Most Talent

[stoneycat_20]

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

Cal, has been great, but this is why i think he needs to change up a little..need some experience starters then add 2-3 OAD...I like the way Self does it .he just needs to add 1-2 more OAD each year...

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

Seriously? You like the way Self does it? His players are questionable at best off the court, and he's gone out in the 1st or 2nd round 5 times.

 

[chattanoogawildcat]

Funny how the OP runs and hides after being exposed as a troll.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

Cal, has been great, but this is why i think he needs to change up a little..need some experience starters then add 2-3 OAD...I like the way Self does it .he just needs to add 1-2 more OAD each year...

Self sucks. Cal is vastly superior. Do u watch the NCAA tourney?

 

[stoneycat_20]

Self sucks. Cal is vastly superior. Do u watch the NCAA tourney?

Where did i say Self was great..I said i like the way he sets up his teams , but add 1-2 more OAD..Never said i like his results..Can you read?

 

[WildMoon]

Where did i say Self was great..I said i like the way he sets up his teams , but add 1-2 more OAD..Never said i like his results..Can you read?

you know what makes your comment stupid.

Like you said his results are worse than Cals. 0 title since Cal has been at UK. Just add 1-2 more OAD...like that's easy to do...

So why can't Cal get another condition as well?

I don't like the way Self does it, because his tourney results SUCKS. There is no IFs.

 

[oscarcombs44]

Our coach is good enough to own your coach, 8-2.

I can't stand Pitino either both sucks

 

[brianpoe]

I can't stand Pitino either both sucks

So you really dont have a coach you like that would do better than Cal...?

 

[oscarcombs44]

Funny how the OP runs and hides after being exposed as a troll.

I'm not hiding no where and i've been a fan longer than most on here, and i'm no troll but i speak my mine and yes i think Cal would do better if he would change a little and bring in some 4 stars that would hang around a little longer

 

[oscarcombs44]

So you really dont have a coach you like that would do better than Cal...?

Hey the main thing i think is the problem is we don't recruit players to stick around longer and no i have no ideal what coach i would like to see here, but Cal has done a great job winning games, but he is not a good X and O Coach and i posted on another post about Pitino, he's a good X and O Coach but can't recuit a lick, where as Cal is the best recuiter but not a good X and O Coach again thats my opinion.

 

[gracetoyou]

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!

Yep...you should get blasted! Some of you folks are just too simple thinking. Having the most talent or even the best team is not going to equal an automatic championship no matter who is coaching. Ask Coach K, Izzo, Dean Smith, Bill Self...etc.

UK has 8 championships....FREAKING 8! Do you know how rare championships are? Do you know how many talented UK teams through the years didn't win it?

All you can seriously expect is to be in the hunt & have a coach that's going to have a team capable of making a run. Cal has done that better at UK than any coach or program since his arrival. We'll get lucky again...& it truly does take some luck. Just ask UNC, who got huge breaks against Arkansas, UK, Oregon, & Gonzaga. Or Duke in 2010 & 2015 getting really lucky, easy paths.

As much as guys like you probably idolize Coach K, remember he has 5 championships in 37 seasons! That means 32 seasons ended in disappointment.

Some fans like you just constantly live in dream world with dumb unachievable expectations.

 

[stoneycat_20]

you know what makes your comment stupid.

Like you said his results are worse than Cals. 0 title since Cal has been at UK. Just add 1-2 more OAD...like that's easy to do...

So why can't Cal get another condition as well?

I don't like the way Self does it, because his tourney results SUCKS. There is no IFs.

You don't understand what i mean..I'll leave it at this ..imo we need more than Freshman every year..In 2012 we had the 2 best OAD, but we would not have won the title without Lamb,Jones and Miller..thats what id like to see..2-3 OAD added to veteran starters...Might not be possible at UK though.But my opinion or what i think is like yours and everyone else It means nothing..

 

[WildMoon]

You don't understand what i mean..I'll leave it at this ..imo we need more than Freshman every year..In 2012 we had the 2 best OAD, but we would not have won the title without Lamb,Jones and Miller..thats what id like to see..2-3 OAD added to veteran starters...Might not be possible at UK though.But my opinion or what i think is like yours and everyone else It means nothing..

Can you name a team where Coach Cal only had freshman other than 2014...which btw went furthest, except 2012?

 

[UKWildcats#8]

Where did i say Self was great..I said i like the way he sets up his teams , but add 1-2 more OAD..Never said i like his results..Can you read?

He doesn't set up his team's well though. They flame out in the tourney. That means they are not a model to follow.

 

[brianpoe]

I'm not hiding no where and i've been a fan longer than most on here, and i'm no troll but i speak my mine and yes i think Cal would do better if he would change a little and bring in some 4 stars that would hang around a little longer

This is what people say that just dont understand the game.

You dont turn away the best players for lesser ones.

That is dumb.

If you have spots to fill after the 5* and can sign quality kids sure you do. See Willis and Hawkins.


But dont be so naive to think that 4*'s dont want to play right away as well. They do. And they will at other schools.


The top 50 kids have the opportunity to start somewhere. They dont here. And they will be recruited over.


A person that claims to really understand UK could easily see that our issue isnt the kids that leave as top pics, it is the surprise kids who improved over the season so much to leave and the border line to no chance kids that leave too early unexpectedly.


Orton (great move on his part actually)
Bledsoe (Cal didnt expect it, but it turned out good for him and we signed Knight)
Teague (Cal thought he was staying)
Lamb (did not receive good feedback should have stayed)
2013 with Teague, Lamb, Archie, Alex/Kyle, Nerlens, WCS is not a bad squad especially that season

Booker (Cal thought was staying, ended up being good move for the kid.)
Twins (most likely a good decision)
Dakari (told not to go)



You want to know what high ranking 4* do at UK they transfer. See Charles Mathews. M Lee was an overrated 5 but definitely a solid 4*, transfer. Hump may transfer.

So recruiting worse kids isnt the solution.

As to titles it was the OAD's that put us in the position to win. Injuries, refs, Cal's coaching, and poor shooing cost us. NOT OUR PLAYERS BEING OAD.

 

[gracetoyou]

If you can show Cal how to do better than 4 final 4's, & a national championship. If you think Cal or anyone else will do that with 3 & 4 stars then...."HERE'S YOUR SIGN!!"

 

[1war]

People who say Cal can't coach must have forgotten his UMASS days, before the OAD era. He didn't forget how to coach , you simply can't coach guys who just got on campus 4 months before the season starts the way you can players who have been in your system for years like he had at UMASS. Players who have been around for years are far less talented , that's why they've been around so long. It's almost impossible in todays game to have both , Cal made the correct choice , talent over experience.

From 1988 to 1996 at UMass, Calipari led the Minutemen program to five consecutive Atlantic 10 titles and NCAA Tournament appearances, including periods where the program was ranked first nationally. He finished with a 193–71 record overall, with a 91–41 record in Atlantic 10 conference games. Calipari was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in 1992, 1993, and 1996. He was also named the Naismith, NABC, Basketball Times & Sporting News National Coach of the Year in 1996. He led UMass to its first-ever appearance in the Final Four with the play of the John R. Wooden Award winner and Naismith College Player of the Year Marcus Camby, although this appearance was later vacated by the NCAA because Camby had accepted about $28,000 from two sports agents who were luring him to enter the NBA draft after his Sophomore season.[11]

Calipari helped accelerate the construction of the Mullins Center, UMass' basketball and hockey facility. He also reached out to eastern Massachusetts and Boston to enlarge the fan base. Before moving on to the New Jersey Nets, Calipari became the second winningest coach in UMass history behind Jack Leaman.[12]

In February 2010, Pat Forde, at the time the writer of a regular college sports column called "Forde Minutes" for ESPN.com, recalled the 1992 team:

Calipari's greatest strength as a coach is his ability to create teams that play together. His 1992 Massachusetts team remains one of the most overachieving units The Minutes has ever seen, featuring a shooting guard with range so limited he made one 3-pointer all season (Jim McCoy), a 6-foot-3 power forward (Will Herndon), and a left-handed center who stood all of 6–7 (Harper Williams). Somehow, that collection of marginal talent went 30–5 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16.[13]

In the Sweet 16 matchup with Kentucky in 1992, official Lenny Wirtz issued Calipari a controversial technical foul for being outside the coach's box during a crucial UMass possession. Kentucky went on to face Duke in the next round in one of the greatest games in college basketball history, won on a last-second shot by Christian Laettner.

In 1993, UMass defeated defending NCAA champion and preseason #1 North Carolina in the pre-season NIT in Madison Square Garden. The following year #3 UMass defeated defending NCAA champion and #1 Arkansas in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off classic, which resulted in UMass becoming the first New England college basketball team to be voted #1 in the Associated Press poll.

During Calipari's tenure at UMass, the program became one of the most dominant in college basketball despite recruiting just one McDonald's All-American (Donta Bright) and having only two players drafted by an NBAteam (Lou Roe and Marcus Camby). The 1996 team alone, called by Forde a team "with one superstar (Marcus Camby) and a collection of complementary parts",[13] defeated teams featuring future first-round picks Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Antoine Walker, John Wallace, Derek Anderson, Othella Harrington, Samaki Walker, Tony Delk, Brevin Knight, Nazr Mohammed, Jerome Williams, Ron Mercer, Lorenzen Wright, Todd Fuller, Walter McCarty and Matt Harpring.

By winning both the Atlantic 10 regular season and conference tournament championships from 1992 to 1996, UMass became the second team in college basketball history to win 5 consecutive regular season and conference tournament championships (NC State was the first.)

 

[UKWildcats#8]

I'm not hiding no where and i've been a fan longer than most on here, and i'm no troll but i speak my mine and yes i think Cal would do better if he would change a little and bring in some 4 stars that would hang around a little longer

He does. They transfer out. Fear of competition

 

[chattanoogawildcat]

I'm not hiding no where and i've been a fan longer than most on here, and i'm no troll but i speak my mine and yes i think Cal would do better if he would change a little and bring in some 4 stars that would hang around a little longer

That was a long sentence.

 

[gracetoyou]

And there's not a coach in college basketball that can have success with young guys the way Cal does! No one!

Izzo agrees!

 

[Blue_2_the_bone]

22-23 year old NBA players or All-Stars doesn't mean they are world beaters as 18-19 year old college kids, just talented players. Rosters of experience get you a shot every 3-4 years. Rosters of talent get you a shot every year. I'll take the talent and a shot to win it every year.

 

[Bryo72]

Unforunately, I can't call you an idiot 1000000000000000000001 times. i can't say anything that others on here haven't pounded on. We virtually lose 7 guys every year. What team loses 7 guys and are in contention the next season? If all you can be satisfied with is Titles, go root for Luoisville...wait, only 1 title all of Rick's years there. Duke...Oh, you have top put up with LeHigh, Mercer and South Carolina. North Carolina, again 1 title since Cal has been here and 20 years of cheating. I don't see a team you can cheer for. The closest I got for you is the New England Patriots

I'm UK fan as well as Pats since 84....we got caught fine...but paid for it at least....UNC, ul duke...no