Insult to Injury: Why Cal is so annoying (to me)

[Inlumine]

I want to articulate why Cal gets under my skin so much.

There is a good chance that after this year, it will be 4 years without a tournament win. But, for me, it’s not just the consistent losing. That’s not acceptable, but I don’t think it breeds the anger I have. The real salt in the wound is:

A) UK has made Calipari rich beyond his wildest dreams, and it seems like Calipari is not grateful at all for that and doesn’t think he owes anything to the fans or the program. He has been paid so much, continues to be paid so much, with no way to claw it back, and he still doesn’t seem to care very much. No matter what we do, it seems like Calipari will have the last laugh because he’s made so much money off us. That’s frustrating. He’s gotten so rich off us, and will continue to get richer, and there is nothing we can do about it. There is no recourse for him destroying Kentucky.

B) Despite being the program that turned him into a generationally wealthy guy, he sees Kentucky and Kentuckians as a bunch of hillbillies and charity cases. It’s obvious, from the way he spends his money to the way he talks to us “basketball bennies.” He’s already bought his house in Nashville, and I remember him saying after I think the Florida a&m game that his bags were already packed up and he couldn’t wait to get out of there. Yes, I understand he has family there, but coaches, especially with grown children, have family who live in other cities all of the time. Cal not only bought a house there, but mentally, he seems like he is living in Nashville already. He has only contempt and pity for Kentucky and Kentuckians.

These are just my own thoughts but those two things push me over the edge from being unhappy about losing to actively strongly disliking Cal.

 

[MissingWCC]

I want to articulate why Cal gets under my skin so much.

There is a good chance that after this year, it will be 4 years without a tournament win. But, for me, it’s not just the consistent losing. That’s not acceptable, but I don’t think it breeds the anger I have. The real salt in the wound is:

A) UK has made Calipari rich beyond his wildest dreams, and it seems like Calipari is not grateful at all for that and doesn’t think he owes anything to the fans or the program. He has been paid so much, continues to be paid so much, with no way to claw it back, and he still doesn’t seem to care very much. No matter what we do, it seems like Calipari will have the last laugh because he’s made so much money off us. That’s frustrating. He’s gotten so rich off us, and will continue to get richer, and there is nothing we can do about it. There is no recourse for him destroying Kentucky.

B) Despite being the program that turned him into a generationally wealthy guy, he sees Kentucky and Kentuckians as a bunch of hillbillies and charity cases. It’s obvious, from the way he spends his money to the way he talks to us “basketball bennies.” He’s already bought his house in Nashville, and I remember him saying after I think the Florida a&m game that his bags were already packed up and he couldn’t wait to get out of there. Yes, I understand he has family there, but coaches, especially with grown children, have family who live in other cities all of the time. Cal not only bought a house there, but mentally, he seems like he is living in Nashville already. He has only contempt and pity for Kentucky and Kentuckians.

These are just my own thoughts but those two things push me over the edge from being unhappy about losing to actively strongly disliking Cal.

A lot of Kentuckians are sensitive about their image, especially those from the eastern part of the state. A narcissist only believes that he has done good for others, never that others have done good things for them. Your points are well made and I feel the same on both points.

 

[know1]

What bothers me is that he could have won a few championships here by now if he'd just put a little effort into being a mildly decent coach.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

What bothers me is that he could have won a few championships here by now if he'd just put a little effort into being a mildly decent coach.

This. Hell, 4/5 titles. If he had a better game prep plan probably makes the difference. Makes me sick.

 

[ukdesi]

What UK paid him was his market rate I think...ie UCLA or some other school would have paid him similar. Maybe not now, but then.

Where I get annoyed with him is his refusal to do anything different. After yesterday's game, he says we just have to play better on the road. When asked how he could coach better, he talks about figuring out the mentality of our guys going into a road game. Same ol same ol.

He will never say maybe we need to employ a different strategy, optimize strategy to the team you have. Nope...it's always just.....on the players....play better.

 

[JC CATS]

I want to articulate why Cal gets under my skin so much.

There is a good chance that after this year, it will be 4 years without a tournament win. But, for me, it’s not just the consistent losing. That’s not acceptable, but I don’t think it breeds the anger I have. The real salt in the wound is:

A) UK has made Calipari rich beyond his wildest dreams, and it seems like Calipari is not grateful at all for that and doesn’t think he owes anything to the fans or the program. He has been paid so much, continues to be paid so much, with no way to claw it back, and he still doesn’t seem to care very much. No matter what we do, it seems like Calipari will have the last laugh because he’s made so much money off us. That’s frustrating. He’s gotten so rich off us, and will continue to get richer, and there is nothing we can do about it. There is no recourse for him destroying Kentucky.

B) Despite being the program that turned him into a generationally wealthy guy, he sees Kentucky and Kentuckians as a bunch of hillbillies and charity cases. It’s obvious, from the way he spends his money to the way he talks to us “basketball bennies.” He’s already bought his house in Nashville, and I remember him saying after I think the Florida a&m game that his bags were already packed up and he couldn’t wait to get out of there. Yes, I understand he has family there, but coaches, especially with grown children, have family who live in other cities all of the time. Cal not only bought a house there, but mentally, he seems like he is living in Nashville already. He has only contempt and pity for Kentucky and Kentuckians.

These are just my own thoughts but those two things push me over the edge from being unhappy about losing to actively strongly disliking Cal.

Cal upsets me because he is coaching horribly this season, ot just seems odd at times! I don't know about contempt for Ky though, he has done a lot of humanitarian things for Kentucky! He has taken his teams all over the state for ppl to be given an opportunity to meet them. I have no I'll feelings as a person, but he has to get this team clicking damn

 

[Girthang]

I want to articulate why Cal gets under my skin so much.

There is a good chance that after this year, it will be 4 years without a tournament win. But, for me, it’s not just the consistent losing. That’s not acceptable, but I don’t think it breeds the anger I have. The real salt in the wound is:

A) UK has made Calipari rich beyond his wildest dreams, and it seems like Calipari is not grateful at all for that and doesn’t think he owes anything to the fans or the program. He has been paid so much, continues to be paid so much, with no way to claw it back, and he still doesn’t seem to care very much. No matter what we do, it seems like Calipari will have the last laugh because he’s made so much money off us. That’s frustrating. He’s gotten so rich off us, and will continue to get richer, and there is nothing we can do about it. There is no recourse for him destroying Kentucky.

B) Despite being the program that turned him into a generationally wealthy guy, he sees Kentucky and Kentuckians as a bunch of hillbillies and charity cases. It’s obvious, from the way he spends his money to the way he talks to us “basketball bennies.” He’s already bought his house in Nashville, and I remember him saying after I think the Florida a&m game that his bags were already packed up and he couldn’t wait to get out of there. Yes, I understand he has family there, but coaches, especially with grown children, have family who live in other cities all of the time. Cal not only bought a house there, but mentally, he seems like he is living in Nashville already. He has only contempt and pity for Kentucky and Kentuckians.

These are just my own thoughts but those two things push me over the edge from being unhappy about losing to actively strongly disliking Cal.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHY you never give huge base contracts and speak of guarantees and "lifetime" EV.ER. It's EXTREMELY BAD negotiation tactics, and sets this type of situation up.

Incentives. Always work from an incentive base. If a coach doesn't want that kind of contract you know it's probably time to be looking for the next coach.

Cal's now a tick so dug in and gorged with blood, that everyone is afraid to remove him. The longer we've waited, the worse it was going to be. At some point you need to pour oil on that sucker and try to get it to back out. Gonna lose a lot of blood, even if you are successful, but waiting only makes recovery more difficult.

Last thing you ever want to do is squeeze that tick but putting a hot match on it might get it to unseat itself. Letting him ban reporters is NOT going to help

 

[yabbadabbadoo]

I think every contract of this type should be incentive based. Start with a good base salary then chances to make much more as success lengthens toward the end of the season. Otherwise, people like CCC get fat, lazy, condescending, and hated.

 

[LmdCat]

The main reason he is annoying to me is because he is still pretending to coach UK!!

 

[kingdom come cat]

Where I get annoyed with him is his refusal to do anything different. After yesterday's game, he says we just have to play better on the road. When asked how he could coach better, he talks about figuring out the mentality of our guys going into a road game. Same ol same ol.

He will never say maybe we need to employ a different strategy, optimize strategy to the team you have.

That's my thing with Cal, he never makes any major changes to our offense or defense when it's obvious things aren't working. Most fans have seen this for years and I dont think he really knows how to teach anything else but what he' now running and he's not very good at that. That's why no zone defense or some type of zone press,and some type of offense to spread the floor. Cal did you not see four guy's around Oscar anytime he received the ball close to the basket. So what if Cal tomorrow said, I'm going to name a offensive and defensive coordinator. And after we tried everything and it's still not working, we will just have to admit we not very good and move on.

He could spin it like he's a trend setter

 

[LmdCat]

That's my thing with Cal, he never makes any major changes to our offense or defense when it's obvious things aren't working. Most fans have seen this for years and I dont think he really knows how to teach anything else but what he' now running and he's not very good at that. That's why no zone defense or some type of zone press,and some type of offense to spread the floor. Cal did you not see four guy's around Oscar anytime he received the ball close to the basket. So what if Cal tomorrow said, I'm going to name a offensive and defensive coordinator. And after we tried everything and it's still not working, we will just have to admit we not very good and move on.

He could spin it like he's a trend setter

The only thing acceptable to me for Cal to do is leave. It will be good for him and certainly good for all who love UK basketball.

 

[ukdesi]

That's my thing with Cal, he never makes any major changes to our offense or defense when it's obvious things aren't working. Most fans have seen this for years and I dont think he really knows how to teach anything else but what he' now running and he's not very good at that. That's why no zone defense or some type of zone press,and some type of offense to spread the floor. Cal did you not see four guy's around Oscar anytime he received the ball close to the basket. So what if Cal tomorrow said, I'm going to name a offensive and defensive coordinator. And after we tried everything and it's still not working, we will just have to admit we not very good and move on.

He could spin it like he's a trend setter

Yeah agreed....at this point, don't think he knows how to teach anything else. But any "basketball benny" can see we don't have guys well suited to consistently execute in the halfcourt (at least the way he's trying to do it) or that some of our guys aren't good at M2M defense and how a zone in certain situations with certain personnel could benefit the team. I just don't get it.

 

[thebluestripes]

Jim calhoun said it correctly when he called cal a "bs-er"
I couldn't stand jim, but he was and is 100% right about cal.

 

[LmdCat]

Yeah agreed....at this point, don't think he knows how to teach anything else. But any "basketball benny" can see we don't have guys well suited to consistently execute in the halfcourt (at least the way he's trying to do it) or that some of our guys aren't good at M2M defense and how a zone in certain situations with certain personnel could benefit the team. I just don't get it.

I don't agree with throwing any amount of shade at the players. If you can't cook, it doesn't matter what kind of ingredients used, the food will suck. All the players were considered some of the best in the country prior to coming to UK, so there is no reason to believe these players aren't more than capable of performing with the right coaching. To believe otherwise is making the players Cal's scapegoat.

 

[UKrazycat2]

I stopped watching after the mich st. game. I knew then that any team with a pulse would take us to the woodshed. Cal is an antique, and so is his game plan.

I sleep better at night.

 

[rick64]

When you consider the number of NBA players that have come through the UK program since Cal has been the HC. Yet only ONE NCAAT to show for it, is a pretty huge indicator that he’s underachieved.

 

[LmdCat]

I stopped watching after the mich st. game. I knew then that any team with a pulse would take us to the woodshed. Cal is an antique, and so is his game plan.

I sleep better at night.

Antiques have value and since Cal doesn't, relic is probably more fitting.

 

[LmdCat]

When you consider the number of NBA players that have come through the UK program since Cal has been the HC. Yet only ONE NCAAT to show for it, is a pretty huge indicator that he’s underachieved.

This has been my position for years. Some of you have just recently come around to this. I started posting about this at least 6 years ago and caught hell for it.

 

[Inlumine]

What UK paid him was his market rate I think...ie UCLA or some other school would have paid him similar. Maybe not now, but then.

Where I get annoyed with him is his refusal to do anything different. After yesterday's game, he says we just have to play better on the road. When asked how he could coach better, he talks about figuring out the mentality of our guys going into a road game. Same ol same ol.

He will never say maybe we need to employ a different strategy, optimize strategy to the team you have. Nope...it's always just.....on the players....play better.

Respectfully, I disagree with you. As I pointed out in another thread, the only other suitor we know of, UCLA, offered him less money than he was making at UK- and most people there thought it was a symbolic offer to show UCLA was “serious” about basketball again because there was no way anyone would be dumb enough to take a pay cut for a job in a higher cost of living area. So we set the market, no other bidders except one, who made a low- ball offer relative to his current salary.

That said, like I implied in my OP, I think it would be different if he really cared about the program, loved the city and state, and treated the people with respect. There are plenty of other examples of beloved coaches who started to lose their fastball as they got older and were eventually pushed out of their jobs, who remained beloved by their fanbases.

 

[ukdesi]

Respectfully, I disagree with you. As I pointed out in another thread, the only other suitor we know of, UCLA, offered him less money than he was making at UK- and most people there thought it was a symbolic offer to show UCLA was “serious” about basketball again because there was no way anyone would be dumb enough to take a pay cut for a job in a higher cost of living area. So we set the market, no other bidders except one, who made a low- ball offer relative to his current salary.

That said, like I implied in my OP, I think it would be different if he really cared about the program, loved the city and state, and treated the people with respect. There are plenty of other examples of beloved coaches who started to lose their fastball as they got older and were eventually pushed out of their jobs, who remained beloved by their fanbases.

Fair enough. IMO it was still in the ballpark of his market rate, even if UK paid him on the higher end of that range.

 

[Fox2monk]

I want to articulate why Cal gets under my skin so much.

There is a good chance that after this year, it will be 4 years without a tournament win. But, for me, it’s not just the consistent losing. That’s not acceptable, but I don’t think it breeds the anger I have. The real salt in the wound is:

A) UK has made Calipari rich beyond his wildest dreams, and it seems like Calipari is not grateful at all for that and doesn’t think he owes anything to the fans or the program. He has been paid so much, continues to be paid so much, with no way to claw it back, and he still doesn’t seem to care very much. No matter what we do, it seems like Calipari will have the last laugh because he’s made so much money off us. That’s frustrating. He’s gotten so rich off us, and will continue to get richer, and there is nothing we can do about it. There is no recourse for him destroying Kentucky.

B) Despite being the program that turned him into a generationally wealthy guy, he sees Kentucky and Kentuckians as a bunch of hillbillies and charity cases. It’s obvious, from the way he spends his money to the way he talks to us “basketball bennies.” He’s already bought his house in Nashville, and I remember him saying after I think the Florida a&m game that his bags were already packed up and he couldn’t wait to get out of there. Yes, I understand he has family there, but coaches, especially with grown children, have family who live in other cities all of the time. Cal not only bought a house there, but mentally, he seems like he is living in Nashville already. He has only contempt and pity for Kentucky and Kentuckians.

These are just my own thoughts but those two things push me over the edge from being unhappy about losing to actively strongly disliking Cal.

Nashville is a liberal hub that makes him super happy I’m sure.

 

[Fox2monk]

This. Hell, 4/5 titles. If he had a better game prep plan probably makes the difference. Makes me sick.

I used to get mad when people said he rolled the balls out but I can’t deny that anymore. I bet we would be better playing pickup ball.

 

[KMKAT]

Cal upsets me because he is coaching horribly this season, ot just seems odd at times! I don't know about contempt for Ky though, he has done a lot of humanitarian things for Kentucky! He has taken his teams all over the state for ppl to be given an opportunity to meet them. I have no I'll feelings as a person, but he has to get this team clicking damn

This sounds a lot like the Tubby years.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

I used to get mad when parole said he rolled the balls out but I can’t deny that anymore. I bet we would be better playing pickup ball.

I didn’t like parole myself. 🤣

 

[Bluesbrother]

This has been my position for years. Some of you have just recently come around to this. I started posting about this at least 6 years ago and caught hell for it.

OAD approach produces "Drive By" players. At this point I can't remember all their names. It's just tiring, and I'm beyond done with it and Cal.

 

[crawfords corner]

How about this.

Even in close games NBA coaches call time outs to set up plays and all they have to do is work with the ball from half court in most cases.

Cal has almost always just let the players go because he doesn't want the defense to have time to figure out what he's going to run. Which we know by now is some one on one play which generally results in a bad shot.

This has probably happened more times than it hasn't, but we didn't make a big deal about it in the past because UK was generally winning games fairly easily and it was a rare occurrence.

 

[white10]

How about this.

Even in close games NBA coaches call time outs to set up plays and all they have to do is work with the ball from half court in most cases.

Cal has almost always just let the players go because he doesn't want the defense to have time to figure out what he's going to run. Which we know by now is some one on one play which generally results in a bad shot.

This has probably happened more times than it hasn't, but we didn't make a big deal about it in the past because UK was generally winning games fairly easily and it was a rare occurrence.

He’s a narcissistic and ego driven person!

He the smarts man in the room!

 

[Mulder14]

Losing! Winning cures everything

 

[LmdCat]

This sounds a lot like the Tubby years.

This makes the Tubby years look great.

 

[The Snoke]

Losing! Winning cures everything

Yet… here we are. Nice run over the past couple weeks but tonight brought us back to the real world.🙁

 

[Girthang]

This has been my position for years. Some of you have just recently come around to this. I started posting about this at least 6 years ago and caught hell for it.

It's not like you're the only one. Most just stopped posting about it because the boot lickers never get tired of being wrong. I don't have the patience for em like I used to

 

[lj bulldog]

I want to articulate why Cal gets under my skin so much.

There is a good chance that after this year, it will be 4 years without a tournament win. But, for me, it’s not just the consistent losing. That’s not acceptable, but I don’t think it breeds the anger I have. The real salt in the wound is:

A) UK has made Calipari rich beyond his wildest dreams, and it seems like Calipari is not grateful at all for that and doesn’t think he owes anything to the fans or the program. He has been paid so much, continues to be paid so much, with no way to claw it back, and he still doesn’t seem to care very much. No matter what we do, it seems like Calipari will have the last laugh because he’s made so much money off us. That’s frustrating. He’s gotten so rich off us, and will continue to get richer, and there is nothing we can do about it. There is no recourse for him destroying Kentucky.

B) Despite being the program that turned him into a generationally wealthy guy, he sees Kentucky and Kentuckians as a bunch of hillbillies and charity cases. It’s obvious, from the way he spends his money to the way he talks to us “basketball bennies.” He’s already bought his house in Nashville, and I remember him saying after I think the Florida a&m game that his bags were already packed up and he couldn’t wait to get out of there. Yes, I understand he has family there, but coaches, especially with grown children, have family who live in other cities all of the time. Cal not only bought a house there, but mentally, he seems like he is living in Nashville already. He has only contempt and pity for Kentucky and Kentuckians.

These are just my own thoughts but those two things push me over the edge from being unhappy about losing to actively strongly disliking Cal.

How do you know Cal doesn't care?
Silliest thing I have ever read.

 

[Wildcats1st]

What UK paid him was his market rate I think...ie UCLA or some other school would have paid him similar. Maybe not now, but then.

Where I get annoyed with him is his refusal to do anything different. After yesterday's game, he says we just have to play better on the road. When asked how he could coach better, he talks about figuring out the mentality of our guys going into a road game. Same ol same ol.

He will never say maybe we need to employ a different strategy, optimize strategy to the team you have. Nope...it's always just.....on the players....play better.

His salary isn’t the issue. It’s the buyout. I think he would have been fired last year won that ridiculous contract. Need to get back to putting pressure on Barney to go so we can bring an ad with cajones

 

[phyrekat]

Respectfully, I disagree with you. As I pointed out in another thread, the only other suitor we know of, UCLA, offered him less money than he was making at UK- and most people there thought it was a symbolic offer to show UCLA was “serious” about basketball again because there was no way anyone would be dumb enough to take a pay cut for a job in a higher cost of living area. So we set the market, no other bidders except one, who made a low- ball offer relative to his current salary.

That said, like I implied in my OP, I think it would be different if he really cared about the program, loved the city and state, and treated the people with respect. There are plenty of other examples of beloved coaches who started to lose their fastball as they got older and were eventually pushed out of their jobs, who remained beloved by their fanbases.

Mitch is afuqqing idiot and should be fired before we try to replace the $9million dollar man

 

[TheBlueMist]

Why he bothers me...

Empty promises and redirection. I care about the health of the program first, which prioritizes winning. Everything else is a bonus. Changing generational poverty, pubic-service works, a good PR game...all of these things are not mutually exclusive to winning. When these satellite events and processes are used to shield losses, gross mismanagement, and lazy work, they ring hollow. We're changing lives more when we are winning. More NTI, more brand recognition, more visibility. Why not change the lives of student athletes who can actually win? Selectively worrying about "ripping Boston's heart out" for not playing him doesn't seem authentic when deserving guys ride the pine all year. Last I check, they had hearts too.

 

[fatguy87]

Cal is "annoying" because we've had three teams one could construe as title contenders since 2015, one of them losing in the first round to a 15 seed and none of them clear frontrunners for the title. The 2015 team is the last time we had a 1 seed in the tournament.

We had a losing record two seasons ago and are firmly on the bubble this season. There's a real possibility we miss the tournament 2 out of 3 seasons.

Cal is going to be "annoying" because we aren't performing. His schtick is charming when there is success to back it up.

 

[Inlumine]

How do you know Cal doesn't care?
Silliest thing I have ever read.

I was talking about caring that the fanbase is upset, not caring about wins and losses. The context was about Cal’s relationship with the fans. How do I know he doesn’t care when the fanbase is upset? I guess I don’t, but he seems to continue to push the same buttons and make the same condescending remarks, so the only other option is that he’s oblivious.

What I would like is some gratitude that he not only has the best job in sports, but that he is paid an out of this world amount on an extremely generous contract all around. Instead, it always seems like he thinks we are lucky to have him, although maybe that’s just my feeling. That was that first paragraph.

 

[jauk11]

THIS IS EXACTLY WHY you never give huge base contracts and speak of guarantees and "lifetime" EV.ER. It's EXTREMELY BAD negotiation tactics, and sets this type of situation up.

Incentives. Always work from an incentive base. If a coach doesn't want that kind of contract you know it's probably time to be looking for the next coach.

Cal's now a tick so dug in and gorged with blood, that everyone is afraid to remove him. The longer we've waited, the worse it was going to be. At some point you need to pour oil on that sucker and try to get it to back out. Gonna lose a lot of blood, even if you are successful, but waiting only makes recovery more difficult.

Last thing you ever want to do is squeeze that tick but putting a hot match on it might get it to unseat itself. Letting him ban reporters is NOT going to help

All the criticism of our BB coaches giant contact is misdiected, what was he supposed to do, turn it down? And maybe it made him a little complacent but I think UK doing nothing close to illegal because of the previous destruction by the NCAA while they are letting other programs get away with murder is a big factor. I think letting UK join the competition by buying players with NIL will be a big boost for recruiting for UK. in fact it already has, four out of the top ten commits.

At this point all the criticism MIGHT do is hurt recruiting, no way our political AD is going to spend all that money, hold your fire.

 

[Backer cutter]

All the criticism of our BB coaches giant contact is misdiected, what was he supposed to do, turn it down? And maybe it made him a little complacent but I think UK doing nothing close to illegal because of the previous destruction by the NCAA while they are letting other programs get away with murder is a big factor. I think letting UK join the competition by buying players with NIL will be a big boost for recruiting for UK. in fact it already has, four out of the top ten commits.

At this point all the criticism MIGHT do is hurt recruiting, no way our political AD is going to spend all that money, hold your fire.

What a crock of shit. Is this or is this not UK basketball? Simple question.

 

[JonathanW]

What a crock of shit. Is this or is this not UK basketball? Simple question.

What did he say that was crock?
Or better yet, what does "is this not UK basketball?" have to do with his statement? He was not defending Cal the coach & his performance as coach (I don't think). I read it as he was explaining that you can't blame him for signing the contract. As for the NCAA turning a blind-eye to cheaters after nailing us, yeah that's true too, although I'm not sure how much of a factor that's been.
I think we are ALL disappointed with the results! With that regard, no this isn't UK basketball. But that's not what he was defending/explaining.