Matt Jones reporting...

[BlueRunner11]

Does anyone know why the SEC didn’t have a tournament between 1952-1979?

Wonder if it initially had anything to do with the point shaving/gambling court cases and subsequent SEC UK ban. I imagine it wouldn’t be worth having without UK being involved back then and with UK winning it almost every year prior they prob had no desire/urgency to bring it back.

 

[NociHTTP]

This is what happens when you have a coach who openly acknowledges that he really doesn’t care about the SEC tournament. The players also get the idea that it doesn’t matter if their coach sees it that way.

And the fact that the fans DO care? Well, that doesn’t matter either. Because this is now the Calipari program …it no longer belongs to the people of Kentucky. The only thing that matters now is what he thinks matters.

For the life of me how can a player be okay with failure? Where's the pride?

 

[NociHTTP]

And they never will in the SEC tournament because Cal doesn’t care. He is a terrible motivator and it shows throughout every season. We lose way too many games that we shouldn’t . You are one of his most ardent supporters. Maybe you are family. Any chance you can get him to resign?

No disagreement whatsoever. I hate when the media shows Cal talking to his players in so action. He's full and off-putting to listen to. Can't complete a sentence, has ZERO fire.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Possible I agree but you’re gonna end the SEC tourney on a loss anyway, right? History has shown we do better losing that championship game and not winning the tourney. Might as well lose now.

It's never been a barometer for NCAA tourney success.
We won it in '16 then lost to IU in the second round.
Bama was dominate in last years SEC tourney then lost second round.
The Vandy team that knocked off our '12 championship team flamed out in the second.

 

[DeerTurkHunter1]

It's never been a barometer for NCAA tourney success.
We won it in '16 then lost to IU in the second round.
Bama was dominate in last years SEC tourney then lost second round.
The Vandy team that knocked off our '12 championship team flamed out in the second.

Why are you talking about other teams?? It most certainly has been a barometer on ncaa success. We lost in 12 and won the title, we lost in 96 and won the title. We won in 15 and lost our perfect season in FF. It has been significant.

 

[SkyPrince1]

For the life of me how can a player be okay with failure? Where's the pride?

Overconfidence and no pride are two different things.
The team we lost to was the preseason SEC favorite plus they already had a victory over us.
This team has always walked a fine line between wins and losses.
We were on the ropes in several wins this year.
This team is really not Jekyll and Hyde, they have the same problems every game.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Why are you talking about other teams?? It most certainly has been a barometer on ncaa success. We lost in 12 and won the title, we lost in 96 and won the title. We won in 15 and lost our perfect season in FF. It has been significant.

Winning the title not losing in the championship game is what I'm talking about

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Wonder if it initially had anything to do with the point shaving/gambling court cases and subsequent SEC UK ban. I imagine it wouldn’t be worth having without UK being involved back then and with UK winning it almost every year prior they prob had no desire/urgency to bring it back.

@bthaunert

https://law.marquette.edu/facultybl...-when-forty-years-ago-there-were-almost-none/


Before the NCAA expanded, one team got to go. Conferences preferred to send their conference champion over their postseason champion. That made the post season tournament meaningless.

"The answer is fairly simple. As exciting as the ACC and Southern Conference tournaments may have been with their winner-take-all format, most conferences felt it was unfair that a team that had demonstrated excellence over the course of a season could be eliminated from national championship competition simply because it happened to have a bad game."

 

[THE_HOOK]

If the cats CAN'T beat a very average Texas am team when it counts, who can they beat???

 

[loucatfan]

This not playing your best players thing might catch on.

Starting out down 8-1.

Great idea.

Absolutely. So bad it warrants firing him for cause .

 

[UK90]

If the cats CAN'T beat a very average Texas am team when it counts, who can they beat???

Well, they can beat excellent Tennessee and Auburn teams on their own home court. They can beat a likely No. 1 seed like North Carolina. We know this because they did it.

Nobody in the country has more raw talent and depth than we do. We can easily beat anyone when our heads are on straight and we’re focused, motivated and commit to playing defense. But, unfortunately, this team takes too many nights off where it doesn’t choose to do those things.

 

[EliteBlue]

This not playing your best players thing might catch on.

Starting out down 8-1.

Great idea.

Truly innovative

 

[KMKAT]

Cal will never change his habits.

He is going to do it his way so we shouldnt be offering any suggestions.

I didn’t see any adjustments from the previous matchup, but I am one of those bennies who never coached a D-1 college team.

 

[know1]

If the cats CAN'T beat a very average Texas am team when it counts, who can they beat???

They won't beat any team whose coach scouts us and exploits our many weaknesses. Because Cal WON'T scout them.

 

[ala_kat2]

From SkyPrince1: This team is really not Jekyll and Hyde, they have the same problems every game.
Yes, and those problems would mainly be coaching, defense and game preparation.

 

[CatPatrick13]

We made a switch to zone last night and immediately gave up a wide open 3 and I mean wide open like someone was totally lost on where they to were supposed to be.

Good observation. I noticed that as well.. day one we should be practicing how to switch up defenses... but again, our head coach is stuck on one way.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Good observation. I noticed that as well.. day one we should be practicing how to switch up defenses... but again, our head coach is stuck on one way.

If going to play a zone, you have start practicing it in Oct.

 

[Jeff2Reed]

Made this point last night but you hit the nail on the head with your first sentence. Find every big moment and hype building win on our schedule this year. Almost all were followed immediately by a loss.

There is a common theme here. Calipari has absolutely sucked as UK’s coach the last half decade. You can’t be that bad and keep this job. No other major program would have kept him and all the excuses year to year don’t change it. Nobody cares about the nuances year to year, what matters is he’s terrible and he’s going to have to go and very soon.

 

[Dirt Court King]

This is the first time since 1931 that UK has gone five years without making an SEC tourney final.

He also said UK ranks 13th out of 14 SEC programs in terms of overall SEC tournament wins since 2019.

The Cal cult has nothing left to debate from an oppositional perspective. Cal is a absolutely horrific head coach.

Cal also just dropped his 45th game in four years. Pitino only lost 50 total games at UK in 8 total years, and two of those seasons were spent on probation.

Awesome job, Cal! You're burning down the program while cashing those checks.

He tells them the SEC tournament isn’t that important!!

 

[Blueworld_3.0]

Just Cal or all the coaches that lost today?
Seems like when other teams lose it's this player or that player that's overrated but with UK it's Cal.
Parris won SEC COY but couldn't figure out Auburn as SC was routed twice.
Sometimes you just don't match up well.
I didn't think Cal did anything genius today or did anything heinous.
A different substitution here or there wasn't going to win the game.
I didn't think any UK player played an A game today.

Apparently UK hasn't "matched up well" for the last five years.
It's not about any single day of the Calipari regime. It's a cumulative thing over a period of time. It's also about his open disdain for the SEC-T, his obsession with the NBA draft and his sometimes near hostile remarks toward the fanbase. He's a stubborn, pig-headed egomaniac. Add in the fact that his teams are no longer winning against our traditional national foes or during March and it creates a toxic environment around the program. With Calipari at the center of it.

 

[TheDude73]

I think he has every intention of destroying the program before he leaves. He hates Kentucky and its fans. He has taken us to the cleaners as fans and the universities money. Hopefully Mr Craft will step in

Craft won't do a thing. He did his part by financing the Craft Center, but it's my understanding since then he's not done much, and as we know our facilities are old and worn out, and no other donor has stepped up to support a revamp (then there's Mitch who also stands in the way...).

 

[crawfords corner]

Calipari isn't living up to half the expectations he put upon this program himself in the first 7 years he was here. If he were even doing half of that we wouldn't be where we are right now as a fanbase.

If he were coaching for the name on the front of the jersey the names on the back would still be taken care of. Instead, he's coaching for the name on the back of the jersey at some cost to name on the front. Some will call it
"coach speak", but the results say differently.

 

[HenryMuto]

its also the first time in school history UK is 0-3 in the sec tournament in a 3 year span of course.

Except Kentucky won in 2022 over Vandy 77-71 in the quarters but don't let facts get in the way of a good story

 

[Blueworld_3.0]

Except Kentucky won in 2022 over Vandy 77-71 in the quarters but don't let facts get in the way of a good story

Oh, well that win over mighty Vandy changes everything!
Time to extend Calipari's contract and give him a raise!

 

[john4uk]

its also the first time in school history UK is 0-3 in the sec tournament in a 3 year span of course.

And that really sucks!!!

 

[Jeff2Reed]

Craft won't do a thing. He did his part by financing the Craft Center, but it's my understanding since then he's not done much, and as we know our facilities are old and worn out, and no other donor has stepped up to support a revamp (then there's Mitch who also stands in the way...).

There is one family in particular that my family knows decently well that can make noise and will make noise. The husband went to the engineering program at UK with my uncle. He was also close to Pratt and lived with him at U.K. for a while.

The thing is Kentucky is in a spot that you don’t want to find yourself in. We don’t have traditional gatekeepers and it’s those guys that might get you in some binds, but it’s worth it long term. When you don’t have them you’ve got outsiders collecting checks as we do now. They do not care or understand Kentucky in the sense of the others.

However, there are still very influential people around and I’m sure they’re taking notice. I don’t know anyone in Lexington that wants Calipari to stay now. He’s got no support at all really, but the issue is Barnhart didn’t want Calipari to begin with and I personally believe he’s sending a message to everyone that did. You wanted him, you got him.

This thing is about to change I’d bet a lot of money on that. Whether it’s this year or next, Calipari’s time is coming to an end. That buyout is paid over time it’s not a big deal to this university. It’s not a question of if, no SEC MAJOR program is going to sit back and watch their programs just go down the drain. There is too much money involved.

It’s coming I’d bet on it.

 

[catben]

It's never been a barometer for NCAA tourney success.
We won it in '16 then lost to IU in the second round.
Bama was dominate in last years SEC tourney then lost second round.
The Vandy team that knocked off our '12 championship team flamed out in the second.

All of Cal's Final 4 teams made it to the SEC Tournament Championship game(2011, 2012, 2014, 2015). So that is a DEFINITE "barometer" for how important the SEC Tournament is for his teams!!!

Cal has gotten FAT and HAPPY with all of the money and security that lifetime contract gave him.

But thanks to Mitch and Capiluto, that lifetime contract will keep him from being held ACCOUNTABLE for his destruction of UK Basketball. I was hopeful that his HUGE Ego would kick in when the ENTIRE basketball world became critical of him, but NO it hasn't.

 

[true blue1]

This is the first time since 1931 that UK has gone five years without making an SEC tourney final.

He also said UK ranks 13th out of 14 SEC programs in terms of overall SEC tournament wins since 2019.

The Cal cult has nothing left to debate from an oppositional perspective. Cal is a absolutely horrific head coach.

Cal also just dropped his 45th game in four years. Pitino only lost 50 total games at UK in 8 total years, and two of those seasons were spent on probation.

Awesome job, Cal! You're burning down the program while cashing those checks.

Thank you, Mitch! You have truly done so an Amazing job!

 

[TNCatfanforever]

its also the first time in school history UK is 0-3 in the sec tournament in a 3 year span of course.

Cal has broken all the wrong records at UK and we ran Tubby out of town and he was never this bad.

 

[Blue Bigfoot]

They’re in an emergency strategy session meeting this morning. It will be interesting to see what the new CCC officially sanctioned social medial talking points will be.

Probably creating a dozen new screen names.
They must have really good Wi-Fi living up there in Cal's keister.

 

[fisherscatfan]

For me it's as simple as the kids got way too much love after beating UT in Knoxville.
It's the same team but they came out flat.
Pretty much all of them even Rob and Reed.
We made a switch to zone last night and immediately gave up a wide open 3 and I mean wide open like someone was totally lost on where they to were supposed to be.
The OAD model is what gets you the roster you have.
One that fans and media alike have gushed over because of their high powered offense.
The generational poverty is a quote that's 15 years old.
Nothing wrong with the players being rewarded for their play and I will admit I grew up on and have lived most of my adult life with it being program first but that doesn't mean that's the way it SHOULD have been.
The 70's through the 90's was the "golden era" of CBB but the universities used the hell out of the players while the pot kept getting bigger and bigger for them.

Every loss in isolation can be explained away. The refusal by some to look at the totality of the work and the decline over the past 5+ years is just dumbfounding. Cal flat out has just not got the job done the past 5 years or so. Don’t believe me, take him at his own words. When Cal was hired he discussed the previous few years of UK basketball (which were eerily similar to Cal’s past several years) and flat out said it was unacceptable at Kentucky.

UK went to zone for 4 possessions I believe and got 3 stops and then gave up a 3. If the criteria for abandoning a defense were giving up a 3, there wouldn‘t be a defense UK could play for more than 3-4 possessions.

There is nothing wrong with UK‘s current roster. There is plenty enough talent. It is how that talent is utilized is the problem. The head of the program is figuratively dead and the program is following right behind.

 

[Blue Bigfoot]

Well, they can beat excellent Tennessee and Auburn teams on their own home court. They can beat a likely No. 1 seed like North Carolina. We know this because they did it.

Nobody in the country has more raw talent and depth than we do. We can easily beat anyone when our heads are on straight and we’re focused, motivated and commit to playing defense. But, unfortunately, this team takes too many nights off where it doesn’t choose to do those things.

If only they had a coach that demanded those things.

 

[LmdCat]

I think if CAL were to leave and not Coach next week, let the assistants take the reins this team would go farther. CAL SUCKS

I have to disagree with you. Our coach purposely hires assistant coaches who know less than him so there is never a real threat to him from his bench. I will provide Kenny Payne as exhibit #1.

 

[FilsonCat]

The right coach would have had this team looking like the Loyola Marymount squads of yesteryear that put up unreal numbers. Cal tried to shoehorn this squad into something that it just isn't.

 

[TOMCATS1990]

I have to disagree with you. Our coach purposely hires assistant coaches that know less than him so there is never a real threat to him on his bench. I will provide Kenny Payne as exhibit #1.

Any and I mean any Coach at any level and a casual fan to a die hard would start your best 5

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Except Kentucky won in 2022 over Vandy 77-71 in the quarters but don't let facts get in the way of a good story

Since then, lost to EweTee, Vandy, TAM. That is 0-3.

 

[CatPatrick13]

There is one family in particular that my family knows decently well that can make noise and will make noise. The husband went to the engineering program at UK with my uncle. He was also close to Pratt and lived with him at U.K. for a while.

The thing is Kentucky is in a spot that you don’t want to find yourself in. We don’t have traditional gatekeepers and it’s those guys that might get you in some binds, but it’s worth it long term. When you don’t have them you’ve got outsiders collecting checks as we do now. They do not care or understand Kentucky in the sense of the others.

However, there are still very influential people around and I’m sure they’re taking notice. I don’t know anyone in Lexington that wants Calipari to stay now. He’s got no support at all really, but the issue is Barnhart didn’t want Calipari to begin with and I personally believe he’s sending a message to everyone that did. You wanted him, you got him.

This thing is about to change I’d bet a lot of money on that. Whether it’s this year or next, Calipari’s time is coming to an end. That buyout is paid over time it’s not a big deal to this university. It’s not a question of if, no SEC MAJOR program is going to sit back and watch their programs just go down the drain. There is too much money involved.

It’s coming I’d bet on it.

coming when and bet how much?

 

[FltDoc]

Cal will never change his habits.

He is going to do it his way so we shouldnt be offering any suggestions.

I didn’t see any adjustments from the previous matchup, but I am one of those bennies who never coached a D-1 college team.

And his way has been "average" for UK for many, many years now.

Don't personally dislike him, but it's time for a change... UK name should carry some clout to be able to hire a proven winner... You know, the ones that know how to recruit, scheme a game-plan, and either stick to it or adjust when needed -- ala the art of coaching.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Why are you talking about other teams?? It most certainly has been a barometer on ncaa success. We lost in 12 and won the title, we lost in 96 and won the title. We won in 15 and lost our perfect season in FF. It has been significant.

Why are you still posting, @DeerTurkHunter1 ? You lost a bet with me when you said UK would win more than 30 games this year. Now it's mathematically impossible.

That means you need to stop posting for three months.

Or are you a liar?

Get off the message board.

 

[wildcatglenn]

This thread was a major let down. I thought it would be actual news 😕