After his appearance, he calls back to defend the statement he isn't a good Xs and Os coach.

 

Calipari calls into Mike Francesa?s show to critique Francesa?s critique of him | Kentucky Sports Radio

Excellent!!!!!!!!!

Love it!

Love it and he just hung up lol.

Cal definitely has his swagger back :lol2:

Cal definitely has his swagger back :lol2:

 

I know that Cal said "I like my team" many times last year, but this season I think that he really, really likes it.

 

Him calling in was just classic Cal being Cal. Loved it.

I thought Mike Francesa was fine in saying what he said at the start of the clip.

 

Saying someone "isn't a great X's and O's coach" isn't saying he "can't coach". He said he's a great recruiter, great motivator, and great at getting guys to play together.

 

I don't think he's an awful X's and O's coach or anything and that he's actually underrated when it comes to his X's and O's, but I don't think he's one of the guys who comes to mind when you think "best X's and O's guys".

 

 

I also don't have a problem with Cal saying to him, "why didn't you say that while I was sitting beside you" either. Personally, I wouldn't have called and might have handled it differently than Cal did, but I don't have a problem with him relaying the "why didn't you say that while I was sitting beside you" after I'd done an interview with a guy for his show.

Love it and he just hung up lol.

 

Actually Francesa dumped Calipari. I agree with one poster from the KSR site, "No balls move by Francesa once Calipari had left the studio." Xs & Os, Jimmys & Joes, ABCs, XYZs whatever, Calipari just wins. Hard to criticize that.

That's awesome!

Love it and love Cal, but Francesa is right in my book.

The OBUnder plays we run are just awful.

I'd argue Cal is the greatest BBall mind in the country. He doesn't recruit players to fit a system that e lives and does by. He recruits the kids then forms the system around them. No team in the country can have the turnover UK does, have the different styles of play year in and year out they do, and be successful.

I've been to several Calipari practices and I've heard and seen his X's and O's. That man can flat out coach and anyone who says otherwise is off base. You don't coach at the division level for 20-30 years unless you can coach. He won at UMASS and Memphis. I've been around a lot of coaches and Calipari is certainly one of the best.

 

Not to mention, it's pretty poor to have someone on your show then hammer him as soon as he walks out the door.

I've been to several Calipari practices and I've heard and seen his X's and O's. That man can flat out coach and anyone who says otherwise is off base. You don't coach at the division level for 20-30 years unless you can coach. He won at UMASS and Memphis. I've been around a lot of coaches and Calipari is certainly one of the best.

 

Not to mention, it's pretty poor to have someone on your show then hammer him as soon as he walks out the door.

 

 

Agree there 110%.

 

I don't think saying something to the effect of, "he isn't one of the very best X's and O's coaches in the game... no one is great in every area and he's the best of all when it comes to recruiting, motivating kids, and molding a team" when the host himself only mentions three or four categories when listing his own criteria means that the speaker thinks he's a 'bad' X's and O's guy though.

 

I thought it was funny when Cal asked him why he didn't say that while he was there on the show, but I think it's fair to give the host the benefit of the doubt.

 

Most people are going to concede that Cal is one of, if not the, premier recruiter, and one of the best motivators and guys at molding a team over the course of the year. If he's the best X's and O's guy, is the best recruiter, is the best motivator, is the best at molding his teams, then it sounds like he's a perfect coach and we should never lose a game.

 

I LOVE Cal. Best fit to breathe life into the Kentucky program. He and the Kentucky job were meant for one another. He brought us a natty. He is one of only 5 men to ever bring one to the school, the others being Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Rick Pitino, and Tubby Smith, to bring us a national championship. He will be loved by tons of fans. He is, in my opinion, the best recruiter, the best marketer, the best at molding a team through turnover each year, and one of the very best motivators in the game.

 

When someone says, "I don't think he's one of the very best X's and O's guys", they might not be trying to slam him either. I don't know the history between he and the reporter, the context of the interview, or all of the dynamics. I do know that when I'm asked to list "top 5 X's and O's guys in the college game" and I'm debating it with a friend who doesn't have Calipari in that group, that I'm at least going to hear out their argument as to why.

 

 

Tom Izzo?

 

Great X's and O's guy?

Check.

 

Motivator?

Check.

 

Recruiter?

Question mark if he's one of the elite-top 5 type guys.

 

Great at molding a team through lots of turnover?

Eh, maybe because he's had some guys who go pro early and some guys who get hurt and he's adjusted well enough. Marketer? Nowhere near Cal's level. Please. Not even in the ballpark.

 

Do I think Tom Izzo is a bad coach? No.

Do I think Tom Izzo is one of the best coaches in the game? Yes, no doubt.

 

 

Billy Donovan

 

Motivator?

Check. Look at how well his teams gel and what he did with the back-to-back national title team in getting those kids to buy in for another year.

 

Marketing?

Check. Yea.... he's up there. He has to sell Florida basketball, and he's done well at doing it.

 

Recruiter?

Check.

 

Great X's and O's guy.

Maybe on some fronts, but his team's biggest successes came when a good X's and O's guy and defensive guru named Larry Shyatt was on the bench with him.

 

Great at molding a team through lots of turnover?

Eh, maybe because he's had some guys who go pro early and some guys who get hurt and he's adjusted well enough.

 

 

Do I think Billy Donovan is a bad coach? No.

Do I think Billy Donovan is one of the best coaches in the game? Yes, no doubt.

 

When you are talking about topics like that it's an ugliest Ms. America contest.

If you had a collection of decent college players at XYZ State University and you wanted a coach to come in and take over THAT collection of kids and coach them, would Cal be the first one on the list you would call? Would he be top 5?

 

In this scenario, recruiting would not be a factor at all. X's and O's would carry much more weight, again in this particular scenario.

 

He's not the strongest X's and O's guy out there. In my scenario there would be I think at least a few guys I would call before I got to Cal. Doesn't mean he can't coach, just means he's not as good at THAT part of it as some other guys.

I agree with Cal, though. The guy should have had the gumption to ask him that question while he was sitting right beside him. The way he did it was bush league, cowardly.