Calipari getting his own 30 for 30

[FartMan69]

Listen I despise the Squid in a huge way. I know he rubbed a lot of coaches the wrong way besides our own Jim Calhoun but he still did a great job of getting UMass on the map for while. His coaching technique was more in the rah rah style but the man could coach a little and it took a lot of ability to get them to buy into his plan. The Barba's, Herndon's, Travieso's, Padilla's, Kellogg's, Roe's and of course Camby was a solid core which he did some real good things with. I mean he also ran what would seem to be a sketchy program at best, but he did his best coaching when being the underdog so that's about all the credit I can give him. Since then with better players he's been good, but not great at all.

No matter he's not likable and the fact they would have a 30 30 on him before so many other deserving coaches does really tell you how pitiful ESPN had become.

30 for 30's are made by independent film makers, not ESPN. Do you have any film equipment handy?

 

[Ts5034]

What fascinates me is that this creep is in the Hall of Fame
How many coaches had two - not one - final four banners be brought down due to NCAA violations?
How many inductees had two schools boycott the induction and one school not even recognize it (Memphis)?
What was his record in the NBA?
Perhaps the basketball world celebrated The Squid because he dares to be different but there are many other coaches who have played by the rules and have had much legitimate success over longer periods of time
This guy is an embarrassment to coaching - in my opinion

It amazes me that Calhoun needed to get the second national title before the voters thought he was Hall of Fame material, but guys like Calipari and Self are in when Calhouns resume was better than theirs at the time of induction.

 

[TheChamps990411]

And these kids who were/are all considered to be Top 5 in their positions and could walk off the High School floor and into the NBA - none would have been lottery picks if they didn't share an eight month experience with The Squid?????

This is my biggest beef with all the BSPN Squid love. First take had a discussion on who would they rather play for and the choices were Coach K or Squid and Stephen A said something that i thought was just completely idiotic and makes absolutely no sense. He said if he was going to spend a couple years in college he`d go with K because he could make him a better player but if hes a one and done he`d go play with Squid because of his track record. What?!!! If youre a one and done talent youre going to be in the NBA after one season in college even if Kim Kardashians your coach! It goes into what youre saying these kids are lottery picks anyway! Squid is an average coach who gets great talent every year and fails miserably in the tournament outside of the one title he has.
Can you imagine prime calhoun 1990-2004 with that level of talent every year? He`d be sitting on 6 titles instead of you know, 3?!!! Squid is a crap coach whos will go down as the most overrated coach of all time who got outcoached repeatedly in the tournament by superior coaching ability.

 

[Towney007]

Look, if he had stayed at UMass it's certainly possible that it could have become a UConn-type program over time. Watching the documentary I can't help noticing the parallels between his 'building job' there and Calhoun's. (I was too young to remember it when it happening.)

I actually believe this quite ferverantly, although the main issue with Calipari is just the cheating, the over enthusiasm from boosters, etc.

I know more behind the scenes stuff there just having a lot of friends heavily involved with that program and I'll give Kellogg credit - he never went Cal dirty and had all the opportunity in the world to do it. I *personally know* about 2 or 3 boosters who were *loudly* offering to bank roll recruits, buy houses, support families, etc. He never caved to it. Cost him his job and he had issues of his own, but he never fell into that trap door - even having been around Squid as much as he was.

The idea that it's hard to recruit to UMass - much like the 'it's hard to recruit to UConn' stuff - is mostly a myth though. Birthplace of basketball. The remaining fan base, while a bunch of Uncle Rico's, are really into the program. The Champions Center is every bit as nice, maybe even nicer than UConn's. The Mullen's Center is fine. The School's decent and while not the most aesthetically pleasing - has lots of easy majors to hide dumb dumb hoops players. Springfield/Holyoke/NoHo is the largest market in the US without a pro baseball/basketball team of any kind and if you make enough noise there, Boston WILL peak it's head over 495 to take a look. It's got a fair amount going for it.

My issue with Cal is that I just don't think he could have *not* been caught eventually - or even caught multiple times. That and his ego is just unquenchable. But as mediocre an X's and O's guy as he is, he's a tremendous salesman and a pretty good motivator. I see the effects every day there. I just met with their ARD yesterday and the reason they thought their football would transition so seamlessly to FBS was due to their own perceived reputation in hoops. And it's almost 25 years after the fact and 20 years at least since they've been good. I'm not saying that's justified - i'm saying that's how intoxicating the guy's motivational fumes were on people around him. They STILL haven't dissipated.

And neither has the goofiness. Lou Roe - again - STILL lives in a bought and paid for booster house.

 

[Towney007]

This is my biggest beef with all the BSPN Squid love. First take had a discussion on who would they rather play for and the choices were Coach K or Squid and Stephen A said something that i thought was just completely idiotic and makes absolutely no sense. He said if he was going to spend a couple years in college he`d go with K because he could make him a better player but if hes a one and done he`d go play with Squid because of his track record. What?!!! If youre a one and done talent youre going to be in the NBA after one season in college even if Kim Kardashians your coach! It goes into what youre saying these kids are lottery picks anyway! Squid is an average coach who gets great talent every year and fails miserably in the tournament outside of the one title he has.
Can you imagine prime calhoun 1990-2004 with that level of talent every year? He`d be sitting on 6 titles instead of you know, 3?!!! Squid is a crap coach whos will go down as the most overrated coach of all time who got outcoached repeatedly in the tournament by superior coaching ability.

Squid's essentially running an elite JUCO baseball program in D1 Hoops. He's a classic salesman - and the old rule in sales is - fill your pipeline with so many qualified leads that just by the law of averages - you HAVE to be good at some point. And that's what he does. If he could hold even 40% of these guys 2-3 years, he'd be John flipping Wooden at this point. But he's not there to be developmental. He's there to instill belief and confidence in guys who's #1 priority is to get drafted as quickly as possible and not be coached by him as quickly as possible.

 

[Vuce]

And it's almost 25 years after the fact and 20 years at least since they've been good. I'm not saying that's justified - i'm saying that's how intoxicating the guy's motivational fumes were on people around him. They STILL haven't dissipated.

It makes sense that Umass is still intoxicated with Cal. Before he got there it was 30 years since their last NCAA tournament appearance (1962 ish). And Umass has not won an NCAA tournament game since.....Cal's second to last game there in 1996! He was a better coach at Umass than he has been at UK when you compare the talent levels

 

[don356]

I watched the 30/30 last night. I thought it very interesting that "world wide wes" was never interviewed.

 

[Horatio]

This is my biggest beef with all the BSPN Squid love. First take had a discussion on who would they rather play for and the choices were Coach K or Squid and Stephen A said something that i thought was just completely idiotic and makes absolutely no sense. He said if he was going to spend a couple years in college he`d go with K because he could make him a better player but if hes a one and done he`d go play with Squid because of his track record. What?!!! If youre a one and done talent youre going to be in the NBA after one season in college even if Kim Kardashians your coach! It goes into what youre saying these kids are lottery picks anyway! Squid is an average coach who gets great talent every year and fails miserably in the tournament outside of the one title he has.
Can you imagine prime calhoun 1990-2004 with that level of talent every year? He`d be sitting on 6 titles instead of you know, 3?!!! Squid is a crap coach whos will go down as the most overrated coach of all time who got outcoached repeatedly in the tournament by superior coaching ability.

It's comical. Those kids could play at Apex tech and still go pro. It's presented as if he's
Doing the kids a favor. Lol!!! They really want people to think that these kids need Kentucky and his " coaching " , "training ", and " resources " to go pro. He's the "pimp of the year" several times over and still got beat by guys like T Sam, Amida, Tyler, Niels , Beverly, etc.

 

[chickenhead]

I watched the 30/30 last night. I thought it very interesting that "world wide wes" was never interviewed.

William Wesley is World Wide Wes. He was all over it starting with Memphis.

 

[TRest]

I actually believe this quite ferverantly, although the main issue with Calipari is just the cheating, the over enthusiasm from boosters, etc.

I know more behind the scenes stuff there just having a lot of friends heavily involved with that program and I'll give Kellogg credit - he never went Cal dirty and had all the opportunity in the world to do it. I *personally know* about 2 or 3 boosters who were *loudly* offering to bank roll recruits, buy houses, support families, etc. He never caved to it. Cost him his job and he had issues of his own, but he never fell into that trap door - even having been around Squid as much as he was.

The idea that it's hard to recruit to UMass - much like the 'it's hard to recruit to UConn' stuff - is mostly a myth though. Birthplace of basketball. The remaining fan base, while a bunch of Uncle Rico's, are really into the program. The Champions Center is every bit as nice, maybe even nicer than UConn's. The Mullen's Center is fine. The School's decent and while not the most aesthetically pleasing - has lots of easy majors to hide dumb dumb hoops players. Springfield/Holyoke/NoHo is the largest market in the US without a pro baseball/basketball team of any kind and if you make enough noise there, Boston WILL peak it's head over 495 to take a look. It's got a fair amount going for it.

My issue with Cal is that I just don't think he could have *not* been caught eventually - or even caught multiple times. That and his ego is just unquenchable. But as mediocre an X's and O's guy as he is, he's a tremendous salesman and a pretty good motivator. I see the effects every day there. I just met with their ARD yesterday and the reason they thought their football would transition so seamlessly to FBS was due to their own perceived reputation in hoops. And it's almost 25 years after the fact and 20 years at least since they've been good. I'm not saying that's justified - i'm saying that's how intoxicating the guy's motivational fumes were on people around him. They STILL haven't dissipated.

And neither has the goofiness. Lou Roe - again - STILL lives in a bought and paid for booster house.

Wasn't Roe pulling down an assistant coach's salary? Why would anyone still want to be paying his housing costs?

 

[Ts5034]

Squid's essentially running an elite JUCO baseball program in D1 Hoops. He's a classic salesman - and the old rule in sales is - fill your pipeline with so many qualified leads that just by the law of averages - you HAVE to be good at some point. And that's what he does. If he could hold even 40% of these guys 2-3 years, he'd be John flipping Wooden at this point. But he's not there to be developmental. He's there to instill belief and confidence in guys who's #1 priority is to get drafted as quickly as possible and not be coached by him as quickly as possible.

I always felt that when its all said and done, Calipari will win a couple more national championships. Hes still young and with the way he recruits, he will always get the player who comes around once a decade that can carry a team to a championship like an Anthony Davis.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Prediction: this thread will end up being longer than the corresponding thread on the UK board.

I've just started reading it, wondering why anyone responded in the first place, and how it's alive 2 months later. I wonder what's in store and will check back in later.

 

[CL82]

Calipari is getting 30 for 30? I always figured that he get 10 to 20.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He had the right idea. Don't worry about sanctions or anything like that at your stepping stone schools. Kids care about making the NBA not having their college wins vacated. Build up a reputation of getting kids to the NBA even if they would have walked into the lottery and eventually you can stop cheating and have success and get any recruits you want

I Initially hit Post without writing anything. It was a mistake. I wanted to say something about businessmen with shady practices and multiple failures mixed with questionable successes. Through masterful marketing and great persistence they sometimes find great success in unexpected places. Haters keep waiting for the fall, and sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't, but the waiting continues. Maybe I didn't need to write this.

 

[UConnNick]

Calipari is getting 30 for 30? I always figured that he get 10 to 20.

He gives calamari a totally undeserved bad reputation.

 

[John]

I watched this travesty this past weekend. If a television show could line a parakeet cage or wrap up a stinking mackerel, this show would be it. They danced around the edges of what Cal is all about, but of course (being ESPN) never crossed the line and got into anything interesting - they save that for Calhoun and UConn apparently. I'll tell you this much, if I ever was in a room with Calipari I'd make sure I still have my wallet and wristwatch when I left.