[MegaBlue05]

It's too bad that some UK fans aren't savvy enough to see a pattern of growth in this system and learn to enjoy the maturation process instead of bemoaning the lack of polished play . Every year I know to expect lots of mistakes and struggles but we still win . No matter who we lose to or struggle to beat in the regular season I feel confident that we're going to have one of the best teams come tournament time .

Marquis Teague was blasted all year for his mistakes and yet he was amazing in the title game . We need more fans that find what a player does right and what he needs to improve on , instead we have a good many who are only capable of finding faults and never praise that particular player under any circumstance .

Excellent post.

Some of us have an unreasonable expectation of perfection from every player, every game. We usually look pretty ragged until February and then slowly round into form. We're usually humming around SEC-T time.

 

[CELTICAT]

I'm not sure which pisses me off more: the bitching and moaning after a 20+ point victory, or the fact that Cal finds it necessary in his seventh season to publish this.

 

[Xception]

I'm not sure which pisses me off more: the bitching and moaning after a 20+ point victory, or the fact that Cal finds it necessary in his seventh season to publish this.

I think Cal should just leave those fans behind , is there really any reason to think they'll get it after seven years ?

 

[caneintally]

It's too bad that some UK fans aren't savvy enough to see a pattern of growth in this system and learn to enjoy the maturation process instead of bemoaning the lack of polished play . Every year I know to expect lots of mistakes and struggles but we still win . No matter who we lose to or struggle to beat in the regular season I feel confident that we're going to have one of the best teams come tournament time .

Marquis Teague was blasted all year for his mistakes and yet he was amazing in the title game . We need more fans that find what a player does right and what he needs to improve on , instead we have a good many who are only capable of finding faults and never praise that particular player under any circumstance .

Amazing post. I said in October I thought this would be Cal's best team by March but in November and December they might look like his worst and I haven't been wrong yet and I am sticking to my prediction.

 

[docholiday51]

Thanks for posting the article,it is semi sugar coated with cal doing his usual 'protect and deflect 'for the good of the team,which is what he should be doing at this point.
I've been thinking about this for a few days and maybe here is a good spot for it.

What is your take now as opposed to what it was just before the season began on some of our players Here are mine

Murray- He has played well but hasn't been the game changer that I thought he might be thus far,a bit more streaky as a shooter than I thought. His ability to play in the team concept is still a work in progress

Briscoe - He has been more productive than I, thought he might be,his is better defensively at this point and seems to have a better feel for the game than a point guard playing a hybrid position for the first time

Matthews- He is about where and what I thought he would be,he brings several positives to the court but is still learning his way around the offensive end of the court.

Skal- He has skills,but he is not as advanced or as prepared to use his skills as it appeared he was in some of the all-star games.I thought he would be more productive at this point

Lee and AP we are getting more out of both than I thought we might,Lee is able to stay on the court(as in not picking up cheap fouls) better than I thought he might,his ppg and rpg are higher than I expected.
AP doesn't seem to be showing many ill effects of his injury,he is also putting points and rebounds in the book at a higher rate than I expected.

Ulis- he is just about where and what I thought he would be(except for3pt shooting which will probably get better)he is the heart and soul of this team

 

[anon_013cn8yrfncx2]

IMO the angst is not about giving the team time to develop .. it's about seeing things that aren't necessarily going to improve just with time. Most often mentioned being shooting or lack thereof, Skal as a true low-post guy, toughness, etc.

If someone expresses concern they may
(1) be called a troll
(2) told to relax, it's early
(3) or given a historical perspective as in this thread

If we lose a few conference games we will be told we build for March. If we lose in March we'll be told how many lottery picks we will have and/or look at next year's great class.

Cal has and has had us on a high trajectory. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Most of us realize we will likely be a tough out in the tourney but it's far form a sure thing. No platitudes about needing more time is going to change that. The glass half empty types have just as much credence as the glass half full from where I stand .. but then I'm a half empty type so go figure.

 

[KWilt43atbuzz]

Just because I anticipate a FF run ever yr. from UK does that make me an unrealistic fan?

 

[Hoskins21]

Just because I anticipate a FF run ever yr. from UK does that make me an unrealistic fan?

Yes, especially after losing all that we did.

 

[Hoskins21]

Fans' expectations are again way too high. UK is not a Final Four team. If by season's end this team is in the Final Four, Cal deserves to be COY. You don't lose what UK did then turn around and compete for a National Title. It's extremely difficult. Those who expect this UK team to do so are being unfair.

 

[NCukcat62]

The expectations by fans are ridiculous. Yeah it is fine to get upset when we don't play good but to say that this team is a disappointment shows that you have issues as a fan. I keep telling people just wait until March. This team will be scary.

 

[jrm693]

I am amazed at how Cal can develop these guys so rapidly, every year we start out with some close calls and worry but they seem to come together at the end. As much as I like Cal and hope he stays till they have to roll him in and out with a wheelchair I didn't believe we would ever win it all with predominantly freshmen teams, I can remember when freshmen weren't even allowed to play varsity ball to do what he has done with these kids straight out of HS is mind blowing. I do wish the posters on here would lighten up with the harsh criticism we are living in the promised land right now.

 

[BoulderCat]

This year's team is particularly prone to the problems Cal's always young teams have typically have early during his tenure. 3 of the best player's at the same position, and elite big who basically went over a year without any real competition at that level, much less experienced than last year's great team, etc. They'll get it worked out, but there are going to be growing pains. Just remember what a dismal failure the '14 team seemed in relation to expectations, yet they ended up playing in the title game. Keep the faith. After all in Kentucky college basketball isn't sport, it's religion.

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

I fully expected to struggle early this season. However, I let the Murray hype get to me a bit. My overall opinion is that come tourney time, we could be a scary team. I have always watched guard play really drive March results (for the most part), and I think our guard play by March will be a thing of beauty. All we need is Skal to develop into a consistent player, weather it's back to the basket getting boards and lobs; or face up using finesse on the elbow; I'll let Cal decide - he and KP have this job to do. And history shows that Skal will develop tremendously by tourney play. We are going to be tough to beat in March (late February). We will lose some games, but we will learn from it and hopefully stoke the fire. We have the makings of a FF team, and I think we get there (barring serious injury to any one player). After getting there, it's a little bit of luck to win it all. But we can be there. History says we will.

 

[Bodvar Bjarki]

Another UK fan bashing thread. Who would have thought.

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

Championships are not won in December.

 

[bucsrule8872]

UK teams under Cal have been written off in December just about every year, but they have made deep runs in five out of six years.

No reason to think this team is going to be like the exception (2013) instead of the rule (2010, 11, 12, 14, 15).

I expect to at least make it to the Sweet Sixteen.

 

[marshalfan]

I know we have had a history of very good tourney runs every year except one in Cal's tenure. I do have some concerns about this team, The outside shooting of this team has been a huge disappointment. Skal's skill level is off the charts but he lacks some of the intangibles that are hard to teach. We don't have the rim protector we have had in past years. Time will tell if we can improve in these areas, I will not be surprised either way.

 

[Bkocats]

Yes it's true; our expectations are too high for this early in the season. And this is the one case where Cal didn't use coachspeak. It is still a bit frustrating though - not from our freshmen, but our upperclassmen. I do still believe that this team has great potential; just a matter of finding it.

 

[dave5164]

You would think after six seasons and what we have seen in Coach Cal's six teams is that they all start out slow. Even last year being undefeated heading into the FInal Four we had early tough games and we had blowouts too. The Kansas and UCLA games last year winning by 30 and 40 had everyone thinking and believing in Winning it all last year. Fans don't remember the tough games like vs. Buffalo, vs. Texas, and UL. We only beat a Columbia team here at home by 10 points and then to start the SEC season we had 2 Overtime games that we probably should have lost. There was other games in the SEC season that were close and could have been a loss. Alot of fans don't remember but last year we could have easily lost 5 or 6 games but did pull the 'W'. Just like the last six seasons we have seen so spoiled with these top recruits and #1 and #2 Recruiting classes but tend to forget most of our players are Freshman and we are young. This year is no different that we have the talent and we had an impressive win over Duke and everyone starts talking once again how great this team is and we have only played 6 or 7 teams.We will be just like the previous teams and start out slow but by the time March rolls around this team will be ready to make a run. The Talent that includes Murray, Ulis, Briscoe, Skal, POY, LEE, and the rest of the team will improve and get better and this team will eventually gel into a team that will make a run at the FInal Four and Nat. Championship by year-end.

 

[Jkwo]

If we lose a few conference games we will be told we build for March. If we lose in March we'll be told how many lottery picks we will have and/or look at next year's great class.

This makes it sound like there's this big gaping wound that is not being addressed because of this chain of rationalizations. We've won more games than anybody in the last 6 years and also tend to play really, really well in March.

The reason I think the half full guys are tired of hearing from the half empties is because except for the Wooden run, it just doesn't get better than this. So when you see guys who do the vast majority of their posting after losses or tough games when we're in the middle of a golden era and just want to complain, you start to wonder if there's anything (within the realm of reality) that would make these guys happy. And if the answer is no, then why should those people be interested in hanging out with people who frankly are happiest when complaining? It's a drag

 

[BBUK]

IMO the angst is not about giving the team time to develop .. it's about seeing things that aren't necessarily going to improve just with time. Most often mentioned being shooting or lack thereof, Skal as a true low-post guy, toughness, etc.

If someone expresses concern they may
(1) be called a troll
(2) told to relax, it's early
(3) or given a historical perspective as in this thread

If we lose a few conference games we will be told we build for March. If we lose in March we'll be told how many lottery picks we will have and/or look at next year's great class.

Cal has and has had us on a high trajectory. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Most of us realize we will likely be a tough out in the tourney but it's far form a sure thing. No platitudes about needing more time is going to change that. The glass half empty types have just as much credence as the glass half full from where I stand .. but then I'm a half empty type so go figure.

"Expresses concern"? Is that what you're calling it now? I call it bashing a team. Those who do the above are not expressing concern. They are expressing their "feelings" because they are not interested in helping the team but rather that the team help them with their feelings or, help them feel better. (For whatever reason or excuse.) They show their true feelings by taking any perceived weakness to try to expose it for their benefit or to the detriment of the team because it makes them feel better. Very rarely is their expressed concern constructive. Their "concern" seems to be more destructive to the team, the teams fans, or with a motive that is not promoting the team. You can be a glass half empty type all you want, at least you admit it. Just don't spill any and you'll be fine in the end. Be Good

 

[Hoskins21]

Another UK fan bashing thread. Who would have thought.

Many of the fans on this board deserve to be bashed.