Cal cant coach!

[Westtncat]

Ok, before you get too riled up....I had a conversation with a long time friend last night. First let me say when it comes to UK basketball he is a glass is always empty kinda guy. He hasn't had a chance to watch this years team so I was telling him about how good our guards are, how fun we are to watch and how the Duke game was worse than the score. He proceeded to tell me that after last year he was going to get excited about this season in the least! So I said, I don't follow here. You are not going to get excited about this season because we lost ONE game ONE game last year? SO he said he didn't mind losing but was tired of seeing our talent mishandled. Said Cal was a good recruiter but not a good coach. So my bottom line was this.

EVEN if Cal is not a good coach (which I actually think he is) what does it matter? We have had more success since Cal has been here than with any other coach. There is no way to ever prove he cant coach. In my opinion winning has more to do with the players and chemistry than with coaching anyway. I know coaching is a huge part of it but maybe not the biggest part. Coach K is a hall of fame coach. Cal just beat him Tuesday night. Was that coaching? Was it talent? Was it both? There are coaches who have taken inferior talent and really over achieved but the success rate of these coaches doesn't stack up to the schools with the most talent. I ended up telling him that I will take what we have now over the Tubby and especially the Gillespie days anytime. I remember some games when we couldn't get the ball up the court. In the end what does it matter, recruit our way to championships or coach our way. Im not as divided as some on that issue as I believe Cal is good at both. I have questioned some of Cals decision but then again I have questioned every coaches decision at one time or another. Having top talent doesnt always equate to a national championship but it does equate to having a really good chance. If it wasn't a one loss tourney Cal would own the NCAA. In a series last year, no one beats us. A few other years too.

[Joneslab]

EVEN if Cal is not a good coach (which I actually think he is) what does it matter?

I couldn't agree more. This is the best response anybody could give.

So what if he can't coach? We win. Not sure anything more needs to be said.

I tend to think he's a better strategist than people give him credit for, but basketball is a reactive sport. It isn't football. Strategy's important but I think "coaching" has to do with motivation, psychology, calm under pressure, and most importantly getting good players and winners. Cal can do all those things.

Not sure if I would pick him to draw me up a play with 3 seconds to go, but that's such a small part of this game.

I hear "Cal can't coach" all the time in one iteration or another. Cal's only the second best coach in the college game (IMO) and one of the twenty or so best to ever coach the sport. If a guy like that "can't coach," God help those other bums.

[Matt Dillon]

I couldn't agree more. This is the best response anybody could give.

So what if he can't coach? We win. Not sure anything more needs to be said.

I tend to think he's a better strategist than people give him credit for, but basketball is a reactive sport. It isn't football. Strategy's important but I think "coaching" has to do with motivation, psychology, calm under pressure, and most importantly getting good players and winners. Cal can do all those things.

Not sure if I would pick him to draw me up a play with 3 seconds to go, but that's such a small part of this game.

I hear "Cal can't coach" all the time in one iteration or another. Cal's only the second best coach in the college game (IMO) and one of the twenty or so best to ever coach the sport. If a guy like that "can't coach," God help those other bums.

Just out of curiosity, who do you consider to be the best college bb coach, Will?

[Joneslab]

Just out of curiosity, who do you consider to be the best college bb coach, Will?

Coach K. I could (and have) make an argument that he's the best to ever coach the game. I tend to judge Wooden a little more harshly simply because of his era.

The term "coach" is a loaded one in basketball. Football not so much because strategy is so crucial. Basketball isn't like that. This is a different type of sport.

Clearly in any sport talent wins. But I think in other sports the coach can control for talent a little better. In basketball it's going to come down to your players, their skills, and how motivated they are to win. Cal can scout talent and motivate as well as anyone in the game.

Also I think people tend to bash Cal about his coaching because there's this myth that he should win. There are traditionalists--even in our fanbase--who really don't buy this idea that a coach should go out and bring in that much talent. To them there's something gaudy or obscene about it. So when Cal loses, they're more harsh on him than is reasonable.

The thing that rings flat in those argument is that if you're somebody like Cal, then you can't win with those people. Because they'll never call you a good coach; it'll always be because of your talent.

[KevinHall]

Cal can coach. His record speaks for itself. Yes you can win a certain amount of games on talent alone but you can't win the amount Cal has without being a good coach. And more than anything a great communicator of what he wants out of these kids. He is able to mold a bunch of star players into one cohesive unit. All of these kids have come from being spoiled as players. They could do just about anything on the court they wanted and not be called out for it. They also basically played for themselves and not team in high school. Cal can mold these guys into a team better than just about anyone else. I have found it utterly amazing at how he has taken a different set of players each season and made them very good (except 2013). That shouldn't be overlooked or underestimated at how difficult that is. Cal is a great salesman and he has sold team better than anyone.
The only drawback to Cal is his in game coaching. He has pulled a few rocks here a few times in late game situations. He got a way with a few because of the talent he had. But many coaches are great at preparing but not so great in game. The bottom line is that if you have talent you will win the vast majority of your games.Cal knows that and has done that as well as anyone.

[Westtncat]

Good example right there. Will thinks coach K is one of the best of all time( cant disagree) but he has also in many years had the most talent. Did us beating Duke Tuesday night make Cal the better coach? In my opinion it made him the coach with the better team. So Cal cant coach, and coach K can. Ok, I'll take the win.

[justford]

The Coach Cal bashers say since he has had the #1 or #2 recruiting class each year he has been here that he should have won more than one title. I say look at his record and where we have been. Unlike baseball and nba basketball, it is a win or go some format not a best of five or seven series. One bad game, bad call, or injury and your season is over with. I will take my chances with the best talent winning more often than not.

[Joneslab]

He definitely at the very least should have had one more title. (Two if you count the Memphis disaster.) The Wall team was the best team but they were flawed and I could understand that loss more than last year's.

The other two trips to the FF were just missed opportunities. Those two teams really shouldn't have been there. The '14 team was better than that UConn team, but they didn't have the best player in that game.

But all of that is just a small snapshot of what Cal does. "Coaching" encompasses this broad spectrum of things. Cal makes it fun away from the games. To me that's part of "coaching" at Kentucky. He recruits, he wins, he's a fierce competitor--also coaching. It's a much broader and more complex term than people give it credit for being.

I mean, I thought Tubby Smith was a good coach for his years here. But when you compare Tubby to Cal there is no comparison. And yet Tubby remains, for that time, to me a "good coach." But if you use him as a marker it's easy to see what we're dealing with when it comes to Cal is someone who's historic.

Qualifying what Cal has done with "Yeah, but he's not a good bench coach" is pure silliness to me. Like Westtncat says: who cares? I can only think of maybe a handful of games at UK where it has mattered. (The Wisconsin game being one.)

[Blue Heaven]

I can't understand for the life of me why a UK fan isn't watching the games. I can see football. But basketball?

[Wonderstruck]

I can't understand for the life of me why a UK fan isn't watching the games. I can see football. But basketball?

According to the OP, his friend hasn't had the chance. Life happens so I can relate to that.

[catfaninin]

Coach K. I could (and have) make an argument that he's the best to ever coach the game. I tend to judge Wooden a little more harshly simply because of his era.

The term "coach" is a loaded one in basketball. Football not so much because strategy is so crucial. Basketball isn't like that. This is a different type of sport.

Clearly in any sport talent wins. But I think in other sports the coach can control for talent a little better. In basketball it's going to come down to your players, their skills, and how motivated they are to win. Cal can scout talent and motivate as well as anyone in the game.

Also I think people tend to bash Cal about his coaching because there's this myth that he should win. There are traditionalists--even in our fanbase--who really don't buy this idea that a coach should go out and bring in that much talent. To them there's something gaudy or obscene about it. So when Cal loses, they're more harsh on him than is reasonable.

The thing that rings flat in those argument is that if you're somebody like Cal, then you can't win with those people. Because they'll never call you a good coach; it'll always be because of your talent.

I think this is a great post. I agree Coach K is the best both currently and of all time. And I would also put Cal right behind him. About the only thing I would add is that I judge Wooden harshly not only because of the era but also because of Sam Gilbert.

[J.Jennings]

Even if Cal isn't the best at the X's and O's, he's the absolute very best at getting 5-9 elite players on the same page period. Not sure anyone else can do that.............

[DA#23]

Just last season you wanted us to bring in an assistant coach to run the offense.

[Vinnie]

Cal can coach as well as anyone. He has not even been at UK ten years. Look it up Coach K. came to Duke in 1980 and never won the National Championship until 1991. Folks we are not going to get a coach who can recruit and coach like Coach Cal. I think we should be very grateful for what we have now.

[UK39]

Cal has a different set of priorities which he lined out in that recruiting video. He's about developing individual players to get to the NBA. I doubt he cares much about the history of UK basketball, it helps with recruiting. His job is to get his players to be lottery picks. He doesn't run from it like others hypocritically do (Coach K). It is basically a minor league system for the NBA. He's the best at it. He is underrated as a coach, his players are extremely well prepared for the League and he adjusts the team styles according. He bases his styles off of his recruits as well as going after best player available rather than recruiting towards style.