November 26, 201213 yr I don't know what to make of UCLA. I know there is a ton of season left, but this loss is ridiculous. Not everyone can coach a bunch of possible one and done players.
November 26, 201213 yr Not everyone can coach a bunch of possible one and done players. That's not as crazy a statement as some may think it is.
November 26, 201213 yr Author Not everyone can coach a bunch of possible one and done players. That may well be what this is. As bad a loss as this is, though, I remember UK needing a John Wall 15-footer to beat Miami Ohio at home a few years ago. The season is still early, but from what I've seen of UCLA, they look very shaky.
November 26, 201213 yr It's still early, but I will bring up the point I made last season after this UCLA class came together. To me this gives everybody a chance to see what makes John Calipari so special. In Howland's case he has a class similar to those that Calipari has been bringing in, but he has the added bonus of experienced contributors still on the roster (Smith, Ware's, Drew, etc.) The point I made was we would see if this is just something Calipari is magical at (bringing in elite recruiting classes and molding them into championship contenders) or if others can do the same. Ben Howland has what John Calipari has had to work with in essence so let's see if he can get it done like Calipari. It was my argument that no one can do it like Cal, but only time will tell as this season drags on. I'm not going to point my finger and say I told you so over a loss to Cal Poly, but if they fail to make it past the first weekend of the tourney I may have a legitimate argument. The difference is Cal has done a great job of identifying what guys at the top of the food chain would actually fit together on the floor during the recruiting process. Howland took a bunch of guys that A) don't fit his style of play and B) don't fit together on the floor as a unit. It had disaster written all over it from day 1...
November 26, 201213 yr That's not as crazy a statement as some may think it is. Just look at Tubby and the Rondo class. That class was loaded.
November 26, 201213 yr The difference is Cal has done a great job of identifying what guys at the top of the food chain would actually fit together on the floor during the recruiting process. Howland took a bunch of guys that A) don't fit his style of play and B) don't fit together on the floor as a unit. It had disaster written all over it from day 1... Which kind of makes what Cal is doing even more impressive. A lot of people think it's just about getting top talent, I guess the point I was trying to make was there's a lot more that goes into it than just that. What Calipari is so good at is getting these guys to buy into a role, he plays his players toward their strengths and away from their weaknesses. Guys like Cousins, Davis, and even Jones to an extent had the ability to pull up and knock down a three every now and then. They were able to fire away in high school and all thought they were perimeter players more than post guys. Cal parked them in the post and not only made them embrace the role, but helped sharpen (along with the help of O, Kenny Payne, and the other coaches) their skills down there. Your starting to see the same with Poythress, he wants him to do most of his work in the paint. He's good at utilizing his guys best attributes and molding that into a team concept. That's what separates him IMO, on top of getting some of the best players.
November 27, 201213 yr Which kind of makes what Cal is doing even more impressive. A lot of people think it's just about getting top talent, I guess the point I was trying to make was there's a lot more that goes into it than just that. What Calipari is so good at is getting these guys to buy into a role, he plays his players toward their strengths and away from their weaknesses. Guys like Cousins, Davis, and even Jones to an extent had the ability to pull up and knock down a three every now and then. They were able to fire away in high school and all thought they were perimeter players more than post guys. Cal parked them in the post and not only made them embrace the role, but helped sharpen (along with the help of O, Kenny Payne, and the other coaches) their skills down there. Your starting to see the same with Poythress, he wants him to do most of his work in the paint. He's good at utilizing his guys best attributes and molding that into a team concept. That's what separates him IMO, on top of getting some of the best players. Another important thing about Calipari and the success he's been able to have with the one and done is his ability to adapt to each team. Instead of trying to plug a square peg in a circular hole, he adjusts his teams in accordance to what they can do. Like said with Howland not recruiting guys to fit his style of play, Calipari doesn't know what style he will play until he works with each team. Every team he has had at Kentucky has played a different style, people talk about Cal and the DDM but he may have had only one true DDM team since he's been at UK. His ability to adapt to his guys and what they can do and other coaches inability (mostly due to ego in most cases) to change their style of play to fit the pieces they have is another thing that seperates Calipari and a lot of coaches.
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