Ok, I'm officially done enjoying Cals implosion.

[Crums Bald Spot]

Looks like he could be in the same boat next year.
Fland, Davis, Aidoo, Brazille gone.
Adu probably goes to draft.
DJ 50/50 to draft.
Can't see Z back at Arkansas.
Richmond/ Knox who knows.
The Arkansas '26 season will likely hinge on what Cal can get out of Acuff and Thomas.

Yeah, going to be the Acuff/Thomas show in Fayetteville next season. He's gotta hope Knox and/or Richmond is on the Thiero track and leverage chicken man to buy him a supporting cast.

Thing is, I'm doubt any alpha portal guards/wings will come with ball dominant FR like Acuff and Thomas. Cal is playing those guys a ton and they will get the special Cal treatment. Then you have role players/shooters. They won't be athletic enough in Cal's eyes and he definitely won't use them correctly.

I can see Cal going all in on the FR class, buying a top tier 4 and 5 who are super talented. Then praying he can revive the 2009 formula of getting them to buy in on defense and out-talenting folks in Jan, Feb, March.

 

[Digger-Cat]

One thing to note, I believe this is the last year of the Covid pass that created super seniors, so this upcoming portal class wont have 25 year olds in it and it's not like they do any good under Cal anyway.

 

[SkyPrince1]

Yeah, going to be the Acuff/Thomas show in Fayetteville next season. He's gotta hope Knox and/or Richmond is on the Thiero track and leverage chicken man to buy him a supporting cast.

Thing is, I'm doubt any alpha portal guards/wings will come with ball dominant FR like Acuff and Thomas. Cal is playing those guys a ton and they will get the special Cal treatment. Then you have role players/shooters. They won't be athletic enough in Cal's eyes and he definitely won't use them correctly.

I can see Cal going all in on the FR class, buying a top tier 4 and 5 who are super talented. Then praying he can revive the 2009 formula of getting them to buy in on defense and out-talenting folks in Jan, Feb, March.

I don't there are any top 4 or 5's left in the FR class.
Arkansas is out for Wilson and not seen as a serious player for either Ament or Peat.
After those guys it's a drop off.
Losing Cenac to Houston was a blow.

 

[yoshukai]

"To be fair".... Cow got his championship because AD, TJ and Co. were too good to lose (THEY refused to lose.). Cow even went to stall ball in that game but that team was not losing at that point. Few was correct, he just ran out of time due to that team, not Cow. Cow is on the banner and that is fine and great but he did less with more than any coach imaginable. Yep, FF's are great... Cow's passion had nothing to do with that Championship... Yes Cow assembled that team AND TJ came back because of the lockout, fill in the blanks...

I will always believe if the NBA had a few more lockouts that Cal would have a few more championships. That’s all it took .

 

[yoshukai]

I hope he heads to ESPN and gets out of coaching. He loves to talk. He’s a good guy with a big heart but needs to call it quits on coaching and spend some time enjoying all the money he’s made and his family.

He would be perfect in the role of basketballs version of Lee Corso. Act like a buffoon and put the mascot head on at the end . He can’t speak in complete coherent sentences or analyze what’s happening on the court so that’s about all he could do. “RUN “, “GO” , “REBOUND WITH TWO HANDS” . That’s about all he could add .

 

[yoshukai]

I don't there are any top 4 or 5's left in the FR class.
Arkansas is out for Wilson and not seen as a serious player for either Ament or Peat.
After those guys it's a drop off.
Losing Cenac to Houston was a blow.

Don’t know who it was but Arkansas fans were complaining that they lost a center they were expecting to Georgia Tech yesterday. So they’ve lost Wilson,Cenac, and whoever this guy was as their big man recruits

 

[Digger-Cat]

How any bigtime recruit or portal entry can watch Arkansas and how miserable the players are and how archaic the offense is and want to play there, is very confusing to me.

Yeah, bigtime NIL money is great, but if you're good, you can go to a better program and still get bigtime NIL.

 

[KFuqua]

With all of my heart, I hope he is booed more than anyone ever when he comes to Rupp! His attempt to destroy Kentucky basketball has earned that!

 

[Catman100]

Not me. Will enjoy it until he quits coaching.
Thanks for the first bunch of years, but you quit on UK the last 5 or so.

 

[NociHTTP]

I will always believe if the NBA had a few more lockouts that Cal would have a few more championships. That’s all it took .

Cal can only win WITH an NBA lockout, and even then it's not because of him.

 

[yoshukai]

Cal can only win WITH an NBA lockout, and even then it's not because of him.

You know that was sarcasm right?

 

[NociHTTP]

You know that was sarcasm right?

I was about 80% of the way there, but my post was more intended for the folks who don't get it. Sorry.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

We will not.
Not only disdain, but utter contempt will be on display.

I suspect that Pope will ask, repeatedly, that the fans not do that. He will be disappointed if the fans do act like that.

 

[Cleatortoises]

I suspect that Pope will ask, repeatedly, that the fans not do that. He will be disappointed if the fans do act like that.

Pope will ask that.
He will be disappointed.
🐄 has talked down to the Bennies a few too many times. I presume they will exact their revenge.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

Pope will ask that.
He will be disappointed.
🐄 has talked down to the Bennies a few too many times. I presume they will exact their revenge.

They may but it won't be ignored by Pope.

 

[yoshukai]

I was about 80% of the way there, but my post was more intended for the folks who don't get it. Sorry.

No apologies necessary. I was just making sure you didn’t think I was that stupid , lol .

 

[NociHTTP]

No apologies necessary. I was just making sure you didn’t think I was that stupid , lol .

I definitely don't think you're stupid. Hope your day is going well. I'm glad that next week I'm being moved to a different department. When a lead or manager tells me that if I want to learn something new I can be sent to a different department, I'm done. Where I'm going will be up my alley anyway, since my background is in logistics.

 

[yoshukai]

I definitely don't think you're stupid. Hope your day is going well. I'm glad that next week I'm being moved to a different department. When a lead or manager tells me that if I want to learn something new I can be sent to a different department, I'm done. Where I'm going will be up my alley anyway, since my background is in logistics.

Good for you!

 

[L.O.D.]

First time Cal has gone 0-4 to start conferences play since 1st year at Umass

With just about same team he would of had at UK.

 

[susan2361]

I don't wish ill on anyone but I will say Cal burned all his good will with UK. The snarky comments, talking down to fans, unwillingness to adapt and change, playing players over obviously better players, see my dogs, not caring about the SECT, bad losses to lesser teams aka St. Peter's and Oakland, bad losses aka Wisconsin, being so arrogant thinking he could violate his contract and stick around, thinking he was so coveted. I could go on but I'm tired.

Good post. You pretty much have summed it all up with everything he did to really piss us off. Glad he is gone.

 

[cal=8]

I think fans should lighten up on Coach Cal. He won us a Natty and we went to 4 final 4's in 5 years. It's a shame it ended with his complete failure over the past few years but he did leave on his own and saved us the 40 million dollar buyout. Dude did us a huge favor by leaving. We knew and he knew.

 

[chasingwildcat]

Kentucky head coach should be a around 10 year job.

Cal did good in his first 11 years. 1 E8, 4 final 4 in first 6 years. Then 2 Elite 8, 1 S16 in his final 5 years. Quickley, Maxey and Richards team could make a deep run in journey, could get a least a S16 based on their performance in SEC.

Although Cal always coached very bad with his talent, his first 11 years are very good. Any level of university would welcome to this kind of records.

However, he should retire since Covid.

Hopefully, Pope can give us some good record in his first ten years and then we can see how things will go. Hopefully he retires here. I hope we can get a least S16 in this year.

 

[chasingwildcat]

Cal's team used to fight very hard

However, since Covid, Cal's teams are soft as noodles.

Cal does not have the fire as before and he is complacent now, that definitely influences the players now

 

[STL_Cat]

Not me. I’m in my prime.

 

[IFerg1969]

I’m officially STILL enjoying Cal’s implosion!

 

[RunninRichie]

The bottom line is, Cal focuses on individual goals and accomplishments. If one of his draft picks is struggling, he's going to take however long it takes to get that kid to break through and he is not going to change.

That 'Justin Edwards', or 'BJB' is going to start over better players, because those HS rankings said they were better.

Cal's last 4 teams played completely like disconnected teams that just did their own things. Some teams put it together and looked like a great TEAM for one game here and there, but always went back to individualism.

You can't prioritize individualism and win in today's college basketball. Cal knows this, but he doesn't care.

It's not really the ratings, it's because he has to make promises, IMO he has promises to recruiting agents, like Klutch, and promising playing time to get "showcased" to recruits. It's all in the name of keeping the recruiting mill open. He's in a catch 22.

 

[RunninRichie]

I'm not lol.. I also get kicks from their posters.. They think a few of their players taking long 2s is something CCC should bench them over..

View embedded media

"If you're missing the 3, I tell them to take a step in and try it"-John Calipari.
Hey hogs fans, Cal TEACHES long 2's.

 

[RunninRichie]

Not me. I’m in my prime.

 

[Digger-Cat]

I think fans should lighten up on Coach Cal. He won us a Natty and we went to 4 final 4's in 5 years. It's a shame it ended with his complete failure over the past few years but he did leave on his own and saved us the 40 million dollar buyout. Dude did us a huge favor by leaving. We knew and he knew.

You can go ahead and go easy on him if you want, I'm not, he purposely chose to turn UK into an NBA draft AAU program.

And if you think Cal did us a favor, you're pretty gullible. He screwed up, because he went too far while trying to put the squeeze on Mitch again. He didn't purposely get fired, in fact, he thought he was untouchable.

Again, I cannot believe so called UK fans feel bad for this guy. He literally called you a basketball bennie and mocked you.

 

[Digger-Cat]

It's not really the ratings, it's because he has to make promises, IMO he has promises to recruiting agents, like Klutch, and promising playing time to get "showcased" to recruits. It's all in the name of keeping the recruiting mill open. He's in a catch 22.

That is 100% fact, but it's only one of many reasons why Cal does what he does.

He allowed klutch to dictate playing time and that tells you all you need to know about the type of program Cal was running. It wasn't about winning.

So many people praise Cal for his recruiting (and his assistants) killed it in the early years, but K started taking his lunch, so Cal got desperate and started making promises, then lied and said he didn't, even though it’s obvious he did.

To me, if you have to make promises, it's not worth it, especially when you're making promises to unskilled beanpoles that struggle at this level.

 

[seccats04]

Was Cal really a good guy as some of you have said? I know he did the fundraisers and telethons that raised money for various events but did he do that out of the goodness of his heart or did he do it because of the attention and praise it brought to him? I ask this because of how he treated John Robic, his longtime asst coach, who obviously stirred Cal's winning formula. Robic's daughter was diagnosed with cancer so he stepped away from a coaching role and became some sort of consultant on the staff so he could spend more time with his daughter before she died. This happened the year of the awful Covid team that never could get it going. After that season, Cal and Robic had some sort of falling out. We can all speculate what happened but Robic won't talk about it and his wife didn't have anything nice to say about Cal so take that as however you like.

 

[CastleRubric]

Cal can only win WITH an NBA lockout, and even then it's not because of him.

Yeah - time has kind of proven that too


Pre-spell Check version was a doozy - almost let it fly for fun

 

[cal=8]

You xan go aheadvand go easy on him if yiu want, I'm not, he purposely chose to turn UK into an NBA draft AAU progran.

And if you think Cal did us a favor, you're pretty gullible. He screwed up, because he went too far while trying to put the squeeze on Mitch again. He didn't purposely get fired, in fact, he thought he was untouchable.

Ahain, I cannot believe so called UK fans feel bad for this guy. He literally called you a basketball bennie and mocked you.

Well, he didn't get fired. He could have stayed and it would have been worse than Arkansas with the lack of NIL support. Then we would've been forced to pay the buyout, so yea he did us a favor. I couldn't be happier that he's gone and I don't feel sorry for him. I do appreciate the Natty and the first few years, especially after sitting through the last few years of Tubby and the BCG fiasco. The game passed him by and now he's Arkansas' problem.

 

[Digger-Cat]

Well, he didn't get fired. He could have stayed and it would have been worse than Arkansas with the lack of NIL support. Then we would've been forced to pay the buyout, so yea he did us a favor. I couldn't be happier that he's gone and I don't feel sorry for him. I do appreciate the Natty and the first few years, especially after sitting through the last few years of Tubby and the BCG fiasco. The game passed him by and now he's Arkansas' problem.

What? He most certainly did get fired. Once Mitch found out he was negotiating with another program, he terminated him with cause. How do you not know this? You seriously think he threw damn near 30 million bucks out the window?

 

[BlueSince92]

Frustrating CATS game today. At least I get to continue watching Cal’s implosion 🍿

 

[83Cat]

I have to ask. You mentioned he's a good guy with a big heart.

Are you under the impression that this is hurting Cal in some way, like he goes home and is like, depressed, or sulking over these failures?

I think those of you that are feeling sorry for this guy, need to keep in mind, he took every opportunity to mock UK fans when we dared ask why he was playing certain players over better players, or why not play a zone, or can we try a different offense?

He called us basketball bennies and mocked us, like we talk like mouth breathers.

He's not sulking, not in the least and if he was, that would mean he actually cared about winning, but he's getting out of this what he wants to get out of this.

Also, the guy makes between 7 and 9 million a year and the biggest point to make is, he can change the narrative. If it was bothering him, he is the one guy that could easily change his lineups, his offense, his defense and the tone of the team. But he refuses to do that, so obviously he's getting what he wants out of this.

Would he rather be winning? Sure, but it's obviously not a big enough deal to make him change anything.

It's just crazy to me that we have fans that are feeling sorry for this guy as he does things how he wants and collects millions doing it. Also after he ran our program into the ground and mocked us when we dared voice our opinions about it.

I guess I missed him mocking us fans. I rarely watched the post game stuff, so I guess it was there. I do think he is a good guy and a family man. There is some reason that so many of his players have an allegiance to him after all of these years. Anyway, as I said, I think he should go to the broadcast booth. I'm not worried about the money he makes. I always say "cut your own deal." I employ about 160 people. I tell them the same thing. Make yourself so indispensable that I will pay you the most! For some reason, people are willing to pay him. I am fine with that. BTW, is your Digger handle anything to do with Digger Phelps or are you a digger of some sort?

 

[Digger-Cat]

I guess I missed him mocking us fans. I rarely watched the post game stuff, so I guess it was there. I do think he is a good guy and a family man. There is some reason that so many of his players have an allegiance to him after all of these years. Anyway, as I said, I think he should go to the broadcast booth. I'm not worried about the money he makes. I always say "cut your own deal." I employ about 160 people. I tell them the same thing. Make yourself so indispensable that I will pay you the most! For some reason, people are willing to pay him. I am fine with that. BTW, is your Digger handle anything to do with Digger Phelps or are you a digger of some sort?

My nickname at home is digger. There is nobody that can work a set of post hole diggers like me and I'm an ace on an excavator.
I guess there are worse things to be good at and worse nicknames to have.

 

[NociHTTP]

I guess I missed him mocking us fans. I rarely watched the post game stuff, so I guess it was there. I do think he is a good guy and a family man. There is some reason that so many of his players have an allegiance to him after all of these years. Anyway, as I said, I think he should go to the broadcast booth. I'm not worried about the money he makes. I always say "cut your own deal." I employ about 160 people. I tell them the same thing. Make yourself so indispensable that I will pay you the most! For some reason, people are willing to pay him. I am fine with that. BTW, is your Digger handle anything to do with Digger Phelps or are you a digger of some sort?

He was definitely mocking fans in his post-game interviews. When he wasn't doing that he was sending an assistant to the do the interviews. He had a date with Aunt Bee! How in the world would he function in the broadcast booth? The guy can't complete a sentence or stick to a topic.

 

[NociHTTP]

Was Cal really a good guy as some of you have said? I know he did the fundraisers and telethons that raised money for various events but did he do that out of the goodness of his heart or did he do it because of the attention and praise it brought to him? I ask this because of how he treated John Robic, his longtime asst coach, who obviously stirred Cal's winning formula. Robic's daughter was diagnosed with cancer so he stepped away from a coaching role and became some sort of consultant on the staff so he could spend more time with his daughter before she died. This happened the year of the awful Covid team that never could get it going. After that season, Cal and Robic had some sort of falling out. We can all speculate what happened but Robic won't talk about it and his wife didn't have anything nice to say about Cal so take that as however you like.

IMO Calipari, in his heart, never left the NBA. It kills him to this day that he was fired. So he made himself an NBA agent of sorts, and used UK to try and prove the NBA wouldn't be anything without him. He's not a good person. A good person doesn't make fun of others in post-game interviews, poking at the state of Kentucky. He doesn't have good morals, either. A coach with good morals would have played the players that win you games, not play the players that he made promises to at the expense of UK's success.

 

[Cold Stout Beer]

I’ll be done after they decline a bid to the NIT.