They did pick up their first conference win last night at home over Georgia after trailing by as many as 15.

53 minutes ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

They did pick up their first conference win last night at home over Georgia after trailing by as many as 15.

They won by luck and quick reaction of the foul shooter. Nothing to do with Cal coaching just alot of luck.

55 minutes ago, MaddenCurse44 said:

They won by luck and quick reaction of the foul shooter. Nothing to do with Cal coaching just alot of luck.

I'm not sure I know what you are talking about. If you are referencing the Thiero missed FT attempt and put back as time expired, the game was already over. He'd iced the game with the previous FT make. The only thing that did was ensure UGA didn't attempt a 90-foot heave. Maybe you are referencing another sequence I missed? In fairness, I was dozing in and out of sleep in the final minutes because the action was so slow.

People have Jumped the Shark with this whole Calipari thing. Every single thing, every little detail, etc. that worked against UK (and now Arkansas) the last several years was Calipari's fault... and he had a lot of blame to shoulder for the program's devolution. I will 100% cosign on that. But, if you are going to assign him 100% of the blame, you have to give him 100% of the credit if anything positive happens.

Calipari: The girlfriend UK fanatics can't get over, despite being in a new relationship. Living rent free in everyone's head.

 

 

1 hour ago, bugatti said:

I'm not sure I know what you are talking about. If you are referencing the Thiero missed FT attempt and put back as time expired, the game was already over. He'd iced the game with the previous FT make. The only thing that did was ensure UGA didn't attempt a 90-foot heave. Maybe you are referencing another sequence I missed? In fairness, I was dozing in and out of sleep in the final minutes because the action was so slow.

People have Jumped the Shark with this whole Calipari thing. Every single thing, every little detail, etc. that worked against UK (and now Arkansas) the last several years was Calipari's fault... and he had a lot of blame to shoulder for the program's devolution. I will 100% cosign on that. But, if you are going to assign him 100% of the blame, you have to give him 100% of the credit if anything positive happens.

Calipari: The girlfriend UK fanatics can't get over, despite being in a new relationship. Living rent free in everyone's head.

 

 

I have never been a fan of Cal couldn't stand him when coached at UMass and Memphis. 

8 hours ago, MaddenCurse44 said:

I have never been a fan of Cal couldn't stand him when coached at UMass and Memphis. 

He feels he is better than the game, that’s nauseating to me, nobody is bigger than the game!!

Below are parts from an interview posted yesterday from Calipari's interview with CBS's Jon Rothstein

Arkansas' John Calipari says if he 'can't impact' his players, this will be his last year.

 

It's important for Calipari to help his players not only in their basketball careers, but in their personal lives, emphasizing how difficult how the current world of social media can impact student's mental health.

Calipari said he wants to help 20-30 more families, and once he does that, he can say, "Alright, had a good run." 

Explaining why he thought he'd retire earlier, the 66-year-old said, "I never thought I'd coach this long. And mainly because I've been under the gun for how long? I mean, every arena sold out, had No. 1 teams, which means you're chased ... And I said, 'If I get to 60, that'll be it.'"

Calipari wouldn't say anything definite in terms of a retirement, but did give insight on when he will know when it's time to be done.

"If I can't impact kids, this will be my last year," he said.

Calipari is critical of the transfer portal and wants to get the rules "in check" so that coaches can still coach and impact young people. He said if NIL deals and the transfer portal start to make it so he doesn't have that connection with the players, then he has no desire to keep going. 

Calipari says the biggest issue in the sport is the transfer portal, and while he believes players should be able to transfer, Calipari finds issue when someone transfers every year. He says players should have to stay in a school for a year, actually play, and if they choose to transfer, they can do it one time. 

"We can't be coaching against 28-year-olds. Are we nuts? ... We're getting away from freshman recruiting," Calipari said.

If there is a handle over how many times a player can transfer, Calipari says it will help students graduate on time and get back to the times of finding young players and developing them. He said 70 percent of the issues have to do with what he feels is an issue with the transfer portal.

"I always said kids deserve the money, but the way we're doing this, we're hurting kids, not helping kids," Calipari says. 

It would have been really fun to have Acuff at UK this year.?

31 minutes ago, okie1 said:

It would have been really fun to have Acuff at UK this year.?

Love Cal or hate him, he's goneeeee.

I continue with the same line I've said constantly - it was time for both parties.  The line I had in this very thread was "Familiarity breeds complacency".  Cal got complacent.  The drive that he'd had previously wasn't there.  He needed a new challenge.  I firmly believe that what he's done this year he may not have successfully done here.  Not because he was incapable, because I don't believe he'd have been driven to.  The feeling by Kentucky (and its fans) to want to move on I remain confident was the correct feeling when viewing all the factors.  Just because it appears likely that they botched the hire to follow Cal, something many felt apprehensive about when Pope was hired, does not make the original feeling incorrect.

A lot of people are desperate to dunk on Kentucky for their desire to split, but in my soul I do not believe we'd be seeing the same results here.

I also leave it to the man himself who always said that Kentucky was a job you hold for ten years and then move on.  Cal's first 10 years were magnificent, even though the back half of the decade didn't meet the ridiculously high standard of the first half.  A title, a runner-up, two additional Final Fours, three other Elite Eights, and a Sweet 16 in that first decade.  Also five SEC regular season titles and six SEC tournament championships.  What did the time after those ten years bring Kentucky? One SEC regular season title (the Covid year), zero SEC tournament championships, and not a single advance beyond the second round, although 2020 was certainly one that might have yielded better results had the NCAA tournament been played. He, and they, were not the same. 

9 minutes ago, DragonFire said:

I continue with the same line I've said constantly - it was time for both parties.  The line I had in this very thread was "Familiarity breeds complacency".  Cal got complacent.  The drive that he'd had previously wasn't there.  He needed a new challenge.  I firmly believe that what he's done this year he may not have successfully done here.  Not because he was incapable, because I don't believe he'd have been driven to.  The feeling by Kentucky (and its fans) to want to move on I remain confident was the correct feeling when viewing all the factors.  Just because it appears likely that they botched the hire to follow Cal, something many felt apprehensive about when Pope was hired, does not make the original feeling incorrect.

A lot of people are desperate to dunk on Kentucky for their desire to split, but in my soul I do not believe we'd be seeing the same results here.

I also leave it to the man himself who always said that Kentucky was a job you hold for ten years and then move on.  Cal's first 10 years were magnificent, even though the back half of the decade didn't meet the ridiculously high standard of the first half.  A title, a runner-up, two additional Final Fours, three other Elite Eights, and a Sweet 16 in that first decade.  Also five SEC regular season titles and six SEC tournament championships.  What did the time after those ten years bring Kentucky? One SEC regular season title (the Covid year), zero SEC tournament championships, and not a single advance beyond the second round, although 2020 was certainly one that might have yielded better results had the NCAA tournament been played. He, and they, were not the same. 

I totally agree, very well stated.

I know I was one of the biggest Cal supporters on here his last few years, but my support was more on how some on here were saying Cal is a horrible coach, blah, blah, blah. Which them saying that was just complete nonsense. While he may only be an average X and O coach, he is basically great at all the other aspects of coaching, which are just as important. As we are seeing with Pope who may be a better X and O coach but seems to struggle in all the other areas needed. Calipari's career basically mirrors Pitino, who most on here consider the best coach ever. Both coaches have essentially done the exact same and won at every school they been at, in fact Cal even owns the head to head over the Pitino. So it was just non sense, how some on here acted like he was horrible. Which quite honestly even his last few years here wasn't as bad as some want to act like. He put together a couple of really good teams, but unfortunately finally fell victim to the first round upset, that he had avoided most of his career. It has happened to all coaches, but unfortunately for him it came twice in a 3 year period, and to go along with the bad covid year, it just made this fan base go nuts. 

With all that said, it definitely was best for both parties to move on. Cal needed a fresh start, and UK needed a fresh start too. However, as Dragonfire mentioned UK possibly may have messed up in regards to who they hired to replace Cal. Hopefully Pope can show that he can get this righted, as of right now Arkansas and Cal have gotten the better end of this divorce. 

10 hours ago, futurecoach said:

I know I was one of the biggest Cal supporters on here his last few years, but my support was more on how some on here were saying Cal is a horrible coach, blah, blah, blah. Which them saying that was just complete nonsense. While he may only be an average X and O coach, he is basically great at all the other aspects of coaching, which are just as important. As we are seeing with Pope who may be a better X and O coach but seems to struggle in all the other areas needed. Calipari's career basically mirrors Pitino, who most on here consider the best coach ever. Both coaches have essentially done the exact same and won at every school they been at, in fact Cal even owns the head to head over the Pitino. So it was just non sense, how some on here acted like he was horrible. Which quite honestly even his last few years here wasn't as bad as some want to act like. He put together a couple of really good teams, but unfortunately finally fell victim to the first round upset, that he had avoided most of his career. It has happened to all coaches, but unfortunately for him it came twice in a 3 year period, and to go along with the bad covid year, it just made this fan base go nuts. 

With all that said, it definitely was best for both parties to move on. Cal needed a fresh start, and UK needed a fresh start too. However, as Dragonfire mentioned UK possibly may have messed up in regards to who they hired to replace Cal. Hopefully Pope can show that he can get this righted, as of right now Arkansas and Cal have gotten the better end of this divorce. 

Mark Pope would not have been on the list of Cal replacements if he wasn't an alum.  That was his ONLY qualification, which isn't really a qualification. Two years in and he's very average. 

I really liked Cal, but the two sides needed greener grass.  He's a great coach or he wouldn't have Final Fours at three different schools.  His career is marked by consistently winning.  That's all I need to see.

I really hope Pope can turn things around.  He is a good man and it would be a great story if he can succeed.  I just don't see it happening.