Damn. The Squid almost lost.

[swami7774]

A&M came up a point short.

 

[Brochacho]

There are a few staunch Ollie defenders that I've argued whether Calipari is a good coach or not (he is). A fun fact for them is that since the 2014 title game, Kevin Ollie is 69-50. Calipari is 109-19.

 

[Hurleyman216]

There are a few staunch Ollie defenders that I've argued whether Calipari is a good coach or not (he is). A fun fact for them is that since the 2014 title game, Kevin Ollie is 69-50. Calipari is 109-19.

Squid isn’t a great in game coach. He can recruit like no one else, but he falls far short of having great teams if you look at the talent he’s working with.

 

[HuskyHawk]

There are a few staunch Ollie defenders that I've argued whether Calipari is a good coach or not (he is). A fun fact for them is that since the 2014 title game, Kevin Ollie is 69-50. Calipari is 109-19.

A friend of mine coaches at one of the basketball factory prep schools. He’s met most of the coaches and works their camps. He says Cal is a fantastic guy, great to get a beer with and talk to. As much as we dislike him back to the UMass days, he is a hell of a basketball coach.

 

[Tuna]

There are a few staunch Ollie defenders that I've argued whether Calipari is a good coach or not (he is). A fun fact for them is that since the 2014 title game, Kevin Ollie is 69-50. Calipari is 109-19.

You guys can turn literally every thread into the same thing.

 

[temery]

There are a few staunch Ollie defenders that I've argued whether Calipari is a good coach or not (he is). A fun fact for them is that since the 2014 title game, Kevin Ollie is 69-50. Calipari is 109-19.

Fair point, but vastly different players. If Calhoun had coached Kentucky they would have several more championships, not bragging rights to a wicked good record.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'll play.

May 1, 2018 UConn and Kentucky swap Ollie and Calipari.

I have zero doubt that within 12 months UConn is a much better team than Kentucky.

 

[the Q]

Squid isn’t a great in game coach. He can recruit like no one else, but he falls far short of having great teams if you look at the talent he’s working with.

Sounds like Bill Self.

Imagine if we were ever as consistently loaded as those Kansas teams that kept choking (badly) in March. The By would’ve been in meltdown mode back then.

Even in his best coaching job in 2012, they sleepwalked through every first half except the UNC one. Had they been even moderately awake for the first half Kentucky game self has another title. But a big part of that is coaching.

 

[the Q]

I'll play.

May 1, 2018 UConn and Kentucky swap Ollie and Calipari.

I have zero doubt that within 12 months UConn is a much better team than Kentucky.

Does the money come with him? Otherwise I’m not sure you’d see that much more of a difference.

He’s not “funding” the recruiting out of his own pocket.

 

[Purple Stein]

Only the number 5 class for next year so far, with no top tens yet. Couple still out there to declare. Rough year for Cal!

 

[Travelman6]

I do not even have the energy to cheer for other teams to lose these days. I am too busy spending all my energy on hoping Uconn can win. Ugh.

 

[JeepCSC]

A friend of mine coaches at one of the basketball factory prep schools. He’s met most of the coaches and works their camps. He says Cal is a fantastic guy, great to get a beer with and talk to. As much as we dislike him back to the UMass days, he is a hell of a basketball coach.

Is beer-drinking a prerequisite for being a great coach? Cal has had arguably the most stacked teams in the history of the sport. The NBA talent that has passed through Kentucky in the last 10 years is about the same as the number of NBA talent that has passed through Chapel Hill since Jordan left. There really is no precedence for the pooling of NBA talent with the possible exception of Wooden. And yet, one title. Cal is a very good coach, but he is a better recruiter and/or whatever the hell is going on in Kentucky.

 

[CTBasketball]

As we should know, winning the NCAAT has a lot to do with the bracket matchups, seeding, and luck. I’m not defending Cal, but UK hasn’t exactly had the easiest roads to the Final Four.


2017: Wichita State R2, UCLA S16, UNC E8

2016: Indiana R2 (upset)

2015: Cincinnati, WVU, Notre Dame, Wisconsin

2014: Wichita State, #1 overall Louisville, Michigan, Wisconsin, UConn

I could go on, but I think our Final Four runs have been against much easier competition.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Is beer-drinking a prerequisite for being a great coach? Cal has had arguably the most stacked teams in the history of the sport. The NBA talent that has passed through Kentucky in the last 10 years is about the same as the number of NBA talent that has passed through Chapel Hill since Jordan left. There really is no precedence for the pooling of NBA talent with the possible exception of Wooden. And yet, one title. Cal is a very good coach, but he is a better recruiter and/or whatever the hell is going on in Kentucky.

It is actually really difficult to win a NC with freshman driven teams that have a lot of turnover year to year. NBA talent that is 18 years old is less valuable than Euro league talent at 21 or 22. Those kids have a tendency to be able to play out of their minds great or really poorly game to game. That makes it very hard to win the tournament. It's a problem facing all of those teams, and the reason you see so many upsets. You need experienced players to complement those freshmen. College basketball: What do the last 10 national champions have in common?

Look at his current roster. Every player who gets minutes is a freshman or sophomore. If he can keep a few, they will be good in a year. 2017-18 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Nova this year has at least four juniors getting major minutes. Allen is a senior at Duke, but the rest are mostly freshmen. They won't win it. Purdue looks very good. Why? Four seniors. MSU starts all freshmen or sophomores, but has four juniors or seniors that play quite a bit and give them stability.

 

[JeepCSC]

It is actually really difficult to win a NC with freshman driven teams that have a lot of turnover year to year. NBA talent that is 18 years old is less valuable than Euro league talent at 21 or 22. Those kids have a tendency to be able to play out of their minds great or really poorly game to game. That makes it very hard to win the tournament. It's a problem facing all of those teams, and the reason you see so many upsets. You need experienced players to complement those freshmen. College basketball: What do the last 10 national champions have in common?

Look at his current roster. Every player who gets minutes is a freshman or sophomore. If he can keep a few, they will be good in a year. 2017-18 Kentucky Wildcats Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Nova this year has at least four juniors getting major minutes. Allen is a senior at Duke, but the rest are mostly freshmen. They won't win it. Purdue looks very good. Why? Four seniors. MSU starts all freshmen or sophomores, but has four juniors or seniors that play quite a bit and give them stability.

It was harder to do when elite freshmen talent was going against elite veteran talent. But there simply are few elite vet talent that stays long, and Kentucky gets quite a few of them that do stay. 2015 had a handful of top talent that were sophomores and juniors who were top 15 or so in their high school classes. His best teams have a mixture. But they always have more talent than any team on the floor, arguably to a greater degree than in cbb history. That’s a luxury however you slice it.