Cal Talking About How He Hates Depth

[EKYCat]

Depth is only good if they're a) TALENTED players, and b) you have some basic understanding of how to play them.

Sorry Cal. Neither of these apply to you.

I would say that Cal definitely had talented players.

[KYJeff1]

Wagner was a different situation, because of Cal's relationship with Sr.

I give him a pass on Edwards. Cal knew how good Edwards could be, and tried really hard to get him there. His performance in the NBA this year was proof that Edwards talent was never the problem. That kid was, and IS, really good.

Who were we playing over Sahvir Wheeler? He was a perfectly serviceable point guard. Not good enough to go where we wanted to go, but fine.

Cal adjusted on Quade quickly, when it was clear that Shae was the better option.

BJ Boston was one of three consistently decent players on a truly lousy roster.

Cal was a lazy disaster at the end of his tenure, but my only real gripe with his sub patterns was not playing Reed, Rob and Reeves together more often.

He played Edwards and Wagner over two lottery picks the entire year. That team ended up with 10 losses, that should never happen with that much talent.

Edwards had a mental block, forcing him into the lineup over and over, did nothing but make it worse. Kid had 1 good game all year.

Wheeler was the one that received the favoritism for two years. Tyty set the all time single season assist record at UK, but SW got most of the pg minutes, then he did it again the next year.

Doesn't matter that Cal switched to SGA quickly. The Dragon literally left the program, so Cal had to go to the future NBA MVP.

BJ Boston was an absolute joke. That guy was playing for the other team whenever he was in the game. He played ME-BALL and wasn't good enough at any aspect of the game to be that guy. Allen and Mintz played winning basketball, but BJB was the featured player, because Cal cares more about HS rankings and future potential than winning games.

I'm glad we finally have a coach that cares about UK, instead of hs rankings and ending generational poverty at UK's expense.

[KCKUKFan]

I would say that Cal definitely had talented players.

I think he was referring to talented depth. Although Cal usually had that, too.

[KCKUKFan]

He played Edwards and Wagner over two lottery picks the entire year. That team ended up with 10 losses, that should never happen with that much talent.

Edwards had a mental block, forcing him into the lineup over and over, did nothing but make it worse. Kid had 1 good game all year.

Wheeler was the one that received the favoritism for two years. Tyty set the all time single season assist record at UK, but SW got most of the pg minutes, then he did it again the next year.

Doesn't matter that Cal switched to SGA quickly. The Dragon literally left the program, so Cal had to go to the future NBA MVP.

BJ Boston was an absolute joke. That guy was playing for the other team whenever he was in the game. He played ME-BALL and wasn't good enough at any aspect of the game to be that guy. Allen and Mintz played winning basketball, but BJB was the featured player, because Cal cares more about HS rankings and future potential than winning games.

I'm glad we finally have a coach that cares about UK, instead of hs rankings and ending generational poverty at UK's expense.

Part of the issue with those guys is Cal was relying on them to be the top tier guys of his early tenure, but they weren't nearly as good. That's his fault for slipping on recruiting.

Also: Allen was not good enough to play at Western or Wyoming, and was never good enough to play here. BJ Boston was good enough to get a second NBA contract. It was Cals fault that that roster was so hideous and Boston wasnt very good here, but I dont think it's the kid's fault.

[KYJeff1]

The Harrisons were better players in 2015 than Ulis and Booker. They deserved every bit of playing time they got.

Maybe the most underappreciated players of Cal's era, which is crazy when you consider how many epic memories we had of their teams.

I agree. Cal had the right guys in the game. Decker was cooking Ulis and Booker.

The issue was, we had the lead and Cal did what Cal does, he took the air out of the ball.

That crap cost Cal/UK so many games and he did it again in the sweet 16 last year. Any other coach wins that game, he managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

[Joneslab]

Decker was getting Booker in the post and abusing him. It was pretty bad.

And, let's be honest: the blown shot clock violation was a major deal in that game.

[BJD]

I mean, that would be a stupid thing for a player to do. Not only would that be throwing Cal under the bus, but it would also tell the other players, through the media, that that player was promised playing time over them.

But also, the promises that were made to clutch, weren't made to the players, they were made to the organization.

There is no other explanation for the favoritism he displayed for Quade Green, BJB, Wheeler, Wagner and Edwards.

So even the guys that left mad chose to not say why they left?

Makes no sense. And if promises were made, wouldn't the other players already know it?

Seems like bias confirmation to me. Never heard Klutch reps say that either. But I would be interested in reading about that if it's out there. Where does one go to get that kind of inside information?

[BJD]

Reeves, Dillingham, Sheppard were the most efficient trio we had on offense by a wide margin. Yet, they rarely played together. You can't tell me there weren't promises made for playing time in those situations.

Wagner, Harrisons over Ulis and Booker, Edwards, Boston, Wheeler, Green, Harrow... the list goes on and on.

Sheppard played more minutes than any of them.

[ThroughBlue]

I mean, that would be a stupid thing for a player to do. Not only would that be throwing Cal under the bus, but it would also tell the other players, through the media, that that player was promised playing time over them.

But also, the promises that were made to clutch, weren't made to the players, they were made to the organization.

There is no other explanation for the favoritism he displayed for Quade Green, BJB, Wheeler, Wagner and Edwards.

I like to refer to Brandon Boston only as "BJ" because thats seemingly what he did all year

[Joneslab]

So even the guys that left mad chose to not say why they left?

Makes no sense. And if promises were made, wouldn't the other players already know it?

Seems like bias confirmation to me. Never heard Klutch reps say that either. But I would be interested in reading about that if it's out there. Where does one go to get that kind of inside information?

I believe folks are just inferring using some context. The Klutch stuff did have a lot of smoke with it...BUT I always thought it was more Cal trying to get Edwards to break out of his shell, and with in-their-own-heads guys like that sometimes you do see them get some confidence and then just take off. Edwards *almost* did it there in a couple of late-season games...but then he'd revert. I thought he should have been a bench player with Wagner but I can kind of see Cal's logic in all that.

Cal's players loved him for the most part. That's something that can't be disputed and can't be taken away from him. There are some exceptions...but he really was a players' coach. Seems like Pope is as well. You can't not be and be successful at this level.

[KCKUKFan]

I agree. Cal had the right guys in the game. Decker was cooking Ulis and Booker.

The issue was, we had the lead and Cal did what Cal does, he took the air out of the ball.

That crap cost Cal/UK so many games and he did it again in the sweet 16 last year. Any other coach wins that game, he managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

The thing about the 2015 team is that we had the roster to take the air out of the ball. We had done it a number of times earlier in that very season, and usually we just wore teams down. I understand why Cal just felt like we could take the air out and overpower them. Hell, it worked countless times before.

But we had a couple of bad breaks (the no-call shot clock violation comes immediately to mind), and we let a guy go superhuman for about two straight minutes.

We were cooked, Cal was shell-shocked, and he was never really the same.

[Joneslab]

I actually never thought Cal's tactic of the "circle" or taking the air out ever worked well, except in isolated times.

He loved the idea of it. But often all it would do was lead to a turnover after it ate clock. (Which I think Cal considered a win.)

It almost got us beat in 2012 in the title game. The 2015 team could get away with it more because they were so tough defensively, but even with them I remember thinking a few times that year that it was just a mess.

[Morgousky]

Cal always preferred a roster of 7 or even less. And it bit him in the ass.

[Joneslab]

Cal always preferred a roster of 7 or even less. And it bit him in the ass.

It worked in those flush years where we had elite talent plus the weird thing of never having injuries.

Once the injuries came in and the talent slipped a notch...that's when you need a bench.

[KCKUKFan]

I actually never thought Cal's tactic of the "circle" or taking the air out ever worked well, except in isolated times.

He loved the idea of it. But often all it would do was lead to a turnover after it ate clock. (Which I think Cal considered a win.)

It almost got us beat in 2012 in the title game. The 2015 team could get away with it more because they were so tough defensively, but even with them I remember thinking a few times that year that it was just a mess.

There were a number of times when we'd take the air out of the ball in his early years, and would just wear teams out. Taking air out of the ball would frequently blow a five point lead up to 15 and the game was over, because the other team was just overwhelmed. That happened a number of times in 2015 alone.

Trying to take the air out of the ball with his later teams was a fatal mistake, because, by and large, we didn't have nearly as much talent or overwhelming athleticism as we did in his early tenure.

It almost cost us in the 2012 title game, but that 2012 team wasn't very deep (albeit extraordinarily talented) and wasn't built for it, either.