Is it time for Calipari to go?

[9068]

I'm neither a big UK nor Calipari fan, but.....maybe it's time for the fan base to quit worrying about winning "recruiting"season and just hope the players they bring in are fundamentally sound enough to do what he asks. If he's what UK fans boast about he sure as heck didn't forget everything he knew did he? Where's World Wide Wes when you really need him? ( New York Knicks special advisor). Think about that.

[Voice of Reason]

Would Adam Kunkel have helped this UK team? Would he get playing time if Cal did bring him in?

IMO, Adam Kunkel is a player UK fans would love to see on UK's roster. But I  see him as the player Cal has no interest in and sheds light on areas where Cal might need to tweak his system.

[John Anthony]

Cal’s best team have been loaded with superstars.  Cal’s good teams had a few players who could put the ball in the hoop, Murray, SGA, Knight, 2020 team has neither and its ugly.

Trying to coach “5 star” athletes who aren’t lottery picks and who can’t shoot that well is not his game.

[Voice of Reason]

22 minutes ago, John Anthony said:

Cal’s best team have been loaded with superstars.  Cal’s good teams had a few players who could put the ball in the hoop, Murray, SGA, Knight, 2020 team has neither and its ugly.

Trying to coach “5 star” athletes who aren’t lottery picks and who can’t shoot that well is not his game.

If I am Cal, my focus in recruiting would be guys who are threats taking it to the hoop and scoring in one on one situations. That is what his offense is based on. If I have to drop down to the #30 ranked recruits to find those guys, that is what I do. I also want a 3 point shooter in every class.

[9068]

1 hour ago, Voice of Reason said:

If I am Cal, my focus in recruiting would be guys who are threats taking it to the hoop and scoring in one on one situations. That is what his offense is based on. If I have to drop down to the #30 ranked recruits to find those guys, that is what I do. I also want a 3 point shooter in every class.

Why not recruit a couple of megastars, and a few players to develop? 

[Voice of Reason]

25 minutes ago, 9068 said:

Why not recruit a couple of megastars, and a few players to develop? 

The few players to develop are the players lower than top 30 recruits who can shoot or drive to the hoop and could make offensive plays for you. Recruiting a player who is the 200th ranked recruit to develop is not a good plan.

[9068]

1 minute ago, Voice of Reason said:

The few players to develop are the players lower than top 30 recruits who can shoot or drive to the hoop and could make offensive plays for you. Recruiting a player who is the 200th ranked recruit to develop is not a good plan.

To me, several of these players I see now need to develop. They just do not seem to understand how to play in a team setting. I'm not talking 200th ranked player....they never do that. I just wish the NBA would let them go to the G league from high school.

[bugatti]

People do know other teams recruit players, right? Calipari doesn’t just pick a handful of guys then the others go after him.

[bugatti]

1 minute ago, 9068 said:

 I just wish the NBA would let them go to the G league from high school.

High school kids can go straight to the G League. A handful of the top players in high school are in the G League this year (including a couple of projected lottery selections). I think you will continue to see more of this and the college game will continue its slow erosion.

[4 Quarters]

1 hour ago, bugatti said:

High school kids can go straight to the G League. A handful of the top players in high school are in the G League this year (including a couple of projected lottery selections). I think you will continue to see more of this and the college game will continue its slow erosion.

I don't know if I see any erosion of the college game yet, but I do believe I see the playing field becoming more level.

[Randy Parker]

21 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Totally disagree with you on this, if Jackson doesn’t block a shot this team is horrible defensively!!

I think the team's overall length gives people problems.  Defense was good enough to beat both Kansas and Louisville.  They aren't elite, but I believe they're good enough to be a Top 25 team if there was a decent offense. 

[Randy Parker]

8 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Would Adam Kunkel have helped this UK team? Would he get playing time if Cal did bring him in?

IMO, Adam Kunkel is a player UK fans would love to see on UK's roster. But I  see him as the player Cal has no interest in and sheds light on areas where Cal might need to tweak his system.

Or David Johnson?  I don't remember Cal aggressively pursuing him.  

[TheDeuce]

1 hour ago, Randy Parker said:

Or David Johnson?  I don't remember Cal aggressively pursuing him.  

Mack had been recruiting DJ hard even at Xavier, I’m not sure it would have mattered. 

[futurecoach]

12 hours ago, John Anthony said:

Cal’s best team have been loaded with superstars.  Cal’s good teams had a few players who could put the ball in the hoop, Murray, SGA, Knight, 2020 team has neither and its ugly.

Trying to coach “5 star” athletes who aren’t lottery picks and who can’t shoot that well is not his game.

Can you explain the 2014 team then? It didn’t really have any of the things you just listed. Yet he was able to beat four teams that were suppose to be better than them, to get to the finals that year. Shoot the 2014 team went further than the 2010 and 2015 team loaded with superstars. The 2017 and 2019 teams did just as good as the 2010 team loaded with superstars, and literally one shot short of the 2015 loaded team. 
 

At the end of the day it seems most UK fans only care what happens in the tournament. Well he has had his teams that weren’t loaded with superstars, that did even better or just as good as the teams that were loaded with superstars and better than the Murray and SGA teams. 
 

So your narrative there doesn’t seem to fit. The only thing that should get from this, is how hard it is to win 6 straight games in the tournament. Cal has had teams make runs by beating better teams like in 2011, and 2014. Then he had teams that lost that shouldn’t. It literally is hard to win it all. 
 

If it was easy, then Rupp wouldn’t be the only coach in UK history who has multiple titles. 
 

To answer the question it is not time for him to go. However, for most of his career he was considered to be the coach who was always ahead of the curve in regards to other coaches. He is going to have to adjust some things and soon. Or else it will be close to time to move on. 

[futurecoach]

10 hours ago, 9068 said:

Why not recruit a couple of megastars, and a few players to develop? 

That is the thing he has done that. He has recruited guys thinking they would be here for awhile. Or he has recruited guys who are suppose to be shooters. The problem is players these days are not interested in waiting for their turn. They have parents, AAU coaches telling them they should be playing, and usually end up transferring. 
 

When he recruited guys like Bledsoe, Lamb, Booker, Ullis, SGA, Herro, etc. I don’t think he ever thought they would be gone after one year or even two years for a couple of them. However, a lot of those guys played better than expected and became first round picks. Then guys like Lamb and Ullis who shouldn’t have gone pro after their sophomore years, then decided to go even though they were just second round picks. Both of those guys should have been four year players. 
 

Then you have guys like Matthew’s, Baker, Juzang, etc. who would be four years guys, but weren’t not happy with playing time and transferred. 
 

People think all he recruits is one and done guys. It is not true though. Some guys did better than expected as freshman to become first round picks. Some guys simply left to go to the NBA when they shouldn’t have. Then others aren’t happy with playing time and then transfer. So he actually is doing a lot of the things people say he should do, with mixing in top recruits with guys who may be a shooter or would need to develop. 
 

Some of it is his fault, for how he won’t give the shooters he has much of a chance on the court to make a mistake. Then also some of it is bad luck. Even last year when he had an experienced team and only one freshman starting. We didn’t get to see how he would do with an experienced bunch because of it being cancelled. 
 

Honestly maybe we need a year like this to break the cycle to get UK where people say they want them. With having guys having to return, to mix in with new guys coming in.