Cal Talking About How He Hates Depth

[Joneslab]

One weird fluke about the 2015 team? We should have never beaten Ole Miss in Rupp. One of the weirder games of the Cal era.

[DA#23]

In general, the defense of Cal’s last five teams was markedly weaker than his previous teams especially compared to that first 5–6 years. Just not even close.

That he continued to try the same tactics demonstrated a disconnect in understanding his team, much less anything else. He couldn’t coach what he had on the court.

[TJ-CAT]

In general I prefer teams with depth. However, I can see that as a coach too much depth could complicate things because you have more personalities to manage which could lead to in-fighting and less cohesion. But, as I said at first, give me more talent and just figure out how to keep them all happy.

[KCKUKFan]

One weird fluke about the 2015 team? We should have never beaten Ole Miss in Rupp. One of the weirder games of the Cal era.

That game was lost at least five different times. When we finally won it, that was the first time I considered the fact that we might not lose a game.

[Joneslab]

In general I prefer teams with depth. However, I can see that as a coach too much depth could complicate things because you have more personalities to manage which could lead to in-fighting and less cohesion. But, as I said at first, give me more talent and just figure out how to keep them all happy.

I think there's probably a threshhold. You could easily have too many. Worse is having too few.

This year's UK team is gonna have a lot. I think he might have to do a platoon or a platoon-adjacent type of thing.

[KCKUKFan]

In general, the defense of Cal’s last five teams was markedly weaker than his previous teams especially compared to that first 5–6 years. Just not even close.

That he continued to try the same tactics demonstrated a disconnect in understanding his team, much less anything else. He couldn’t coach what he had on the court.

Early Cal's ability to adapt to the teams he had was unparalleled. Truly one of his real gifts as a coach, and made up for much he lacked in classic X and Os. He understood his personnel, and he figured out how to best utilize them. It might have taken awhile sometimes, but he figured it out. Call it "tweaks" or whatever, but he was a master.

It might have just been laziness or general malaise, but his downfall really started when he stopped adapting. What worked for 2012 was going to work for 2020. And it didn't help that guys who would have fought him on it tooth-and-nail (Robic) were replaced by useless hacks and sycophants (Coleman, Flint).

[DA#23]

In general I prefer teams with depth.

A player can be a sprained ankle away from significant PT…and opportunity.

I think it’s the job of the coach and his staff on whole to be direct with expectations, roles, and vision for a players time in the program.

Hard to do when the goal is to get in, do your thing, and move on ASAP. That sort of approach, that brand, makes college basketball seem like nothing more than a necessary evil.

So I think that it’s important to have talented depth within a season, see last year. It’s also important to develop and retain that depth, and I hope that’s something we’ll see more of now.

Looks like it so far!

[EKYCat]

That game was lost at least five different times. When we finally won it, that was the first time I considered the fact that we might not lose a game.

How about the road win that year down in Athens? They pretty well had us dead to rights and somehow walked out with a dubya.

[Morgousky]

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.

Exactly, looking back it seems like we were just lucky even then. I remember when Antonio Anderson took a nasty fall in 2006/7 when Memphis made it to the title game. That would have ended that run. Then looking back at how the game was more physical in '12, MKG taking hard spills every play, and the injury prone nature of AD? I think the philosophy of small circle rosters that Cal loves made it a few it a few times based on luck factors. I always preferred Pitino style, load the bench with NBA players and get them to play together anyway.

[KentuckyWild2020]

CAL talking about depth because he don't know how to manage depth and put players in the right position, it's easier managing 6...

[Pete Hogwallop]

One weird fluke about the 2015 team? We should have never beaten Ole Miss in Rupp. One of the weirder games of the Cal era.

I actually thought we were lucky to win a few games down the stretch with that team. By the end of the season, I didn't really we were quite as good as our record. However, I still thought we were the favorite to win. But as we know, Cal really can't coach much so he let the team down in the end.

[justafan]

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.

IMO, it always seemed to me that Cal poached the slow down from Coach K. The problem is that to run the slow down the team has to be super efficient, and dare I say it, FTs matter (not pointing to any particular game here). Duke was generally an efficient team year in and year out, save a few of Ks “one and done” later teams.

As Will mentions, you can’t run slow down and take 0 points possession after possession.

[BJD]

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.

Cal is a great coach. Cal was great for UK. But two things can be true. It was long past time for Cal to go. Not because of coaching. But because of the player's first stuff instead of program first.

Klutch was good for UK too. But promises of position or playing time were never made to any player. And there's not one shred of evidence to contradict that.

[KYJeff1]

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?

Who are all these disgruntled players? Cal is a players first coach, he catered to the players and he is a HOF coach, these kids know it would be stupid try to trash a HOF coach, all that does is make sure you never play for a legit program ever again.

But, Wenyen Gabriel and that Fletcher kid that went to Florida State had plenty to say. How many other players left disgruntled? The Dragon had his chances, he can only blame himself.

Just because a kid transfers, doesn't mean he hates Cal. Travis Perry transferred, doesn't mean he hates Pope.

[KYJeff1]

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.

Just can't play that stall ball crap with that much time left when the opponent has the #1 ranked offense. Just can't do it and Cal obviously didn't learn his lesson, he still does it to this day.