And then he has 4 more the next year. Don't feel pity for Cal. He doesn't feel any for himself. He says it every day. He knows he has the best players in every game he coaches. Don't make excuses for him.He also has those NBA players for one year.
And then he has 4 more the next year. Don't feel pity for Cal. He doesn't feel any for himself. He says it every day. He knows he has the best players in every game he coaches. Don't make excuses for him.
Whatever. I'm not making excuses. The "he has NBA players every year. He should win it more than once" narrative is ridiculous. It's a single elimination tournament.
His 2011 team that made the final four I wouldn't say they were exactly overflowing with talent. Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones, really good players, for sure, but they were his 2 best guys. Kansas that year had the Morris twins, Thomas Robinson, Josh Selby, Jeff Withey. Duke had Kyrie, the Plumlee brothers, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, Seth Curry. The Uconn team that won the title, they had Kemba, Jeremy Lamb, and Shabazz.
Not saying the talent on the UK team was weak that year, it was good, but it's easy to overrate how much talent he has on a year to year basis.
Where I depart from that line of thinking is that the classes ARE talented on a year to year basis, because they're chock full of top tier / blue chip recruits. Sometimes, the components fit together well and UK has dominant teams. Other years, the components don't fit well, don't mesh, or whatever and their teams aren't quite as good.
In 2011, his first year at UK, they had Wall, Cousins, Bledsoe, and others -- that group was highly complimentary and they were one of the best teams in college basketball.
All of those guys went pro, but Cal followed that up with another monster class. Problem was, they weren't as good as their predecessors. Knight was the top PG recruit in the class, but he wasn't John Wall. And while that team got to the elite 8, they were a lower seed and not nearly as talented nor dangerous as the previous team.
Following year, they lost all of those principals again, but reloaded with another blockbuster class featuring Anthony Davis -- one of the top talents in the game. We know what happened from there.
Similar thing happened in 2013, when Cal loaded an absolutely monster class headlined by Nerlens Noel. Problem was, he wasn't in the same universe as Davis as a player. That team lost in the first round of the NIT [admittedly, due to Noel getting injured mid-season].
Two years later, they go undefeated all the way to the final four, on the strength of Karl Anthony Towns, Booker, and a couple of other really talented frontcourt components.
The following year, they don't get past the sweet 16.
These ebbs and flows are going to be standard for UK, I think, given the recruiting model they follow. They're up more than they are down--so the "down turns" are relative--but sometimes the sum isn't greater than the parts no matter who the recruits are.
(One quibble, you're off a year, the Wall/Cousins team was 2009-10. The next year, with Brandon Knight, they made the final four, and that recruiting class was supposed to have Enes Kanter, but he was deemed ineligible).
Anyway, are those ebbs and flows really all that different than any other team? If anything, Cal has probably had less ebb and flow than anyone. (At least if you base it purely on tournament success, which granted, isn't the best or only way to do it) He's made it to the elite 8 6 of his 8 years at Kentucky, with 4 of those years ending in the final four. The NIT year stands out, and the Noel injury probably cost them a tournament spot (he says, not bothering to check the timing), but really, what schools have been more consistent than UK since Cal showed up?
Here are there KP ranks (2017 isn't final, it won't change much)
4, 7, 1, 55, 13, 1, 6, 4. So one down year, and 7 of the other 8 years he's been in the top 13, with 6 of the 8 years in the top 7.
Kansas the last 8 years: 2, 2, 4, 8, 7, 12, 4, 6 (good lord)
Duke: 1, 3, 19, 6, 8, 3, 17, 13.
Basically the one NIT year definitely stands out.
Whatever. I'm not making excuses. The "he has NBA players every year. He should win it more than once" narrative is ridiculous. It's a single elimination tournament.
(Was going from memory, didn't look the info up to validate years)
The KP ratings are hardly the end all / be all, but they debunk the notion that their year over year talent base is overrated, which was my point. Which is why I don't shed a tear when UK gets bounced, because he gets numerous blue chippers every year and the on-paper talent is extraordinarily high any given year.
I think you are also misinterpreting that I'm implying that other schools are more consistent or have better results. I'm really not. Ken Pom is different than NCAA results [admittedly, not the best nor the only way to judge season success].