Iv'e heard alot of talk about coach's talking down UK and trying to persuade the elite athletes that Ky isn't right for them. I'd like to hear some of these talking points. What in your opinion are the things these coach's are saying and how are they making their points?
Negative Recruiting ?
- Thread starter Trublupopeye
- Start date
Right now it's this: "If you go to UK, you will play limited minutes because Cal wants to platoon."
Im guessing many big city kids are being asked why they want to hang out in an over grown farm town? Cal will be leaving soon as will all his contacts and then your stuck in the middle of nowhere. Minutes, platooning...I'm sure there are many others...
Ha! I like the way you think! Maybe if the others go ahead & sign somewhere else, Diallo will say. "Ok, I'm going to UK..."
Hey, a guy can hope!!
If Lawrence, Kansas can get kids then location should be of very little importance to a lot of these kids.
If I was a recruit and a guy came in and bad mouthed the other guy, I would lose respect for them. Don't worry about the other guy. Sell yourself. Its like that in the real world and should be like that in recruiting. Stop with the smear campaign and tell us why you're the right fit for me as a player.
I'll also, say that if I have my pick of the litter, I'm not going to go play ball at a place that does not care. So I'm sure as hell not going to any SEC school that isn't Kentucky.
Is platooning that bad? It helped hide flaws in many of our boys games. 3 out of the 4 freshmen are going to be drafted. 7 total!! KAT improved so much he went to the #1 pick. Booker and Lyles are borderline lottery picks on potential. I don't think anyone thought TU was ever going to be a 1ad. WCS a lottery pick. DJ late first early second. I have seen both twins in the 2nd round now. I guess playing everyday against good kids really hurt them. Just a crash course on what the nba is like night after night. 4 spots left. Maybe we will get a couple of surprises after a few more decide where they want to go. Some of these elite kids want to go to the nba don't they?
Even if Cal does not platoon next year, you still want to compete against someone to push you. Maybe they are all scarred they are not good enough to earn their playing time at UK!! There are spots open and Cal has already told the kids that the best will play. GBB
Even if Cal does not platoon next year, you still want to compete against someone to push you. Maybe they are all scarred they are not good enough to earn their playing time at UK!! There are spots open and Cal has already told the kids that the best will play. GBB
I agree that the Platoon system probably hurt with this crop of recruits. You have to remember that these kids are the "alpha" players, and they like being the featured player. The platoon system was necessary due to some players returning that weren't expected. I don't perceive that being a problem in the future.
Maybe you're right that this will not continue to hurt us with next year's class and beyond, but if it is used again with the 2016 class, then how do you recommend that Cal should deal with it?
I agree these kids are all alphas right now in high school but things change quickly at the college level and even quicker in the nba. PPat just wrote an article the other day about becoming a role player to stay in the league as long as possible. This is how you can make the big cash. These elite kids are going to have 1 year to prepare them for the nba in most cases. Take Brandon Ingram for example. Does he step in at unc ***, ku,dook, or UK and become the alpha immediately? Does Jaylen Brown? Does Cheick Diallo? Jamal Murray looked like he was the only one ready to be an alpha in the college game. It is a process. I think the returning players helped ALL of our freshmen in that process and dealing with the pressure of playing basketball at UK. Minutes is an easy way to shoot a system down. Brandon Ingram has pros (Stackhouse and Bullock) advising him on what to expect and how to do things. The process is still the same. KAT was 10X the ball player at the end of the year than at the beginning. Is that due to playing good comp every day or playing less game time minutes? If some of the returning players did not come back, UK would have lost more than 1 game last year. GBB
could be any number of things - I agree that the current one is that you'll get limited minutes due to platooning. Also, I'm sure, there is still the Cal will push you out (Wiltjer), or recruit over you ( Willis and Hawkins). Or, even -, all the crap the Harrisons took from "fans" all year - and last year. I have no doubt that the ugliness of the lunatic fringe of our fanbase plays a part in negative recruiting.
I agree with your assessment, but I don't think the recruits in high school can see that at the time they're being recruited. In their minds, college is an extension of their high school careers, and some recruiters virtually assure them they will be "the man" when they get on a team. It's not until later that reality strikes.
This is so true. Malik Newman imo will never be a point guard. It is not his skillset. Howland told him exactly what he wanted to hear. I don't think we get Ingram but Stackhouse and Bullock are there to tell him what is about to happen. I think the remaining kids are trying to figure out how they will fit in with Skal and Briscoe. Skal is going to be the offensive big we need. Briscoe is going to be the closer. Still a lot of minutes and points to be had. GBB
Who is saying it just started? Are were you just getting in your daily fix of insulting someone?
I think one point opposing recruiters might could sell is the fact at UK Cal is not going to let you play if you are not performing and as freshmen you are going to have those rough spots and he has players that can play, whereas id they go to MSU, UNLV, SJU or most any other place they will play no matter what as they would resemble what we looked like in NIT year where Cal had to play the starters he had with no reinforcements.
By that time he'll be able to point to this year's team and say "see? We're not doing it any more."
It depends on the coach doing the negative recruiting. I would probably point to player development and point out that the draft stock for many players like Dakari, twins, Poythress and Lee seem to drop the longer they're here. I would probably point to a possible lack of playing time with McDAA's riding the bench and point to the fact Cal only has one title despite having so much talent each year. Basically it depends on the situation the coach doing the negative recruiting is in, for example, Coach K would probably be more likely to use the 1 title argument and coaches without a title who have players who have noticeably improved under them would point to the player development argument. Coaches with crappy teams and lots of available playing time would point to playing time. Of course, this would all be done in a very nice way out of concern for the recruits future and the coach might not even point these things out directly but rather lead the recruit in those directions to have him think he is drawing those conclusions on his own.
OMG....you are totally right. i didnt even think of that...its actually worse. people come here to discuss something that has been going on since the day Cal got here and yet still need to talk about it.
never under estimate uk fans.
Maybe kids don't want to play where the pressures so high? If that's the case then we're screwed
Negative recruiting has been going on for a while.
Using the platoon is just the latest thing coaches are using to try to derail Cal.
Using the platoon is just the latest thing coaches are using to try to derail Cal.
Looking back, I think platooning was a terrible idea.
Easy to say now, hindsight is 20/20.
I honestly think we would have been better off if we hadn't gotten all those guys back.
A team of Ulis, Booker, Lyles, WCS(back because of injury), and KAT starting with Lee as sixth man probably has a good shot at the Final Four and none of the pressure of an undefeated season.
We would probably all be excited right now and energized about getting Ulis and Lee back and celebrating an unexpected deep run in the tourney. And rival coaches would not have platooning to use against us in recruiting.
I am not bashing Cal, it was the best thing he could do when those guys decided to come back and I was psyched when he decided to do that. But looking back, it was probably a mistake.
Boston Cat before you suggest someone is brainless read the dang question. I never suggested that this is new. I only asked for what type of things these coach's are saying about Cal. Yes negative recruiting is nothing at all new but just wondering with all his success, how coach's are spinning this to their favor.
-Cal will bolt for the NBA
-Cal will push you to the side for his next batch of recruits if you can't go pro in one season, and then forget about you
I think those are two big things that probably get thrown around in negative recruiting. I don't think either are true, but they always seem to come up around this time.
-Cal will push you to the side for his next batch of recruits if you can't go pro in one season, and then forget about you
I think those are two big things that probably get thrown around in negative recruiting. I don't think either are true, but they always seem to come up around this time.
Cal to NBA
Arena is a barn
Fans are clueless about the game & unreasonable
SEC is weak - only cares about Football
Kentucky basketball history is tainted by bigotry and racial undertones
I have heard more , but what is the point . Recruiting is a vicious game . We are better than any one and it's not close is the real story ..
Arena is a barn
Fans are clueless about the game & unreasonable
SEC is weak - only cares about Football
Kentucky basketball history is tainted by bigotry and racial undertones
I have heard more , but what is the point . Recruiting is a vicious game . We are better than any one and it's not close is the real story ..
While I do think some coaches do take the negative recruiting path you have to believe that a lot of it comes from others. These kids have so many voices in their ears and each one of those voices has some agenda. Friends, families, AAU coaches, HS coaches, other players and Twitter accounts do all they can to influence these players. Most likely rival coaches use these other voices as a proxy for their own good as well.
the negative recruiting is heavy on the Cal to the NBA stuff. I don't think he'll leave but it would worry me if the OKC owner or GM called Cal and offered him. I highly doubt Cleveland opens up
It could be the fact that Calipari pushes the players more than some of the other coaches, demanding perfection, combined with possibility of lack of enough confidence in recruit's own ability to compete for playing time..
The lack of willingness to share and play as a team and sacrifice their chance of scoring more points may be another factor.
Our game against Wisconsin at a crucial point must have put a question mark in their minds also.
Was Kentucky really that good, or were they very lucky to go undefeated for that long?
Just a few reasons for less than enthusiastic showing by this years' kids towards commitment to UK, in my opinion.
Of course the negativity injection against Kentucky by most of the other coaches might be another reason.