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You can only laugh at this

Cal really screwed that talented team. He’s a bum raking in salesman $$$$. Cal was legit then put it on cruise. The greatest in any sport is hungry for more. Cal was hungry for more sack time
Back when we beat North Carolina I creeped over on the UNC, Duke, and Kansas boards just to see what they were saying. The consensus was “Cal will screw it up “ . They were right of course.
 
I actually edited the post before I ever read this. I don’t think he runs off anyone but Wagner. And he was graduating from UK soon it’s one of the main reasons I think he came back anyway. Dilly and Reed were already fine coming off the bench obviously Reed plays here regardless and Dilly was gonna play for Cal regardless. Maybe I’m wrong but I think Wagner might have even stayed regardless. But cal didn’t even approach him one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen a coach do I was livid. I knew DK was gonna blow.
I always thought it was an Edwards/Knect thing . Whether it was UK or Tenn , whoever got one wasn’t getting the other.
 
I always thought it was an Edwards/Knect thing . Whether it was UK or Tenn , whoever got one wasn’t getting the other.

Probably right. But Edwards can’t shoot and DK can so… we got the pogo stick cals fav.

Just a hunch to me that Wagner would have been forced out because at the time everyone thought the ball was gonna stay in his hands. DK wanted the ball. But you’re probably right.
 
I’ll be 50 years old in September and I’ve seen a lot of Kentucky basketball my entire life and it’s always been the same: we win it’s because of the players. We lose it’s the coaches fault.

I coached AAU basketball for seven years and the hardest thing I ever had to deal with is the players emotional and mental side. When they’re younger it’s a bit easier. Most of them get upset to losing or playing a bad game but they can shake it off pretty well but when they’re 14,15, 16 it becomes a lot harder.
 
I am sitting here laughing at most of the posters who seem to think you automatically win if you shoot 3's well.

They seem to forget those same 3 guards often let the other teams shoot and make more 3's. I seem to remember a certain fan favorite getting torched by Gohlke over and over again in our last game.
You better believe that 96 team hang their hat on defense!!! And look who the team captain is now and who he recruited, hehe me like this.
 
I am sitting here laughing at most of the posters who seem to think you automatically win if you shoot 3's well.

They seem to forget those same 3 guards often let the other teams shoot and make more 3's. I seem to remember a certain fan favorite getting torched by Gohlke over and over again in our last game.
You are not wrong. Even though Reed got lots of steals, he was not a good on ball defender and some sites have Dilly falling in the draft is because he was unwilling to play defense. Neither played particularly good on ball defense for whatever reason.
 
Stat mentioned on KSR after the Oakland loss: There were 34 lineups Cal put on the court last year that played at least 40 possessions together. The starting lineup ranked 33/34 in offensive efficiency, and yet, game after game, Cal kept throwing them out there.

I'm convinced it was all intentional just so he could stick it to BBN. We've all been saying for the last three seasons that certain guys needed to sit and others needed the majority of minutes when it was clear who the best players were, and yet, he did the exact opposite just because it was the fans and local media clamoring for the coach to play the guys who were producing.
 
Or we could put the blame on the players who were actually on the court and routinely put no effort into D or constantly tried to disrupt passing lanes that led to them being out of position over and over again.

It really shouldn't take much game planning to beat Oakland. 🤣
When Cow put the blame squarely on the players for not playing defense that very much bothered me and Dillingham kept saying coach gave us no defensive assignments or direction whatsoever
 
Actually it does. It’s called plus/ minus differential. The plus is offense. Minus is defense. That lineup Cal started was no better defensively, and much, much worse offensively. Neither lineups were good defensively. Cal hasn’t had a good defensive team in 6 years. Freshman can’t play defense anymore. It’s not taught to them in AAU. They must learn nowadays when they get to college.
Lol, you're not thinking logically. Being better than some doesn't make them good. 🤣
Mr. Stratford one can dream. And Dalton demands the balls. The way Wagner is viewed now is not how he was viewed then. If there was an odd man out of that situation I’d assume it would be Wagner. If I’m wrong OH WELL.
Beleive me, Wagner had nothing to do with Knecht coming to UK.
 
You better believe that 96 team hang their hat on defense!!! And look who the team captain is now and who he recruited, hehe me like this.
Wth does the 96 team have to do with last years team not being good defensively?
When Cow put the blame squarely on the players for not playing defense that very much bothered me and Dillingham kept saying coach gave us no defensive assignments or direction whatsoever
I mean, who's fault was it they didn't play defense? The coaches can't play defense for them.

And if you're supposedly a lottery pick, something tells me you have some idea about how to play defense by now. If you need a coach to tell you to stay in front of the ball and not give up driving lanes, keep your hands up when guarding 3's and not to leave good shooters wide open, you probably shouldn't be playing at this level.
You are not wrong. Even though Reed got lots of steals, he was not a good on ball defender and some sites have Dilly falling in the draft is because he was unwilling to play defense. Neither played particularly good on ball defense for whatever reason.
We had one good defender in Thiero. Wagner and Edwards opted to play defense on occasion. The rest sucked. Ugonna could block shots, but I wouldn't say he was overall a good defender.
 
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I'll never forgive Cal for refusing to see what could happen with these 3 getting major run as a 3 headed monster.
He did the same thing in 19-20. It wasn't some great coaching adjustment. We didn't hit our stride until Whitney left the team and Cal was forced to go with a 3 guard lineup.

Anyone who knows basketball could tell (Reeves, Reed, Rob- R3) was our most dynamic rotation. Given enough time on the court together their offensive output was going to separate us from the opponent. This graphic backs that assessment.
 
This Reed started and we lost is a bullcrap theory. Reed started only because Wagner was out which left us short handed. You can’t replace just Reed with that starting lineup and win. That lineup was horrible. What people are saying is…. Our starting five should have been. Reed, Rob, big Z, Edward’s and Theiro. These guys Should have gotten tons of time together and got confidence together. They almost Never saw the floor together after Alabama. That’s what people are saying. Not just. Start Reed with UGO and the other misfits.
So, we were better without Wagner starting or playing much, but we lost to UNCw, FL, Gonzaga because we didn't have Wagner. 🤣
 
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So, we were better without Wagner starting or playing much, but we lost to UNCw, FL, Gonzaga because we didn't have Wagner. 🤣
With Wagner out we have two guards. Reeves played the 3 a lot. Dilly was foul prone. Two guards was not enough. Wagner being out hurt us as much in numbers as much as production. Maybe Cal should have filled those empty scholarships with a couple guards so one injury didn’t put us in OH Shit territory.
 
You are not wrong. Even though Reed got lots of steals, he was not a good on ball defender and some sites have Dilly falling in the draft is because he was unwilling to play defense. Neither played particularly good on ball defense for whatever reason.
The reason is they didn’t know how to. Even from a basketball family Reed played AAU. Not only do they NOT play defense, they are encouraged not to. Scouts come to see dunks ant threes. Not Defense. Don’t Fu$k someone’s scholarship up by blocking a shot or something.
 
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Wth does the 96 team have to do with last years team not being good defensively?

I mean, who's fault was it they didn't play defense? The coaches can't play defense for them.

And if you're supposedly a lottery pick, something tells me you have some idea about how to play defense by now. If you need a coach to tell you to stay in front of the ball and not give up driving lanes, keep your hands up when guarding 3's and not to leave good shooters wide open, you probably shouldn't be playing at this level.

We had one good defender in Thiero. Wagner and Edwards opted to play defense on occasion. The rest sucked. Ugonna could block shots, but I wouldn't say he was overall a good defender.
Defense at that level must be taught. All the want to in the world won’t help you stay in front of Marks or Sears. NO FRESHMAN PLAY GOOD DEFENSE ANYMORE! Not at Kentucky or anywhere. It’s not taught anymore. Scouts don’t wanna see it.
 
Or we could put the blame on the players who were actually on the court and routinely put no effort into D or constantly tried to disrupt passing lanes that led to them being out of position over and over again.

It really shouldn't take much game planning to beat Oakland. 🤣
You sound like someone who'd be a perfect fit for Cal's coaching tree....aka Club Stump.
 
Defense at that level must be taught. All the want to in the world won’t help you stay in front of Marks or Sears. NO FRESHMAN PLAY GOOD DEFENSE ANYMORE! Not at Kentucky or anywhere. It’s not taught anymore. Scouts don’t wanna see it.
I believe some coaches work harder to improve defense than others do. The Virginia coach, Bennett will not accept poor defense. Of course no one would ever want his offense though. There is a happy medium. They can’t play ole defense either. Provide some resistance and steer him towards your help!!
 
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Thank goodness Cal only started one of the three. That was some shrewd coaching strategizing right there.

Last season’s failures kinda debunked the usual complaint about lack of shooters being our problem. We had the best shooters in the country but still imploded in the first round.
 
If you don't think our best chance to win last year was playing these 3 together as much as possible, then you are just ignoring analytics and data.

I'm not going to waste time arguing with someone with their head in the sand.
It’s not like that lineup was the most efficient one in 20 years or however long they tracked that Information.
 


Rob
Reed
Reeves
Any player
Any player

Easily an E8 or F4
If I were Calipari I don't know if the fact that the Top-3, 3 point shooters in this years draft all played for his team that lost in the 1st round. Or that the most recent NBA All-Star game that 7 of his former players were NBA All-Stars. And the fact that he's had all this talent but hasn't reached the Final Four over the last 9 years is beyond embarrassing.
 
Wth does the 96 team have to do with last years team not being good defensively?

I mean, who's fault was it they didn't play defense? The coaches can't play defense for them.

And if you're supposedly a lottery pick, something tells me you have some idea about how to play defense by now. If you need a coach to tell you to stay in front of the ball and not give up driving lanes, keep your hands up when guarding 3's and not to leave good shooters wide open, you probably shouldn't be playing at this level.

We had one good defender in Thiero. Wagner and Edwards opted to play defense on occasion. The rest sucked. Ugonna could block shots, but I wouldn't say he was overall a good defender.
Previous post was talking about how they shot a ton of threes and played no defense and still got outscored so I was contrasting a different approach and using the 96 team as an example.
Maybe I'm just not young and soft enough to relate. I used to be a personal trainer, and I knew that my guys were a DIRECT reflection of ME, and I hold accountability as the number one reason for anyone's success. If my guy goes to a judo meet and I haven't trained his grip whatsoever, I failed him, as it was my job to analyze the entire situation for him and train him to excel at exactly what he needs to physically. I was raised by a hard ass who always took accountability for his failures to discipline me properly, and always wanted to see me succeed, and used the exact same training methods the US army does. He has been such an immense advantage in life, and that's all because he always took accountability.
Let me make a long story short, if I'm coach you WILL complete my program, you will have the endurance strength and energy to remain squatting with arms up in defensive position at all times, or you WILL ride pine, and CCC did the opposite, and it's on film.
 
Another great three point shooting team this year then we should be able to consistently get a lot of the better shooters every year. Need Kriisa, Brea, Robinson and Carr to continue this. And Alomor, Chandler, Perry and Noah are known shooters.
 
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The reason is they didn’t know how to. Even from a basketball family Reed played AAU. Not only do they NOT play defense, they are encouraged not to. Scouts come to see dunks ant threes. Not Defense. Don’t Fu$k someone’s scholarship up by blocking a shot or something.
It is definitely plain as day coach did not train them or have any standards of demanding defensive effort or less play time.
Skinny legs that don't change over the year till no lies, as well as them having no idea where to be on the floor whatsoever. That is ALL on coach. There are ways to make a team work harder, but that wasn't the goal it was to look good flashy and get the best ranking. Puke.
 
With Wagner out we have two guards. Reeves played the 3 a lot. Dilly was foul prone. Two guards was not enough. Wagner being out hurt us as much in numbers as much as production. Maybe Cal should have filled those empty scholarships with a couple guards so one injury didn’t put us in OH Shit territory.
Lol, we did not just have 2. You could put either Edwards, Burks or Reeves at the 3, and then both Reeves and Edwards could play the 2. As could either Dilly or Shep. Then you play the other at the one. We ran Thiero as a guard several times the year before. So, no. Come up with a better lie than that.

You all want to blame Wagner for starting and playing much as why we sucked, but then you want to blame losses on not having Wagner. You can't make this shit up!

LOL, we had some of the most dept on the country, but evidently Cal needed more so you all could claim the right ones weren't playing enough. 🤣
Defense at that level must be taught. All the want to in the world won’t help you stay in front of Marks or Sears. NO FRESHMAN PLAY GOOD DEFENSE ANYMORE! Not at Kentucky or anywhere. It’s not taught anymore. Scouts don’t wanna see it.
So, they made it all the way to colle and projected lottery picks without someone ever teaching them the basics of defense? WTF taught Reed to try to disrupt passing lanes over and over and over again getting himself out of position?

Wasn't Cason Wallace a pretty solid defender just the year before?

Dude, you're making yourself look very ignorant in your "defense" pun intended, of these dudes. It would just be a lot less embarrassing if you just admit they weren't that great to begin with.
 
When Cow put the blame squarely on the players for not playing defense that very much bothered me and Dillingham kept saying coach gave us no defensive assignments or direction whatsoever
It's rather clear that the 9 million a year coach couldn't be bothered to coach defense.
But we are supposed to believe that year after year after year, multiple offensively gifted lotter picks were incapable of playing defense, which is utter horseshit.
 
If they seriously needed much direction to beat Jack Gohlke and Oakland, they really weren't as good as some of you want to act like then.

We were able to beat UT, AU, UNC, BAMA with the same coaching and scouting, but yet we struggled with Oakland because of the same coaching and scouting. Got it! 😂
Rolling the ball out there comes with risks. Sometimes things click and go your way and other times they don’t. Not the first cal team to look great then not so great. Why is cal even on the sidelines and getting paid if he doesn’t have to coach? Cal has won 2 post season games in 5 seasons all with vastly different teams, keep dying on that hill though, it’s fun to watch!!!!
 
Rolling the ball out there comes with risks. Sometimes things click and go your way and other times they don’t. Not the first cal team to look great then not so great. Why is cal even on the sidelines and getting paid if he doesn’t have to coach? Cal has won 2 post season games in 5 seasons all with vastly different teams, keep dying on that hill though, it’s fun to watch!!!!
Who said he didn't have to coach?

Who said Cal was doing well?

What hill am I dying on?
 
Rolling the ball out there comes with risks. Sometimes things click and go your way and other times they don’t. Not the first cal team to look great then not so great. Why is cal even on the sidelines and getting paid if he doesn’t have to coach? Cal has won 2 post season games in 5 seasons all with vastly different teams, keep dying on that hill though, it’s fun to watch!!!!
One of the all-time greatest choke jobs in NCAA history it's right there on film to watch and the NBA analysts have already dissected it in detail, play by play. They all agree that coach did nothing to teach even rudimentary defensive basics, and they dissect basketball for a living. It does get very specific.
 
Who said he didn't have to coach?

Who said Cal was doing well?

What hill am I dying on?
That cal should not have had to coach or game plan to beat Oakland which he didn’t. He rarely, if ever game planned. Dilly stated as much as they never received any direction, just all of them out there doing their own thing which is why he said they looked so bad as they were never on the same page.
 
Cal is the star pitcher who lost his fast ball. Guy will do ok but will wear his welcome out in Fayetteville once they realize he's now a first weekend and out level coach.
 
I’ll be 50 years old in September and I’ve seen a lot of Kentucky basketball my entire life and it’s always been the same: we win it’s because of the players. We lose it’s the coaches fault.

I coached AAU basketball for seven years and the hardest thing I ever had to deal with is the players emotional and mental side. When they’re younger it’s a bit easier. Most of them get upset to losing or playing a bad game but they can shake it off pretty well but when they’re 14,15, 16 it becomes a lot harder.
I don’t completely agree with this . I don’t remember much criticism of Rick Pitinos coaching ability, even in losses .
 
Somebody broke this down on Reddit the other day but Kentucky has the worst winning percentage in elite eight games historically than any of the other bluebloods.

That blew my mind.
Doesn’t surprise me, shows how our reputation has hurt with refs. We have lost some absolutely crazy games on some BS and we have played in more than any other school I think.
 
Lol, we did not just have 2. You could put either Edwards, Burks or Reeves at the 3, and then both Reeves and Edwards could play the 2. As could either Dilly or Shep. Then you play the other at the one. We ran Thiero as a guard several times the year before. So, no. Come up with a better lie than that.

You all want to blame Wagner for starting and playing much as why we sucked, but then you want to blame losses on not having Wagner. You can't make this shit up!

LOL, we had some of the most dept on the country, but evidently Cal needed more so you all could claim the right ones weren't playing enough. 🤣

So, they made it all the way to colle and projected lottery picks without someone ever teaching them the basics of defense? WTF taught Reed to try to disrupt passing lanes over and over and over again getting himself out of position?

Wasn't Cason Wallace a pretty solid defender just the year before?

Dude, you're making yourself look very ignorant in your "defense" pun intended, of these dudes. It would just be a lot less embarrassing if you just admit they weren't that great to begin with.
In no world could Edwards play as a 2, not In high school and definitely not in college. Our team defense sucked many years in a row. That shows a lack of game planning by the coaches. Just because Cason Wallace was a good individual defender doesn’t mean that the coaches did their job. You don’t have that many different players over 5 years and struggle with the same things without it being coaching. This has been broken down many times and shown exactly why we struggled. It was how we were taught to cover screens , and the way our big men always went for blocks.
 
In no world could Edwards play as a 2, not In high school and definitely not in college. Our team defense sucked many years in a row. That shows a lack of game planning by the coaches. Just because Cason Wallace was a good individual defender doesn’t mean that the coaches did their job. You don’t have that many different players over 5 years and struggle with the same things without it being coaching. This has been broken down many times and shown exactly why we struggled. It was how we were taught to cover screens , and the way our big men always went for blocks.
Pretty sure you are arguing with an Arky fan but, you can’t use logic against a person that doesn’t use logic to form their opinion in the first place. It’s beyond what they can grasp. A useless endeavor.
 
That cal should not have had to coach or game plan to beat Oakland which he didn’t. He rarely, if ever game planned. Dilly stated as much as they never received any direction, just all of them out there doing their own thing which is why he said they looked so bad as they were never on the same page.
You really shouldn't have to game plan much for a team like 23-12 Oakland. It's not like the players didn't know Gohlke takes a lot of 3's and can get hot if you leave him open. Do you really think they didn't know that?

Yet, they were able to beat so many better teams all throughout the season and earn themselves a #3 seed. Yet, somehow, they couldn't beat Oakland because if the "game planning".
Canadian Lol GIF
 
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