Bear with me here, I feel the need to explain this at a bit of length.
Overall, I loved the Smith years. Although born in '58, I didn't become a UK fan until 1990 - a different story. But my fandom was seeded and grew through the Pitino years, and stayed strong through the change to Smith. The 1996 season was something I feel privileged to witness - kind of like how a slightly older generation of fans must have felt watching Jim Brown play in the NFL - I knew and they knew they were watching something unique. While the 1998 team wasn't as strong - who was? - but that tournament run was likewise a thing of beauty.
The next 2-3 years was a fall-off, but what could you expect. NC-RU-NC, Nobody not named UCLA has ever continued a run like that indefinitely, which is why I was always bothered by people bitching that Smith's career was continuous decline from start to finish. In the first place, the 1996-1998 run was impossible to maintain indefinitely, but unfortunately for Tubby, it has raised expectations to a ridiculous level. And it was followed by Team Turmoil. People seem to have forgotten that, because it was seldom mentioned, even by the LOD in '06-'07. But that team puts the lie to the "long slow decline" mantra about Smith. Why?
Because it was followed by 2003 and 2005. To teams I absolutely loved. And those should have been Smith's second and third FF's. The debate goes back and forth about Bogan's ankle injury, but leave that aside for a moment. Despite the E8 end to the season, wasn't that at least one of the most fun teams to watch in Kentucky history? They absolutely throttled people. The beating laid on #1 Florida was incredible. And as I've posted several times, had the foul on Sparks' three been called at the end of regulation in the '05 regional, they'd have been final four bound. Sparks did not miss in that situation, it was in fact what he lived for.
All that is to explain why I remained a supported through the '06 and '07 years, I felt they were one of the temporary droughts that all elite teams suffer from time to time. People who deride Smith's recruiting tend to forget that the '05 class was the #1 ranked recruiting class in the nation. Of course Smith wasn't the recruiter that Calipari is - or at least used to be - but then that was Calipari's main, and perhaps only, strength - what made him and brought him to Kentucky. Smith's strength was bench coaching and player development, just as Pitino's was scouting and preparation.
Which brings us to why I've signed up for the LOD. Simply put, for the reasons listed above, I had faith Smith could turn it around. And I've lost the faith that Calipari can.
I have little faith in Calipari's bench coaching. Late career John Calipari's bench coaching is looking more and more - if you'll forgive me - like early career Bob Stoops sideline coaching. Inability to manage a clock. Poor play calling. And worst of all, seemingly no ability to make adjustments to the opponent during the game, one of Smith's greatest talents. Stoops and Calipari seem to be headed in exactly opposite directions.
I think shooting 1-6 from the FT line in OT was the final straw. FF's are so basic, and yet have been an Achilles heel for Calipari teams seemingly forever. He's not learning from experience. I've come to the conclusion that his lack of coaching ability has always been propped up by his recruiting, which reached a crescendo during his early years at UK. A combination of his reputation and skills with UK's all time elite status. But that seems ultimately to have been unsustainable.
Right or wrong, I had faith in Tubby to recover from the '06 - '07 years. Right or wrong, I have no faith Calipari can recover from '21 - '22. Recruiting might seesaw a bit, but a good coach can build up players, manage their strengths, and outmaneuver the opponents, but that's not, and I believe never will be, John Calipair. He has to have the best of the best talent, and he's not getting that any more, at least in the quantities he must have to win at the highest levels
