this is a problem for you, that he doesn't publicly berate former players for leaving early?
Still Think Cal Is A Great Coach?
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this is a problem for you, that he doesn't publicly berate former players for leaving early?
It never ceases to astonish me the kneejerk reactions of certain fans(most especially ours) who by some inherent character flaw of emotional shallowness, balance their enjoyment and so called "Love" of the game on moment to moment results devoid of perspective or any real sense of a broader awareness.
Merely a season ago this team was on the verge of making history(and despite not winning the ultimate prize, they did indeed accomplish that, winning more games in a row than any in history) and everyone lauded Cal as a Coach of formidable ability, a validation bolstered even further with his induction into the Basketball hall of fame.
One season later, a depleted roster, a lack of cohesion we've seen every time a mass exodus occurs, and suddenly as if the past year never happened it's 2012-13 once again, and the capricious grumblers come flocking like buzzards circling a dead animal to once again make a spectacle of themselves and add to our fanbase's already infamous reputation.
Please........just go away.
No coach goes 5 elite eights in 6 years, 4 final fours in 5 years , wins a national championship, 3 sec titles, a national runner up, accrues more wins faster than any UK coach in history (which includes the Baron) solely on the merits of his recruiting.
If you believe otherwise, then quite frankly you're a moron.
Look at Indiana, they're having a pretty damn good second half of their season wouldn't you say?
But I guarantee you absolutely no hoosier fan with a brain would ever freely admit Tom Crean was a good coach until he proves he's more than an occasional sweet sixteen cheerleader.
Calipari's had more success in his first year at Kentucky than clappy's had in his entire career at IU, yet crean is in a more favorable position at the moment.
Must be coaching right?
Past trends are irrelevant right?, the only thing that matters is the present, the present clearly represents the totality of cal and creans coaching acumen, right?
If you haven't caught on to the ebb and flow of college basketball yet, and the reality that even the greatest of coaches have bouts of mediocrity, and mediocre coaches have flashes of brilliance....then you never will and should just stop watching the damn game.
Merely a season ago this team was on the verge of making history(and despite not winning the ultimate prize, they did indeed accomplish that, winning more games in a row than any in history) and everyone lauded Cal as a Coach of formidable ability, a validation bolstered even further with his induction into the Basketball hall of fame.
One season later, a depleted roster, a lack of cohesion we've seen every time a mass exodus occurs, and suddenly as if the past year never happened it's 2012-13 once again, and the capricious grumblers come flocking like buzzards circling a dead animal to once again make a spectacle of themselves and add to our fanbase's already infamous reputation.
Please........just go away.
No coach goes 5 elite eights in 6 years, 4 final fours in 5 years , wins a national championship, 3 sec titles, a national runner up, accrues more wins faster than any UK coach in history (which includes the Baron) solely on the merits of his recruiting.
If you believe otherwise, then quite frankly you're a moron.
Look at Indiana, they're having a pretty damn good second half of their season wouldn't you say?
But I guarantee you absolutely no hoosier fan with a brain would ever freely admit Tom Crean was a good coach until he proves he's more than an occasional sweet sixteen cheerleader.
Calipari's had more success in his first year at Kentucky than clappy's had in his entire career at IU, yet crean is in a more favorable position at the moment.
Must be coaching right?
Past trends are irrelevant right?, the only thing that matters is the present, the present clearly represents the totality of cal and creans coaching acumen, right?
If you haven't caught on to the ebb and flow of college basketball yet, and the reality that even the greatest of coaches have bouts of mediocrity, and mediocre coaches have flashes of brilliance....then you never will and should just stop watching the damn game.
I know alot of the people on here are not UK fans when talking about Coach Call and his coaching abilities and how we feel about his coaching. IF you remember before Coach Cal arrived in Lexington the Basketball program was on a major decline and it took the big hire of Coach Cal to turn the program around at that time! In Tubby's last 3 or 4 games we were consistently getting the #8 or #9 seeds with 10-14 losses and our recruiting was horrible in those 3 or 4 years with Tubby. Our best recruits were 3* and we were hardly getting 4 or 5* players. Then enter Gillepsie for 2 years and we were really heading down the wrong path in last 2 years before the Coach Cal hire. Those last 5-6 years were horrible and they were no fun watching these teams. Then enters Coach Cal and his 1st year probably had his best overall players and a #1 seeding at 35-3 and we lost to WVU in Elite 8 game that we shot 4/32 from 3 our worst 3 point shooting night all season. Then in 2010-2011 we goto the FInal Four with Knight and Company and lose to UCONN by 1 in FF. Then in 2011-2012 we are National Champs and in 2012-2013 we have a disaster with Noel going down with Knee Injury in the Florida Game and we were 17-6 and 8-2 SEC. We lost 6 out of 10 and ended up 21-12 and loss in the NIT. We would have made the NCAA Tourney if Noel stays healthy that year. Then the next 2 years we goto the Final Four and make it to the Championship game and lost again to UCONN and last year we went undefeated 38-0 until losing to Wisc. in Final Four. That puts Coach Cal this year in his 7th year and we have made it to the FInal Four 4 times winning National Championship, Runner-up, Elite 8 games, and the NIT with Noel's Injury. No other Coach could have done what Coach Cal has done in his 6 years and bringing in the TOp 1 or 2 recruiting classes and going to the FInal Four 4 out of 6 and winning a National Championship. I hope Cal is here another 10-20 years and keeps bringing in the Talent we can watch yearly and making the Final Four consistently each year. Alot of fans have forgot what we had before Coach Cal arrived in Lexington,Ky and putting up with Gillespie and Tubby in last 5-6 years. I am happy with what Coach Cal has done in 6 years and hope he goes another 10-15 years!
Lmao.
Forgive me for siding with Bilas and Greenberg and Self and Izzo versus the likes of Zaytoven and Cutnets on this question.
He didn't forget how to coach since he broke on to the scene with a Marshall/Stevens level run using rosters with no more than two high major offered kids at UMass.
K is finally full-blown into the OAD thing with Cal, he's supposed to be the GOAT, he has just as many blue chippers on the roster, and yet our team is better.
Not saying Cal is K level, but it certainly demonstrates that the up-and-down thing you get with these kids can happen to anybody, no matter how great a coach, when you have such fickle rosters.
And furthermore, that "up and down thing" is relative considering Cal has the most wins and best win percentage of any coach in the nation since he's been here - probably the best win margin, too.
So the notion that other good teams aren't up and down just doesn't hold water when you look at the actual game-by-game numbers of Cal's teams relative to theirs - clearly they have their downs, too, cuz they all have more than Cal.
And the "great, steady traditional teams" that you're remembering from other eras would only come when we had just the right junior or senior class - a program like Michigan State or Wisconsin with Bo or UK under Tubby are/were not F4 threats (by March) year in and year out as we have been lately. Our rebuilding years were much more noteworthy when we were doing it with only four year players.
And beyond all that, those "great, steady traditional teams", even when they did come along, were still not nearly as steady as teams like '12 or '15 ('96 being the only recent exception).
Yes, he as stubborn as hell. But every coach is stubborn about certain things. You don't get to a high D1 position by being soft and impressionable. Every coach has some good and bad - and given his crazy record, and his performance versus the two other HOFers who have as much talent per roster as he does (Self and K), Cal's good/bad ratio must be pretty terrific.
You simpletons see one horribly disappointing game after 4 excellent ones, and your knives are already sharpened. Scary that people so reactionary and myopic, who lose sight of the big picture so easily, are involved (even if indirectly) in choosing the president of the US. Well - I take that back - tyranny is still slightly scarier than the collective dumbness I see in this thread. But just barely.
Forgive me for siding with Bilas and Greenberg and Self and Izzo versus the likes of Zaytoven and Cutnets on this question.
He didn't forget how to coach since he broke on to the scene with a Marshall/Stevens level run using rosters with no more than two high major offered kids at UMass.
K is finally full-blown into the OAD thing with Cal, he's supposed to be the GOAT, he has just as many blue chippers on the roster, and yet our team is better.
Not saying Cal is K level, but it certainly demonstrates that the up-and-down thing you get with these kids can happen to anybody, no matter how great a coach, when you have such fickle rosters.
And furthermore, that "up and down thing" is relative considering Cal has the most wins and best win percentage of any coach in the nation since he's been here - probably the best win margin, too.
So the notion that other good teams aren't up and down just doesn't hold water when you look at the actual game-by-game numbers of Cal's teams relative to theirs - clearly they have their downs, too, cuz they all have more than Cal.
And the "great, steady traditional teams" that you're remembering from other eras would only come when we had just the right junior or senior class - a program like Michigan State or Wisconsin with Bo or UK under Tubby are/were not F4 threats (by March) year in and year out as we have been lately. Our rebuilding years were much more noteworthy when we were doing it with only four year players.
And beyond all that, those "great, steady traditional teams", even when they did come along, were still not nearly as steady as teams like '12 or '15 ('96 being the only recent exception).
Yes, he as stubborn as hell. But every coach is stubborn about certain things. You don't get to a high D1 position by being soft and impressionable. Every coach has some good and bad - and given his crazy record, and his performance versus the two other HOFers who have as much talent per roster as he does (Self and K), Cal's good/bad ratio must be pretty terrific.
You simpletons see one horribly disappointing game after 4 excellent ones, and your knives are already sharpened. Scary that people so reactionary and myopic, who lose sight of the big picture so easily, are involved (even if indirectly) in choosing the president of the US. Well - I take that back - tyranny is still slightly scarier than the collective dumbness I see in this thread. But just barely.
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He can't. Because there isn't a coach with a better resume since he's been here. Haters come out of the woodwork when we're losing. No one said shit last year until we lost the Final Four.
There isn't a better Head Coach in the NCAA than Coach Cal. Being here at UK and with all the pressure it brings and for Coach Cal in 6 years has went to FInal Four 4 times with a National Championship and Runner-up and Elite 8 in 6 years is unbelievable! Also, having the #1 or #2 Recruiting Classes in the 6 years and everything he has done at UK in 6 years makes Coach Cal an outstanding Head Coach and I wouldn't want anyone else at this time.
I'm so tired of seeing fanboys throw out the the 4 FF in 5 years. That's fine but the only number that matters is 1, as in the 1 title in those years.
I doubt NBA fans would cling to 4 Western Conference Finals in 5 years. Seriously, you wanna make you argument being happy with 3rd or 4th place? Nobody brags about coming in 2nd, 3rd or 4th. I really, really hope the ones defending Cal aren't the same ones that make fun of Dean Smith for wasting all the talent he had.
All I want is a damn title. At this point, getting to these Final Fours and not winning is just making the tension worse. We should legitimately have 3 titles in Cal's 6 years here, 2 at the very least. But we don't, we have 1, and that 1 took having the best player to ever wear a Kentucky jersey to win. Not to mention a handful of other great players.
If Cal had won just 2 titles at this point then I wouldn't have this problem with him and this thread wouldn't be here.
I doubt NBA fans would cling to 4 Western Conference Finals in 5 years. Seriously, you wanna make you argument being happy with 3rd or 4th place? Nobody brags about coming in 2nd, 3rd or 4th. I really, really hope the ones defending Cal aren't the same ones that make fun of Dean Smith for wasting all the talent he had.
All I want is a damn title. At this point, getting to these Final Fours and not winning is just making the tension worse. We should legitimately have 3 titles in Cal's 6 years here, 2 at the very least. But we don't, we have 1, and that 1 took having the best player to ever wear a Kentucky jersey to win. Not to mention a handful of other great players.
If Cal had won just 2 titles at this point then I wouldn't have this problem with him and this thread wouldn't be here.
Cal has a roster with several deficiencies and he somehow has forgotten how to coach? He is on one of the greatest runs in the modern era and has done it with mostly freshman. Just a few years ago it was said that it was impossible to win a championship that way. He has lost a few with talented players , but the NCAA one and out and luck of the draw is one of the hardest titles to win.
Cal could have really helped himself And the team this year had he gone after Damion Lee and signed him. We could have used his senior leadership this year. And if some think it might have cost us Murray then so be it. we would have had a 6'6 wingman who can shoot and is a really good player.
yeah that's what they mean by senior leadership--a guy who bailed on his teammates like a rat off a sinking ship
Yep, unadulterated dumbassery. First rule of holes: stop digging.
UK has won only 8 titles in 60+ years. Cal has won 1 in 6 years. Do the math.Cal being in a position to have won 1 or 2 more in those 6 years just goes how freaking good of a coach he really is.
Should he not be in position to win titles? Look at the talent he's had. Why are you telling me how incredible of a coach he was to get the best players around in a position to win it all?
Better question for you? Why didn't he win it at Memphis with D-Rose? Was he not up in the title game? Why didn't he win it in Umass with Marcus Camby?
yeah why didn't he win with marcus camby he only went 37-2 and lost to a kentucky team with 10 nba players in the final four what a loser
he lost in overtime to kansas in the championship game what a loser
he won 38 straight and had the best defensive team ever with freshmen and sophomores what a loser
he should recruit more basketball players (white shooters) and switch defenses 3x a half then we'll go back to winning the title every year which is our birthright as fans
he lost in overtime to kansas in the championship game what a loser
he won 38 straight and had the best defensive team ever with freshmen and sophomores what a loser
he should recruit more basketball players (white shooters) and switch defenses 3x a half then we'll go back to winning the title every year which is our birthright as fans
Isn't that what makes a great coach? You can have this fantasy of doing more with less all you want, but there isn't a single great coach that hasn't been carried by great players. Not one. Look at how many great coaches and how much great talent has come through UK, yet UK has only won 8 titles in 60+ years, so are you saying that those coaches can't coach as well?
Or, in your agenda tirades are you holding Cal to a different standard than the rest of them? Bottom line is, Cal is ahead of the title pace at UK over any other coach to coach here, and could have already had more. If having a greater % than the previous 60+ years of great coaches at UK doesn't qualify him as great, then what does? If Cal isn't considered a great coach, then according to the #'s, no coach at UK has ever been great. Seriously, what more does the man have to do. % wise, wins, Final 4's and Titles, he is the best coach to ever coach at UK.
Because his players missed free throws, players that shot a very high % during the regular season. The moment got to them and they choked on the free throw line. Happens to the best of em and had absolutely nothing to do with what Cal could have done or not done differently. Secondly, he didn't win with Camby because he ran up against arguably the greatest NCAA basketball team ever, at team that he beat earlier in the year.
Why didn't Pitino win in '97 with all that talent he had? He got beat by Lute Olson and that rag tag bunch from Zona.
How about '04 UofL? The team with TWill. They were the overall #1 seed and the most talented team in the country and didn't even make the Final 4.
Or what K at Duke during Brand's final year? Five lottery picks on that team, including the overall #1 pick. And those lottery picks weren't young like Cal's. They were all older, experienced players that had been in K's system together for multiple years, and they failed to win the title.
Huh, how about those? I mean, what a couple of bums that can't coach for shit, right?
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Lmao. They say that Cal has made some of our fans into spoiled babies, but the things you're saying here are so absolutely insane and lacking perspective on the performance of past "great" D1 coaches, I'm inclined to believe that your spoiled attitude was already present before. Either you have a personal dislike for Cal as a human being, or you've hardly spent any time in your fanhood as a happy person.
And I love that you compare Dean Smith, who coached at a blue blood for 36 years and had two titles and 11 final fours, to Cal, who has coached at a blue blood for 6 years (and only mid majors prior to that) and has 1 title and 4 final fours.
Do you have any perspective at all? And Dean Smith did it in an era with less parity than there is now. And on top of all that, he got to keep his future HOFers around, unlike Cal, who has to deal with their diaper rash while they learn how to not be children any more. He had James Worthy for 4 years, he got to coach Michael Jordan as a junior.. And they were on several rosters together, two of the greatest NBA players of all time, and again, he had nearly 4 decades to run over the sport with those advantages.
Cal, based on what he's done thus far, would have 6 titles and 24 F4s if he stayed as long as Dean Smith. Do you even listen to yourself? I hope for your sake that you're just feverishly trolling, because if that comparison is really a genuine demonstration of your logical abilities, then we've gotta put a helmet on you before we can let you outside.
One last thing. According to the numbers, Cal's team was the underdog in both of those games. He wasn't supposed to win them. You're trying to act as if he had the most talented team by far and was supposed to easily win both of those games, which since he didn't somehow proves he can't coach. Sorry, but that's not the case.
Wait - so he took at a team with two high majors offers, including one high level NBA player, and splits the series against Rick Pitino, who had one of the top 5 most talented rosters of all time, and that's part of your case against Cal? Because Rick knocked him out in the F4 by single digits with a vastly more talented team...
nevermind. I can't continue. I can't.
Like your friend above, you're either not being earnest (trolling), or the logical parts of your brain are fried beyond reclamation.
Nobody says he's not. I love coach Cal and I criticize him. There's a big difference between constructive criticism and sounding like an idiot.
You can't compare the NBA to the NCAA. Even if you are the best team getting to the Final Four is a chore. Look at UK, we are the school with the greatest tradition in the sport at we've only gotten there what 17 times out of 75+ years of a tournament.
I wish it were easier, **** it wouldn't every UK want us to have like 20 titles? But its just not realistic on this level or this sport. This isn't the English Premier League, the best team doesn't win 100% of the time.
I wish it were easier, **** it wouldn't every UK want us to have like 20 titles? But its just not realistic on this level or this sport. This isn't the English Premier League, the best team doesn't win 100% of the time.
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God, I just can't get over this quote. It's so juicy and glorious, and it validates all the irritating things that the national media says about UK fans.
"Ah guess yer okay fer now, Cal, but if you want some support, then you better get to makin' them historical runs a little bit more historical."
Exactly. Dude is acting like losing those games is a monumental failure on Cal's part, when in reality it's the exact opposite. The fact that Cal coached UMass and Memphis to a Final 4/title game is a damn impressive accomplishment.
I understand we are going to get some losses. It's basketball, it happens. But, losing to OSU, Auburn and Tennessee is just inexcusable. Those are some awful teams. Tenn was sub .500 and came back from being down 21 points. You can take losing to good competition but, losing to garbage teams really hurts.
Teague, Goodwin, and Dakari were advised to come back. It is about being more ready and raising their
You should just STFU. Really, you have not answered who would be a better coach.
You know good and well that Camby team faced what many consider the best team of all time. 10 pros. Cal did beat them in the regular season too.
With Rose it took a lucky 3 to take it to OT. Care to check just how good 08! KU was in KenPom offensive and defensive rankings. Care to count how many NBA players?
You are just being an ass, get a life. Quit being stuck on stupid.
You should just STFU. Really, you have not answered who would be a better coach.
You know good and well that Camby team faced what many consider the best team of all time. 10 pros. Cal did beat them in the regular season too.
With Rose it took a lucky 3 to take it to OT. Care to check just how good 08! KU was in KenPom offensive and defensive rankings. Care to count how many NBA players?
You are just being an ass, get a life. Quit being stuck on stupid.
Not enough adjectives to describe how much I disagree or how much you lack certain abilities.
![[sick]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/sick/sick0006.r191677.gif "Sick [sick]")
You and the two guys who gave you likes are the worst of the worst. Shame that this board has to endure your ignorance.
Unreal what some folks post. Would love for them to find another team.
So IOW...
you're gonna hold out for the elite recruit, who is not from Kentucky, but who is a historian by the age of 16, looks back through the seasons and records to find out if UK really is, in fact, historically greater than UNC and UCLA, and then after gathering the facts, decides that he wants to continue that string of greatness, equally valuing all of the past contributors from John Wall back to the 6'5 centers who played with short shorts before the televised era?
You're describing a hell of a lot of 5'9 50 year old white guys, but how many nationally recruited kids with pro aspirations do you think come along per decade like that? Five? That's not gonna fill a roster.
Me, I'm perfectly happy as long as we go full force at every 4+ star kid from Kentucky that grew up dreaming wildcat dreams. The rest of our elite recruits will have plenty of chances to come to love the school as they attend, like Wall, Boogie, etc have learned to do.
Beyond that, kids go to schools for coaches, and coaches go to schools for tradition. Tradition going back past 10 years only helps with kids indirectly - before that, they were sucking their thumbs or not born yet.
Kids look at it as a long-term business thing, just like every other college kid in america looks at their school choice. And if you were the parent of a five star recruit, you'd tell them to think that way.
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