He needs to work on restarting the UofL-Memphis St. rivalry.

What a passionate rivalry that was.

What a passionate rivalry that was.

 

I still hate those guys.

I don't see any way Calipari plays a road game at Memphis. I could see him playing in a nearby neutral court, like the Grizzlies arena or something similar.

I don't see any way Calipari plays a road game at Memphis. I could see him playing in a nearby neutral court, like the Grizzlies arena or something similar.

 

Ask yourself for a moment this question: If there were an NBA-type arena in Lexington that didn't house UK, how neutral would that be to teams coming to play Kentucky? C'mon, man.

 

This thing with UK only wanting to play in "neutral" arenas is just plain silly, and a cheap cop-out to avoid playing real road games. And that's why Kentucky loses games on the road in the SEC they shouldn't. Cal does his guys a disservice by not playing real road games outside of the conference. Pretty sure it has a lot to do with why UK lost 4 straight conference games this year and fans were jumping off ledges in early February.

 

If he were truly preparing them for the NBA like he says he does, it seems like he would want to take a Denny Crum "anybody, anytime, anywhere" approach. Playing in hostile environments makes your team tougher, and definitely prepares them for the rigors of the NBA schedule (let alone the NCAA tourney, which is what Kentucky fans truly care about, even though they pay lip service to the joy they get out of UK players' success in the NBA). Perhaps if they'd played in more difficult environments in pre-conference season they could've handled that wide-open region they were gifted to this year.

Ask yourself for a moment this question: If there were an NBA-type arena in Lexington that didn't house UK, how neutral would that be to teams coming to play Kentucky? C'mon, man.

 

This thing with UK only wanting to play in "neutral" arenas is just plain silly, and a cheap cop-out to avoid playing real road games. And that's why Kentucky loses games on the road in the SEC they shouldn't. Cal does his guys a disservice by not playing real road games outside of the conference. Pretty sure it has a lot to do with why UK lost 4 straight conference games this year and fans were jumping off ledges in early February.

 

If he were truly preparing them for the NBA like he says he does, it seems like he would want to take a Denny Crum "anybody, anytime, anywhere" approach. Playing in hostile environments makes your team tougher, and definitely prepares them for the rigors of the NBA schedule (let alone the NCAA tourney, which is what Kentucky fans truly care about, even though they pay lip service to the joy they get out of UK players' success in the NBA). Perhaps if they'd played in more difficult environments in pre-conference season they could've handled that wide-open region they were gifted to this year.

 

“But the NCAA tournament is held on a neutral floor” is the response I get every time i say this to friends of mine. Heaven forbid Cal takes these kids into a “tough” environment. But he’ll gladly play you in the friendly confines of Rupp Arena.

Cal knows what he's doing, no one has been more successful than he has during his UK days. You take a freshman team into a hostile environment early in the year and they can get crushed and never recover from it. He certainly is not going to do it during the SEC schedule.

Ask yourself for a moment this question: If there were an NBA-type arena in Lexington that didn't house UK, how neutral would that be to teams coming to play Kentucky? C'mon, man.

 

This thing with UK only wanting to play in "neutral" arenas is just plain silly, and a cheap cop-out to avoid playing real road games. And that's why Kentucky loses games on the road in the SEC they shouldn't. Cal does his guys a disservice by not playing real road games outside of the conference. Pretty sure it has a lot to do with why UK lost 4 straight conference games this year and fans were jumping off ledges in early February.

 

If he were truly preparing them for the NBA like he says he does, it seems like he would want to take a Denny Crum "anybody, anytime, anywhere" approach. Playing in hostile environments makes your team tougher, and definitely prepares them for the rigors of the NBA schedule (let alone the NCAA tourney, which is what Kentucky fans truly care about, even though they pay lip service to the joy they get out of UK players' success in the NBA). Perhaps if they'd played in more difficult environments in pre-conference season they could've handled that wide-open region they were gifted to this year.

 

“But the NCAA tournament is held on a neutral floor” is the response I get every time i say this to friends of mine. Heaven forbid Cal takes these kids into a “tough” environment. But he’ll gladly play you in the friendly confines of Rupp Arena.

 

Many of the basketball gyms they play in from end of December until March are sold out and crazy when Kentucky comes to town. How many more tough environments does he need to have his guys play in before March?

 

Seems to me that they play in plenty of tough environments throughout the SEC season. So why not get a mix of both by playing neutral court games in MSG, Barclays, United Center, and etc, which these kids also dream of? Plus a lot of the fans like to travel to those events as well (not that I have). To me he's using both strategies right now. If he stops playing in the big arena neutral court games, he doesn't have the players gaining that experience for fun, but also for getting used to playing in those types of buildings.

 

I have zero issue with how he schedules games.

I don't see any way Calipari plays a road game at Memphis. I could see him playing in a nearby neutral court, like the Grizzlies arena or something similar.

 

Wireman, the Grizzlies Arena, Fed Ex Forum, is Memphis' home court.

Ask yourself for a moment this question: If there were an NBA-type arena in Lexington that didn't house UK, how neutral would that be to teams coming to play Kentucky? C'mon, man.

 

This thing with UK only wanting to play in "neutral" arenas is just plain silly, and a cheap cop-out to avoid playing real road games. And that's why Kentucky loses games on the road in the SEC they shouldn't. Cal does his guys a disservice by not playing real road games outside of the conference. Pretty sure it has a lot to do with why UK lost 4 straight conference games this year and fans were jumping off ledges in early February.

 

If he were truly preparing them for the NBA like he says he does, it seems like he would want to take a Denny Crum "anybody, anytime, anywhere" approach. Playing in hostile environments makes your team tougher, and definitely prepares them for the rigors of the NBA schedule (let alone the NCAA tourney, which is what Kentucky fans truly care about, even though they pay lip service to the joy they get out of UK players' success in the NBA). Perhaps if they'd played in more difficult environments in pre-conference season they could've handled that wide-open region they were gifted to this year.

 

No top teams play many true road games and some play none. It is a problem with college basketball. It is not any more of an issue at UK than UofL, Michigan State, Duke, etc.

 

The Memphis Series would have been more interesting when Tubby was there, because it would have brought Tubby back to Rupp. The UK/Memphis series is now much more interesting if you live in Memphis. I doubt it happens.

Wireman, the Grizzlies Arena, Fed Ex Forum, is Memphis' home court.

 

In that case...I just don't see it.

Those SEC road games are absolutely nuts. Football schools or not, they go all out when Kentucky comes to town.

Would make sense to schedule a home and home with UK coming to Memphis this season (2018-2019) with the return game at Rupp in 2019-2020...other than that makes zero sense for UK until Memphis is even relevant again.

 

Too much for UK to lose and nothing to gain!

Those SEC road games are absolutely nuts. Football schools or not, they go all out when Kentucky comes to town.

 

Yes they do.

Ask yourself for a moment this question: If there were an NBA-type arena in Lexington that didn't house UK, how neutral would that be to teams coming to play Kentucky? C'mon, man.

 

This thing with UK only wanting to play in "neutral" arenas is just plain silly, and a cheap cop-out to avoid playing real road games. And that's why Kentucky loses games on the road in the SEC they shouldn't. Cal does his guys a disservice by not playing real road games outside of the conference. Pretty sure it has a lot to do with why UK lost 4 straight conference games this year and fans were jumping off ledges in early February.

 

If he were truly preparing them for the NBA like he says he does, it seems like he would want to take a Denny Crum "anybody, anytime, anywhere" approach. Playing in hostile environments makes your team tougher, and definitely prepares them for the rigors of the NBA schedule (let alone the NCAA tourney, which is what Kentucky fans truly care about, even though they pay lip service to the joy they get out of UK players' success in the NBA). Perhaps if they'd played in more difficult environments in pre-conference season they could've handled that wide-open region they were gifted to this year.

 

“But the NCAA tournament is held on a neutral floor” is the response I get every time i say this to friends of mine. Heaven forbid Cal takes these kids into a “tough” environment. But he’ll gladly play you in the friendly confines of Rupp Arena.

 

How many true scheduled road games in non conference does Duke, UNC, Kansas, etc play? Obviously all those teams including UK play a true road game every other year in the ACC/Big 10 challenge and the Sec/Big 12 challenge. But besides those games what all true road non conference games do those teams play? UK also every other year has a true road game at UL. So compared to the other top programs, how many true road non conference games do these other top programs play? You would think they play a lot with how much talk you all have done recently in saying UK needs more true road games in non conference.

How many true scheduled road games in non conference does Duke, UNC, Kansas, etc play? Obviously all those teams including UK play a true road game every other year in the ACC/Big 10 challenge and the Sec/Big 12 challenge. But besides those games what all true road non conference games do those teams play? UK also every other year has a true road game at UL. So compared to the other top programs, how many true road non conference games do these other top programs play? You would think they play a lot with how much talk you all have done recently in saying UK needs more true road games in non conference.

Very few, and there is no correlation at all to NCAA tournament success and playing true road games. I would love to see it more, no doubt, but I am also realistic in knowing why it doesn't happen.