Good Article from Kyle Tucker On Cal Losing His Way

[westerncat]

IMO I think Cal thinks he is above UK basketball. I really do think he has become to comfortable as the coach at UK and can do no wrong. Hopefully this article will fire him up and show people he can still win a lot of game but I am not holding my breath on that.

When I watch UK games now when we play teams in the top 10 i don't feel like UK can win some of these game. It is not as fun watching as it use to be.

 

[nickhorvathsuxazz]

The writer has an agenda. He wrote an article to support his agenda.

He did a pretty good job of it too.

I first met Cal when he was at UMass.

Jersey Red introduced me.

He’s the same guy now.

Not the same coach though, and I couldn't give 2 sh!ts about what kind of guy he is...having a good person as coach doesn't make losing any more palatable

 

[ukjenning44]

Hopefully the media heat continues to grow and Cal finally grows tired and resigns after he fails again this season,
We need him to go somehow. His contract has destroyed our once great program.
We need a fresh start.

 

[mebeblue2]

Guess it comes off to me as an article that was written by a guy who has been cut off by the program and requested to speak with Calipari or his new staff, was rebuffed and had one in the chamber to let off if he was denied access (again). If Cal or Staff would've granted time, a fluffy '24 team piece is out now talking about new staff, new team, style of play, etc...but they obviously blew him off and he hit send on things that we've all discussed, know and were frustrated with.

That being said, to talk up Joel Justus as a loss? LOL Okay. The "Camera Popper" (Joel loves to run to greet the players coming back to the huddle so his personal life benefits of being a coach can continue) was the biggest mistake Calipari made in his tenure at Kentucky. Ask yourself this--with the growing roles Justus had did the program improve in any aspect? If he was so coveted, why did NOBODY at a high level come seek his services when at UK, dropped by UK, and after? The litany of elite programs who have had job openings is plenty so if he was being "held back" or not utilized correctly as an Assistant, why didn't Duke, UNC, Kansas, Baylor, Texas, Arizona, Michigan State, Michigan, Gonzaga, UConn, etc.....reach out to snag him since Cal didn't utilize him correctly? Recruiting before/after Justus time in Lexington could be considered elite by those who can put aside frustrations of the results but look at the talent differential. So what did he actually do that has been missed? Aside from being a media leak to Kyle Tucker?

This year's team has been more fun to watch already. I've seen coaching taking place. They actually had a ****ing press breaker against Georgetown College where it involved spacing/attacking and was obviously worked on/practiced. Dillingham's jumper is night/day improved in form/results. John Welch is the best hire Cal's made in his coaching tenure, period. Now will that be enough? We've yet to see and we all will discuss during/after the season. That being said-timing of this easily could've been in Summer but on eve of season seems strange--but I'm quite certain this was in the chamber and when he was continually ignored as he's been since Summer--then he decided to unleash his ego/frustration now. So should get him the attention he wants....and won't phase those connected/prepared for what is ahead. Nothing written matters. The results of the '24 season do.

no doubt you are 100% correct
Tucker is acting like a jilted lover
i do find it funny how he left out the fact that Matt Jones used to make fun of him (Tucker) all the time

 

[CB3UK]

Losing Robic was more of a big deal than most people think IMO.

Martin and Welch are “more like Cal’s previous staffs,” said the fifth former staffer. “They’re more, ‘We’re here to win games. What do you need from us, Coach?’”

Hopefully these two on the staff will help "IF" Cal will listen to them.

That's good to hear. Hope they make an impact

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

 

[runt#69]

We just can't lose like we have been. If we play KU to the wire and lose on a last second shot or just miss on of our own, tip your hat- on to the next. We can't have anymore of these be down by 7-10 with 3 minutes left knowing we're done kinds loses. We've had far too many of those to bad teams. That's the stuff that has to stop.

Magically said, hitting the nail on the head once again, my friend. As usual, you said it most perfectly.

 

[bbncal02]

Magically said, hitting the nail on the head once again, my friend. As usual, you said it most perfectly.

Appreciate it. I'm not irrational. We're not going to be invincible; we will lose games. Sometimes to a team we shouldn't, especially in conference. That happens to every team. But you can't lose them like we did to freaking South Carolina last season. Or lose by 14 to an unranked Mizzou. Those are the losses that drive me crazy.

 

[ukcatz12]

Late to the party here, but I think this article highlights how important the staff is. And I don't think that's necessarily a critique on Cal, I think it's like that everywhere. Saban continually cycles through assistants who are great assistants who just flamed out as head coaches, Dabo loses Venables and the team has slowly declined into mediocrity (although that's not to say losing Venables is the sole reason), and for an exaggerated example Belichick looks like he has no clue what's he's doing after losing Brady. For a non-sports example, Michael Eisner was a very good and forward thinking CEO in the first half of his tenure at Disney, but once his right hand man Frank Wells died he lost his way. Even Walt needed his brother Roy to reign him in.

People who really excel in their field often need other people around them to focus them and to tell them no. If Cal has lost a lot of that over the past five or so years this all makes pretty good sense.

Cal's proven he can adapt. You don't get to Final Fours at three schools across three decades without changing with the game. You just don't. So he can still adapt, the question is going to be if he cares enough to at his age and if he can find people to keep him focused.

 

[TheBlueMax]

Worth a read.

John Calipari lost his way. Can he and Kentucky find it again?

At the very top of the list of priorities for any basketball coach of Kentucky...#1: WIN BASKETBALL GAMES. Everything else is subordinate to that. If he cannot do that at a much greater clip than what we've seen lately, then that is the unfortunate part of a coach's existence and world. They must be held accountable. Winning games is paramount. He has, in my view, even bastardized the original meaning of "players first" and has taken it to extremes that run counter to winning games. I hope that this year he can correct that. Changing your stubborn ways like, for example, specifically using your timeouts at the end of games to look each kid in the eye and actually coaching them by telling them how to win the damn game is a great place to start.

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

It is not necessarily the "one" game (Wisconsin) he lost....it is all of the games he lost since that game. Our record against good team since the Wisconsin loss SUCKS despite overwhelming talent (i.e. top recruiting class every year). Give him a pass on the Wisconsin game, but not all of the losses since then.

I can’t forgive him for the Wisconsin loss. Cal blundered a perfect season that was within his grasp.

 

[The_Answer1313]

lol like all wins and losses that wasn’t completely on Cal.

A very good basketball team beat another very good basketball team. It happens.

 

[runt#69]

Appreciate it. I'm not irrational. We're not going to be invincible; we will lose games. Sometimes to a team we shouldn't, especially in conference. That happens to every team. But you can't lose them like we did to freaking South Carolina last season. Or lose by 14 to an unranked Mizzou. Those are the losses that drive me crazy.

Agreed. I don't think this team will have those this year, even being such a freshman heavy squad.

Something is telling me this really is going to be a good year.

Just looking at the spacing on the floor tells me some big changes have taken place. Maybe it's more out of me essity, but when you add in the tremendously deep guard play this team has, we are set.

Defense might just be the real weapon these young cats find that gets them to where they wanna be.

The ball pressure, defense, spacing, shooting ability and overall athleticism of this team... Add a dash 9f smarts....

Yeah. We got the makings.

All I gonna say is :

Shhhh (go Big Blue)🙂

 

[bbncal02]

Agreed. I don't think this team will have those this year, even being such a freshman heavy squad.

Something is telling me this really is going to be a good year.

Just looking at the spacing on the floor tells me some big changes have taken place. Maybe it's more out of me essity, but when you add in the tremendously deep guard play this team has, we are set.

Defense might just be the real weapon these young cats find that gets them to where they wanna be.

The ball pressure, defense, spacing, shooting ability and overall athleticism of this team... Add a dash 9f smarts....

Yeah. We got the makings.

All I gonna say is :

Shhhh (go Big Blue)🙂

We will have a clunker. I'm sure of that. Probably on one of those cold January nights where the tip is like 6pm or late like 9pm. I hate those games.

 

[runt#69]

We will have a clunker. I'm sure of that. Probably on one of those cold January nights where the tip is like 6pm or late like 9pm. I hate those games.

Freshmen.

Hehe

 

[BlueWhite21]

You are right, a couple tournament games did take the stink away from some bad regular seasons. Cal use to get the team amped for tournament time, nowadays the team is super tight for any big game. His approach and player relationship has seemed to be the biggest difference from then to now.

Personally I think Cal is washed, and I won’t keep hoping for some light bulb to go off for him. I will hope that these new guys are the real deal and take over games when need be.

That's all you can really do is just hope for these new guys to be the real deal. And for the ones that keep hoping the old Cal returns is just fools gold, wishful thinking that is very unlikely. Like almost 90% unlikely if you put a percentage on it. Besides being burned out, he's aged and he's at retirement age. I think he has a lot of regrets he'd never publicly admit about getting that 2nd NC.

He had it in his grasp a couple times and if he doesn't just keep pushing guys out the door and let them just make their own damn decisions then Caliparis legacy would look much better, the fans would remember him differently instead of how we view him now as almost anti UK, and then on too of all that those same players he forced out early would still likely end up rich and playing in the league anyways or that's my opinion.

 

[UKUGA]

After reading this article a few weeks ago I found myself rooting for Cal again.

I thought the article was trash.

Prove them wrong Cal.

Go Big Blue!

 

[CUJO_1970]

Sickening that someone can get $9 million per year to "find themselves" at everyone else's expense. Inexcusable - at $9 mill per year it's your job to pull your head out of your ass, get the right people, make the right decisions and put the program first.

OK. I'll own this vitriol.

The last 5 years have been inexcusable. There's no hiding that.

Yet, Calipari has in fact made changes that I didn't think he would. He began by addressing the staff issues. Thank goodness we got Antigua back...and we got Coleman. And having point-god Tyler Ulis on the bench is amazing. But he seems to have gone even further with hiring John Welch...and now we are running an offense worthy of Kentucky Basketball.

Kentucky fans will forgive pretty much anything if you give us a winner and make our program proud. Calipari seems to be on that path now. Hope he stays on it.

 

[RunninRichie]

bump

 

[Seth_C]

OK. I'll own this vitriol.

The last 5 years have been inexcusable. There's no hiding that.

Yet, Calipari has in fact made changes that I didn't think he would. He began by addressing the staff issues. Thank goodness we got Antigua back...and we got Coleman. And having point-god Tyler Ulis on the bench is amazing. But he seems to have gone even further with hiring John Welch...and now we are running an offense worthy of Kentucky Basketball.

Kentucky fans will forgive pretty much anything if you give us a winner and make our program proud. Calipari seems to be on that path now. Hope he stays on it.

What were you saying?