OT: John Calipari to return as Kentucky men's basketball coach

[HuskyHawk]

Yes, but Cal was having issues building a team WAY before the portal.

Are you sure. Portal came out in 2018.

 

[runner11]

Cal went portal heavy back to back years and did terribly. And then he reverted back to solely freshman. But you really need a mix of all 3 and it’s not a problem you can throw money at when everybody has it.

 

[gtcam]

The Squid is becoming passe'

 

[HuskyHawk]

Cal went portal heavy back to back years and did terribly. And then he reverted back to solely freshman. But you really need a mix of all 3 and it’s not a problem you can throw money at when everybody has it.

He's not alone. Kansas fans are being utterly dumb about the portal, thinking Timberlake failed because he was a mid major. The reality is that Morris was the worst transfer (obviously) and Dickenson, while he played well, drove away too much depth.

Like UConn, KU runs complicated stuff on both ends. Have to look for smart guys who can adjust to that. It isn't easy. There are more free flowing teams where it matters less, including Kentucky. But Cal may need to fix that most of all.

 

[UConnJim]

Cal can coach. Thats not the problem. He just doesn’t know how to build a team for this era. If he’s smart he may bring in a new assistant to help with that. The portal has made it nearly impossible to win playing a very young team.

Totally agree. Cal has proven to be a really good coach, but the way he is assembling and developing teams isn't working. The Kentucky culture is about getting to the NBA and not winning national championships and he has been very successful doing that.

Where Kentucky has really fallen off is on defense. Look at these Ken Pom defense rankings and their post season performance starting with their last championship in 2012 (Note, Kentucky's Ken Pom offense was top 25 every year but 2021 at 84 and 2013 at 38):

Ken Pom defense ranking:

2012: 7 NCAA champions
2013: 88 NIT
2014: 32 NCAA runner up
2015: 1 NCAA Final Four
2016: 39 NCAA 2nd round
2017: 7 Elite 8
2018: 22 Sweet 16
2019: 8 Elite 8
2020: 52 COVID No Tournament
2021: 35 No tourney invites
2022: 36 NCAA 1st round
2023: 88 NCAA 2nd round
2024: 112 NCAA 1st round

When you look at the Ken Pom defense ranking for this year, it was pretty clear Kentucky wasn't going very far in the NCAA tournament.

 

[MTBingNinja]

I get feeling upset, and refusing to buy tickets and merchandise, or even sending letters to the AD. But some Kentucky fans are insane, absolutely bonkers. They've been known to send death threats to refs who "wronged" them, tried to review bomb a business of a ref who "wronged" them (and targeted the wrong business at that), and were on Coach Cal's lawn planting "for sale" signs to the point where cops had to be called to the scene to protect his property in the aftermath of the Oakland loss. They maliciously targeted Saul Smith for no real reason. I mean imagine hating a player on a team you claim to root for to THAT extent. People complain about Philly fans but Kentucky fans give them a run for their money. Uconn fans can be brats sometimes, spoiled, but Kentucky is another level. As a coach you need to be experienced and have very thick skin to go to Lexington.

Jesus, I thought some of our fanbase were fanaticals

 

[PNolanFan]

I have said it before and will again but I really believe the best backbone a team can have is 4 star recruits after their freshman year. Having a backbone of juniors and sophomores who will be role guys or second round picks in the nba is the key to national championships and that is the oppposite of what Kentucky does

 

[MexicoHusky]

Wonder what it takes for him to recover? Im assuming a first weekend exit likely gets him canned. Is he ok if he makes the second weekend next year? Or does he need to make the Final Four.

Also, is there any chance hes ok with getting canned or even trying to get canned? Itd be a ton of $$ to not do anything.

 

[husky429]

Are you sure. Portal came out in 2018.

View attachment 98292

Got 'em hahaha

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Cal's 65 and loaded. He's fat and happy. His staff is a bunch of his guys like Antigua and Chin Coleman and Bruiser Flint (he's got 5 assistant coaches on his staff!) who can't collectively coach their way out of a paper bag, nor do they seem to have much interest in working at it. Antigua makes a million bucks a year just to sit next to Cal and hang out. I have a college friend from Lexington who's a diehard BBN guy and from what he tells me the program is in a state of complete dysfunction. Every aspect of it. From on the court stuff to their NIL collective to agents threatening to pull kids from the team and Cal bowing down to them. (It makes you appreciate what we have at the moment - culture matters, as does an absence of it.)

So Cal can give all the soundbites he wants to about cancelling trips to the Caribbean to work on defense and "grinding" and everything else but it seems - to me - that unless there is a total overhaul of every aspect of the way he does business - including the guys that sit next to him on the bench - we could be in for another very entertaining season of Kentucky basketball. I just can't imagine him having the fire to actually do the work at this point.

 

[Husky68]

Just saw part III of the Rex Chapman story on YTube and he mentioned Kentucky booster offered him $700,000 in the 80's to return to Kentucky for one more year. Now that is a fanbase that puts some serious emphasis on winning. If the squid doesn't get it done next year they will pony up money to get rid of him.
Makes me wonder what type of bag of cash Alabama type football teams (so many good player) will need to pony up each year for players. Won't be able to get Scam Newton for a small church donation.

 

[superjohn]

Kentucky fans are apoplectic. Word is Joe Craft offered the money for the buyout and somehow Calipari convinced Barnhart to keep him. It's a major mess down there.

 

[superjohn]

Cal's 65 and loaded. He's fat and happy. His staff is a bunch of his guys like Antigua and Chin Coleman and Bruiser Flint (he's got 5 assistant coaches on his staff!) who can't collectively coach their way out of a paper bag, nor do they seem to have much interest in working at it. Antigua makes a million bucks a year just to sit next to Cal and hang out. I have a college friend from Lexington who's a diehard BBN guy and from what he tells me the program is in a state of complete dysfunction. Every aspect of it. From on the court stuff to their NIL collective to agents threatening to pull kids from the team and Cal bowing down to them. (It makes you appreciate what we have at the moment - culture matters, as does an absence of it.)

So Cal can give all the soundbites he wants to about cancelling trips to the Caribbean to work on defense and "grinding" and everything else but it seems - to me - that unless there is a total overhaul of every aspect of the way he does business - including the guys that sit next to him on the bench - we could be in for another very entertaining season of Kentucky basketball. I just can't imagine him having the fire to actually do the work at this point.

Yep, Calipari plays the kids the amount he does based on promises he makes to AAU coaches/handlers and he won't break those promises in fear of the handlers turning on him in the future.

It's insane they're keeping Calipari.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I just realized I pretty much guaranteed a national championship for Kentucky next year.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Benedict's the last person to ask. UConn tried to get out of paying Ollie $10 million and ended up paying him almost $14 million.

 

[DRBackup]

Kentucky AD confirms Calipari to return as coach

Despite another early exit from the NCAA tournament, Kentucky coach John Calipari will return for a 16th season, athletic director Mitch Barnhart said Tuesday.

www.espn.com

I know Big Blue Nation was in an uproar after Oakland, will be interesting to see how fans treat the news or if they will follow thru and not buy tickets or support the team anymore as many claimed they would do. Will Coach Cal have a nice bounce back season next year? Luckily one less p2 team that up and coming schools have to worry about regarding their coach being ....poached.

I would think an article like thus might signify a hot or at least warming seat and he's reaching the end of his chances.

LOL!! Kentucky hoop stuck in purgatory!!!

 

[DRBackup]

I’m sure they will, but that program requires a significant cultural change as far as preparation, accountability, attention to detail, and the standard to which players in that program are held. I’m VERY skeptical Cal is going to be able to change his stripes there even with an older team. That has never been his MO. He’s always been a personality manager.

Yeah, he seems like enough of an old school coach that he expects the kids to do the things they need to do, but that's just not the world we live in at this point. I'm sure you can recruit kids that fit that mold, but they're not the easy one and done talents that Calipari wants.

 

[Mr. French]

Cal can coach. Thats not the problem. He just doesn’t know how to build a team for this era. If he’s smart he may bring in a new assistant to help with that. The portal has made it nearly impossible to win playing a very young team.

I kinda disagree. I’ve never noticed him do anything to make a difference except negatively.

Admittedly I despise him, but any of his great teams were insane groups of talent that he lets play out of a motion offense that lets them do whatever they want. He yells a lot. I don’t see any difference making coaching.

I think BigErn nailed it - he’s never really been an incredible x and o guy, but now he’s just recruiting as much talent as possible and letting the talent run the show.

If he gets lucky and the pieces fit right, with good on-court leadership, they’ll be a good seed. But he’s not winning big spots with his coaching acumen, ever.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Elite level athlete:

@kentuckymbb @ukcoachcalipari is a shooter and he might have missed this one but he has #kentuckybasketball ready to roll in the #ncaatournament . Click the link in our profile to listen or watch the Full Court Press Podcast #collegebasketball #ncaa

@kentuckymbb @ukcoachcalipari is a shooter and he might have missed this one but he has #kentuckybasketball ready to roll in the #ncaatournament . Click the link in our profile to listen or watch the...

www.facebook.com

 

[BRS24]

According to ESPN, Cal has the #14, 15, 24, 39, 46, 71 ranked players signed for 2024. They have 15 players on the roster right now - 8 frosh, 4 sophs, 1 senior, 1 5th year, 2 grad students. Assuming the 1 senior player leaves, along with the 3 5th yr/grad student, that puts them over the limit. Has there been any chatter about the portal?

 

[whosurdaddy2720]

According to ESPN, Cal has the #14, 15, 24, 39, 46, 71 ranked players signed for 2024. They have 15 players on the roster right now - 8 frosh, 4 sophs, 1 senior, 1 5th year, 2 grad students. Assuming the 1 senior player leaves, along with the 3 5th yr/grad student, that puts them over the limit. Has there been any chatter about the portal?

I'm sure a number of freshmen will leave even if they are not projected to go very high.

Reed Shepard and Rob Dillingham are projected lottery picks so I'm sure they are gone.

 

[gtcam]

I am not at all convinced that the Squid is a good coach
Look at his last 4 years - one 2nd round appearance
Yeah he had some success when he was recruiting (and the powers to be were paying the kids$) 5* exclusively and few others were. There was no Portal before 2019.
Trying to teach 5 kids who never had to worry about playing high level D in HS/AAU is not easy.
The guy can recruit but 1 NCAA title in the past 13 years with all the talent he's had? Doesn't smell like a coaching star.

 

[temery]

I am not at all convinced that the Squid is a good coach
Look at his last 4 years - one 2nd round appearance
Yeah he had some success when he was recruiting (and the powers to be were paying the kids$) 5* exclusively and few others were. There was no Portal before 2019.
Trying to teach 5 kids who never had to worry about playing high level D in HS/AAU is not easy.
The guy can recruit but 1 NCAA title in the past 13 years with all the talent he's had? Doesn't smell like a coaching star.

He's an even worse coach now that all players can be paid.

 

[Inyatkin]

He's likely lost it, but the idea he could never coach is a huge overreaction. Those UMass teams were legit, much as I hated them

 

[superjohn]

He's likely lost it, but the idea he could never coach is a huge overreaction. Those UMass teams were legit, much as I hated them

Yep, he was definitely really good 30 years ago and even 10 years ago. His built in advantages are gone which is making it really hard for him to win at the best job in college basketball.