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Feb 5, 2017
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Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!
 
Yeah, blasting is coming. If you think "something isn't working", I don't know what you want. I get people saying 1 title isn't enough for the talent we've had. I agree, I'd love to have had 2 or 3 with Cal. We all would. But you can't even begin to insinuate something is wrong or bad with what Cal has accomplished. Life isn't fair. Take what you get. Be a fan and enjoy it.
 
I imagine there are people that talk about us like I used to Dean Smith. They look at the rosters and see what players have come through here, and what they are doing in the league, and say, "How the hell are they not winning titles?"

Is what it is. Good chance Cal wins one within the next two years and then hangs on another 5 years and wins another. He'd have 3 titles and have coached here 15 years. We'll want a statue built for him and he will have been a huge success.
 
I imagine there are people that talk about us like I used to Dean Smith. They look at the rosters and see what players have come through here, and what they are doing in the league, and say, "How the hell are they not winning titles?"

Is what it is. Good chance Cal wins one within the next two years and then hangs on another 5 years and wins another. He'd have 3 titles and have coached here 15 years. We'll want a statue built for him and he will have been a huge success.


I hope you are right and i guess i may be old school but i believe you have to have experience yr in and yr. out to win but again i hope your right.
 
I hope you are right and i guess i may be old school but i believe you have to have experience yr in and yr. out to win but again i hope your right.
I hope I'm right too haha!

I honestly think how close we are to having at least 3 with Cal now and it drives me crazy. I think we may get some experience back from the next team and have a good chance in 19.
 
Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!
UNC has had as many 5 stars and several if them are top 15 recruits. Their's just don't go pro. Kansas has had top talent, duke has had top talent. Quit being a moron. Duke has one more championship but several second rd losses, we've had more final fours than anyone else since Cal got here. It's hard to win championships...its not oh you've got talent just roll it out.
 
The talent gap isn't nearly as wide as you think it is. We're in the hunt nearly every year. We've had more upset wins than upset losses in the tourney. Cal is on par with every coach we've ever had in the championship department.
 
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Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!
Unfortunately, I can't like this 100000000000000000000000 times.
 
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Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!
I've explained on this board so many times why this isn't true - the issue behind this is a basic logical error that a 10 year old should be scolded for making.

Can you identify what error led to your dumb statement? Hint: It starts with only looking at incoming recruits and ignoring something else important.
 
As a lifelong Kentucky fan I have watched a lot of Kentucky basketball. I've watched some good but boring years with Eddie Sutton before the scandal that ended in probation. I've watched Tubby Smith (although a great guy) win one championship and then seemed to lose the desire to recruit the type of kid that could win a championship. I watched Billy Gillispie make a mockery of our program and great tradition. I saved Rick Pitino and Coach Calipari for last for a reason. They truly got what every game meant to us as fans. They could sell our program, and play a style that for the most part was exciting for us all. For me personally I don't expect a championship that often, but I for sure want to be in the discussion every year....both Pitino and Calipari accomplished that year in and year out for my beloved Wildcats. The point I'm trying to make is be careful what you wish for....you might not like what you get.
 
Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!


The draw is not excuses, it's just what really happened. You give us Duke's paths since 2010 and I GUARANTEE we have at the very least 1 more title. Probably more like 3 total titles. It really does matter, it's hard enough to win the tournament but you've got to have luck as well. Look at all the teams that UNC played this tourney, they all played poorly or they had the officiating go their way in every single game. Gonzaga played like Doo Doo! Karnowski missed a ton of shots that he literally hasn't missed all year. That was the luck part of it and the other games when the teams played decent, the officials had their hand in it. EVERYTHING must all come together and it just hasn't for us but 1 time. That's just the way it's been but I don't think it's excuses to give facts. I think we should've had 1 more title for sure and that was 2015and even then we got screwed by officiating that resulted in direct points for the other team. So, it is what it is right now. I'm confident that we will win another championship soon, probably in 2019. It WILL all come together again.
 
I imagine there are people that talk about us like I used to Dean Smith. They look at the rosters and see what players have come through here, and what they are doing in the league, and say, "How the hell are they not winning titles?"

Is what it is. Good chance Cal wins one within the next two years and then hangs on another 5 years and wins another. He'd have 3 titles and have coached here 15 years. We'll want a statue built for him and he will have been a huge success.
Everyone just ignores that while Cal has had tons of talent, like dean smith, there is one major difference. Smith had his best players multiple years. Cal gets most of them for one.

I've said this before:

There were 20 years between Rupps last NC in 58 until Hall's in 78.

Then another 18 years until the 96 nc.

And again, 14 years between 98 and 2012.

So, everyone needs to stop acting like we get a NC every few years. If you can't be happy with the run Cal is on, you never will!
 
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It is very difficult to win a NCAA basketball championship. I think it may be the hardest title to claim in all of sports, both pro and collegiate. The pool of contenders number in the dozens and 1 player making shots can end your season.

Cal gave us a team that ran off 38 straight wins just two years ago. I didn't think that was even possible in today's game. Our rosters are always loaded, UK will win another title soon.
 
Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!
Cal was not at UK when UNC won the title in 09.

This is the 2nd time I've noticed you making up some fake or misleading stat. Just stop. Especially when you do it in what amounts to a jackass troll post, like the one you made here.

"Twice as much talent" isn't actually a thing, BTW. It's a stupid statement made by stupid people who want simplistic answers to complicated questions, because they're too stupid to understand anything except simplistic answers.
 
I hope you are right and i guess i may be old school but i believe you have to have experience yr in and yr. out to win but again i hope your right.


If your measure of success is the NC then you have a weak point. If your measure would be games won you fail.

Given an even playing field the odds are we would have won the NC this year and YOU WOULDN'T HAVE POSTED SUCH DRIVEL.
 
I think people lack perspective and start to get finicky when we have come so close/had the best talent but come up short: '10, 11, 14, 15, and '17 could be argued as missed opportunities.

However, us being in the hunt all those years still speaks volumes.
 
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Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had
Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!

since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!
Dean Smith was at North Carolina 36 years and has the best talent in the nation and only won 2 NCAA titles. I
Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!
Dean Smith was coach at North Carolina for 36 years and had the best talent in the nation. He only won 2 NCAA titles in 36 years. He is a Hall of Fame coach but according to your standards he is a complete failure. Maybe we could go back to recruiting 4 year recruits like Billy G did and we would not have these high expectations. Then people like you would be happy when we are struggling to make the NIT every year.
 
It is hard to win a national championship,it is harder now that OAD is in full bloom.You have to be good,you have to get a few breaks and avoid certain officials in certain games(or catch the other team in an off game if those refs have the game)

Multi year players are extra valuable in tournament situations especially if they have been there before,say what you like but the UNC players were on a mission from last year.Our draw was about as bad as it could get this year but there were several good teams,yet we had a chance to win it all.
 
Jamal Mashburn
Freshman: 12.9 ppg, 7 reb, 29% from 3

Junior: 21 ppg, 8.4 reb, 37%

Dan Issel:
Redshirt soph: 16.4 ppg, 12.4 reb, 44% fg

Senior: 33.9 ppg, 13.9 reb, 55% fg

Jack Givens
Freshman: 9.4 ppg, 4.9 reb, 49% fg

Senior: 18.1 ppg, 6.8 reb, 55% fg

Cliff Hagan
Redshirt soph: 9.2 ppg, 8.5 reb, 37% fg

Senior: 24 ppg, 13.5 reb, 46% fg



Do you see the pattern here? Yes, we have had some insane talent come through over the last eight years. Is it possible we could have more than just one championship over that time? Absolutely. I can understand a person's frustration with that. However to say "look at all that talent! We should win the championship every year!" That is preposterously oversimplifying things. Freshman 18-year-olds DO NOT perform as well as they will three years later.

If his teams were a mix of freshman and upperclassman, it would be different. But the system he is running had literally never been done before. He takes these, practically, children, and has them all go through their growing pains for the first three quarters of the season, and, time and again, they have grown through them and made a run at the end. You can't just make a blanket statement that "he should have more championships" because there is no basis for comparison. There is no precedent for playing freshman like he does.

The bottom line is, he has created an entirely new system and you have to look at the bottom-line results. In eight years, he has six elite eight, for final fours, and a championship. Those are the results. And no, I don't agree with everything Cal does. His stubbornness with certain things frustrates me to no end sometimes. But if anybody isn't happy with those results, I don't even know how to begin to say what's wrong with you.

Sorry, I didn't mean to go on that long. I just got started and ended up going on a rant :D
 
You could argue Kennedy Meeks, Jackson and Berry were equal with Fox, Monk and Bam in college but down the road we will look at them and say "wow, how did we lose with Fox, Monk and Bam" because they will be big time pro's and the others won't be (maybe Jackson)

The problem is that these "top draft picks" are drafted on potential because they are all freshman and we are playing a lot of teams of equal talent "in college".
 
You could argue Kennedy Meeks, Jackson and Berry were equal with Fox, Monk and Bam in college but down the road we will look at them and say "wow, how did we lose with Fox, Monk and Bam" because they will be big time pro's and the others won't be (maybe Jackson)

The problem is that these "top draft picks" are drafted on potential because they are all freshman and we are playing a lot of teams of equal talent "in college".
This is it exactly,down the road players will look different,at the time we have them they are barely scratching the surface.It is what it is we do what we do and we do it better than anyone else but it isn't always enough to win it all however it usually gives us a chance.
 
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Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!
I've got one word for you. They are 18 year olds. Not polished talent yet. No one has ever done what Cal is doing. EVER.
 
I just don't understand how people can be so adamant about Calipari underachieving since he's been here at UK. Bottom line he has proven he get's more out of the OAD talent than any coach in Basketball. Even the mighty Coach K hasn't been able to come close to the results Cal does yearly with a team made up of new players. Secondly we've seen this year more so than any other I've witnessed that the ref's can and will dictate major games and outcome. There is not a doubt in my mind that had we gotten a fair called game against UNC we would have gotten another title this year. Think about if you would trade outcomes int he last 8 years with a team like UCONN who has won 2 titles but has flopped the other years or would you rather have continued success and exciting basketball every year and be a threat.
 
The talent gap isn't nearly as wide as you think it is. We're in the hunt nearly every year. We've had more upset wins than upset losses in the tourney. Cal is on par with every coach we've ever had in the championship department.

Sorry to bust your bubble but the talent we have sent to the Nba is over double than any other program
 
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You're entitled to your opinion OP, of course, but I just disagree. It makes me wonder how long you've been a fan. I've been following UK basketball since the early 80s. I've seen some great basketball. The 90s under Pitino was some great basketball also. We had multiple Final Fours and were in the title game 3 seasons in a row from 1996 to 1998 under Pitino and the Tubby Smith. That was amazing. But then came the 2000s and the slow death of the program. 10 losses was commonplace. Early exits from the postseason became the norm.

Anyone who endured that, couldn't possibly say Calipari has done a poor job. There is no way! We've been to at least the Elite 8 SIX times in 8 seasons. That's nuts!

And yes, you will be blasted for this opinion and you should be. It's your prerogative to think whatever you will but it's this board's right to push back on that opinion. Don't let it get to you.
 
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But one thing is the truth Cal isn't a good Coach when the game is on the line, not a good XandO Coach, simple as that

I used to feel this way too, but the more I've sat back and not let my emotions get the best of me I've found that not to be the case. If anything I would say that Cal's stubbornness has got in the way at times and "emotionally blind" fans have taken that as him being a bad X's and O's coach. For instance, in the past he's been stubborn and refused to play zone defense. His stubbornness has also shown through in the form of him remaining loyal to certain 5* players and not given the deserved playing time to other players who would be better suited to help the team out as a whole. It's led to him slacking off at times as a coach and not focusing on certain areas of the game during practices due to feeling we're better than we actually were at the time. Etc., etc., etc.

Now does this stubbornness mean he's a horrible coach and should have for sale signs put on his front lawn by "emotionally blind" fans? Hell No! In fact those acts of stubbornness such as going all in on Andrew Harrison during our 38-1 tourney run, going to the platoon system to keep 5* players happy, not giving Dom/Derek their due minutes early on, not focusing on defense as much after the AZ St game, etc, etc, doesn't make Cal a bad coach, but instead makes him a human being who has become "emotionally blind" at times himself and has temporarily slowed down his own progression as a coach.

The good news is that Cal appears to have become more and more self reflective since the 38-1 season and I would argue that Cal grew more this season as a coach than any other season. He's started to listen to his assistant coaches more, he's started to give playing time to the players who put in the work (5* or not), he's starting to look at what style of play best suits individual teams not just thinking dribble drive all the time, he's not going all in on certain recruits, he's bringing in mentors that he respects throughout the year to call him on his stubbornness, he's publicly calling himself out when he finds himself going back to his stubborn ways, etc, etc, etc.

In short, he's no longer "emotionally blind" and I expect to see him personally take that next step as a coach over the next few seasons. What's awesome is if you ask me he's done a kick a$$ job over the past 6 years while being "emotionally blind," so there's no telling what he's going to be able to do now that he's truly taking a step back to critique his own deficiencies. So with all of that said, I suggest all of the "emotionally blind" UK fans take a step back, critique your own deficiencies as a fan, clear your mind, and once you've done that as a wise man once said, "Sit back and enjoy the ride as it's going to be a great story."


Go Big Blue!!!
 
Since we got beat, I've sit back and thought about being a fan all these yrs. and read about what people has been saying, who they have been blaming and so forth. But to tell the truth it's good to get these 30 win seasons, E. 8's, FF and things but without the championship it shouldn't mean nothing to us and with all the talent we've had since Cal has been here we should have more than one championship. I know i'm going to get blasted but that's ok, with 30 top draft picks in the last 7 yrs and then most likely 3 more this yr something isn't working. Since 09 you have UNC with 2, Duke-2 Conn. 2 uof 1 and Vill.1 UK 1 no way we shouldn't have at least 3 or 4. I've heard Cal talk about the draw and the calls and things but hey when you have double the talent than any other program you should be able to over come some calls and brackets but not lose every time so i think it's about time for us and Cal to quit making excuses and lay the blame where it should be on the play calling. But it's the truth. Now let the blasting begin!

Unfortunately, I can't like this 100000000000000000000000 times.



Another year..

Another set of idiot-trolling...

Are we not used to this by now...?

(Probably the same person)
 
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