Unpopular Opinion

[The_Answer1313]

I’ve always wondered tho.
I mean Cals offense been based on two things since he got here.

1 get to the line
2 grab offense boards.

and we are still doing that. We still rate very highly in those categories. However basketball has changed a bit since 2010. The average offensive rebounding % has plummeted. It’s drastically changed. So while we still rate highly, the gap between us and other teams in this category has decreased.

I dunno just a random thought I had about our offense. We aren’t getting that separation we once did in this category

 

[Cobb4uk]

Thought the object was to go as far in the tourney as possible. The only way to do that is to train the players how to face all adversity during the regular season. The learning curve for Freshmen is very hard except for a very few across the spectrum. Bad habits, playing good defense, learning the offense & defense alignments, and getting in shape are all major factors for ugly first basketball. College basketball is a business, not like high school. Being able to play a whole game with the focus usually doesn't happen until the Sophmore tear for most. Actually , the first year most Freshmen never get in full shape during the year. Their first year their recovery time from game to game is low, that's why many can't play major minutes, theyngetbworn out. Player throw their hands up to come out to recover in college but you never see that in their high school games.

 

[TFCats11]

Oh watching our team struggle and look a little rough thru dec / Jan is expected and tolerated by most people - me included . But we have now played 13 games , or 12 ? We have lost twice to double digit underdogs . Twice we have not only “ struggled “ but looked unprepared and simply not ready to play or show any passion . I was close enough to hear and see many things last night . Almost had court side seats , 4rows up . The emotions of their team versus ours was stark . They were focused , fired up and ready from the tip , we looked like a team going thru a walk thru . That isn’t youth or inexperience or a sign of a team that will flip the switch in March . This team screams second game exit to a lower seed in the dance .

And the same elephant in the room is getting noticed more and more . I’ve seen screaming at this from the roof tops . Our offense sucks ass . Why do relatively dominant scorers come here and struggle ? Even great shooters leave us scratching our heads - why can’t we score ? Because we don’t get consistently good looks . Last night was a prime example. They had great spacing and ball movement and got great shots almost all night long . We send a player crashing into the lane hoping to get fouled or finish . If the guard does dish we really don’t have great finishers to complete the drive ending in a score . We have no cohesion what so ever . None . We are 13games in and I dint think we have a clue what shots we really want to take . All this in on Cal. Hire a damn offensive minded guy and let him run things . In the end he would still get the credit , we , the fans , just want to win . We’d it care who gets the credit .

I’ll end with this , if Evansville and Utah basically handled us , and I mean really controlled us , how are we going to do on the road in theSEC ? ThankFully the league is down or we might have ten losses going into the tourney . You can’t fix an offense this bad in 30 days . But why are we near January and still look like a team in Oct ? Hell even our D is bad . We got manhandled last night . We were never in it until the last 5 minutes . No tempo , No urgency , I didn’t witness any fire . We were a 11 Point favorite and never had the lead . Not once , just like Evansville , we were controlled for 90% of the game . Just shouldn’t be . More than likely we lose sat . Tosu is far far superior to Utah .
Just a sad sad effort last night . Larry K coached his ass off , you could tell he wanted this W bad , I could hear him ripping Tony’s ass the first minute of the game . He took his group of 2 stars and beat our 5 star ass . Just embarrassing really . They have 1 player who would get minutes for us but still controlled us . Unreal .

Excellent post! Excellent observations! Just telling it like it is. To me that’s what being a fan is.

 

[yoshukai]

Dude, they kill your legs. I agree. I hated those damn things. Not as bad as hack squats, but bad.

We haven’t had legs since Michigan St.

Kinda what I was thinking .

 

[yoshukai]

Here's the truth. UK fans are spoiled infants. We've become so accustomed to being a perennial title contender that we throw ourselves into the grocery aisle having a tantrum when we don't see 20-pt wins from day one. Most of you people don't remember the days under Tubby. Heck, many don't even remember Gillispie. I remember it well. These are the glory days folks. We're all suffering from ADD and need a time-out. I would suggest a good, old fashioned whoopin' but corporal punishment is illegal these days, right?

Honestly though . Since 2015 our NCAA tournament success has been very tubbyeske . Final eights and sweet sixteens . I don't think it's unfair for the best basketball program in the country's fan base to want more . I remember Cal saying , "we don't move the needle , we are the needle !" Of course that was he was bringing in more talent than other teams could contend with .

 

[yoshukai]

Cal has placed too much emphasis on athleticism as opposed to basketball skill and intelligence. That, coupled with his opposition to running anything remotely resembling an offense has put us in the position we are in. Cal is too stubborn to adjust and adapt. We need to sacrifice a little athleticism for some guys who actually know how to play and can shoot and dribble. Our best teams have had a good balance of the two.

He did the same thing at Memphis but the game has changed .

 

[AdairCat]

He did the same thing at Memphis but the game has changed .

The game has changed exponentially since then.

 

[Kampus Korner]

By March, this team will be a top 10 team and Final 4 contender. Seriously, we go through this every year. We aren't going to destroy teams every game like in 2015 every year.

Except for 2010, 2012 and 2015, all of Cal’s teams look dog butt ugly during November, December and sometimes January. Then, beginning in mid to late January Cal’s teams start playing together and having success. So, there is no need to panic. Cal will have this team playing at its best when it matters the most.

While I have confidence Cal will have UK ready for March Madness, I am puzzled, like many others, as to why the Achilles heel for most of Cal’s teams has been its poor outside shooting and its failure to prevent wide open 3 point shots from the opposing team. Additionally, I have never understood how a high school guard could obtain 5 star, McDonald’s All American status and not be among the best shooters in the nation once they commence their college play.

Still, Cal was made for the UK job. I don’t know of any other coach who would leave their current position and be as successful as Cal has been at UK.

 

[ftp000]

Wow! What a fresh and unique take. Nobody has ever made these remarkable statements before.

 

[yoshukai]

Wow! What a fresh and unique take. Nobody has ever made these remarkable statements before.

Have you ever added anything of substance to a thread ? Your posting style is very much like a childless fool that used to post here years ago . His name was Releasethesquirms .

 

[yoshukai]

Except for 2010, 2012 and 2015, all of Cal’s teams look dog butt ugly during November, December and sometimes January. Then, beginning in mid to late January Cal’s teams start playing together and having success. So, there is no need to panic. Cal will have this team playing at its best when it matters the most.

While I have confidence Cal will have UK ready for March Madness, I am puzzled, like many others, as to why the Achilles heel for most of Cal’s teams has been its poor outside shooting and its failure to prevent wide open 3 point shots from the opposing team. Additionally, I have never understood how a high school guard could obtain 5 star, McDonald’s All American status and not be among the best shooters in the nation once they commence their college play.

Still, Cal was made for the UK job. I don’t know of any other coach who would leave their current position and be as successful as Cal has been at UK.

You know though , you would expect them to look a little or a LOT better when they have sophomores and a Junior playing major minutes . I mean , I would think the returning players should build on their freshman year but they often seem lost as the new guys .

 

[KyCatFan]

We will always look like crap for half the year going forward unless Cal changes or recruiting gets better (will actually get worse when OAD comes to an end).

His always switching /positionless basketball sucks. All it does is put us in mismatches that cause foul trouble or gives our opponents wide open shots. Yet we rarely can get those same good looks and when we do we miss them at a high rate.

His refusal to play anything but man to man hurts teams like this. We only have 1 real inside threat and he makes stupid fouls all the time. We have guys that just can't stay in front of their man. We also don't have a lot of depth with 3 open scholarships and an injury. All this tells you that a zone defense just might be beneficial but Cal won't do it.

We put to much emphasis on defense every year and our offense suffers most of the year for it. We recruit guys that can only be effective when their athleticism is far superior. That doesn't work as well in college like it does in high school. Even the good shooters we have struggle shooting the ball when they get here. Maybe if we emphasized running a real offense instead of just trying to force our way to the basket we might not struggle scoring every year.

Something has to start changing. The results are no better than most of the Tubby years during the last 4 years and it looks like this team has a similar ceiling as well. I think Cal is just to stubborn to change and many fans are starting to lose interest in going through the same exact struggles every year. We are on the verge of having a 3 game losing streak if the play doesn't improve and I wouldn't be surprised if attendance will be at an all time low at Rupp the rest of the season.

 

[ftp000]

Have you ever added anything of substance to a thread ? Your posting style is very much like a childless fool that used to post here years ago . His name was Releasethesquirms .

I say what I say. I'm sure the OP appreciates your white knight efforts.

 

[Skyguyb27]

..... I know overall it has led to success, but it's frustrating to watch at times along the way, it boring, it's frustrating and it's like watching a live experiment at times.....

Some success? He has won more than any coach in the last 10 years. Could you imagine how long it would take IU to log that many wins and make it that far in the tourney just once? Your probably talking 150-200 years.

 

[ftp000]

No I agree the model has changed, but I disagree about teams being dominant early even in this age. The top teams do, every year we get ranked on what they think we will be and if we are being honest, we aren't that good for a long time. I loved Wall and Cousins too and why? Because they came right after a down period and they DOMINATED from the start- sure they had a couple head scratchers but that team was very good early and exciting. The teams now are not, sorry I don't mean that as a negative comment, it's just reality. We look really BAD at times and it has became the norm.

Wall and Cousins needed a buzzer beater to beat Miami of Ohio, and lost to a South Carolina team that never sniffed the tournament.

 

[KYWC36]

Evansville happens. I mean Duke losses to Stephen F Austin.
I don't see this being the norm tho. Even if we just look at this specific year. 6 of our 8 wins have been by double digits and 1 that wasn't was against Michigan St.

If the Miami OH can be seen as an exception, why can't Evansville? And Standford that season finished 106th in Kenpom. Utah is currently 100th. It's very similar.

I just don't see how this is considered the norm.
Evansville was one game.

Since people like to say we haven't been the same since 15 here's our losses and the teams ranking:
2020 = 207th and 100th
2019 = 4th, 60th, 64th, 19th, 10th, 10th and 11th
2018 = 9th, 56th, 13th, 80th, 22nd, 40th, 13th, 29th, 23rd, 22nd and 42nd
2017 = 16th, 9th, 57th, 6th, 5th, 3rd
2016 = 69th, 76th, 81st, 189th, 3rd, 103rd, 18th, 25th, 11th

Evansville was just an aberration, not the norm. Even in these later Cal years, we don't lose to teams ranked in the 200 or even 100s for the most part.

It can all those things- that is not the point, if you cannot look at our early teams and looks at the last few teams and see my point, it's fine we can just agree to disagree

 

[KYWC36]

Wall and Cousins needed a buzzer beater to beat Miami of Ohio, and lost to a South Carolina team that never sniffed the tournament.

Wall and Cousins had 2 loses all season- two bad beats but two loses- that not apples to apples... but I digress... I can see the irrationality creeping into others posts --- as I said unpopular opinion lol

 

[yoshukai]

I say what I say. I'm sure the OP appreciates your white knight efforts.

You're a tool

 

[KYWC36]

Here's the truth. UK fans are spoiled infants. We've become so accustomed to being a perennial title contender that we throw ourselves into the grocery aisle having a tantrum when we don't see 20-pt wins from day one. Most of you people don't remember the days under Tubby. Heck, many don't even remember Gillispie. I remember it well. These are the glory days folks. We're all suffering from ADD and need a time-out. I would suggest a good, old fashioned whoopin' but corporal punishment is illegal these days, right?

No one is an infant for having an opinion that may disagree with yours -if anything your response fits that bill and quite frankly you comparing Tubby's era as the dark days is ridiculous. Only one program won more games than UK during Tubby's tenure and he has a title and I don't want to hear it was with Coach Pitino's players... Coach Pitino left- Tubby coached them all year and added elements Pitino didn't. Tubby was a good coach- Gillespie wasn't a good fit but even he won near 20 games both years, so you are kinda being a bit of a hypocrite here in your analysis. Anyway, you are getting away from the point of my post. No one is saying Cal isn't a good coach, this is more an indictment of the college model now.

 

[ftp000]

You're a tool

And you're a know it all child, following me around , spoiling for a fight. Go fight yourself.

 

[ftp000]

Here's the truth. UK fans are spoiled infants. We've become so accustomed to being a perennial title contender that we throw ourselves into the grocery aisle having a tantrum when we don't see 20-pt wins from day one. Most of you people don't remember the days under Tubby. Heck, many don't even remember Gillispie. I remember it well. These are the glory days folks. We're all suffering from ADD and need a time-out. I would suggest a good, old fashioned whoopin' but corporal punishment is illegal these days, right?

Perfect response. I may just make another account so I can like it again.

 

[yoshukai]

Some success? He has won more than any coach in the last 10 years. Could you imagine how long it would take IU to log that many wins and make it that far in the tourney just once? Your probably talking 150-200 years.

Yeah but a lot of hay was put in the barn his first five years . After 2015 has been different .

 

[IL Wildcat]

No one is an infant for having an opinion that may disagree with yours -if anything your response fits that bill and quite frankly you comparing Tubby's era as the dark days is ridiculous. Only one program won more games than UK during Tubby's tenure and he has a title and I don't want to hear it was with Coach Pitino's players... Coach Pitino left- Tubby coached them all year and added elements Pitino didn't. Tubby was a good coach- Gillespie wasn't a good fit but even he won near 20 games both years, so you are kinda being a bit of a hypocrite here in your analysis. Anyway, you are getting away from the point of my post. No one is saying Cal isn't a good coach, this is more an indictment of the college model now.

That's a weak response my friend. I didn't say anyone was an infant for having a differing opinion. You can believe anything you want, even if you're wrong. But if you're gonna argue with me about it, you better step up your game. The argument I'm making is that many of our younger fans want instant gratification. We've won so much that 2 losses early in a season make begin to question Calipari and the entire system/program. It can't be that the players just didn't have a good night shooting. It can't be that the team just didn't play defense and rebound early and waited too late to turn it on. It can't be that the officials were one-sided at all and reversed a call that could have tied the game with under a minute to go. No, it MUST be that Calipari has lost his coaching ability, that he's all washed up, and that a coaching change is in order. Nevermind that we've seen all this before and that the team is always peaking in March.

Can you say "overreaction"? This response is also classic and those of us who have posted here have seen it all. Fans who never celebrate a win show up en masse after a loss and throw tantrums.

Now, if 2 losses turns into 3, which turns into 7, 8, 9, and 10, we can realistically complain.

As for Tubby, I loved the guy. Still do. I think he is a great person and a solid coach in his day. But he could not recruit the talent needed to win big in the NCAA. The SEC in those days was pathetic and we struggled. The conference is head and shoulders better now. I always said that if someone else could recruit for Tubby, he had a contender every year, but he just couldn't do it. So, we end up with Brandon Stockton, Shagari Alleyne, Lukasz Obrzut, Bobby Perry, and on and on. And Vitale calls it... this is just not the level of talent that we're used to seeing at Kentucky.

Fast forward to now... we have the talent to get it done. Sometimes these guys get off the bus ready to contribute. Sometimes they need a month, 2 months, and some (like the Harrison twins and company) don't begin to see their potential until the very end of the season.

But do we have patience? Very little. We pitch a temper tantrum. That's it. That's why I said what I did. And it is absolutely true. My biggest fear is that one of these days Calipari will get sick of listening to the whiners, the infants, and the idiots and leave.

 

[KyFaninNC]

That's a weak response my friend. I didn't say anyone was an infant for having a differing opinion. You can believe anything you want, even if you're wrong. But if you're gonna argue with me about it, you better step up your game. The argument I'm making is that many of our younger fans want instant gratification. We've won so much that 2 losses early in a season make begin to question Calipari and the entire system/program. It can't be that the players just didn't have a good night shooting. It can't be that the team just didn't play defense and rebound early and waited too late to turn it on. It can't be that the officials were one-sided at all and reversed a call that could have tied the game with under a minute to go. No, it MUST be that Calipari has lost his coaching ability, that he's all washed up, and that a coaching change is in order. Nevermind that we've seen all this before

mand that the team is always peaking in March.

Can you say "overreaction"? This response is also classic and those of us who have posted here have seen it all. Fans who never celebrate a win show up en masse after a loss and throw tantrums.

Now, if 2 losses turns into 3, which turns into 7, 8, 9, and 10, we can realistically complain.

As for Tubby, I loved the guy. Still do. I think he is a great person and a solid coach in his day. But he could not recruit the talent needed to win big in the NCAA. The SEC in those days was pathetic and we struggled. The conference is head and shoulders better now. I always said that if someone else could recruit for Tubby, he had a contender every year, but he just couldn't do it. So, we end up with Brandon Stockton, Shagari Alleyne, Lukasz Obrzut, Bobby Perry, and on and on. And Vitale calls it... this is just not the level of talent that we're used to seeing at Kentucky.

Fast forward to now... we have the talent to get it done. Sometimes these guys get off the bus ready to contribute. Sometimes they need a month, 2 months, and some (like the Harrison twins and company) don't begin to see their potential until the very end of the season.

But do we have patience? Very little. We pitch a temper tantrum. That's it. That's why I said what I did. And it is absolutely true. My biggest fear is that one of these days Calipari will get sick of listening to the whiners, the infants, and the idiots and leave.

??

 

[STL_Cat]

By March, this team will be a top 10 team and Final 4 contender. Seriously, we go through this every year. We aren't going to destroy teams every game like in 2015 every year.

And we don’t necessarily turn into a top 10, Final Four contender every year. 2016 we didn’t. 2018 we didn’t. 2 of the last 4 years we didn’t. So, sure, we might. Is it a foregone conclusion? Do we ACTUALLY transform into a final four contender every year? No, we don’t. Last 4 years we have half the time. Remains to be seen if this team is 2018 Cats caliber or 2019 Cats caliber. I have a hunch, but time will tell.

 

[sambowieshin]

Yeah. Like attendance is up across the nation except at Rupp.

We've never had a problem like this before with attendance. It's UK basketball and a top ten team. There are problems whether you choose to see them or not. Correctable problems, but they are there.

 

[HalHR2500]

UK offense is 5 independent contracts on a job site with no foreman in charge, chaos ensures on every half court possession

 

[kybassfan]

We've never had a problem like this before with attendance. It's UK basketball and a top ten team. There are problems whether you choose to see them or not. Correctable problems, but they are there.

Doh!!! There are problems all over the nation. Limited disposable income. Extreme competition from Satellite, cable and cable cutting solutions, yadda, yadda yadda. Those are the problems. They are common everywhere. It affects football as well.

Bringing Rupp attendance into this argument is just Ky basketball bashers looking for any nail to hang a hat. Just more crap slinging by the program haters.

 

[kybassfan]

That's a weak response my friend. I didn't say anyone was an infant for having a differing opinion. You can believe anything you want, even if you're wrong. But if you're gonna argue with me about it, you better step up your game. The argument I'm making is that many of our younger fans want instant gratification. We've won so much that 2 losses early in a season make begin to question Calipari and the entire system/program. It can't be that the players just didn't have a good night shooting. It can't be that the team just didn't play defense and rebound early and waited too late to turn it on. It can't be that the officials were one-sided at all and reversed a call that could have tied the game with under a minute to go. No, it MUST be that Calipari has lost his coaching ability, that he's all washed up, and that a coaching change is in order. Nevermind that we've seen all this before and that the team is always peaking in March.

Can you say "overreaction"? This response is also classic and those of us who have posted here have seen it all. Fans who never celebrate a win show up en masse after a loss and throw tantrums.

Now, if 2 losses turns into 3, which turns into 7, 8, 9, and 10, we can realistically complain.

As for Tubby, I loved the guy. Still do. I think he is a great person and a solid coach in his day. But he could not recruit the talent needed to win big in the NCAA. The SEC in those days was pathetic and we struggled. The conference is head and shoulders better now. I always said that if someone else could recruit for Tubby, he had a contender every year, but he just couldn't do it. So, we end up with Brandon Stockton, Shagari Alleyne, Lukasz Obrzut, Bobby Perry, and on and on. And Vitale calls it... this is just not the level of talent that we're used to seeing at Kentucky.

Fast forward to now... we have the talent to get it done. Sometimes these guys get off the bus ready to contribute. Sometimes they need a month, 2 months, and some (like the Harrison twins and company) don't begin to see their potential until the very end of the season.

But do we have patience? Very little. We pitch a temper tantrum. That's it. That's why I said what I did. And it is absolutely true. My biggest fear is that one of these days Calipari will get sick of listening to the whiners, the infants, and the idiots and leave.

Sanity

 

[kybassfan]

I’m personally tired of all the NBA talk. The kids that come to UK now rarely do it because they have pride in what we stand for. They see UK as the fast lane to the NBA.
I mean do we start the season with that NBA workout day for the benefit of the Kentucky basketball program? No, it’s for the player’s and puts in their minds right off the bat that their goal for the year is to improve on that! We start the season talking about the NBA and end it talking about who’s going to the NBA!!

Cal has done a lot for the players and their families and that’s great. But I think it’s time to get back to winning as many games and championships as we can!

It is honestly like we are a NBA farm league team.

I want to just be Kentucky Basketball again.

This is KY basketball. Has been for 10 years. Likely will be for 10 more. Rupp is not crawling out of that grave. Hall is too old now. Sutton too drunk. Pitino is busy molesting sluts and hiring hookers for boys. Tubby is beyond his prime, BCG is BCG. Calipari is the best in the business.

What you are really saying is you are no longer a Kentucky basketball fan because this IS Kentucky basketball.

 

[sambowieshin]

Doh!!! There are problems all over the nation. Limited disposable income. Extreme competition from Satellite, cable and cable cutting solutions, yadda, yadda yadda. Those are the problems. They are common everywhere. It affects football as well.

Bringing Rupp attendance into this argument is just Ky basketball bashers looking for any nail to hang a hat. Just more crap slinging by the program haters.

I am anything but a program hater. Many of your points about attendance are correct. It's just my opinion that there is also an element of dissatisfaction with the yearly player turnover and ugly basketball from NBA players on training wheels. It's really much more of a college basketball problem than a program problem, but there are some issues with the program as well.

 

[kybassfan]

I am anything but a program hater. Many of your points about attendance are correct. It's just my opinion that there is also an element of dissatisfaction with the yearly player turnover and ugly basketball from NBA players on training wheels. It's really much more of a college basketball problem than a program problem, but there are some issues with the program as well.

Yes. There are always issues after a loss. They all clear up after a few wins. Another loss brings them back. There is a word for this: Bipolar. That’s our fan base. It’s got nothing to do with the program.

Clinging to a past that will NEVER come back is fruitless and stupid. This is about to get much much much worse when college goes semi pro in a couple years. I recommend you get a grip. You literally “ain’t seen nuthin yet”.

 

[FrankUnderwood]

Wall and Cousins needed a buzzer beater to beat Miami of Ohio, and lost to a South Carolina team that never sniffed the tournament.

Okay? And those were the ONLY two losses all season. And even if we did look ugly At times you still knew you had John Wall, Cousins, PATTERSON and Bledsoe on the team. We have zero players of their caliber this year. Despite the 09-10 team playing poorly at times you could tell early on that team was special and going to be a threat. Not so much with this team.

Im not into the whole tantrum over losses thing but cmon... you’re being ridiculous.

 

[UKCATSFREAK]

I kinda take a different perspective on it tho.
I look at it like it's one long season. While they might be frustrating to watch in Nov/Dec, there's a good bet this team will be playing good basketball come Feb/March.

In ways I kinda like watching the players develop. I mean last year seeing PJ turn into the player he's become was just great IMO. Or in 2011 when we found out Kanter couldn't play and Josh Harrelson stepped it up.

The thing about being dominant early in seasons........those days are over no matter who is coaching and who sticks around. The talented players will always leave after 1-2 years........and we could go the other route and just get 4 year guys.......but I don't think they'd be very good to the point of us being dominant.

As far as attachment to players go i dunno.......I'm always going to remember John Wall or Anthony Davis before I do a perry stevenson

VERY well said sir!

 

[Mike-D]

Here's the truth. UK fans are spoiled infants. We've become so accustomed to being a perennial title contender that we throw ourselves into the grocery aisle having a tantrum when we don't see 20-pt wins from day one. Most of you people don't remember the days under Tubby. Heck, many don't even remember Gillispie. I remember it well. These are the glory days folks. We're all suffering from ADD and need a time-out. I would suggest a good, old fashioned whoopin' but corporal punishment is illegal these days, right?

I don’t agree with this at all. I just want to win. I want to beat Evansville at home, and I want to beat Utah on a neutral floor. I actually expected a loss to Michigan State. Maybe that win inflated expectations. Whatever. I wish people would stop comparing this team to the John Wall team. That team was loaded with NBA talent. My grandma could see that. How many 1st rounders did we have? 5?

We have nothing to compare this team to. The 2013-14 team that was awful, but loaded with Freshman talent? It’s not close to the same. This team right now is relying on some guys that were forced to come back, and absolutely no elite Freshman.

 

[ftp000]

Okay? And those were the ONLY two losses all season. And even if we did look ugly At times you still knew you had John Wall, Cousins, PATTERSON and Bledsoe on the team. We have zero players of their caliber this year. Despite the 09-10 team playing poorly at times you could tell early on that team was special and going to be a threat. Not so much with this team.

Im not into the whole tantrum over losses thing but cmon... you’re being ridiculous.

I was responding directly to somebody, not making a blanket statement. It's hard to make a comparison, nobody has a Wall and Cousins this year, everybody is going to lose games this season that they shouldn't, most already have.

 

[Ben101er]

The way college basketball is today, almost every top program is going to have freshmen contributing, and they have the same problems Kentucky has. That is why so many number one teams have already lost, this year. It will only get worse, when kids can go straight to the league, from HS. Then, kids will reclassify and get in one year of college, before going pro. The quality of college hoops will really suffer.

 

[Ronwasourlastchance]

Cal's best days are behind him. He was great for the program the first 6-7 years. Time to move on. I love Coach Cal and loved Tubby also. There comes a time, when hanging on just isn't worth it.

 

[FrankUnderwood]

Cal's best days are behind him. He was great for the program the first 6-7 years. Time to move on. I love Coach Cal and loved Tubby also. There comes a time, when hanging on just isn't worth it.

Who should we get right now instead?

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Cost and Flatscreens are the main reason. Attendance has been declining steadily for years at other venues in sports but it hasn't hit Rupp until just recently. And it has been a drastic change that can't be accounted for by money and tv's alone. The fans don't like the opponents being played or the product on the floor they are watching imo.
Oh well, we will be better by March and if we're not, it will be an entirely new group of players next year.... so who cares anyway? Right?

This.

If a John Wall-type team was on the court this year, Rupp would be packed out every game. We all know this to be true.

The fans now know this team is much of the same in comparison to the last few years. We watch the "process" from November through February, with a slight uptick at the right time, and ultimately watch a team develop into one that's just good enough to maybe advance to the Final Four, but also just pedestrian enough to possibly lose to this year's version of KSU or Auburn. This team will likely find it's final destination somewhere in between.

Fans don't want to base their enthusiasm on multiple question marks. It mostly comes down to hype for BBN and the mental awareness that our enthusiasm is supported by elite play on the court. The last few years we just haven't provided that, and now it's undoubtedly taking a partial toll on attendance.

Calipari is still the man for the job, but he lived off the hype machine for his first six years here. Now, that hype is mostly evaporated and all we're left with is a bunch of "historical precedent" narratives (not a good look for apologists trying to enlist fresh recruits into their "proper perspective" brigades).