@UK Greatest recruiting class my as@
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Libero2
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You do realize they have already lost 2 times right?
also Kentucky fans are stupid to think the best recruiting class of individual players would instantly gel as a college squad.
Now if the squad stayed together for a year or two (yeah yeah i know...) they might have a shot, but even then I doubt it.
also Kentucky fans are stupid to think the best recruiting class of individual players would instantly gel as a college squad.
Now if the squad stayed together for a year or two (yeah yeah i know...) they might have a shot, but even then I doubt it.
I hate to say it but uk has more talent, or at least I should say athletes than any other team I have seen right now. I mean they have like four guys who will be taken in the draft, maybe more, no one else can say that. They just aren't a team yet, they play like a bunch of individuals and cal is overrated as a coach IMO. I would not be scared to play them right now at all. But they should be tough come march if they eventually gel into a team. Having said that I do not think they will ever be as good as the 12 team and I do not see them winning it all. Go Orange!
Orange87
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Didn't the guy already win an NC with a team that was basically freshman? In addition to the other multiple Final Fours he's made. How can you say he's overrated as a coach if he's already done that?
Say what you want about his personality and his possibly sleazy recruiting practices but as a coach, you can't say he's overrated.
Say what you want about his personality and his possibly sleazy recruiting practices but as a coach, you can't say he's overrated.
cusetown1
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He was stripped of 2 final 4's
jordoo
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UK's best win is currently a neutral court game against Providence. The rest of their schedule was kind of blaah and they struggled in a few of those. They lost to MSU who honestly doesn't seem to be all that great and they lost to a Baylor team that we handled although we didn't play great defense. They still have @UNC and Lville at home before they hit the week SEC schedule. Baylor has better wins than them and only a loss to us and should be ranked ahead of them after beating them head to head, although I doubt that happens. Still you could easily find 25 teams with a better resume of wins right now that UK. They will lose at least one more before the SEC but of they lose to both Lville and UNC then they basically have no OOC resume going into a crappy conference and will be out of 1 seed contention IMO.
The team itself has Randle who is very good. 5 names who is also pretty good and improving quickly. Young who is a top flight wing scorer and the Harrisons who are decent. The bench is struggling and the PG play isn't there because neither of those Harrisons are pg's don't care what anyone says they are both SG's. They play pretty crappy defense if you can get 5 names away from the basket, imagine if they called them for their hand checking. I'd say Randle, 5 names and Young are the three best pro prospects but they have another 5-6 guys with pro possibilities. It sucks for a guy like Poythress who really won't develop the way that he should there, he will be pushed further back next year if anyone stays. Of course he made his own bed going to UK.
As I watch these freshman PG's around who were ranked higher than Ennis I wonder mostly how they were categorized as PG's. I mean just because the coach puts the ball in your hand a lot doesn't mean you are a PG. Ennis would make UK instantly dangerous in the place of whichever Harrison they are calling their PG and if we had that kid instead of Ennis we would be struggling on offense.
The team itself has Randle who is very good. 5 names who is also pretty good and improving quickly. Young who is a top flight wing scorer and the Harrisons who are decent. The bench is struggling and the PG play isn't there because neither of those Harrisons are pg's don't care what anyone says they are both SG's. They play pretty crappy defense if you can get 5 names away from the basket, imagine if they called them for their hand checking. I'd say Randle, 5 names and Young are the three best pro prospects but they have another 5-6 guys with pro possibilities. It sucks for a guy like Poythress who really won't develop the way that he should there, he will be pushed further back next year if anyone stays. Of course he made his own bed going to UK.
As I watch these freshman PG's around who were ranked higher than Ennis I wonder mostly how they were categorized as PG's. I mean just because the coach puts the ball in your hand a lot doesn't mean you are a PG. Ennis would make UK instantly dangerous in the place of whichever Harrison they are calling their PG and if we had that kid instead of Ennis we would be struggling on offense.
jordoo
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You cannot count the UMass or Memphis FF's which also means all the ones he's made at UK are kind of up in the air until he leaves UK because when he leaves the team its right about the time that the NCAA is taking away these things. lol
As far as him being a horrible coach every coach has their strengths and weaknesses just like their preferred system has its strengths and weaknesses. We are also spoiled watching JB for so long who has always been a great coach who's just gotten better over time. Cal isn't a horrible coach but he's by no means anywhere close to JB's level and he has kind of sold himself out since he won with UK. He needs to get some guys who come back as Sophmores and he really more than anything needs a good penetrating PG in his system.
realorange
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Interesting topic line on the UK board: Would you try to run a Wall Street firm with the best 20 MBA grads?
SaltLakeOrange
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They may have more highly regarded recruits. Kids that have more sheer athleticism than most others. But that doesn't mean they'll win when they are put together. A team us definitely more than the sum of its parts. Calipari is all about instant gratification. I'll take JBs model any day!
Orange87
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In terms of his ability to coach, his vacated Final Fours don't matter.
Whether or not the players on that team should have been allowed to play or not, the fact of the matter is they were, and he coached them to two Final Fours.
How does Marcus Camby taking money from agents make Calipari a bad coach? It doesn't. A sleazy coach with questionable actions and motives? Sure, but the guy has proven that he can have great success on the court.
Whether or not the players on that team should have been allowed to play or not, the fact of the matter is they were, and he coached them to two Final Fours.
How does Marcus Camby taking money from agents make Calipari a bad coach? It doesn't. A sleazy coach with questionable actions and motives? Sure, but the guy has proven that he can have great success on the court.
jordoo
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They were vacated so he was cheating and had an unfair advantage. None of the other teams were able to get hookers for their players in between games of the NCAA tourney. LOL. I see your point but you can't count those and talent is not equal, winning the NC with the team he did was much more of a not mess it up kind of coaching thing than coaching team up to win the NC. I don't think he's horrible and he is very good at certain things but he's not a great all time coach or anything.
RF2044
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They absolutely matter, because they speak to his conduct as CEO of the teams he was in charge of. Maybe he wouldn't have attained the level of success he did without such shady practices. Nobody said that it makes him a "bad" coach, just that being associated with such widespread malfeasance--at every stop along his path, by the way--suggests a consistent pattern of cheating that absolutely DOES detract from his accomplishments and call his coaching acumen into question.
RF2044
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No, they didn't.
They won because they had a group of sophomores from the previous class return, as well as a senior role player who happened to be a good scorer / shooter return to provide stability, around a group of freshmen who were also pretty damn good--one of whom was a transcendent talent. But it wasn't all freshmen, nor did that freshman class comprise all of the principal contributors on that championship squad.
Let's at least characterize what happened correctly.
I just did, and will continue to. He looked bewildered last night IMO. Just my humble opinion. Remember this is the guy who decided to say 40-0 and say uk IS college basketball. I'm sure he was tongue in cheek but let's see if he regrets those statements at end of season. How did his little reality show work out for last yrs team? Every final four he has made (that wasn't vacated) he had at least three to five nba players, plenty of decent coaches could do that IMHOIMHO
Shermthegeneral
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I think PayPal Cal is a slick car salesman who just so happened to get into coaching! I do think he does a pretty good job coaching. I work in sales and I've noticed 2 types of sales people. 1st is the rep who sells a ton but often has questionable ethics and usually ends up getting fired for violating a company policy. 2nd is the sales rep who plays by the rules, is consistent but doesn't wow you with production. We've already seen that Cal is that 1st sales rep and it's only time until he slips up and gets caught with something. As someone said earlier, Cal will all of a sudden move on to the NBA in a few years and 2-3 months later, there will be a smoking gun violation that comes out.
cusetown1
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He did.
jordoo
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He was at the one open gym run when bjorn had the flue and you out played him. Still Reese "Rick Rolled You that day"
cusetown1
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Cal needs to hit the gym and stop eating so many sweets.
General20
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Two things here,
1) Kentucky never won a title using the freshman approach. The title they won only happened because the NBA went on strike and their best freshmen from the previous class stayed and mixed with their new and best ever freshman class (and they cut the leftovers). Without an NBA work stoppage Kentucky never wins anything.
2) I was always mystified by this UK class being called the greatest ever. I dont even think its the best class this year. Kansas has a fewer number of recruits, but those recruits are of higher quality, I'd rather have their guys than Kentucky's and I'm not even sure its that close.
1) Kentucky never won a title using the freshman approach. The title they won only happened because the NBA went on strike and their best freshmen from the previous class stayed and mixed with their new and best ever freshman class (and they cut the leftovers). Without an NBA work stoppage Kentucky never wins anything.
2) I was always mystified by this UK class being called the greatest ever. I dont even think its the best class this year. Kansas has a fewer number of recruits, but those recruits are of higher quality, I'd rather have their guys than Kentucky's and I'm not even sure its that close.
cusetown1
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I would also like to point out contrary to what Fran said about UK really learning how to score against the zone. That was total b.s. If it wasn't for them hitting 6 3's in the first half the game would have been over a lot sooner. Also, there was a play last night that made me realize Cal was totally clueless against it. Near the end of the game with like 3:00 min to go and with the shot clock winding down you could hear him say " bring it back out". When he said that I knew the game was over. They were totally like a deer in headlights.
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