[crazytaxidriver]

I'm a believer in free speech and all that jazz. I also think that the uk fans realized how much power they had when tubby was ran out. And then again with BCG. Personally I was glad to see both go. And now we have cal. I'm happy with him and I'm pleased with the results thus far.

I'm not in denial though. I know we haven't been that good this year and we are terrible on the road. But I keep seeing things like "cal won't last" or "we need a better x's and o's guy". Well we had one of the best x and o men with tubby. And he bored me to death.

Whether you hate coach cal or whatever I'm here to say that I think he fits great into this system. The problem he has right now is the lack of depth. The upperclassman rely on the younger guys to pull them out of a bind instead of the other way around. We have a serious lack of leadership on this team.

I like the direction uk is headed though and when the dust settles I believe we will comeout on top. I've seen most argument for both sides of coach cal and some do have merit. And I know that my opinion doesn't mean anything but I really thing some fans need to sit back and just look at where we were before he got here.

After Billy clyde's first season here everyone knew that he wasn't the guy for the job. And tubby's time was just out. He couldn't get the job done. Will Cal bring a trophy back to Lexington? I dont know. Time will tell. But what I do know is I like our coach and his philosophy. Right now we are just trying to play two pair against a full house praying that the river brings us help.

I really don't think that anyone else could fill this position and do what he has done in such a short time. Sure he makes some mistakes but all coaches do. So I'm not going to call for his head just yet and I'm going to ask everyone that does to sit back and study film and think about what u would do different.

[Stardust]

CTD, this is a great post and I truly respect your comment. I think I have stated my position many times, yet everyone ones to take my words and turn them. I did not like Cal for many reasons, actually I despised the man, before he ever came to UK. I don't have to like him to be a fan of my team and not want more than anything, success for this program. That means titles. I have never ever said that I want Cal replaced, so where this comes from is completely made up in the imagination of others.

Actually, I've not seen a post where anyone has said he should be replaced, so where does that even come from? It's taking the words of few, and turning them into one's own argument, yet no one has ever said the wish anything other than Cal to WIN!

Is he a good X's and O's guy, IMO opinion no. Does that mean you can't win, No! I have lauded him for his recruiting ability, and I have said many times that Cal will win with the talent he has. Is that the first time a coach will have won with talent alone, No!

I still say it is funny that if you are a Cal fan, you can challenge the decisions he makes with no issue. However, if you are not a fan of him, then you can't be a fan of UK. That's when the debate gets boring!

Go UK!

[goscots56]

Coach Cal was the greatest thing since sliced bread during the tourny run last year. And John Wall probably ends up at Memphis if Cal was still at Memphis......along with several other of the UK fab frosh.

[Ballers]

Great post crazytaxi driver. I agree 100%.

[LWC]

I mentioned in another thread that John Calipari was not my first choice to replace BCG. However, it seemed as if nobody wanted the job. Cal's unreal recruiting ability took them from awful to awesome in one summer. We as UK fans are spoiled because we had one of the best X's and O's coaches in all of basketball, Tubby Smith. I have always wondered what it would be like to make a hybrid of Cal and Tubby. It would be scary in more ways than one.

In today's age of college basketball, as opposed to the older days. People can stay at mid-major schools and achieve great success. People are not jumping at the opportunity to coach at UK anymore. It basically seemed as if UK went after everybody but only Cal wanted to come. I am happy that he wanted and helped UK in it's darkest hours post-Sutton.

[Stardust]

I mentioned in another thread that John Calipari was not my first choice to replace BCG. However, it seemed as if nobody wanted the job. Cal's unreal recruiting ability took them from awful to awesome in one summer. We as UK fans are spoiled because we had one of the best X's and O's coaches in all of basketball, Tubby Smith. I have always wondered what it would be like to make a hybrid of Cal and Tubby. It would be scary in more ways than one.

In today's age of college basketball, as opposed to the older days. People can stay at mid-major schools and achieve great success. People are not jumping at the opportunity to coach at UK anymore. It basically seemed as if UK went after everybody but only Cal wanted to come. I am happy that he wanted and helped UK in it's darkest hours post-Sutton.

Was that the case? Can anyone recall whether the Cats had approached other coaches for the UK head coaching job before Cal was announced?

That used to be Pitino. His '96 team will be considered top 3 ever, arguably the best. It was also in '96 that my hatred for Cal began as his arrogance towards UK after UMass victory over the Cats bloated his ego. When UK smacked him in the mouth in the Final 4, it was very fun to be a UK fan!

[LWC]

Was that the case? Can anyone recall whether the Cats had approached other coaches for the UK head coaching job before Cal was announced?

That used to be Pitino. His '96 team will be considered top 3 ever, arguably the best. It was also in '96 that my hatred for Cal began as his arrogance towards UK after UMass victory over the Cats bloated his ego. When UK smacked him in the mouth in the Final 4, it was very fun to be a UK fan!

I thought Rick Barnes and another coach or two turned it down.

[Wildcatk23]

Was that the case? Can anyone recall whether the Cats had approached other coaches for the UK head coaching job before Cal was announced?

That used to be Pitino. His '96 team will be considered top 3 ever, arguably the best. It was also in '96 that my hatred for Cal began as his arrogance towards UK after UMass victory over the Cats bloated his ego. When UK smacked him in the mouth in the Final 4, it was very fun to be a UK fan!

I would bloat if i beat one of the greatest teams of all time. But being a kentucky fan over the age of 6 then im sure it would grow hatred toward him.

[Stardust]

I thought Rick Barnes and another coach or two turned it down.

Really, I would have thought that Cal was the Number one choice going in with no one else even in consideration.

[TheRealVille]

Really, I would have thought that Cal was the Number one choice going in with no one else even in consideration.

I don't recall any other coaches being considered, or asked by UK. I only remember a bunch of speculation on here as to who should be asked. UK never announced any names.

[LWC]

I don't recall any other coaches being considered, or asked by UK. I only remember a bunch of speculation on here as to who should be asked. UK never announced any names.

I know that it was never formally announced as anyone other than Cal, but it would be hard to believe that they only talked to one person.

[Jarons]

I thought Rick Barnes and another coach or two turned it down.

Barnes and Donovan turned down the job when BCG was hired.

[LWC]

Barnes and Donovan turned down the job when BCG was hired.

That is what I was thinking of! Thanks for making me make sense, that is a hard job, lol.

[Stardust]

I don't recall any other coaches being considered, or asked by UK. I only remember a bunch of speculation on here as to who should be asked. UK never announced any names.

That's what I thought..

...but...

Barnes and Donovan turned down the job when BCG was hired.

...if this is true, then UK did not hire who they wanted for the job.

Is that fair to say?

[Jarons]

[quote=Stardust]That's what I thought..

...but...



...if this is true, then UK did not hire who they wanted for the job.

Is that fair to say?[/QUOTE]
IMO yes. From what I understood, that Barnhart was so sure that Donovan was leaving Florida for UK that he never really considered anyone else. When he turned down UK and Barnes said no he hit the panic button.

[Stardust]

[/QUOTE]
IMO yes. From what I understood, that Barnhart was so sure that Donovan was leaving Florida for UK that he never really considered anyone else. When he turned down UK and Barnes said no he hit the panic button.[/QUOTE]

:Clap: too funny

[TheRealVille]

[quote=Stardust]That's what I thought..

...but...



...if this is true, then UK did not hire who they wanted for the job.

Is that fair to say?[/QUOTE]
IMO yes. From what I understood, that Barnhart was so sure that Donovan was leaving Florida for UK that he never really considered anyone else. When he turned down UK and Barnes said no he hit the panic button.

I would like to see ANY real evidence that Donavon or Barnes were ever asked, or if they ever considered a job at UK. All the talk I remember was at BGR, and UK doesn't consult us here.

[TheRealVille]

That's what I thought..

...but...



...if this is true, then UK did not hire who they wanted for the job.

Is that fair to say?

:Thumbs:

[Hoot Gibson]

Here's how I see Calipari. First, he may be the best college basketball recruiter since John Wooden. In all other respects, he is a mediocre basketball coach who needs all of that great talent to compete at a high level.

He may be mediocre, but I am fairly happy to have him at UK. Hopefully, he will win a few titles while he is at UK and the NCAA will allow the school to keep the titles after he leaves.

I think that the list of basketball coaches in this country who are better than Calipari is a pretty long one. I just don't trust the same idiots who hired Billy Gillispie and pressured Tubby Smith out of Lexington to hire somebody better. Calipari certainly deserves a few years to prove himself.

[Wildcatk23]

[quote=Jarons]I would like to see ANY real evidence that Donavon or Barnes were ever asked, or if they ever considered a job at UK. All the talk I remember was at BGR, and UK doesn't consult us here.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2826756

Donavon said he would talk to kentucky about it.

[Stardust]

Here's how I see Calipari. First, he may be the best college basketball recruiter since John Wooden. In all other respects, he is a mediocre basketball coach who needs all of that great talent to compete at a high level.

He may be mediocre, but I am fairly happy to have him at UK. Hopefully, he will win a few titles while he is at UK and the NCAA will allow the school to keep the titles after he leaves.

I think that the list of basketball coaches in this country who are better than Calipari is a pretty long one. I just don't trust the same idiots who hired Billy Gillispie and pressured Tubby Smith out of Lexington to hire somebody better. Calipari certainly deserves a few years to prove himself.

Nothing wrong with that post at all Hoot, and pretty much follows exactly what everyone else has tried to say. I've never said I wanted him, and I sure haven't said I wanted him to leave.:Thumbs:

[cuppett777]

name one team that can win it all, playing just 6 guys ?

[Stardust]

name one team that can win it all, playing just 6 guys ?

None, but the only player that we did not plan to have was Kanter, right? Everyone keeps saying that we didn't know Bledsoe and Orton would leave. Well, we knew they were going to leave in March??? Still time to sing other bodies.

[TheRealVille]

Here's how I see Calipari. First, he may be the best college basketball recruiter since John Wooden. In all other respects, he is a mediocre basketball coach who needs all of that great talent to compete at a high level.

He may be mediocre, but I am fairly happy to have him at UK. Hopefully, he will win a few titles while he is at UK and the NCAA will allow the school to keep the titles after he leaves.

I think that the list of basketball coaches in this country who are better than Calipari is a pretty long one. I just don't trust the same idiots who hired Billy Gillispie and pressured Tubby Smith out of Lexington to hire somebody better. Calipari certainly deserves a few years to prove himself.

I can not believe how many of your posts I am starting to agree with. This is a good one. I am however, glad to see him get a nail or two along the way, just to keep peoples heads out of the clouds about him. I don't want to see him leave, until UK can find another good coach to replace him. It will happen, but hopefully along the way, he can get enough recruits to hide his coaching ability.

[Wildcatk23]

Cal said we missed 14 offensive rebounds that could have sealed the game.

[Hoot Gibson]

I can not believe how many of your posts I am starting to agree with. This is a good one. I am however, glad to see him get a nail or two along the way, just to keep peoples heads out of the clouds about him. I don't want to see him leave, until UK can find another good coach to replace him. It will happen, but hopefully along the way, he can get enough recruits to hide his coaching ability.

:Thumbs: Yeah, I have noticed that we agree more often than not when we are not posting on the Political forum. :biggrin:

When the time comes to replace Calipari, I hope that a new AD and President will be in place to do the hiring. I don't think that the clowns who are currently in charge deserve another shot.

Aside from Billy Gillispie, I have never been in favor of firing UK coaches for having successful but disappointing seasons - only for behaving in a way that brought disgrace on the university.

The only UK teams that I have truly enjoyed watching since Rupp left style-wise were those coached by Pitino. But Pitino's constant flirting with the NBA every summer and the way he treated Roderick Rhodes made be glad when he finally left. He was a great coach (who has grown somewhat lazy with age, IMO) but not such a great human being.

[crazytaxidriver]

SD. None of my post was directed toward you or really anyone on this board. It was just a rant based on things I've read and heard. I do respect your opinion and I'm not going to argue it. It's clear to me what you mean. So I hope you didn't take my post out of context

[outdoorsman43]

I think this a post we can all agree on and respect, CTD. Great piece.

[beasy_bo]

I believe Cal will bring titles to us. how many coaches can take a NIT team in one year to the elite 8 then lose pretty much everyone besides 1 starter and 1 bench player have them in the top 25. I believe next year is when you see the ball really start to roll cause not everyone that we have right now will leave. cal has to have a loaded team to win, I really don't agree with that completely cause at memphis he had great PG's and everyone else was role players besides douglas-roberts and honestly thats the only other guy that I remember.

[Aslan]

Here's how I see Calipari. First, he may be the best college basketball recruiter since John Wooden. In all other respects, he is a mediocre basketball coach who needs all of that great talent to compete at a high level.

He may be mediocre, but I am fairly happy to have him at UK. Hopefully, he will win a few titles while he is at UK and the NCAA will allow the school to keep the titles after he leaves.

I think that the list of basketball coaches in this country who are better than Calipari is a pretty long one. I just don't trust the same idiots who hired Billy Gillispie and pressured Tubby Smith out of Lexington to hire somebody better. Calipari certainly deserves a few years to prove himself.

:Thumbs: I do agree.