Cal frustrated with fans

[Dwight Schrute]

Guys like Beard and Holtmann are guys who you take if Cal leaves and none of the huge names (Wright, Few, Stevens, Donovan) want it.

We are in very barren times right now when it comes to coaches. There is no Cal out there, a guy that you can look at and say would be perfect for Kentucky, like there was in 2009.

The stars of the game are all entrenched right now at their schools and have been for years. That's not a great situation if Kentucky is faced with having to hire a coach.

As for whether or not I personally want Cal gone...no. But I really worry we're in trouble because I don't know if the one-and-done thing works like it once did. The tide turned really quick on that experiment because, as noted, we've got guys bailing out now for free agent contracts. That will not work going forward. It just can't.

Probably true but it's a good indicator of why we should all be careful of what we wish for re: the Cal era being over.

[lilproUK98]

I'm firmly in the heck no side on Beard. Holtmann was looking really good a couple weeks ago, but his team has lost 3 in a row. But those two guys are at the top of the list. IDK if Stevens will go to IU or not, but if Cal was to leave and Stevens was choosing between iu and UK I'd love for him to pick UK, obviously 😁

[Joneslab]

I watched Ohio St. and Michigan last weekend. Unbelievable game. Ohio St. would beat us into total submission.

Kind of weird though that Ohio St. faded big-time last year and are having trouble again here at the end. May be a fluke but it definitely makes you wonder.

I've always liked the idea of a Pitino figure at Kentucky, one of these youngish guys who comes in with an idea and just starts to build his team around that philosophy. One of the reasons I liked the idea of Gillispie is I thought he'd be really driven and instead of getting a coach who had already accomplished a lot, he would have this fire to accomplish greatness here.

Turns out crazy and drunk override pretty much everything else.

[lilproUK98]

I watched Ohio St. and Michigan last weekend. Unbelievable game. Ohio St. would beat us into total submission.

Kind of weird though that Ohio St. faded big-time last year and are having trouble again here at the end. May be a fluke but it definitely makes you wonder.

I've always liked the idea of a Pitino figure at Kentucky, one of these youngish guys who comes in with an idea and just starts to build his team around that philosophy. One of the reasons I liked the idea of Gillispie is I thought he'd be really driven and instead of getting a coach who had already accomplished a lot, he would have this fire to accomplish greatness here.

Turns out crazy and drunk override pretty much everything else.

Along those lines, Nate Oats is rumored to be a bit of an a-hole.... But I wouldn't be opposed to him, if other options are exhausted.

[Dwight Schrute]

Cal is a bit of an a-hole. Pitino was as well.

I wanna see Nate Oats accomplish something but fans would love his style of play.

[Dwight Schrute]

It's borderline difficult to read much into teams fading this year but OSU's tendencies under Holtmann are notable.

[JFCats22]

If he is frustrated with fans now, wait until KU catches and passes UK (likely in the next couple of weeks) for the all-time wins record. He is going to hear some major noise from UK fans when that happens.

[GOCAT15]

If he is frustrated with fans now, wait until KU catches and passes UK (likely in the next couple of weeks) for the all-time wins record. He is going to hear some major noise from UK fans when that happens.

Just lucky that KU has had a below average year or they would've already passed us a month ago.

[Catsrock]

I understand the pool of up and comers isn’t a sexy as it has been at times. I understand the big names have been at their jobs for years. But I don’t know why UK would be an unattractive job to top coaches. We were on probation and hired Pitino from the Knicks. We were at rock bottom with BCG and got Cal from a school he’d been at for a while. If no one would want the job when Cal moves on then I’d attribute that to Cal convincing his comrades what a terrible job it is due to the passionate fan base. Couple that with one or 2 players returning from the previous year and won’t we be sitting pretty?

But I don’t believe it. I think someone would love to coach at UK. Just because Donovan turned it down (twice) doesn’t mean that’s the norm. For some reason he listened to his mentor Pitino—whom I’m sure only had Billy’s best interest in mind.

I’ve said it before...I still want Cal to stay. Just coach for UK a while. He can do things differently if he chooses to do so.

[Matt Dillon]

If Stevens or Few wouldn't be interested, when the time comes, I'd love to have Donovan. Shucks, Mark Pope might be the up and comer we're looking for.

[40bill]

John Calipari leaving would be rough. Lose whatever recruiting class he has, the inevitable negative publicity,
the buyout on a lifetime contrsct... and maybe four years for things to change.

Like a lot of you guys have said...the days when a kid wanted to go to a school because of name and tradition are gone in basketball. Now the best want the shot at the brass ring.....and who can blame them? Darius Miller is an NBA millionaire, as well as Gabriel and others who never were stars, but serviceable enough to get more money than most of us would see in 20 years.

[Jload]

I watched Cals speech at the first midnight madness again tonight. It is so striking, compared to what I hear from him today. Then he spoke of maintaining and even enriching the Kentucky tradition, he talked about it being a place of winners and championships, he talked about embracing and thriving in the spotlight of the greatest fans in college sport. Has anyone heard anything from him that even remotely sounds like that come out of his mouth in the last few years. What we hear now is bombast and frankly pure horse apples. “ Kentucky is a no excuses program” yet all I have heard is from him this year is excuses, how about “ UK always eats first” yet when offered a game basically on any terms he wanted by an instate rival when we NEEDED a game, yes I’m talking about Western,he ducked it. I have not seen that guy who spoke that night so long ago in a WHILE, and I would bet money I never see him again at UK. He needs to go.

[Joneslab]

I watched Cals speech at the first midnight madness again tonight. It is so striking, compared to what I hear from him today. Then he spoke of maintaining and even enriching the Kentucky tradition, he talked about it being a place of winners and championships, he talked about embracing and thriving in the spotlight of the greatest fans in college sport. Has anyone heard anything from him that even remotely sounds like that come out of his mouth in the last few years. What we hear now is bombast and frankly pure horse apples. “ Kentucky is a no excuses program” yet all I have heard is from him this year is excuses, how about “ UK always eats first” yet when offered a game basically on any terms he wanted by an instate rival when we NEEDED a game, yes I’m talking about Western,he ducked it. I have not seen that guy who spoke that night so long ago in a WHILE, and I would bet money I never see him again at UK. He needs to go.

Cal did a good job last year with a team that was pretty rough around the edges. That wasn't a Final Four team but he did a really good job with what we he had. He was pretty confident when he spoke.

This team had three major busts with Boston, Sarr, and Clarke. That's on the coach, yes, but it ripped a hole in the team. That's what caused Cal's PR nightmares this season IMO. He's searching for answers just like Coach K has been and Self has been at times and Roy Williams has been. They aren't accustomed to losing and they don't handle it well.

As for your point about Western, to be honest Kentucky has been ducking Western for years. That goes back well before Cal.

The year Tubby didn't duck them, they beat us.

I wish it weren't that way but this is the way the big boys operate, in sports, life, business, etc. They do what they want because there are no repercussions.

Instead of Mississippi Valley etc., Kentucky should play Western, Eastern, Morehead, and now Bellarmine at least every other year.

[Blue Heaven]

Having the coach of the seventh ranked team in the Big 12 will tickle me pink.

I can't fathom wanting Chris Beard here.

We have a Hall of Fame coach on our sidelines right now, whose career credentials blow any other realistic candidate out of the water. Let's give him a chance to get it right.

Never said I wanted Cal gone just yet. He needs to redeem himself and he deserves the time to do that. Now, I know I may have said otherwise, but it was the heat of the moment. Like after a loss. Which has been a ton this season. The worst season in my 50 years on this Earth. I left out Jay Wright in my list and I don't know why. Just a brain fart.

[40bill]

I kind of think the fan base is in for a rocky ride the next year or years.