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Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 03-30-2024, 12:00 PM:

OK, so Calipari is still the coach at UK. Barnhart clearly is either too timid, or too ignorant, to see that it is time to make a change.
But, Cal is pretending to be oh-so-repentant. What kind of changes will be made?

One thing that many media outlets have been saying is that the staff needs a complete overhaul. There are allegations of theft, and certainly little evidence of effectiveness. We will see if Cal's "loyalty" is stronger than his intelligence. I suspect we will see very little, maybe a symbolic firing. But, the rot in the regime will carry on.

But, more importantly, will Cal change himself?
Will he do things differently? Cal has only made two pledges publicly:

1> He will NOT try to convince his players to go to the NBA; if they want to stay at Kentucky, he won't try to change their mind.

My response: Hello? Why would you EVER try to convince a kid who doesn't want to go pro to do that????? Dude, it is THEIR life, not your ego!

2> He will not go to the Bahamas this summer. Instead, he wants his players in the gym, working on strength and conditioning.

My response: Ya think? That maybe actually developing players might be better than spending lavishly on all-expense paid vacation for 18-year-olds?

That is pretty weak stuff, IMO. What about a change in recruiting strategy, to focus on fewer one-and-dones and more players that will stick around and become the kind of seasoned vets that other, succesful teams feature? What about a different approach to defense (I LOVE his new offensive strategy... just really need to work on the defense), or perhaps a fresher look at game management? A little zone, more pressing, less "circle jerk" at the end of games, go more with the players who produce, not the ones you hope to get drafted... simple things. If Cal can't do that, then let an assistant manage the actual games.

Oh, I have one! How about playing for benefit of the University of Kentucky and the legions of fans, not the NBA?

Color me unconvinced that Cal will be truly different next year. I am open to being proven wrong, but I just can't see it happening.

Posted by ProBlue (Member # 2944) on 03-30-2024, 01:14 PM:

You can sugar coat a turd but it's still a turd ! He can do all the above that you said but when it comes down to X's and O's against a good coach he will lose every time ! Old habits are hard to break ! !

Posted by FairfieldCat (Member # 2897) on 03-30-2024, 01:39 PM:

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 03-30-2024, 02:44 PM:

I'm with you, Tip. Cal can say whatever he wants, but he's still the same (in my opinion) bad coach. I don't see next year being any different than the last six years, with the exception that we'll have an entirely new team. Same old same old.

Arrogant Cal himself needs a major change in game preparation. There were two things we knew about Oakland going into that opening-round game: 1) they had a guy who does nothing but shoot tons of 3-pointers, and 2) they play a zone defense. In both of these aspects, we looked like a deer in headlights. We were totally unprepared. We had no clue what to do against their zone - we actually looked surprised. And it seemed as if we never heard of Jack Gohlke. Whoever was guarding this guy shouldn't have set a foot inside the 3-point line. We knew where he was shooting every shot from!!! We were so unprepared.

[ 03-30-2024, 02:46 PM: Message edited by: PaulCat ]

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 03-30-2024, 04:23 PM:

PaulCat, I should add that to my list.

Why on earth doesn't Cal watch film of the opponents? Is he so arrogant? This has been obvious before, but not like tonight. Oakland had ONE WEAPON. One. And he beat us like a drum.

Cal has actually bragged about not watching film. Astounding. And STUPID.

Posted by MEL (Member # 141) on 03-30-2024, 08:48 PM:

I read that Gohlke said he loves going by and talking trash to the opponents head coach but didn't to Cal because he said 10 minutes in and Cal had the deer in the headlights look so he left him alone !!!

MEL

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 03-31-2024, 10:24 PM:

I watched the 3 part interview on BBN Tonight. Cal and Mitched gave kudos to each other most of the interview and stated they were going to get better. How? I don't see much of a difference in the results next yearexcept we may make it to a second game before bowing out. Imagine that. The topper will be when Loserville beats us after a coachi9ng change. I'm almost too old to ever be around to see #9, if we ever get there.

Posted by ukman (Member # 3032) on 04-01-2024, 06:01 PM:

Next year will be the same as this year. He is a terrible game coach, and ALWAYS has been. He made the same decisions even when he was winning, it's just he could win with just talent then. Now he can't win on just talent, and he doesn't know what to do. He bragged about not watching game film back in 2015 before the Wisconsin final four game. A reporter mentioned that to their center, I went blank on his name, and he said they had watched 6 games on Kentucky. And man, did it show in the game. They were so prepared for us and we had no clue. A few years before that, a couple years before the 2012 championship he said he just "counts on his 5 being better than their 5." He is a lazy coach when it comes to actual coaching things. Watching Clemson the other night was fun. Their coach switched defenses coming out of timeouts at crucial times, and it worked. He had multiple great OOB sets coming out of time outs that also worked. It's amazing what a difference actual coaching can make. Too bad we haven't seen that since Tubby.