catmandoo
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Member # 1284
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posted 11-22-2019 11:57 AM
Calipari has had a variety of teams at Kentucky. He’s had some absolutely dominating teams defensively and some that were great on offense. He’s had guard heavy teams and others strong in the post. He’s had it all. But no matter what kind of team he has had, almost every single one of them follow the same script. Rough beginnings, which doesn’t mean losses but in quality of play, and forming into shape in February. Even his very best teams had large groups of fans writing them off in November and December. This team has already shown it will have rough outings early in the season. But why do we have to continue to fall into the same trap projecting what the conclusion to the season will be? Take a look, year by year, in case you forget:
2009-10
2nd game: Beat Miami (OH) 72-70, need John Wall buzzer beater
3rd game: Beat Sam Houston State 102-92, give up 18 three pointers
6th game: Beat Stanford in overtime, first game against a major conference opponent
-That team won its first 19 games that season and if you remember people complained about the way they did it all the time. They couldn’t shoot. They couldn’t shoot free throws. Cousins fouled a lot. John Wall turned it over too much. The defense was inconsistent. At the end of the season, that was one of Calipari’s best 2 or 3 teams.
2010-11
5th game: Lose to unranked UCONN by 17 in Maui
7th game: Lose by 2 to North Carolina, late game fumbles
-That team had no leader and nobody that was clutch in the final minutes. That trend and sentiment continued throughout SEC play as that team lost game after game in the final minute. Brandon Knight took too many shots. Terrence Jones was a ball hog. No interior play. Once again, the Cats needed time and ended up making the Final Four, hitting several clutch shots along the way.
2011-12
4th game: Beat Old Dominion by just 10 points
9th game: Lose to Indiana in Bloomington
-It’s hard to remember because that team turned out to be a national champion but people were not high on that team early. The offense was spotty at best. Anthony Davis’ offensive game was raw. Marquis Teague couldn’t run the point. MKG had the ugliest shot in history. How did that turn out again?
2012-13 (we sucked, this was an anomaly)
2013-14
3rd game: Lose to Michigan State 78-74, poor performance
6th game: Beat Cleveland State by 7
9th game: Lose to Baylor in Arlington
-This team basically took an entire season to round into form, a little longer than most Calipari teams but we should not forget fans HATED this team for 4 months. The disappointment for how they played after all the hype around this class was saved by an amazing tournament run. Sometimes it takes longer than others.
2014-15 (this team was awesome from the beginning)
2015-16
1st game: Beat Albany by 13
7th game: Beat Illinois St by 12
8th game: Lost at UCLA by 10
-While this team only made the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, they were SEC Tournament champions. But again, early season struggles made fans question them throughout. They had no depth, no interior play. They didn’t show up for big games. They turned into one of Cal’s best offensive players with 2 of the fan’s favorite competitors in Ulis and Murray.
2016-17
8th game: Lost at home to UCLA
12th game: Lost at Louisville
-This was actually a team that came out of the gates fast and was probably Calipari’s best offensive team in November. But the UCLA loss brought the Cats back to Earth, plus a rare loss to Louisville. Remember Malik Monk smiling on the bench at Florida? Fans questioned this team all along. They turned into another national title contender and a fan favorite team.
2017-18
1st game: Beat Utah Valley by 10
2nd game: Beat Vermont by 4
3rd game: Lost to Kansas by 4 in Champions Classic
-This team played single digit games with Vermont, Troy, and Harvard in the non-conference. They lost to a mediocre UCLA team. The “star” recruits underperformed much of the season and they were the most likeable team in history. And then what happened? They won the SEC Tournament and made the Sweet 16, which for that group was not underperforming.
2018-19
1st Game: Lost to Duke by 34
-The first game is all that needs to put here as the fans had already felt the season was over at that point. A subsequent loss to Seton Hall only solidified that thought. And this team formed into shape like almost all Cal teams and made the Elite 8.
Like it or not, Calipari teams follow pretty much the same script every single year. Ugly wins and difficult to explain losses in November and December, and for some teams even further than that. And then they get it together in February, take off in March and give themselves a chance at the tournament. This team has the talent to do the same exact thing this year. So why do we continue to fall into the same trap of writing them off so early? Yes, it is not fun to see your team struggle. Nobody is saying ignore the losses. But why project this team can’t still be great? We do it every year and we end up looking foolish in almost every circumstance. I will not do it this year. Once the team is healthy, they are good enough. Wins and losses in 2019 will mean very little come March. Don’t be a sucker.
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