Key to Calipari winning a championship

[TyCatPrice14]

Has anyone noticed how great it is to get all these top recruits, but one thing that Calipari has only done 1 time at UK was recruit a highly ranked pure Small Forward. (Kidd-Gilchrist) Cal has had other players who were SG play SF (Young, Dobson, Goodwin, Murray, etc.) as well as PF play SF (Wiltjer, Lyles, Poythress ,Willis, etc.) The one time we won the title was with a pure SF, even next years class coming in no one is listed at SF, three of which are listed at PF and one listed at SG.

Another thing to rememeber is Calipari has seemed to miss more on pure SF than any other position it seems.

X. Henry
A. Wiggins
K. Oubre
S. Johnson
J. Brown
B. Ingram
etc. (Some of which we may not have tried to get as hard as the others, but think of how good our non-championship teams would of been if we had one of these guys listed above added to our team.

 

[Aike]

There aren't very many elite pure small forwards each year.

It also helped that MKG happened to be one of the 5 best players in the country.


Edit to add: one thing your list has in common is that none of those guys have won a title to date. Winning a title is hard no matter what your roster looks like.

 

[Smashcat]

I think the key is not having injuries to players like WCS, then Poythress last season. Looks like we may be in the same boat this year. Hope everybody on the injured list gets back for a March run.

 

[Smashcat]

Winning a title is hard no matter what your roster looks like.
Yep.

 

[calamitybone]

Under Tubby we always struggled to get a 4. Missed on several.

I just can't imagine being a top SF and not wanting to play for UK. Unlimited PT while surrounded by the best talent in the country.

 

[CatPhight]

Bridges certainly would have been a nice get.

 

[Aike]

Under Tubby we always struggled to get a 4. Missed on several.

I just can't imagine being a top SF and not wanting to play for UK. Unlimited PT while surrounded by the best talent in the country.

Right. The rub is that there are only a couple of elite guys at that spot each year, and Duke, Kansas, MSU, Arizona - they all want them as much as we do.

I would say we've had some bad luck in this regard, but it's hard to complain considering how much good fortune we've had elsewhere.

 

[EvilMD]

Meanwhile we have hogged all the elite 5s.

 

[AnarchoNeoLuddite]

A stud 3 man is not the key, ask uconn and ul's past champs....

 

[westerncat]

It also takes a lot of luck in winning a title.

 

[TyCatPrice14]

Meanwhile we have hogged all the elite 5s.

and point guards as well.

 

[Aike]

A stud 3 man is not the key, ask uconn and ul's past champs....

Yep. And the key to Duke's run last year was playing their 3 as a stretch 4.

 

[TyCatPrice14]

Yep. And the key to Duke's run last year was playing their 3 as a stretch 4.

Justice Winslow was a pure SF, maybe he played some PF but he still played solid minutes as a SF. and UCONN and UofL dont play one and done basketball, like Duke, UK, Kansas, etc.

 

[Aike]

Justice Winslow was a pure SF, maybe he played some PF but he still played solid minutes as a SF. and UCONN and UofL dont play one and done basketball, like Duke, UK, Kansas, etc.

When they went to a lineup of Jones/Cook/Jones/Winslow/Okafor they went to the next level.

Winslow was a stretch 4 in that main lineup.

 

[WildMoon]

the biggest difficulty of his approach is actually pulling off the balance needed to actually win the championship.

1. Look at this year. Amazing backcourt...only to have the worst front court in Coach Cal era.
2. Look at first year. Amazing overall talent...only to have zero shooters on the team.

I can pretty much say that throughout his 7 years here. But even with one glaring weakness he still manage to do well in tourney.

 

[Estil]

Under Tubby we always struggled to get a 4. Missed on several.

2003-2005 was by far Tubby's best chance in the 2000s decade. I know it's still fashionable to bash Tubby to death but I honestly think it was pure bad luck that he didn't get at least one FF appearance in those three years.

 

[calamitybone]

2003-2005 was by far Tubby's best chance in the 2000s decade. I know it's still fashionable to bash Tubby to death but I honestly think it was pure bad luck that he didn't get at least one FF appearance in those three years.

Really wasn't bashing. Always a CTS fan.

 

[EvilMD]

It also takes a lot of luck in winning a title.

The older I get, the more I realize how true this is. Seeding and placement is half the battle. The year we won it all we didn't face any other one seeds and didn't face a two until the finals. In 2010 and 2015 Duke got the path we earned and deserved. We had to beat a team that beat Duke twice just to get to the Final Four.

Then you have injuries. I believe Willie Cauley-Stein's injury cost us a title in 2014. He stopped Louisville's guards in the regular season matchup and could have helped stop UConn's in the final.

Then you have matchups. West Virginia in 2010. UConn in 2011. UConn again in 2014. Wisconsin last year. There's always that one team that is strong in every area you are weak or questionable. Avoiding that team is the key (see seeding/placement)

 

[stoneycat_20]

Has anyone noticed how great it is to get all these top recruits, but one thing that Calipari has only done 1 time at UK was recruit a highly ranked pure Small Forward. (Kidd-Gilchrist) Cal has had other players who were SG play SF (Young, Dobson, Goodwin, Murray, etc.) as well as PF play SF (Wiltjer, Lyles, Poythress ,Willis, etc.) The one time we won the title was with a pure SF, even next years class coming in no one is listed at SF, three of which are listed at PF and one listed at SG.

Another thing to rememeber is Calipari has seemed to miss more on pure SF than any other position it seems.

X. Henry
A. Wiggins
K. Oubre
S. Johnson
J. Brown
B. Ingram
etc. (Some of which we may not have tried to get as hard as the others, but think of how good our non-championship teams would of been if we had one of these guys listed above added to our team.

This is why we need to add VJ King when Ricky leaves..

 

[CatsIndy2010]

Team chemistry in my mind is very important. More so than how tall or fast a player is...

 

[Eight_Banners]

Coach Cal has been 1 piece shy several times in trying for a championship:

2009- Jodie Meeks
2010- Enes Kanter
2012-13- Nerlens Noel (ACL) though there was a very small chance a championship run was in that team
2013- WCS (injured in sweet-16)
2014- Alex Poythress (torn ACL)

Still made final 4 in 3/5 years.

 

[Estil]

Then you have injuries. I believe Willie Cauley-Stein's injury cost us a title in 2014. He stopped Louisville's guards in the regular season matchup and could have helped stop UConn's in the final.

Then you have matchups. West Virginia in 2010. UConn in 2011. UConn again in 2014. Wisconsin last year. There's always that one team that is strong in every area you are weak or questionable. Avoiding that team is the key (see seeding/placement)

Not nearly as much as Derek Anderson's injury cost us a title in 1997 (but Pitino wasn't gonna be selfish and risk Derek's NBA chances; at least he did get to make a "cameo" for some technical foul FT's...forget which game though). And I basically don't believe in this idea of hoping for one team or another because you think it'll be easier (especially seeding; if anything you gotta figure the lower seed will be that much hungrier to upset you next!). Instead this should be our 'tude:

 

[.S&C.]

The key to cal winning a title again is making sure his players are FULLY prepared, not allowing too much rope, and utilizing his timeouts properly. Sometimes it seems cal is all one way or the other. He either lets them play far too much, or he stalls out and won't lett'em play at all. Find that middle ground and I think we've got 2 of 3 titles already.

Cal has made some big mistakes in final four games at UK.

I think he will fix some of this moving foward. He's already tightening up on his timeouts as you can see from this season. You won't always have MKG, a jones, a Davis. His coaching will be vital.

 

[EvilMD]

Cal coaches much better as the underdog

 

[W2R]

Cal coaches much better as the underdog

Even in 2012 he played the underdog. Kept telling everyone they are freshman it can't be done.

Even his good memohis teams he would build them up and say nobody respects you. Refuse to lose.

He always tries to motivate somehow. His teams play better with a chip on their shoulder Look at South Carolina

He coaches better when he can motivate

 

[stoneycat_20]

Cal coaches much better as the underdog

He almost never the dog though..Kentucky will be favorite in 99% of their games..Have been favorite in every game this year outside KU

 

[W2R]

He almost never the dog though..Kentucky will be favorite in 99% of their games..Have been favorite in every game this year

Figuratively speaking. We have had injuries galore

Look at 2011 he coached better as the underdog

2014 most had given up hope. He coached better as an underdog

He always finds an angle for his players to buy in. He makes a me against the world type thing. Look how hard those guys fought for him in the South Carolina game

 

[EvilMD]

Were we favored against UConn in the final? I know we were underdogs in the four games before that.

 

[W2R]

alipari said he doesn't expect any sympathy regarding UK's injury bug. His focus is on winning with the players available.

"For some reason it doesn't appear that anyone's crying for Kentucky," Calipari said. "You just make do and you look at your team the way it is and say, 'How do we have to play with this team to give ourselves a chance to win?'"

 

[stoneycat_20]

Figuratively speaking. We have had injuries galore

Look at 2011 he coached better as the underdog

2014 most had given up hope. He coached better as an underdog

He always finds an angle for his players to buy in. He makes a me against the world type thing. Look how hard those guys fought for him in the South Carolina game

I agree with you, but it's hard to play the dog when we're favorite every game

 

[W2R]

Were we favored against UConn in the final? I know we were underdogs in the four games before that.

Probably so. But it's not who is "favored" especially one game. With Cal it's a team building thing. He finds a niche and runs with it. Look at how the "tweak" took on its own media frenzy

 

[stoneycat_20]

Were we favored against UConn in the final? I know we were underdogs in the four games before that.

Yes we were favorite against Uconn.-1.....Small dog vs Wis

 

[Aike]

He almost never the dog though..Kentucky will be favorite in 99% of their games..Have been favorite in every game this year

We most definitely weren't favored at Kansas.

He has been a dog in several tourney games. OSU and UNC in 2011, and several in 2014.

 

[W2R]

I agree with you, but it's hard to play the dog when we're favorite every game

Like Calipari says every year. People are crazy for ranking is that high. Or how playing in the road is hard no matter if you are the better team. It's not who Vegas or someone sitting behind a desk thinks who will win. Cal tries to light a spark in his teams. Sometimes that's hard to do with a plethora of talent. You have to try different angles and make them hungry. 2014 greatest class ever. Kept getting their buts whipped and then what a run

 

[stoneycat_20]

We most definitely weren't favored at Kansas.

He has been a dog in several tourney games. OSU and UNC in 2011, and several in 2014.

Right i missed KU..That's why i said 99% we're favorite..Will be favorite against everyone, but maybe 3-4 teams this year in the NCAAT..

 

[Aike]

Right i missed KU..That's why i said 99% we're favorite..Will be favorite against everyone, but maybe 3-4 teams this year in the NCAAT..

True. But Cal is pretty good when he gets to coach with a chip.