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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 05-20-2015, 06:58 PM:

Kentucky met its primary goal this past season, Coach John Calipari said Wednesday during an appearance at the Alltech Rebelation, which is the title of the Lexington-based company's annual symposium this year.

"Last year we started the season with a goal," Calipari told a Rupp Arena audience estimated at about 3,000. "You may think that goal was to win a national championship or win all the games. It was to get eight players drafted."

Earlier this spring, seven UK players announced that they would enter their names in this year's NBA Draft. Calipari noted that an eighth player, Alex Poythress, would have been in the draft if he had not torn an anterior cruciate ligament in mid December.

Link

Posted by SCWC (Member # 2464) on 05-20-2015, 07:07 PM:

This is the one area that I totally disagree with Coach Cal. I think it is great to recruit NBA talent every year but to me, our main goal should be to win a National Championship for his employer, the University of Kentucky and the many fans who live and die by UK basketball games. He certainly had the talent to win it all this past season but in my honest opinion, his letting the air out of the ball with a four point lead and the ball against Wisconsin with just over five minutes to go in the game cost us that game and any chance of winning another National Championship. Yes, I am still a Coach Cal fan but his wanting to get players to the NBA more than he wants to win a National Championship for UK really galls me.

Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 05-20-2015, 07:37 PM:

SCWC, I agree. I'm a huge Cal supporter but to say what he did does not set well with me either. Even if he believes it (I don't think he does) he should keep that idiotic opinion to himself.

I suppose he uses comments like this to attract more top recruits but for me that doesn't cut it.

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 05-20-2015, 08:32 PM:

Ray I agree with you - sometimes coach wears a little thin with me,like this time!

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 05-20-2015, 09:03 PM:

Why would Cal even think of saying something like that even if he truly felt that way. The other thing is if he wanted to get his players drafted (8 of them) he would have been far better off
letting the players play like Ray points out. If you have 8 potential draft picks you want to run the last few minutes of the Wisconsin game instead of slowing down the game. When you got the horses let them loose! Really is a weird statement to make as if he had won the National Championship he wouldn't have had to even worry about getting 8 players drafted.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 05-20-2015, 09:28 PM:

Cal has never wavered from his basic premise. He is here for his players, not for the university.

In the old days, the pendulum may have swung a little to far towards "The Program" and away from the players themselves. Winning games and championships mattered; if a player or two went on to the NBA, well, that was just icing on the cake.

Now it has most definitely swung too far the other way, rendering the program just a vehicle for promoting players into millionaires. The number of draft picks matters; if we happen to win a championship, that is just icing on the cake.

The problem with that is it concentrates the 'victory' in the hands of a few -- those players who claw their way into the NBA. The many (we, the fans) are not as satisfied by NBA picks as we are championships. In the past, striving for great teams that won championships gave more satisfaction to a greater number of people.

The only way this "new" scheme will work if his NBA-factory also happens to get us a lot of wins and numerous championships. That is his belief ("If given the choice between talent and experience, I will take talent over experience any day"). But what he leaves unsaid is the value of talent AND experience.

Cal is counting on every new bunch of transient super-stars to keep us happy during their short tour of duty, whereas many of us long to see players stick around and develop over four years; players we can get to know, form a virtual bond with before they move on.

Occasionally, we will get some 'super sophomores' like we did this year. A few really talented players will even stick around for three years. But not most -- they will run through the season and off to the NBA before we can really feel like we know them. This is the new paradigm. Players first! The Program is but the vehicle. Better get used to it.

Yeah. That galls me too.

Posted by Gunny (Member # 2869) on 05-20-2015, 11:37 PM:

Coach Cal must of been drinking when he said that. How in the world can not winning a Championship not be your goal. Coach Cal can preach all the players first stuff he wants but not winning a Championship not your a goal? I hope he was just talking his players first stuff to push the sale a book.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 05-21-2015, 09:28 AM:

I wouldn't be surprised if Cal comes out and tones down that statement as in reading other Kentucky boards it has caused a lot of talk by a lot of Kentucky fans.

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 05-21-2015, 12:56 PM:

It's a sure way to turn off a lot of the BBN, me for one. If we had all NBA level players on this team every year then that might be a different story. We do not play a schedule and post season tourneys to get guys into the NBA. The main goal is to beat the other teams and win championships, otherwise there is no need for competition. We would just be playing for the fun of it. Sure we need to insure we provide the means for anyone who is NBA material to improve their game so they can be as good as possible by the time they decide to leave UK for an NBA draft.

Posted by Gunny (Member # 2869) on 05-21-2015, 01:57 PM:

I sort of liked it when it was more of a College sport more just a place to train for a year and leave to make millions. But that's what college basketball has turned into.

Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 05-21-2015, 02:17 PM:

I'm having a hard time getting my mind wrapped around this. Cal has made similar statements in the past but nothing this blatant that I'm aware of. I hate to admit it but it has lowered my opinion of him greatly. Maybe an over reaction on my part.

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 05-21-2015, 02:35 PM:

He said it again today! from KSR
_______________________________________________
John Calipari made headlines yesterday when he said the team’s goal last season was to have eight players drafted. Not surprisingly, many Kentucky basketball fans went bonkers over the comment, without understanding Cal’s point.

Today, he hopped on Twitter to further explain what he meant, and to reiterate that last season’s goal was to have eight players drafted, maybe nine:

I hate to drive you traditionalists crazy, but I’ll say it again: our goal at the beginning of the season was to have eight players drafted. I’ll be honest with you, at the time I may have said nine. My point when I said that was to have them all eat. When they asked how we do it, I told them to do this you will have to be a selfless team, share and do historic things on the court. They did. If Alex doesn’t get hurt, eight are drafted. We fell short of a national title but this season was not disappointing to me. Have a great day!

Posted by SCWC (Member # 2464) on 05-21-2015, 03:00 PM:

Wow, he just won't let go will he. He is starting to sound like an egotistical a hole who really does not care what Kentucky basketball fans cherish so dearly, winning championships. I have read many different forums on this topic and have not found one happy fan since these statements have been published. He has become the face of Kentucky basketball and he knows it. Were I his boss, I would have a sit down talk with him on his priorities.

[ 05-21-2015, 03:02 PM: Message edited by: SCWC ]

Posted by Gunny (Member # 2869) on 05-21-2015, 03:16 PM:

Well. The game they lost against Wisconsin, a few like Willie who were not playing should helhave spent some time on the bench, but instead coach Cal kept him in him to help his NBA stock. Not sure how it could have helped. What did he score? 2 points and 3 or 4 rebounds?

Posted by blue hoot (Member # 398) on 05-21-2015, 04:50 PM:

Maybe Im a bit naive, but I just don’t get Cal’s thrill on getting a lot of his players to the NBA. Seriously what is the big deal? He’s got to understand that 99% of UK fans could give a damn…

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 05-21-2015, 05:08 PM:

Sounds like he is just "using" the University to get "his" sons to the NBA. To me its all about the "program"!.

Is there "anyone" who agrees with him on this?

Posted by Old Norm (Member # 1482) on 05-21-2015, 05:41 PM:

Probably not Ed, but I'm still very happy with the job he has done here. I'm 80 now, and hope he's still coaching at UK when I die!

edit: I don't even agree with my wife on everything, but I've kept her for almost 57 years!

[ 05-21-2015, 05:43 PM: Message edited by: Old Norm ]

Posted by handycat (Member # 2323) on 05-21-2015, 06:23 PM:

Norm, I'm also happy with what he has accomplished at UK. Hard for me to believe any UK fan isn't but I know there are a few out there. I just wish he could keep his mouth shut at times or at least express himself more clearly. Many say the same about me.

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 05-21-2015, 08:02 PM:

Who gets the credit for all these guys getting to the NBA draft? I wouldn't say it's because of the program. The credit can only go to Cal. He is the one who has caused them to be able to go to the draft. So who comes out smelling like a rose in the end? There's no way you can say they made it because of the program.

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 05-21-2015, 08:32 PM:

I am veeeery happy he is here also just wish he would talk about UK half as much as he does about how many get to the nba..

Hope he stays 10 or more years Norm and you are still enjoying him in your rocker! [Wink]

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 05-21-2015, 08:33 PM:

I don't think there is many if any that go along with Cal on this. What scares me, see if you guys don't agree, he very easily could be sending players to the NBA that aren't ready. To me that is far worse than keeping players for another year to build confidence and improving their skills. Aaron, Andrew and Dakari are far from ready and have no business leaving. imo

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 05-21-2015, 09:33 PM:

Bruce Teague and Lamb are two examples of who should NOT have gone when they did. Hope they saved some money!

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 05-21-2015, 09:49 PM:

I think the more players we have that get drafted each year, the better chance we have to win the championship. I think one goal helps lead to another. Sometimes it works out, other times it doesn't.

Posted by Gunny (Member # 2869) on 05-21-2015, 10:42 PM:

Paulcat. I think your about right. With Cal pulling several top players, we might win every now and then. But when we had Tubby that couldn't sign many good players and Billy who sucked, we are a lot better with coach Cal and everyone knows it. I think coach Cal was just running his mouth when he said this.

[ 05-21-2015, 10:44 PM: Message edited by: Gunny ]

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 05-22-2015, 08:38 AM:

I think the players welfare should come first. Granted many of our players are ready and should go, no doubt about that but some aren't and the coach has a duty to "do his best" to make sure that his players are well aware of the consequences of not getting drafted. In Cal's situation he knows from experience or at least should know when players are borderline and need more time playing to stay and improve their game or at least get their degree in case they don't get drafted. imo