Cals Post Game Presser
- Thread starter gonegone
- Start date
Cal was asked; "What do you have to do to stop the straight line drives better?"
His answer was "Well, we gotta hope we get better cause it looks like everybody is just gonna drive us."
SO NOW WE'RE LEFT WITH... "JUST HOPE"! GREAT IDEA CAL!!!!
HOW ABOUT U MAKE A FREAKIN ADJUSTMENT... MAYBE A DIFFERENT DEFENSE!!!
OUT SCORED 71-43 IN 25 MINUTES.... By a 10&12 team.... ARE FREAKIN SERIOUS?!?! 2013 ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!!
His answer was "Well, we gotta hope we get better cause it looks like everybody is just gonna drive us."
SO NOW WE'RE LEFT WITH... "JUST HOPE"! GREAT IDEA CAL!!!!
HOW ABOUT U MAKE A FREAKIN ADJUSTMENT... MAYBE A DIFFERENT DEFENSE!!!
OUT SCORED 71-43 IN 25 MINUTES.... By a 10&12 team.... ARE FREAKIN SERIOUS?!?! 2013 ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!!
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You can teach and teach and teach, but you can't make them learn.
I'm not going to call you idiots because I have been censored, but I want to. Know that.
Maybe a zone would stop straight line drives
How about teaching a zone. Our players don't make that decision. Not using a zone at times has cost us dearly. There's really no excuse for it.
We have two big white dudes on the bench. Just saying....
How about take Murray out of the games? Huh, he can't guard and his shooting is shooting us in the foot. I'm sick of him.
"We played 30 minutes in Lawrence, 15 minutes tonight, but we're expecting a full 40 minutes on Saturday in Rupp."
Or how about try a little ******** harder to keep Johnson from making a huge mistake and going pro early? That would of helped a great deal
Cal historically wants teams to drive rather than shoot 3s, figuring our talent and interior D will be good enough. This years team lacks the talent and interior D to always play this way.
Cal is a GREAT RECRUITER, without a doubt he's probably the best in college basketball. However, I do not think he is a good bench coach. I know I will catch a lot of flak for that statement, but when you have the No1 recruiting class for 6 straight years, you need more then 1 Championship, and I believe he had a couple of top recruiting classes at Memphis.
I know, I'm going to hear all the BS about how we've been to the Final Fours, etc., but he has been out-coached in the NCAA Tournament. Against U Conn twice and Wisconsin last year, and West Virginia with Wall and group.
OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!
I know, I'm going to hear all the BS about how we've been to the Final Fours, etc., but he has been out-coached in the NCAA Tournament. Against U Conn twice and Wisconsin last year, and West Virginia with Wall and group.
OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!
Love Cal..but Kansas went to a junk triangle - 2 defense to stop us from getting straight line drives to the basket and beat us.
We couldn't stay in front of UT tonight, Cals answer was to play Hawkins more...guarding their 3rd best ballhandler was just a decoy and leaving us short handed on offense.
If we play zone for just 4-5 minutes a half we win the last 2 games. Make them beat you with jumpers, saves your legs and protects bigs from fouls. We've been out coached 2 games in a row.
We couldn't stay in front of UT tonight, Cals answer was to play Hawkins more...guarding their 3rd best ballhandler was just a decoy and leaving us short handed on offense.
If we play zone for just 4-5 minutes a half we win the last 2 games. Make them beat you with jumpers, saves your legs and protects bigs from fouls. We've been out coached 2 games in a row.
At times, even just switching to a zone for a play of two - to break up the momentum when it's shifting - would have made all the difference. He doesn't even have to spend a gigantic amount of time with them to do that.
That's one of the most constructively critical things I can say about Cal.
Some other things :
1) we have a razor thin margin (exception was last year, where we lost AP all year and didn't miss a beat) for error with the way he is plugging in OAD or two and done players. It's leading to some unbalanced lineups and makes the margin that much thinner.
2) He's made some head-scratching tactical errors in games that has cost us dearly, and he knows it. It's getting progressively more infuriating for me as I see it happen. He needs to understand that point BIGTIME.
3) Being stubborn can be a good thing, but he's been stubborn to the point of not teaching teams things like how to play a zone for a couple of minutes just for tactical purposes. In game, his adjustments are non-existent, or simply backfire on him. (I'm glad this hasn't happened more often, but the law of averages tells me it's going to start catching up over time with Coach Cal)
4) Free throws. Teach them to make the damn free throws, get a psychologist in there or SOMETHING. That's a mental issue on the players ( and more and more players lack mastering this basketball fundamental more and more these days). The knock that his teams don't shoot free throws well....... well, all I gotta say is we all know how much that single aspect of the game has hurt Coach Cal teams.
5) Utilizing a zone defense (2-3, 3-2, 1-3-1) is not a sign of a poor coach or a poor team or a lack of talent in not being able to play an exclusive man to man defense 100% of the time. Sometimes teams SIMPLY DO NOT HAVE THE PERSONNEL TO PLAY MAN TO MAN like that the whole game like Coach Cal wants them to.
I love Cal, I trust him, but it gets shaken from time to time, and it always seems to come back to these things, and the other little things that always seems to get him (and, us, by extension).
I dunno. Something needs to change. I'm not entirely sold on this season as a wash out, but it's on the brink. He's done a hellofa job not letting the bottom fall out and pulling a rabbit out of his hat in the past.
It sure will be interesting to see how - and what - he does in the immediate future. We sure will be watching very closely.
I agree, you are a better coach than Cal. What do you do for a living?
Some of you need to chug a gallon of your finest, and take the night off without posting. You're welcome.
Next time you see a starting line thats 4 pts off of where it should be........... expect some stupid sh*t to happen.
If you can't teach zone defense to a team of 5 star players, what does that say about your coaching skills? Zone defenses are some of the first defenses that young players are taught.
His team has to play harder. They are soft, I'm sure he feels down. But his players have to be superstars in order to win for Cal. These young teams can't win on the road unless you have 2 players that are super. This team really doesn't have the Cal type talent you need.
It was the same in 2013, soft and lack great talent.
I'd like to see two changes from Cal going forward.
1. In the event that a "recruit" is either a. extremely struggling or b. isn't putting in the effort, Cal goes to the next guy on the bench. I get, and agree, that he has to protect his recruiting, but only to an extent. Had we started to work Hump and Tai into the rotation, when Poy and SKal had (and still have) issues, we wouldn't have been in the foul situation we were the last two nights. Heck, we may have even won both. He has to place a little more value on winning games and a little less on placating to his 5-stars.
2. No more OOC road games. Neutral or home. If we have an older team, it's fine. But young players really struggle on the road, and the SEC/officiatin does us no favors. In this scenario being Kentucky and being inexperienced, I'd like to limit road games. I'm not saying they don't help, as these last two games will only prep our guys... but the last quarter of the season is played on a neutral court, so I don't think we have to get acclimated to tough environments, as much as we once thought. Those tourney games will be closer to home games than away games anyways.
Is this Kansas game a Home and Home? Even if it is, we got hosed by the setup: the first game at Kansas gives them just the edge to win, while next year, Kentucky is going to be so much better it doesn't matter if they shoot 60 FT's at phog.. it's kind of a waste of a home game. Would have liked to see that switched.. regardless, off-topic. More to the point that I don't like road games and should be avoided at all costs.
1. In the event that a "recruit" is either a. extremely struggling or b. isn't putting in the effort, Cal goes to the next guy on the bench. I get, and agree, that he has to protect his recruiting, but only to an extent. Had we started to work Hump and Tai into the rotation, when Poy and SKal had (and still have) issues, we wouldn't have been in the foul situation we were the last two nights. Heck, we may have even won both. He has to place a little more value on winning games and a little less on placating to his 5-stars.
2. No more OOC road games. Neutral or home. If we have an older team, it's fine. But young players really struggle on the road, and the SEC/officiatin does us no favors. In this scenario being Kentucky and being inexperienced, I'd like to limit road games. I'm not saying they don't help, as these last two games will only prep our guys... but the last quarter of the season is played on a neutral court, so I don't think we have to get acclimated to tough environments, as much as we once thought. Those tourney games will be closer to home games than away games anyways.
Is this Kansas game a Home and Home? Even if it is, we got hosed by the setup: the first game at Kansas gives them just the edge to win, while next year, Kentucky is going to be so much better it doesn't matter if they shoot 60 FT's at phog.. it's kind of a waste of a home game. Would have liked to see that switched.. regardless, off-topic. More to the point that I don't like road games and should be avoided at all costs.
Bull feces. Where your ignorant thought falls apart, is your assumption that Cal needs superstars to win. He's proven he can win without a team full of superstars. Just because he HAS won with superstars, doesn't mean he needs that to win. Think better.
Does it really matter how much better our players will be? if this crazy azz home cooking across the nation isnt lessened...... Fox, Monk and Bam will just be fouled out with 10 minutes to go in every road game.
We crushed Kansas at home last year. Home and Home with Kansas. Rupp vs. AFH.
No, that was neutral as it was the CC game. So this year, with Duke being the CC matchup, Kansas just started a Home and Home, right?
I want no part of a HandH with Kansas, not with how glaringly obvious the difference is between Rupp and AFH.. Neutral for me.
You're right to an extent.. The foul trouble isn't going to change, so we should do everything in our part to limit the affect.
But I'm not as worried for next year, we'll have a better balance, and more front court players and front court depth.
Latest
-
01
KSR
Mark Pope to host Media Madness ahead of Kentucky season
-
02
KSR
Mark Pope continues to push for a 15th roster spot as summer practice ends
-
03
KSR
ESPN named Steve Spurrier college football's biggest villain and got it exactly right
-
04
KSR
2026 Kentucky Position Previews: EDGE
-
05
KSR
Who's from Kentucky? Meet the Wildcats with Bluegrass State ties