With Matt Jones in the title, you had to know it wouldn't be actual news.
Matt Jones reporting...
- Thread starter Son_Of_Saul
- Start date
I've tried all season long to give Cal the benefit of the doubt but I can't do that anymore. We have started way too many games in a hole.
We did not lose in the first game in 2012.
All of our teams that have made runs in the NCAA tournament also played into the weekend of the SEC tournament. The extra rest and preparation after losing early on the SEC has never helped anything.
Like I said, never have we had a team lose this early in the SEC tournament and then made a run. All of our teams that have played deep into the NCAA tournament also played well and at least played to the championship game of the tournament.
Nobody said we did. Said we lost in the SEC tourney, comprehension skills are a plus.
Apparently, according to Lunardi, the loss yesterday in a tournament that means nothing to some, has cost the Cats a seed line. They have gone from a projected 3 back to a 4.
Cal has absolutely sucked the enjoyment out of UK basketball.
Cal is now First In First out Cal. add St. PETERS to that record. What a clown for a Coach.
When you play a team and you don’t match up well, you compensate with what you have. It happens all the time. We won 14 games in 1990 with probably the worst collection of players in history. We did things, we changed up defenses, we had a coach that actually tried. Fast forward to January 2024, we let one guy light it up on us, lose by 2 in OT nothing shameful. 2 days ago we knew we would see this team again. What did we do differently from the January game? NOFT. Players, especially younger players need to be coached. We looked like we sat around the lodge all week letting everybody blow smoke up our ass telling us how easy it was going to be to win the tournament, even though he doesn’t care about it. Did we change up on defense, try to double team, make any adjustments to try to deny the ball? Seriously, this guy honestly just does roll the ball out there and lets them play. Our offense amounts to dribbling around the perimeter then at the five second mark we drive to the basket for a circus shot. Nobody is taught how to block out, rebound, play defense, communicate, nothing. Im so sick and tired of watching his incompetence
I disagree with the cry that universities used players.
For playing at UK players got:
A free education worth somewhere around $100k+ my dad would have gladly been happy with IF I was a 5 star player at any sport.
The best medical care when injured.
Free help with grades, well, unless you're at UNCheat!!
Free food.
Nationwide exposure at what was the Gold Standard of college basketball.
And money. IF we think players weren't getting paid in some way we're delusional.
Correct I mean look at Jeff and Stacy Sheppard, didn't play in the NBA but are doing just fine.
More than anything I hate that the losses (especially in the SECT) have become so common that it isn’t shocking or nearly as upsetting to me. Cal has gotten it to the point that a win against a true top level opponent is more unexpected for me. 😢😢😢
I’ve never gotten either. So many people here don’t seem to understand the difference between those two words. And the weird part is I rarely ever see that mistake anywhere else, but constantly see it on this board.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the Kentucky public school system.
I thought I was going crazy. Even had to look the words up to make sure I wasn't going crazy.
Jeff did play in the NBA although not much. I actually went to a playoff game between the Hawks and Pistons in Auburn Hills that Jeff played in.
You are correct my apologies, for some reason i thought he went straight overseas for a few years
The main reason was the NCAA only allowed one team from each conference to play in the NCAA tournament. Most conferences wanted their best team, the regular season champion to represent them in the NCAA tournaments. As far as I can remember the ACC was the only major conference that had a tournament. The NCAA tournament expanded and started letting more than one tea from each conference and all the conferences went to a post season tournament for more money
Always been like that since the day I first joined this place all those years ago. I long ago learned to just ignore it.
But it is odd, nowhere else is that particular mistake made more frequently than here.
He's paid a king's ransom to win games, period. He's also paid that ridiculous amount of money to maintain and grow the program's statute/success. Flaming out in embarrassing fashion in both the SEC and NCAA tournaments year after year is not acceptable. Excellence is about competing every game, not picking some games and saying: "I don't give a damn whether we win, lose, or even play well..."
If you want mediocre, got root for Louisville or Virginia or some such.
When did UK athletics "belong to the people of Kentucky"? Never did. You aren't thinking clearly there.
However, there was a time when UK's basketball coach understood the important cultural role of UK basketball in the state and tried to better the program.
When we lose now, the team is too young, or fans expect too much, or players didn't do what Cal said. There is always a lame, stale excuse.
I give due credit to Cal for being an elite recruiter. He still is. But Cal does less with more. Every year now, his teams massively underachieve their talent level. This was not always the case. But it has clearly been the case since 2015-16. Because he can't win big with superior talent, he has adopted new narratives such as-
The SEC Tournament doesn't matter
$billions in NBA contracts for former UK players
Young team (What about Reeves, Mitchell?)
But the object of the game is to win. We lost at home to Gonzaga, SCar, FL, and NC-Wilmington. We lost twice to TX A&M.
We know this team is capable of playing elite basketball because we saw them break down and blow out Auburn, AL, and TN. But we begin every game with a disadvantage because Cal refuses to start two of his best players. The usage of our personnel is irrational, and the refusal to make defensive adjustments has killed our season. If anyone still believes this is a FF team, they are delusional. This isn't the players' fault. It is on Cal. It is foolish to argue otherwise. Believe your lying eyes.
It starts and ends with the coach. Calipari cannot get players focused on the team long enough to string wins together. He came dangerously close to blowing 2012, and had it not been for the lockout he would have zero titles in history because he teaches the exact opposite of what a winning recipe is. He’s enamored with convincing players to join him. He loves recruiting. He is not a coach in the least.
He brought his major in college, business marketing, into college coaching. He’s just not a real authentic coach. And we’re paying for it.
Take issue with the first part. Yes, this is essentially the people’s program. It’s always been seen that way and anyone, from coaches to players, have said as much for years. This is a public university, essentially being the states program.
Because there wasn’t a point. Kentucky was killing it.
As to the official reason I have no idea.
Mediocrity is my favorite, lol. Blah, blah, blah, we all want UK to win, your thoughts bring nothing to the table.
SEC tournament is a good barometer for:
How focused a team can get,
How well they've grown as a team throughout the year,
How offense is executed, & how D is played,
How well a coach handles match-ups and makes the in-game adjustments
How a team has learned to handle the pressure moments during a game -- the big stage.
All of these things and more.... So.... not lookin' very hopeful for March Madness... more like another March sadness.
Beyond pathetic....how will the Cal apologists spin this? Yeah I know Cal's bank account tripled and all of the draft picks are millionaires...at least some are happy.
