Cal Talking About How He Hates Depth

[Joneslab]

Interesting conversation here, especially considering Pope is going to have so many players on his teams.

https://x.com/JacksonCollier/status/1939780946024440165

[EKYCat]

He didn't mind it when he had the Blue Squad and the White Squad. I mean, he still couldn't win a title with all that depth. Maybe that's why he hates it.

[Joneslab]

He didn't mind it when he had the Blue Squad and the White Squad. I mean, he still couldn't win a title with all that depth. Maybe that's why he hates it.

I always thought he hated it because of the in-fighting and the promises he'd made to players.

When you're in living rooms telling them all these things, it's hard to delivery if they're being subbed out every time they look over there.

But also, Roy Williams and Coach K also had a lot of success in the modern era with tight benches.

[EKYCat]

I always thought he hated it because of the in-fighting and the promises he'd made to players.

When you're in living rooms telling them all these things, it's hard to delivery if they're being subbed out every time they look over there.

But also, Roy Williams and Coach K also had a lot of success in the modern era with tight benches.

Yeah, I was being smart.

Depth can work both ways. Rick was pretty good with a deep bench. Part of that was style of play. He ran kids ragged and probably HAD to have a deep bench to be that successful. But, playing time is a premium and kids that are wanting to be seen sheerly so they can hit the next level (not that all of Cal's players were there ONLY to go to the NBA) don't appreciate splitting time.

[GOCAT15]

I love a deep bench, if it's used correctly. If you have 10 legit talented players and you aren't running teams with lessor depth out of the gym then I don't see the point. It allows you to be more aggressive and not worry about fouls as much either. If you want to play slow and methodical then a smaller rotation makes sense, but as we saw with some of Cal's teams if the injury bug hits the wrong important piece of that small rotation then you are done.

[Joneslab]

Last year we were "deep" (except in the post) and Pope struggled with it at times...BUT he stuck with Chandler and Noah, and that really paid off.

Next year should be a much different story. But in turn, that might add in some challenges for him in getting the flow right. He almost coached like you see some of these NBA coaches doing, really resting guys for longer stretches than seemed to be necessary. However that could've been why Oweh had such thunderous second halves. Also: it obviously didn't shield us from injury issues, so if it was a load management thing, it didn't work.

So it's a mixed bag. I think it's obvious that he's going to use most of his players and he has a lot more trust in those back-end-of-rotation guys than most fans do.

[Spiritof96]

The 1996 Team was "Too talented" and "Had too much depth to win it all".

[Trueblujr]

I always thought he hated it because of the in-fighting and the promises he'd made to players.

When you're in living rooms telling them all these things, it's hard to delivery if they're being subbed out every time they look over there.

But also, Roy Williams and Coach K also had a lot of success in the modern era with tight benches.

I think that shows the difference in how Pope recruits versus how Cal recruits. Cal makes promises and guarantees, to the point they bite him in the rear. Pope finds players willing to play for the common good. Players willing to sacrifice and who want to play for the name on the front of the jersey and win championships. At least that’s what I see so far.

[Joneslab]

I think that shows the difference in how Pope recruits versus how Cal recruits. Cal makes promises and guarantees, to the point they bite him in the rear. Pope finds players willing to play for the common good. Players willing to sacrifice and who want to play for the name on the front of the jersey and win championships. At least that’s what I see so far.

Yeah, I think this is right. I always thought all the promises he'd made were a major part of his unraveling here.

And he said that he never did that...but come on. He obviously did.

I'm gonna say a little-known thing about big-time college sports that people don't really know about is the avalanche of pressure coaches get hit with from families. It likely makes big-time AAU ball look like a cake walk. And not only parents and relatives have a stake. It'd be AAU coaches, far-flung relatives, agents these days, acquaintances...I always thought that was the "noise" Cal was talking about when he discussed players going through off-the-court issues.

Pope will and has been hit with that same thing, obviously, but I doubt it's at the level of Cal simply because Pope goes about his business in a far different way and doesn't have to set the whole thing up like an NBA farm team.

[EKYCat]

Yeah, I think this is right. I always thought all the promises he'd made were a major part of his unraveling here.

And he said that he never did that...but come on. He obviously did.

You know he made promises. The whole "I can't hide you here." "This isn't for everybody." All schtick. UK had the third and the eighth pick in the 2024 NBA draft and neither started here.

[Joneslab]

You know he made promises. The whole "I can't hide you here." "This isn't for everybody." All schtick. UK had the third and the eighth pick in the 2024 NBA draft and neither started here.

It was total schtick.

You know who he was, right? Look at his whole blueprint, his whole aura. He was Trump in the college basketball world. Basically his truth was whatever he said it was.

And, let's be honest, it really worked for him for years and years. And when it was obvious he had to change, he couldn't here.

Last season though showed he still had some mojo...but again like Trump, he's best when he's backed against a wall and everybody thinks he's doomed. The dude always loved a villain, even if he had to invent one.

[Pete Hogwallop]

It's hard to place much faith in the veracity of anything Cal say. Actually, it's fairly difficult to even understand that he's speaking English most of the time.

[Joneslab]

It's hard to place much faith in the veracity of anything Cal say. Actually, it's fairly difficult to even understand that he's speaking English most of the time.

It became at the very end here like a sort of improv comedy...without the laughs.

[Joneslab]

It's hard to place much faith in the veracity of anything Cal say. Actually, it's fairly difficult to even understand that he's speaking English most of the time.

By the way, unbelievable handle and avatar.

[Majoga]

Cal hates depth because he can't hit water like those Arkansas boys he's hanging with now.