The Official Keeping Up With Calipari Thread

[Lighthouse]

I’m gonna be petty and say it: Cal would’ve lost last night’s game by 20.

I don't think that is petty at all, it's Truth.

[surveyor]

Totally agree. Multiple final four appearances and a national title is objective evidence.

Barry Switzer won a Super Bowl by most accounts in spite of himself. He was a helluva coach in his day at the college level, but the pro level was a different animal and he wasn't that engaged in running the show.

I think Cal was a better coach before he got to Kentucky. I sometimes think he coasted on the talent he brought in. I sometimes wondered what some of those teams would have been like if he were better - at least as good as he was before he got here.

[Joneslab]

Before he fell upon the one-and-one thing, Cal was a much more traditional kind of coach. The UMASS team with Camby and some of those early UMASS teams would've had to have been well-coached. He built that program.

After the one-and-dones, I think he tended to lean on the philosophy of just getting out of the talent's way.

As Cauley-Stein says in that video above, his great gift was the love of his players. I think that was genuine. At Kentucky, I think he eventually fell out of love with the fans and, maybe more importantly, the boosters. That really did damage to the product we saw on the court and I think it changed Cal's whole mindset. He began to isolate in a business that's meant to be achieved with a lot of helpers in the community. And especially a lot of those helpers' money.

[DA#23]

At Kentucky, I think he eventually fell out of love with the fans and, maybe more importantly, the boosters.

And most importantly, the game.

Which then caught up to and passed him by, like a kid who cheats their way through a class and finally gets caught at the end of the term…having learned nothing.

[justafan]

He began to isolate in a business that's meant to be achieved with a lot of helpers in the community. And especially a lot of those helpers' money.

The Gillespie syndrome, but not from day 1 unlike BCG. Dude wanted nothing to do with the off-the-court part of the job. He made that very clear.

[surveyor]

The Gillespie syndrome, but not from day 1 unlike BCG. Dude wanted nothing to do with the off-the-court part of the job. He made that very clear.

I think BCG could have been a tremendous coach had it not been for his alcoholism. I think that greatly impacted his not desiring to do the off court stuff.

[Joneslab]

I think BCG could have been a tremendous coach had it not been for his alcoholism. I think that greatly impacted his not desiring to do the off court stuff.

Gillispie was also incredibly cruel. I don't know if that was the alcohol or if that's just how he was. I saw him run a practice once where he basically was a madman. I came away impressed...but in hindsight, it was obvious why he failed. (And that's putting to the side the off the court stuff.) To say that he ran things with an iron fist is an understatement. He was basically a Bobby Knight figure.

The famous incident where he threw John Wall out of practice when Wall was on a visit is a good example of how Gillispie was just a wild individual. Was that his alcohol or was he just like that? Impossible to say. But he was a one of one...and not in a good way.

[KentuckyWild2020]

I know it's early but Mark Pope is making all these coaches the past 25 years look like idiots. The only elephant in the room is "can he recruit'?

Pope checks all the boxes. Former Kentucky player, National Champion, age, charisma, understands what Kentucky means, Coaching Guru. If Brad Stevens was the mad scientist of college basketball, Mark Pope isn't far behind.

For me the thing that most important for me is the fact that we actually have a Rick Pitino protege. I know the Rick era was a long time ago and Rick became a vilian, the game also changed. Still the fundamental values of Ricks' teaching are in Pope, that's a big deal in my opinion. Tubby was under Rick but a different philosphy and a stubborness to make sure he was his own man, not Rick Pitino.. Donovan wasn't initally offered a job and if he was at some point down the road, he said no.


Cal was good until he wasn't, NBA ruined him from who he was in the 90's in my opinion. Billy G would have never been the coach at Kentucky had he not beat Rick Pitino in front of a anti Tubby Smith Rupp Arena crowd in the NCAA tournament, it was the perfect storm for Billy G....

[surveyor]

Gillispie was also incredibly cruel. I don't know if that was the alcohol or if that's just how he was. I saw him run a practice once where he basically was a madman. I came away impressed...but in hindsight, it was obvious why he failed. (And that's putting to the side the off the court stuff.) To say that he ran things with an iron fist is an understatement. He was basically a Bobby Knight figure.

The famous incident where he threw John Wall out of practice when Wall was on a visit is a good example of how Gillispie was just a wild individual. Was that his alcohol or was he just like that? Impossible to say. But he was a one of one...and not in a good way.

I think alcohol was a good part of it - even when he was sober.

Agitation because you have to wait to get your fix. Projecting your shortcomings on others in the way he handled those practices could definitely be influenced by alcohol even when sober.

Even when someone has detoxed and gone weeks without alcohol, their reasoning and thought process is still a bit hampered, even though it may be significantly better than when under the influence.

[justafan]

Well, a stressful job thrown in - stress compounds alcohol problems.

[Joneslab]

Calipari gets his first big win at Arkansas as the Hogs beat Michigan in NYC.

They looked *really* good for about 15 minutes of the game. Because they have three or four guys who can really drive the ball, if they get any semblance of outside shooting they're tough. DJ Wagner took the game over for a little bit there and it was probably the best I'd ever seen him look as a college player.

[Catsrock]

Calipari gets his first big win at Arkansas as the Hogs beat Michigan in NYC.

They looked *really* good for about 15 minutes of the game. Because they have three or four guys who can really drive the ball, if they get any semblance of outside shooting they're tough. DJ Wagner took the game over for a little bit there and it was probably the best I'd ever seen him look as a college player.

Yeah I watched quite a bit of it. It was a real nice win for them. Wagner looked great for a while. Fland is really tough. But—they were up 80-62 with under 10 minutes left and Michigan missed a shot to tie it at the end. Just saying—we saw a ton of those type endings the last couple years. Still head scratching why he won’t finish out strong.

[Lighthouse]

I watched the 2nd half and Arkansas looked good. Cal actually called a TO late. Michigan had a chance to win but blew it.

[40bill]

That was a good win. This SEC is gonna be an absolute dog fight every single game this year.
Sankey stated several years ago he wanted the SEC to be as respected and dominant in basketball as football.
Just looking right now, he got it.

[Joneslab]

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