No. It was time for a change. Our AD F’d up the hire.
Do we miss Cal yet?
- Thread starter WilmoreCat
- Start date
No. It was time for a change. Our AD F’d up the hire.
As for Cal, I think we are learning very quickly that he was tired of the way things were being done here (JMI, recruiting, feud with Mitch) and also just how quickly those fringe fans turned on him starting as soon as 2015. I think he was mailing it in the final few years, not that he lost his touch.. id absolutely kill for 2009 to 2017s Cal, and honestly even the 2018 to 2020 Cal was fine, just had some unexpected losses (which happens to even the best programs). I almost dont count the final few years anymore. I dont honestly believe that his performance wasnt by design (which in fairness, we should be irate at him for). But he clearly got tired of the BS and the media, the questioning of his every decision, etc. Should have just walked away in 2022 or something.
Guy has freaking Arkansas about to be a top15 team. Maybe he just needed this divorce in the same way the fans wanted it.
Guy has freaking Arkansas about to be a top15 team. Maybe he just needed this divorce in the same way the fans wanted it.
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Cal left without costing the university a penny from his buyout and that is because he wanted that way and he understood that the majority of the BBN turned against him. For that he needs our appreciation.
the Kentucky AD, received in a sense a gift from Calipari but he panicked , just like he did in the past. Mitch never understood how to deal with Calipari.
John Calipari probably would have accepted a a smaller extension but if his legacy would have been consolidated at Kentucky.
investing in the facilities, getting ahead on NIL and strategically getting a younger coach with some proven results , while cal would have been the am ambsaddor with have made more sense.
But Cal wold have not put up with the JMI deal…. So hiring a coach like MP that would have accepted the job under whatever conditions was the ideal scenario for Mitch. I would not be surprised if the JMI assures a nice retirement package for Mitch and his selected few buddies.
so, I would not put that much blame on Coach Cal or MP. Mitch and the president it’s a completely different story….
the Kentucky AD, received in a sense a gift from Calipari but he panicked , just like he did in the past. Mitch never understood how to deal with Calipari.
John Calipari probably would have accepted a a smaller extension but if his legacy would have been consolidated at Kentucky.
investing in the facilities, getting ahead on NIL and strategically getting a younger coach with some proven results , while cal would have been the am ambsaddor with have made more sense.
But Cal wold have not put up with the JMI deal…. So hiring a coach like MP that would have accepted the job under whatever conditions was the ideal scenario for Mitch. I would not be surprised if the JMI assures a nice retirement package for Mitch and his selected few buddies.
so, I would not put that much blame on Coach Cal or MP. Mitch and the president it’s a completely different story….
The 2021 season was bad. No way around it. But it was a lot more than just Cals coaching. It was a bad recruiting class which is rare for him, and a bunch of guys that just didnt play well together (sound familiar, now huh? Lol). He made the previous 10 recruiting classes full of freshman, play together with almost no issues.. im surprised we didnt have more teams that had some issues like 2021.
2013 for me was largely because of Nerlens. I think we for sure make the tournament. But maybe as like a 6 seed, and probably have a 1st weekend loss. Still, that Nerlens injury was top5 most impactful injury this century.. up there with guys like Robbie Hummel and Zion.
I don't agree with this at all. Right now, this season, at this moment, Arkansas, with a bunch of 5 star dudes, is slightly better, but Cal stunk last year. He lost at South Carolina by 30 and almost missed the tournament.
But we don't know how this season will play out. What if UK ends up ahead of Arkansas in the SEC and both teams make the Sweet 16? Pope looks better in my mind.
Arkansas almost lost at home to UT today, they didn’t have to play at Alabama.
But my opinion is, neither guy should have this job. I think most will agree.
Guess I'm stupid then. But you misspelled "their".
Cal had 3 NBA talents and 2 teams damn near went undefeated. Cal lost at home to Richmond that year.
Give Pope 3 NBA talents, he ain't going 9-16. Everyone else played under the same circumstances.
Pope showed last year that he can win with an undermanned team.
Truth is, UK was better when Cal got ejected that year. There is proof.
Everyone here seems to forget that Cal threw the biggest finger to the fans when he allowed Sharpe to sit an entire year and get drafted.
How does a HOF coach go 9-16 with 3 NBA kids, but Baylor and Gonzaga can damn near go undefeated?
Cal got ejected twice that year. KP took over and won a game we were badly losing and almost won the second game, which we were also losing.
Cal didn’t play the guys that were best suited to win, he spent that season trying to get Brandon Boston drafted.
Kenny Payne benched BB and outcoached Cal. Are we saying Kenny Payne is better than Pope too?
It's Pope's job to bring in NBA talents. Apparently he has one this year and they are unhappy with how they are being used.
NBA talent doesnt always work out (BJ sucks and we will never know what TC would have been).. And its also raw. Do you think Pope's the type of guy who can get freshman going? I dont.
Maserati? Cal crashed that car in April of 2015. The Cal that quit 2 years ago, was a 1979 Chevette.
Y'all don't get to just ignore Cal's last 4 years and act like 2010-15 was all Cal did here.
When was the last time Cal got a 1 seed?
What was he last year?
The regular season matters too. Cal is washed up and his priorities are not in line with what UK requires. I'm glad we are no longer an NBA farm system.
Lets remember, Pope had what, like 5 fifth year seniors last season? That is a **** ton of experience, often 20x the experience Cal had. Thats not neccesarily worth less than NBA-but-young talent. A lot of freshman teams would have lost to Duke last year.. we didnt because we had several guys making all the right plays. I dont think we made a mistake in that 2nd half. Im actually starting to think those gutsy wins we had were more due to our roster than just coaching. Meanwhile it was cooper flagg who made mistakes that cost the game.
So no, "potential" NBA talent isnt just automatically better than experienced teams.
So no, "potential" NBA talent isnt just automatically better than experienced teams.
People would still be posting about Cal even if we got Nate Oats. Also it’s unlikely that any coaches outside of Drew and Pope were officially contacted by Mitch.
Cal had 2 lottery picks coming off the bench. Still no 1 seed, still got beat in the SECT early, then lost to Oakland.
He played his best lineup for 1 game, because he had to. We won by 30. Never saw that lineup again. That should tell you where his priorities were.
You brought up the one highlight he had his last year, but he followed that 1 win up with more Cal hard headedness.
yes you made my point at least he has high highs every year it feels like
pope doesnt have high highs but he has low lows
Im starting to think, as time goes on, he did that lineup on purpose just to spite the fans. That and he clearly made promises to DJ Wagner, and maybe even Justin Edwards. DJs recruiting was starting to waiver.. I have a feeling he made some soft promises to land those guys in the final stretch.
What's so hard about getting Arkansas into the top 15? Their previous coach was a loon, but he had them in the elite 8 twice
And why should we not count Cal's last few years? He's the one that decided to prioritize winning the draft. He did it to himself. He is the one that made people hate him. He put himself ahead of the program.
This fanbase celebrated him like he was a God and he killed that by being a complete narcissist.
I give Calipari credit for getting more out of freshman than most could. His offense was basically weave 25 ft. from the basket and then go make a play. But that simplification may have been the move to make if you’re determined to rely on and showcase more freshmen than anybody. On defense he relied on athleticism and trying to get guys to play hard man-to-man (I noticed that at Ark. Calipari is mixing defenses some).
Bad recruiting class? He had 3 NBA guys on that team.
We are all over Pope for the players he brought in, Cal doesn’t get a pass on that. He is the one that recruited that team and the only time that team played well, was after Cal got ejected.
What was our ceiling with Cal? Cal lost all trust to build a contender.
Call it irony, but we are sort of in the same position Arkansas was last year right now.
I dont agree with a bit of this but I remember you as one of the guys who just hated Cal over every little thing, so were not gonna change each other's minds.
Instead, we both get to watch this program burn, with a coach who makes a heck of a lot of the same mistakes we roasted Cal for. Maybe ill watch some of those awesome Final 4 games seeing as its the only time this program had prominence this century.
I don't know, but Cal is supposed to be the best recruiter and talent evaluator in the business, why does he get a pass?
3? Isaiah Jackson is the only one whose still in the NBA i believe, and hes never been more than a rotational piece. It was a flat out bad class.
Right, but that don't mean we should miss Cal. There are more than 2 choices out there. Cal did a lot more damage his last 4 years than Pope has and that's not even debatable.
Cal lost to Evansville, Richmond and uncw at home, how is that worse than what Pope has done to this point?
This season isn't over yet. Neither guy is the right fit, but Cal's negatives the last 5 years are far worse.
This is what I love .. we can look these things up. 5 years have passed. Go look at that 2021 roster. The acronym NBA doesnt belong any where near that lineup. Now, it did have enough talent for Cal to avoid such a bad season, sure. But you can no longer say that was an NBA level class, similar to what he had in 2010, 2012, etc.
YES. I am not afraid to say it and I do not care who bashes me. Another long list of mistakes this University has made in athletics. Right up there with running Bear Bryant off in football. Not meeting Pat Smmits request of giving her the office she wanted. Firing Don Shula in Football. Not hiring Howard Schnellenberger and Mike Leach in football. Cal was not the same as Tubby. Cal just did not adapt to COVID changes. We are past that now and the freshman are back to dominating college basketball.
You dont have to apologize. Everything has been a train wreck since he left.. poor coaching, poor recruiting, mitch looks REAL bad, worst NIL management in D1, some of the worst in-state recruiting options.
Cal kept this program afloat. His haters thought we would just hand pick his replacement and back to the Final4 we go! And why? Well because "We're Kentucky! Thats why!" Our legacy will turn every recruits head and staff will lineup to work here. And now we know.. we dont have to guess what the post-Cal era would look like anymore. We now know. Cal made Kentucky go, not the other way around. Maybe some assistants like Orlando and Robic, who covered Cals lack of Xs and Os. Sure wasnt our brand, fanbase, or legacy.
Got one more chance to make a great coaching hire, IMO. Its curtains after that.
So now experience is better than first round draft picks?
Now we're going to say the players won those games last year, but Cal won all the games he won? The talent he had didn’t have anything to do with it?
Pope coached to his players strengths last year and dealt with a lot of injuries. Cal doesn’t get that team to a 3 seed and sweet 16, Pope did.
I have no idea what's going on with Pope this year, it's like he's a totally different coach than he was last year. He’s not running the same offense. Haven't seen a big run it from the top one time. Everything is off.
You are giving Cal a pass for his last 4 years, but you're not giving Pope an inch for even half of this year. That seems messed up to me.
Huh? Pope had a bunch of high's last year. Why are 30 point blowouts the only things that qualify as a high?
Pope beat 2 FF teams last year, swept Tennesee and smoked Illinois to get to a sweet 16. Cal won 1 tournament game in 4 years with ten times the talent. He also lost by 30 to South Carolina last year.
Your definition of a high is not the same as mine. There were 4 or 5 wins last year thst were pretty amazing given the circumstances.
i mean to each their own, but the illinois win didnt rly pump me up
it was more of a "okay we won a couple games now were gonna lose"
like the big z game was a high
