Is it time to rethink John Calipari?

[TUSKtimes]

Record-wise, I think Cal would be the "Bob Stoops" of college basketball. Ego-wise, I'm sure he's convinced he's a lot more "Nick Saban."

 

[Outofmyvolcanmind]

Record-wise, I think Cal would be the "Bob Stoops" of college basketball. Ego-wise, I'm sure he's convinced he's a lot more "Nick Saban."

Way more college Pete Carroll than Stoops. Has swag and questionable techniques.

 

[dukes_of_maggard]

The 30 for 30 had a pretty narrow focus, it didn't deviate too much from Cal's career - if it were a piece designed to put him in the best light possible it did a poor job. Cal does a lot for the people of the Commonwealth that no one ever knows about, a fluff-job documentary would have at least mentioned the work he does for Lexington (and continues to do for Memphis)

 

[YankeeVol]

Even in terms of X's and O's, he's pretty good. You don't make the playoffs in the NBA by accident, especially when your best players are Keith Van Horn and Kerry Kittles. He might not be THE BEST, but neither is Coach K. That doesn't mean they're "average."

Coach K is closer to the best than Cal will ever be.

 

[YankeeVol]

Probably Izzo, Pitino or Self. Definitely not Roy

Izzo and Self each have 1 title.

Pitino you could maybe make an arguement for at least.

Williams has 3.

Coach K has 5.

 

[NashVol11]

Izzo and Self each have 1 title.

Pitino you could maybe make an arguement for at least.

Williams has 3.

Coach K has 5.

Great. We're talking about X's and O's proficiency, not titles.

 

[NashVol11]

Coach K is closer to the best than Cal will ever be.

Of course, he's closer than almost everyone. There's a ton of room between K and "average"

 

[Chas in Boca]

The one thing I think a lot of people continue to overlook in these responses, though, is that Cal and UK simply do not get the whistles that other blue bloods do. That's why I don't know if we can directly compare him to K and Duke.

Again, not a Kentucky homer - I'm a Florida fan - but let's be honest: the Cats get jobbed night in and night out by the refs. Within the conference, they battle the league's desire to use them as a quality win (in many years, they're the only one available) to get more teams into the tournament. The fact that every team treats them as their Super Bowl and usually features a sold out arena with some promotion like T shirts, etc., also weighs on the referees' bias. Then, on the national level, there's the fact that the establishment hates Cal and seeks to deny him entry into their circle as much as possible.

That game against UNC this year was a joke from an officiating standpoint. Then you think about that Wisconsin game a couple years ago, the UCONN game, etc....

How many more titles would Kentucky/Cal have if the Cats could get calls?

 

[VolGee4]

The one thing I think a lot of people continue to overlook in these responses, though, is that Cal and UK simply do not get the whistles that other blue bloods do. That's why I don't know if we can directly compare him to K and Duke.

Again, not a Kentucky homer - I'm a Florida fan - but let's be honest: the Cats get jobbed night in and night out by the refs. Within the conference, they battle the league's desire to use them as a quality win (in many years, they're the only one available) to get more teams into the tournament. The fact that every team treats them as their Super Bowl and usually features a sold out arena with some promotion like T shirts, etc., also weighs on the referees' bias. Then, on the national level, there's the fact that the establishment hates Cal and seeks to deny him entry into their circle as much as possible.

That game against UNC this year was a joke from an officiating standpoint. Then you think about that Wisconsin game a couple years ago, the UCONN game, etc....

How many more titles would Kentucky/Cal have if the Cats could get calls?

No, just no. I don't recall the exact references to the Wisconsin and UConn games. But I did go back and look at the box scores. Wisconsin did shoot twice as many free throws, but UK went 38-0 to that point and had beaten Wisconsin in the FF the year before. Against UConn, UK shot 13-24 from the FT line, and UConn was 10-10. I bet that if you look at many of Cal's NCAAT losses over the years, his teams' free throw percentages are a huge deal. Happened at Memphis and has happened at UK.

In the Texas A&M game you referenced in your OP about UK getting screwed, it was Pat Adams. He has screwed a lot of teams. He is terrible. He threw a fan out of a game in Knoxville this year for playfully heckling him (no bad language).

I will never ever say that UK consistently gets screwed by the officials. Seen too many games at Rupp.

 

[BowlBrother85]

The one thing I think a lot of people continue to overlook in these responses, though, is that Cal and UK simply do not get the whistles that other blue bloods do. That's why I don't know if we can directly compare him to K and Duke.

Again, not a Kentucky homer - I'm a Florida fan - but let's be honest: the Cats get jobbed night in and night out by the refs. Within the conference, they battle the league's desire to use them as a quality win (in many years, they're the only one available) to get more teams into the tournament. The fact that every team treats them as their Super Bowl and usually features a sold out arena with some promotion like T shirts, etc., also weighs on the referees' bias. Then, on the national level, there's the fact that the establishment hates Cal and seeks to deny him entry into their circle as much as possible.

That game against UNC this year was a joke from an officiating standpoint. Then you think about that Wisconsin game a couple years ago, the UCONN game, etc....

How many more titles would Kentucky/Cal have if the Cats could get calls?

Wow. That's an imaginative hypothesis you've developed there. I doubt it would be hard for an enterprising person to poke holes in it though. No collegiate sports team dominates a conference for 70 years the way Kentucky basketball has dominated the SEC with any sort of coordinated effort against them.

...and can you cite even one bad call in the 2015 Wisconsin game that had an impact on the outcome?

 

[GBO18]

You need to research his years at Memphis better.

Sean Banks - 2 arrests before he showed up, flunked out because he didn't go to class, Cal played him until the chemistry was just wrecked.
Clyde Wade - acquitted of identity theft but laughably got robbed of $3600 in fake fur coats, $4000 in custom made shirts, $6000 in shoes!, $5000 in pants, $2000 in throw back jerseys
Jeremy Hunt - beat the crap out of his girl, broke his hand brawling on Beale, got 2 chances with Cal. His post Cal life continues on the same path.

Oh by the way, part of the "gifts" Camby took were prostitutes.

Never had any kids involved in scandals. Lololololololololololol

Come on lil cat. Defend yo boy!!

 

[05_never_again]

Again, not a Kentucky homer - I'm a Florida fan - but let's be honest: the Cats get jobbed night in and night out by the refs.

I don't watch college BB on a night in, night out basis, but this seems rather far fetched. Especially when they play at Rupp.

Kentucky has, however, been jobbed the last couple years on some NCAA Tournament seedings (either their own seeding or the mis-seeding of another team that affects them). Not sure if intentional or not, but it has undoubtedly occurred. This is also curious, given that they are the SEC's only consistent threat to win titles on a yearly basis. You'd figure that if there was any jobbing going on in that regard, it would be in favor of Kentucky, not against them. Money and ratings trump any beef the NCAA might have with Cal.

 

[LittleCat]

Come on lil cat. Defend yo boy!!

Two of those players Cal gave chances and then dismissed. As for Wade, not sure. It was a weird situation with his mother and the fraud.

 

[LittleCat]

I will never ever say that UK consistently gets screwed by the officials. Seen too many games at Rupp.

The Wisconsin game had a massive shot clock violation go uncalled with around two minutes. It isn't why we lost, but about as blatant a bad call as possible. I don't remember the Texas A&M game to be honest.

I'd complain more about seeding. We were a two that had to face a ridiculous road in the tourney. Zaga was gifted a Final Four run, and it got even easier when USCjr got hot.

We get plenty of calls, but it's never like people say where we get ALL the calls. We don't get jobbed, but I think people overestimate the bias.

 

[VolGee4]

Two of those players Cal gave chances and then dismissed. As for Wade, not sure. It was a weird situation with his mother and the fraud.

Jeremy Hunt was reinstated for his final year and averaged about 14 points per game. It came out of the blue and surprised people. I believe Gary Parrish tells the story that Cal went to the administration and demanded that he be reinstated.

 

[VolGee4]

The Wisconsin game had a massive shot clock violation go uncalled with around two minutes. It isn't why we lost, but about as blatant a bad call as possible. I don't remember the Texas A&M game to be honest.

I'd complain more about seeding. We were a two that had to face a ridiculous road in the tourney. Zaga was gifted a Final Four run, and it got even easier when USCjr got hot.

We get plenty of calls, but it's never like people say where we get ALL the calls. We don't get jobbed, but I think people overestimate the bias.

Sure, playing Witchita State was a bit tough, but not sure why you would compare to Gonzaga. They deserved a one seed. They ended up playing West Virginia in the Sweet 16, the same program that Cal couldn't beat with Wall and Cousins. They can't help who they have to play. There are many teams in the history of the tournament that got some lucky breaks. One year at Memphis, I believe Cal played Bradley in the Sweet 16.

 

[BeecherVol]

Cal is good at what he does. He's been in the wrong some just like others have been. The 30 for 30 didn't really change anything.

 

[95 Vol Alum]

Two of those players Cal gave chances and then dismissed. As for Wade, not sure. It was a weird situation with his mother and the fraud.

Except he reinstated Hunt. Better that than to let him transfer immmediately and play elsewhere after graduating. You know, because that's bad for the kids.

 

[v011s]

Nope. I still think the guy is a sleaze.

Agreed.

I don't think he's a bad guy, just a cheater and a sleaze when it comes to college/high school basketball.

I think it's embarrassing the way they celebrate him, especially after a couple years ago he said the NBA draft was the greatest day in Kentucky basketball history.

 

[v011s]

And seriously, did anyone expect ESPN to put out anything bad about him?
He makes what? ~$8M a year?

 

[butchna]

The Wisconsin game had a massive shot clock violation go uncalled with around two minutes. It isn't why we lost, but about as blatant a bad call as possible. I don't remember the Texas A&M game to be honest.

I'd complain more about seeding. We were a two that had to face a ridiculous road in the tourney. Zaga was gifted a Final Four run, and it got even easier when USCjr got hot.

We get plenty of calls, but it's never like people say where we get ALL the calls. We don't get jobbed, but I think people overestimate the bias.

You were better than everybody but Carolina in your Regional. You were the #2 seed...sounds like they nailed it.

 

[v011s]

The one thing I think a lot of people continue to overlook in these responses, though, is that Cal and UK simply do not get the whistles that other blue bloods do. That's why I don't know if we can directly compare him to K and Duke.

Again, not a Kentucky homer - I'm a Florida fan - but let's be honest: the Cats get jobbed night in and night out by the refs. Within the conference, they battle the league's desire to use them as a quality win (in many years, they're the only one available) to get more teams into the tournament. The fact that every team treats them as their Super Bowl and usually features a sold out arena with some promotion like T shirts, etc., also weighs on the referees' bias. Then, on the national level, there's the fact that the establishment hates Cal and seeks to deny him entry into their circle as much as possible.

That game against UNC this year was a joke from an officiating standpoint. Then you think about that Wisconsin game a couple years ago, the UCONN game, etc....

How many more titles would Kentucky/Cal have if the Cats could get calls?

Weak satire.

 

[wildnkrazykat]

If UK sells itself in basketball, how come Tubby or Gillespie couldn't recruit at a high level like Cal does? He might be successful but no way in hell does Cal play by the rules. If you think he gets four-five 5*s each class without any kind of cheating then you're crazy.

Cause tubby and billy don't have it. You know why coaches like tubby, cause they beat him. He didn't embrace the AAU movement and in the latter part of his UK days couldn't land the big names or win the big games (check his record against ranked opponents)