Easily Cal's worst loss here

[brianpoe]

Lol I'm not Zipp. But you can keep calling me that. Doesn't change your devout homerism despite not being able to get as close to the program as you would like. You talk about Cal's mistakes in not calling timeouts in some of the biggest losses of his career here yet you refuse to question why he consistently made that mistake. You're a smart guy, I'm sure there is a part of you deep down that knows there is truth to some of the criticisms of Cal and I would imagine it scares you. Your defense of that is to defend him and belittle anyone with an opinion that is less than flattering. The truth is, Cal gets tight. He's not the greatest X's and O's coach. He's too damn stubborn. It's cost him, and I predict it will cost him again. Guess we will see. I think it's starting to show as this team (that is full of talent) is not progressing. When you lose to Auburn you have to admit one of two scenarios:

A). Bruce Pearl is a helluva coach

B). Maybe Cal doesn't know how to handle this team

Zipperino,

How many years do we have to have this conversation?

Why do you think it is that I, like many others, can slam Cal for so many items, yet never be called out?

But when you do it you are a troll?

As you well know, Mr. 2 Master Degrees, you do the same thing every post, regardless of thread topic I may add, in that Cal has only won 1 title.

Every post, Every post, Every post, Every post, Every post, Every post, Every post, Every post, Every post, Every post


You are never around during the good times. Only when there is an opportunity to talk ish about Cal....

You say I am a homer for Cal but mention all of my criticisms...?


You know very well that you and I agree on many of the things you posted -

Cal gets tight in my opinion, not the greatest offensive guru, I like Pearl as much as you do.

I disagree about the talent level.


And finally as you well know, there are real UL fans that are not proud of your coach, and they say these things but they are not trolls either. And UK fans come over to your site and say those same things but in reality are trolling when doing so.

No difference here.

 

[ShadowFromHomewardBound]

O

Can you count how many timeouts he had in his pocket? That's the coaches job period. No excuse in it IMO. Worst coaching job I've ever seen in the final four, for this reason, and the ones you cite. That was Cals worst game here.

Still goin eh?

Smh

 

[IL Wildcat]

You've been one of the worst in terms of never admitting a Calipari flaw. Cal is a great recruiter, marketer, etc etc But he is not a great coach.

Many say that he doesn't need elite talent to win. What would you consider this team to be? Do they have elite talent? If not, then how is he proving he doesn't need elite talent to win?

We better hope that another Anthony Davis is on the horizon otherwise Cal will NOT win another title at UK.

I'm sure you're right about me Cutnets. I'm gonna defend Calipari pretty much every time. I've been a UK fan all my life, so I've been through the end of the Joe B Hall era, Eddie Sutton and probation, Pitino's rebuild and UK's return to glory, Tubby Smith's title followed multiple years of mediocrity, and Gillespie's 2 bad seasons. I've never seen UK compete for titles like they have under Calipari.

Now, I may be guilty of defending his coaching acumen too much. Maybe, maybe not. But you seem dead set to hang the man when one of his teams shows a weakness. So, you wanna argue with me about Calipari? Have at it. You're right. I'm gonna defend him. I'm certainly not ashamed of that.

Now, what I was saying in that post above is that you can't compare players of similar talent level when one group has little experience on this level while another group is filled with juniors and seniors. One group has had multiple years of coaching at a D1 program. The other has less than one season. So, your argument doesn't hold water.

Here's the deal: Skal isn't what anyone thought he was. Calipari lost a huge group of players. He also missed on some recruits and we got some plan b guys. If this were a normal team, it wouldn't matter as much. But as it is, this team is not just not as talented as other Calipari teams, it's also very raw.

This all adds up to what we've seen. Here's how I'll agree with you. Using the current system Calipari is using, he needs talent to win. He needs guys who are able to come in and impact the game and adjust within a short time. Otherwise, he would need what other coaches need, time to develop. Now, look at Coach K. He's using the same system right now and he's got a team that is struggling. He's got more returning talent but his team is struggling. He needs a couple great impact freshmen right now, but he doesn't have them, either. The whole class was down. That's my 2 cents.

 

[loublue22]

As a player, no game should ever be a meaningless game if they are keeping score. I don't care if you're playing a pick-up game at the Y. The loss to Robert Morris ranks up there with the losses to VMI and Gardner Webb under BCG as among the worst of all-time. Certainly not the most painful, but among the most inexcusable.

Auburn doesn't really compare to any of those three. You could tell from the opening tip that Auburn and their fans were jacked up, and we would be lucky to get out of there with a win. Credit Pearl, as much as I hate to.

It literally could not have mattered less, we could have won every NIT game by 40 and it would have been equally embarrassing because it was the NIT. We shouldn't even have accepted the invite.

 

[Stingray23]

I'm sure you're right about me Cutnets. I'm gonna defend Calipari pretty much every time. I've been a UK fan all my life, so I've been through the end of the Joe B Hall era, Eddie Sutton and probation, Pitino's rebuild and UK's return to glory, Tubby Smith's title followed multiple years of mediocrity, and Gillespie's 2 bad seasons. I've never seen UK compete for titles like they have under Calipari.

Now, I may be guilty of defending his coaching acumen too much. Maybe, maybe not. But you seem dead set to hang the man when one of his teams shows a weakness. So, you wanna argue with me about Calipari? Have at it. You're right. I'm gonna defend him. I'm certainly not ashamed of that.

Now, what I was saying in that post above is that you can't compare players of similar talent level when one group has little experience on this level while another group is filled with juniors and seniors. One group has had multiple years of coaching at a D1 program. The other has less than one season. So, your argument doesn't hold water.

Here's the deal: Skal isn't what anyone thought he was. Calipari lost a huge group of players. He also missed on some recruits and we got some plan b guys. If this were a normal team, it wouldn't matter as much. But as it is, this team is not just not as talented as other Calipari teams, it's also very raw.

This all adds up to what we've seen. Here's how I'll agree with you. Using the current system Calipari is using, he needs talent to win. He needs guys who are able to come in and impact the game and adjust within a short time. Otherwise, he would need what other coaches need, time to develop. Now, look at Coach K. He's using the same system right now and he's got a team that is struggling. He's got more returning talent but his team is struggling. He needs a couple great impact freshmen right now, but he doesn't have them, either. The whole class was down. That's my 2 cents.

When you rely on getting the best players who most likely will only stay 1 season you can't use "what if they were juniors or seniors" as an excuse. Truth is if you're a junior or senior playing at UK you're just not that good (didn't pan out). Id say Poythress is the exception because he is good, just terribly inconsistent. He's like Kaz reincarnated. That being said The UK fanbase are the kings of overhype/unrealistic expectations. For many it ruins the chance at really enjoying the games and the regular season. This team will be fine but will continue to play like a young team. One with only 1 NBA lock on the roster.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

On here you better be ready for the masses to ascend when you question Calipari

No, just when every single post you write criticizes him beyond belief.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

Lol I'm not Zipp. But you can keep calling me that. Doesn't change your devout homerism despite not being able to get as close to the program as you would like. You talk about Cal's mistakes in not calling timeouts in some of the biggest losses of his career here yet you refuse to question why he consistently made that mistake. You're a smart guy, I'm sure there is a part of you deep down that knows there is truth to some of the criticisms of Cal and I would imagine it scares you. Your defense of that is to defend him and belittle anyone with an opinion that is less than flattering. The truth is, Cal gets tight. He's not the greatest X's and O's coach. He's too damn stubborn. It's cost him, and I predict it will cost him again. Guess we will see. I think it's starting to show as this team (that is full of talent) is not progressing. When you lose to Auburn you have to admit one of two scenarios:

A). Bruce Pearl is a helluva coach

B). Maybe Cal doesn't know how to handle this team

I bet it gets really difficult trying to remember all your passwords to all the different rivals boards. Must get tiring.

 

[Jkwo]

You've been one of the worst in terms of never admitting a Calipari flaw. Cal is a great recruiter, marketer, etc etc But he is not a great coach.

Many say that he doesn't need elite talent to win. What would you consider this team to be? Do they have elite talent? If not, then how is he proving he doesn't need elite talent to win?

We better hope that another Anthony Davis is on the horizon otherwise Cal will NOT win another title at UK.

He proved he can win without elite talent when he took a UMASS team with 2 high major recruits to a final four and beat the '96 cats by 10. In a 5 year streak where he made the tourney every year and averaged 30 wins a season. At a school with 1 NCAA appearance in history before Cal - in 1962.

So not sure how you reconcile all of those facts with the notion of this year demonstrating that he can't win without elite talent (as a side note - you've taken an incredible philosophical burden upon yourself - you can't prove that kind of negative). Clearly it's already been demonstrated in a much larger sample size that he can.

So in contrast to your conclusion, when you look over at Duke's current season, Duke '15, UK '11 and UK '14, the much more sensible conclusion to draw is that great coaches can still have big bumps in the road with a freshman-heavy rotation before getting them to gel.

And I like Pearl, too. I'm one of the rare ones who wants to see him replace Cal. But Cal has 6 F4s for every 1 E8 that Pearl has had (no F4s) and Pearl had way, way more talent at UT than Cal did at UMASS.

 

[JohnnyGentle]

some of you people make me sick

cal isn't going to junk auburn to win a game in january. he takes a longer view

if you don't get it it's your problem

 

[Poetax]

i don't know what the answer is. If Skal doesn't turn into an all American by conference tourney time, we are cooked.

You missed a few in the 2013 season didn't you?

 

[Lob2Davis]

Robert Morris was a meaningless game, I can't believe our own fans bring that up.

It may not have meant much but losing to a nobody team like that - sorry BobbyMo, just the facts - is just humiliating. A loss to Auburn on the road will only be slightly more meaningful in the long run.

 

[Lob2Davis]

Not taking away from how poorly we played, especially down the stretch, but Auburn was burning down the nets from 3. Anytime somebody hits you up for that many 3's they're going to have a chance to win no matter who they are. But I do want to make it clear I know how badly we sucked too, should have been good enough to pull it out anyway.

 

[JohnnyGentle]

auburn flattened out and canty jacked hero shots after dribbling back and forth for 15 seconds

definitely a case of bruce pearl outcoaching cal. no question about it

 

[Poetax]

auburn flattened out and canty jacked hero shots after dribbling back and forth for 15 seconds

definitely a case of bruce pearl outcoaching cal. no question about it

Yeah when Bruce called that 24 ft bank shot, it was pure genius.

 

[Lob2Davis]

I dont dislike you either.

Big difference in questioning coaching and the constant complaints by the same people or previously banned ones, or trolls.

People are not pathetic for not liking OAD, even though it has been our guide to winning games. The fact that people cry about Cal saying he is a players first coach and all of that recruiting jargon he puts out there, that some just cannot figure out why he does that and believe it cost us the Wisconsin game are (pathetic may be too strong a word) lacking mentally, in my opinion.

I hate this one-and-done trend, but I accept it as reality, it isn't going to change. I think Cal could do just as well in the old system(with the weak assumption that the players that end up here wouldn't jump from HS to the NBA). Imagine 4 years with Wall, Bledsoe and Cousins. And instead of reloading every year we'd just reload every 3 or 4 years. But it is what it is and Cal is by far the best at bringing in the top recruits year after year. Championships will come. Just be patient.