Would never admit it but....

[WhiskeyCat]

Listening to the call in show last night, I started to get the feeling that Cal want's to say. Have you seen the class I have coming in next year. Just hold on and survive this season and when they get here next year with the guys that stay we will make a run at a title again. Just calm down and be patient.

 

[UofKBlue]

We're spoiled. That's all there is to it. We are spoiled. Bad seasons will happen and it's also still early January. Plenty of time for changes to occur and time for growth.

 

[Primedfor9]

That's how fans should look at it. This year is wide open. There will be about 10-15 teams capable of winning it all this year and we have to hope we're firing on all cylinders to beat talented teams with length in the tourney. If we lose, we're gonna have a loaded team next year that will likely be the favorite along with Duke. What's worrying to me is that the mouth breathers are already out in full force.

 

[Crankdatmustard]

Come March it will be all about who gets hot and can make shots. We have two STREAKY shooters in Murray and Ullis.

Our front court will get better.

We will be right there when it counts.

 

[spotter34]

I don't think Cal or any of us can help thinking about what we have coming in next year. It's like a security blanket knowing that what ever anguish we experience this year will be short-lived. But, I don't think it is going to cause Cal to not coach this team to the max. He knows we're close to being a real contender this year. Skal is the big question mark. I know his competition level was weak his last year of high school but he was more than formidable in some of the all-star tournaments he played in last year. I remember when some of the NBA guys were watching his practices at the NIKE HOOP SUMMITT and they were saying he could overtake Simmons for the best player in the class. Thon Maker couldn't stop him in practice. I know practice is well practice, but NBA guys are pretty good judges of talent.

Skal has lost all his confidence. Will he find it in time to salvage this season or not? That's what is going to determine how far this team can go. I also think Briscoe needs to come off the bench and have Mulder or Willis start. Got to have another outside shooter on the floor with Ulis and Murray.

 

[Smashcat]

Listening to the call in show last night, I started to get the feeling that Cal want's to say. Have you seen the class I have coming in next year. Just hold on and survive this season and when they get here next year with the guys that stay we will make a run at a title again. Just calm down and be patient.

He's only human. That said, if he had individual meetings with the team members yesterday and had our bigs watch an ugly film, he's still very much interested in making this team the best it can be.

 

[Xception]

He shouldn't have to ask for patience , he has earned it . Terribly pathetic that it's not extended . Nobody except Cal wanted this job , just a dreadful fan base that coaches don't want to put up with . The moment you lose they turn on you and become a detriment to the program . Nothing wrong with discussion about problems and fixes but it's just slanderous in nature , like they want to take it out on the team for losing . The same personality type you would expect from people who beat dogs when they get mad .

 

[jockstrap_mcgee]

Calipari turned down the opportunity to be Rick Barnes.

Dude is not a quitter and I have every confidence he will get this team to work.

 

[Cats192]

He's only human. That said, if he had individual meetings with the team members yesterday and had our bigs watch an ugly film, he's still very much interested in making this team the best it can be.

He'd be a pretty lousy coach if he wasn't still interested in that.

 

[KendallCat]

I think that all of us(present company included and foremost) forget that we lost a TON off of last years team. #1 overall pick in Towns plus WCS, Booker, Lyles, Harrison twins, plus Dakari. That is 4 guys who were 6'10 to 7' who could eat up fouls, score in the low post, protect the rim, and cover for a lot of errors. Would you rather have that or Skal who is thin and inexperienced, Lee, Poythress, and Humphries? Nothing against the last grip but it is. It even close.

Cal's successful teams alway have a guy who can protect the rim on defense and score on offense off of putbacks, dunks, and rebounding the ball. This team right now does not have that and probably won't. His best team was the title team, but if Meeks had stayed nobody would have beaten that team. Combine a deadly 3 point shooter who is also 85% plus from the line and can drive to the basket plus the rest = possibly best ever college team. What we need each year is a guy who can break down the defense off the dribble to create space (Wall) and make the defense move, a 4/5 player who can rebound and score(Davis/Towns), and a lights out shooter from 3(Meeks/Miller/Ford/Sparks)If we have those plus complementary pieces we are very good, and some years we have missed out on a component or two.

 

[CUT-NETS]

That's how fans should look at it. This year is wide open. There will be about 10-15 teams capable of winning it all this year and we have to hope we're firing on all cylinders to beat talented teams with length in the tourney. If we lose, we're gonna have a loaded team next year that will likely be the favorite along with Duke. What's worrying to me is that the mouth breathers are already out in full force.

Michigan State will be really good too. Wish we could catch one of these lightening in a bottle teams in a down year in college basketball and win it all. Last year we were the dominant team all season long but Wisconsin was better than us and Duke was better than Wisconsin.

 

[Clive Gollings]

Listening to the call in show last night, I started to get the feeling that Cal want's to say. Have you seen the class I have coming in next year. Just hold on and survive this season and when they get here next year with the guys that stay we will make a run at a title again. Just calm down and be patient.

What would you never admit?

 

[Primedfor9]

Michigan State will be really good too. Wish we could catch one of these lightening in a bottle teams in a down year in college basketball and win it all. Last year we were the dominant team all season long but Wisconsin was better than us and Duke was better than Wisconsin.

I agree with this. Normally it'd be us and everybody else, unfortunately Duke and Mich St will be better than usual as well. It'll be interesting to see how Izzo handles all the young talent..this is assuming they either keep Davis, add Josh Jackson or both.

 

[.S&C.]

He shouldn't have to ask for patience , he has earned it . Terribly pathetic that it's not extended . Nobody except Cal wanted this job , just a dreadful fan base that coaches don't want to put up with . The moment you lose they turn on you and become a detriment to the program . Nothing wrong with discussion about problems and fixes but it's just slanderous in nature , like they want to take it out on the team for losing . The same personality type you would expect from people who beat dogs when they get mad .

At least you used dogs instead of kids. Improvement.

 

[KMKAT]

Doesn't Cal just roll the balls out there anyway? There's no need to be able to coach teams dominated by college freshmen!

 

[UKWildcats#8]

I agree with this. Normally it'd be us and everybody else, unfortunately Duke and Mich St will be better than usual as well. It'll be interesting to see how Izzo handles all the young talent..this is assuming they either keep Davis, add Josh Jackson or both.

No different than last season. The myth that UK was soooo much better than Duke, Wisconsin or even Arizona is a bit comical to me. I think we will have 2-3 great teams that are way better than everyone like in the 2014-2015 season.

And to the OP, UK fans do not have patience. I don't blame those that have no patience, but the whining isn't going to change the fact this year's team is just not that good right now and probably won't be good by season's end to the extent Coach Cal and all of us hope they will be IMO. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Duke, UK, KU, and MSU. They will be the top tier, similar to UK, Duke, UW, and Zona in 2015.

 

[uk78]

B.S. Pre-season, everyone here was talking about another National Championship and then especially after we beat Duke.

 

[KY Long Rifle]

Didn't you just admit it?

 

[UKWildcats#8]

B.S. Pre-season, everyone here was talking about another National Championship and then especially after we beat Duke.

Fans are stupid. What do you expect? As someone said in another thread we had people on here hype up Tubby's teams post-98 as title contenders. We all know that was not true other than probably 2003. We did have people on here insulting last year's team by saying "I think this year's team can be a better team despite having more losses" and "By March this years team will be better" and while those can both be true statements still (Lloyd Christmas getting with Mary territory at this point IMO but I digress), I doubt it.

 

[dave5164]

Coach Cal has been saying things about next years class since beginning of the season when he said that he had a shot at getting the best class he has ever had in coaching and at UK. He has been saying that even before any of the boys started committing to UK. When you have Sacha Killeya-Jones, Gabriel, Adebayo, Fox, Monk, and now most are saying Bolden could come to UK then that is like the best class overall here at UK and at most colleges. We still have Michigan State and Duke with great recruiting classes so it will be interesting next year with the Top 4 being UK, Michigan State, Duke, and Kansas!

 

[marshalfan]

He shouldn't have to ask for patience , he has earned it . Terribly pathetic that it's not extended . Nobody except Cal wanted this job , just a dreadful fan base that coaches don't want to put up with . The moment you lose they turn on you and become a detriment to the program . Nothing wrong with discussion about problems and fixes but it's just slanderous in nature , like they want to take it out on the team for losing . The same personality type you would expect from people who beat dogs when they get mad .

Your post is wrong., Sure there are some grumblings but come every home game we will 23,000+ fans at the game. Every game will get major coverage. He makes a small fortune, he could book as many speaking engagements as he would like so basically he can print money; He has a legitimate shot a the national championship most every year. He has got it made, he just has to shutout the noise by a relative few noise makers.

 

[Xception]

Your post is wrong., Sure there are some grumblings but come every home game we will 23,000+ fans at the game. Every game will get major coverage. He makes a small fortune, he could book as many speaking engagements as he would like so basically he can print money; He has a legitimate shot a the national championship most every year. He has got it made, he just has to shutout the noise by a relative few noise makers.

I'm right , you're wrong . Now what ?

 

[marshalfan]

I'm right , you're wrong . Now what ?

Sorry, should have started my post differently.

 

[3rex]

Listening to the call in show last night, I started to get the feeling that Cal want's to say. Have you seen the class I have coming in next year. Just hold on and survive this season and when they get here next year with the guys that stay we will make a run at a title again. Just calm down and be patient.

More freshmen...yippee

are any of them projected to stay here long enough to unpack their bags?

 

[Dreklie]

I will admit the losses this year have been easier to take ... still got a rough one @ KU, but we'll see.

 

[Dreklie]

More freshmen...yippee

are any of them projected to stay here long enough to unpack their bags?

Nope, Monk, Fox, Gabriel and Bam are absolute killers who will be here one year and it wouldn't surprise me one damn bit if all 4 went in the top 10. They are absolute alpha males, all 4 of them.

 

[dave5164]

What really upsets me as a Huge UK fan is that we are 11-3 and 1-1 in the SEC right now. You would have thought that we sitting at 8-6 and 0-2 in the SEC after the LSU Defeat. Then we have all these so-called Big Blue Fans saying before the SEC Season that we would probably lose on the Road to LSU, TA&M, and South Carolina. Then after the loss you have everyone upset and ready to throw in the towel. Just like in the OOC we all said that we could lose a couple of games and I really thought going out West that we would have a hard time vs. UCLA and then OSU was the surprise lose to everyone but things happen on the road and right now being at 11-3 we just need to get back to how we were playing vs. UL and Ole Miss especially the "D" we had on Ole Miss and winning by 30 in 2nd half. That was by far the game that we need to have vs. the Remaining SEC teams on the road! Like Coach Cal said today he likes this team and we all know we have seen this team at there HIgh(Duke, Az. State, UL, and Ole Miss) and Lows( UCLA, OSU, and LSU) I feel by mid to end SEC Schedule heading into March Madness this team will be even better and will be playing good ball.

 

[kyups01]

Why should fans have to wait till next year? This one and done philosophy he uses has nothing to do with fans being spoiled or irrational or impatient...it's on him, he recruited them! Who's to say that next year's group won't be a disaster? Also, this season isn't even halfway over yet and some fans act like we might as we just give up until next year! I think this team is be a total FORCE THIS YEAR!

 

[tank2009]

I am on board with the fact that Cal has earned somebpatience from our fans. Grow up and know that we are in the middle of a historic run and the guy is producing at a great great level.

This team is still a work in progress and who knows what the outcome will be, but whatever it is we should support the team and Cal and know that the future is very bright. It is insane talent he has signed for next year....but, they will be 18 and 19 years old, so somewhat unpredictable but we all know the upside and downside to the philosophy here at UK.

I am all in for Cal...

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

Faaaaar Cal.

 

[UKGrad83]

The challenges Cal faces are whether or not the team will have chemistry and how quickly the individuals buy into his coaching philosophy. You can have a team of all 5 stars but if they are all doing their own thing, they aren't likely to win. We saw the 2012 team buy into it fairly quickly. Not only is this team trying to find cohesion, some of the players are having trouble with the upgrade in talent they are facing. We all hope they "get it" sooner rather than later, but every year is different. However, I trust Cal. He's going to get the best out of these kids. Doesn't mean they get #9 this year but I think we'll see some really good things from them before the season is over.

 

[ukchamps_98]

For Cal's system to work to its fullest capabilities, IMO he needs to have a couple of starter level players to stick around for year 2. 2012 had Lamb, Jones, and Miller. Last year's team had the Harrison Twins, Poythress, and few other lesser (non-starter level) players. It is that second year leadership that seems to get them over the top. This year Ullis is that guy, but I think he needs one more to make the team really click. Imagine this team if he had either Booker or Dakari back as was the original plan I believe.