[Cactus Jack]

Had this question posed in another thread and thought it was worth one of it's own. 

My Opinion of Calipari: 

• He's singularly one of the most willing coaches to embrace new philosophies but can also be one of the most stubborn, even within the same season. He didn't mind embracing the dribble-drive or one-and-done. He's one of the first to embrace the grad transfer rule, transfer portal, and NIL. He's done a lot of great things in preparing kids for life after college, including pushing players into the pros when other coaches might not have been as willing to do so-- whether this is out of virtue or self-interest may be a more nuanced discussion, but there's no doubt that he's created a legacy of generational wealth for countless families. I think that this is best summed up when a Wisconsin alum tweeted to Tyler Herro, something to the effect of "think of how good this team would have been with you" and Herro replied "yea... but I'd still be there" from the comfort of his NBA contract). That said, putting in some side-out and baseline inbounds plays that are slightly more complex than what top high school teams are running would be nice. The "weave to nowhere"  thirty-feet from the goal that ended in a non-shooter pulling up late in the shot clock was all too common over the past five or so. "We have to go out and fight" was becoming Billy G's "we have to get tougher". Playing more shooters and trying to do some things to mask them defensively was not en vogue until we heard the phrase "positionless basketball".
  
  
• He's a recruiter, but that isn't a negative thing. It takes someone special to blend and motivate the type of talent that he's able to pull yearly. During the Tubby and Billy G years, fans spent summers following the recruitment of a Patrick Patterson, Jai Lucas, Tyler Hansbrough, or DeAndre Liggins and knew that those players would make or break the team's ceiling. Cal's ability to collect talent is nearly unmatched. At the same time, his best teams are always going to come in "up" years of highly rated overall recruiting and draft classes (2012, 2015, etc.) and his worst are going to come during the "down" years where analysts are talking about how weak the class is across the board (2013, 2016, 2020, etc.). If you disagree, look at a year where Cal hasn't had at least one top 5 pick and another lottery pick, then get back to me. Only two of his Final Fours have come without a #1 or #2 overall pick in the following draft, and he still had fairly high picks in those.
  
  
• He's not afraid to shield his kids from fans and the media; there are times when I definitely feel that he's jumping on the grenade for a kid during a press conference, perfectly content to let casuals think it's his lack of coaching and preparation when it's actually him trying to manage his team's psyche. He tried with Skal. Remember the Liggins suspension no one knew about until it'd passed? In various ways, he shielded Darius Miller, MKG, Terrance Jones, Humphries, Poythress, and countless others. I've always been of the opinion that Shaedon Sharpe was never eligible-- he was taken on the chance that he would become eligible, just like Enes Kanter and now Zvonimir Ivisic. Not only that, but I think he's fine with taking the risk that it all blows up in his face if they don't end up playing. We all remember the ones who couldn't get eligible, but there were plenty of players that are household names in the NBA who had to shed that cloud (Jamal Murray). 
  
  
• Cal isn't Tubby, who was an excellent in-game coach and made great adjustments (but wasn't able to keep up with the times and pucker up to AAU coaches). I don't mean this in a condescending way toward Tubby, who is one of my all-time favorites, but creating a synergy that perfectly paired Cal's salesmanship and Orlando's tactical prowess would be something special. Both preached defense and have more similarities than casuals may see on the surface (hint: look at their assistants and fan's perceptions).
  
  
• Cal isn't Pitino, who usually came in with a great game-plan and was okay* at making adjustments... *[he was good but not great... fight me on this one because his teams might wear you out in the end, but adjustments were not one of his greatest strengths]. Rick wasn't the best recruiter and his teams weren't dripping in the newest gear (even though they still almost had two in a row wearing Converse), but he had solid classes headlined by one or two stars and a cast that could be developed around them over time. Pitino will always be the King of the "talented big man with soft hands who needs to develop while keeping his weight down in order to reach his ceiling" and the "stocky underrated guard who is an inch too short but tough as nails and won't fold"; Cal may get an Antoine Walker to pass the eye test, but there's no way he squeezes everything out of Nazr Mohammed and/or doesn't recruit over an Anthony Epps or Taquan Dean. In many ways, Calipari is always going to be compared to Pitino, regardless of how different the times they actually led in were because the game had evolved.
   
  
• He isn't Tubby or Pitino, but he is Calipari-- pick his all-time team at Kentucky and you won't have college legends like Chuck Hayes, Mark Pope, or Scott Padgett who are beloved by the program's diehards but otherwise fairly unknown outside of maybe fans of the NBA team they played for. You'll have to justify your picks based on how well they performed in the NBA and there are plenty of careers to choose from, so you may be splitting hairs on which franchise drafted someone and what their organization had going for them then. Give Pitino his full career of players (including those he coached in the pros) and they probably still won't stack up; Calipari will likewise never come close to fielding a roster of players that everyone remembers for what they did while wearing Kentucky across their chest.
  
  
• Are there decisions he's made that make me yell at the screen? Sure. Maybe it wasn't the best strategy to take the air out of the ball late against Wisconsin. More patience and shooting against West Virginia could have really kick-started a program that he'd already revived from life support. But he had the talent that put him in a position to win those games. More than one coach has had that talent but ended up crashing and burning before they even get to the point of being in a position to win those types of games. Hindsight is 20/20. Maybe '92 ends differently if Pitino puts a man on Hill while he's inbounding. Maybe '97 ends differently if Pitino plays Derek Anderson (or lobbies for violations while Miles Simon is trying to split traps). It's likely that '03 ends differently for Tubby if not for a Bogans' sprained ankle. Maybe '04 ends differently if he doesn't allow anyone into practice (urban legend re: Nolan Richardson). Would his tenure have been saved by convincing Chris Lofton and Shelvin Mack to stay close to home? 
  
  Or maybe Calipari never takes up residence in the Bluegrass or leaves after a couple of years for another shot at the NBA because he has a guard who can make free throws that isn't named Doron Lamb or Marquis Teague. Fun fact: Teague only missed 6 free throws in the entire 2012 run, and four of those were during blowouts in the first two rounds. Now apply that standard to other Cal teams and think about how thin the margin of error between success and failure is and just how different things could be, for better or worse, in the eyes of a Kentucky fan. 
  

[Bluecat]

Couldn't have said it any better!

[Cactus Jack]

Enough typos to make me cringe a bit, but still thought this one might have sparked more debate.

Regardless, here's to hoping that he can produce more finishes similar to his first six years than most of what we've seen since.

[Old School Hound]

Enough typos to make me cringe a bit, but still thought this one might have sparked more debate.

Regardless, here's to hoping that he can produce more finishes similar to his first six years than most of what we've seen since.

I think your analysis was excellent. You are spot on with Cal being both open to embrace new ideas AND stubborn. I like Cal and I think he's a good basketball coach, overall, when you consider everything that goes into making a coach a winning coach. Cal, I believe, is a guy that truly cares about his kids and their lives after UK and after basketball. He's not the absolute best x's and o's coach but he does a lot that is better than most coaches. Winning 28 or 29 games a year is nothing to sneeze at. He's got the type of talent this season that fits a lot of what he likes to do and it wouldn't surprise me to see him lead them to a FF appearance. However, there's a lot of good fortune that has to happen to reach a Final Four. Let's hope everyone's healthy and playing their best down the stretch. I think by the time he's done at UK, especially if he wins another title, he will viewed by many as one of UK's most successful coaches.

[Cactus Jack]

Enough typos to make me cringe a bit, but still thought this one might have sparked more debate.

Regardless, here's to hoping that he can produce more finishes similar to his first six years than most of what we've seen since.

I think your analysis was excellent. You are spot on with Cal being both open to embrace new ideas AND stubborn. I like Cal and I think he's a good basketball coach, overall, when you consider everything that goes into making a coach a winning coach. Cal, I believe, is a guy that truly cares about his kids and their lives after UK and after basketball. He's not the absolute best x's and o's coach but he does a lot that is better than most coaches. Winning 28 or 29 games a year is nothing to sneeze at. He's got the type of talent this season that fits a lot of what he likes to do and it wouldn't surprise me to see him lead them to a FF appearance. However, there's a lot of good fortune that has to happen to reach a Final Four. Let's hope everyone's healthy and playing their best down the stretch. I think by the time he's done at UK, especially if he wins another title, he will viewed by many as one of UK's most successful coaches.

I think Cal is so interesting in that he's one of the few coaches whose entire legacy could wind up in so many different places with a a few more breaks or a single loss. We're literally talking about being on a list with only six other coaches (who've won more than two titles) or considered a complete choker with a loss in 2012.

In 1996, his UMass team beat The Untouchables and were down 71-67 with possession of the ball and 1:30 remaining in their Final Four rematch. They'd miss a shot but still go on to cut the lead to 3 and put Mark Pope (a 66% shooter) on the line with about a minute to go. Not the best team that year, but probably win it in most of the years immediately before or after where they wouldn't have been running up on what's largely considered one of the best college teams of all-time. I don't know that 94 Arkansas, 95 UCLA, 97 Arizona, or 98 Kentucky are ever mentioned in the same breath as The Untouchables.

In 2008, Memphis chokes the Final away to Kansas at the line in OT. Easily could have been a national championship. In 2010, he had the best team but ran into a bad match-up on an off-shooting night (play the tournament 100 times and Kentucky wins 70 or more times IMO). Had the best team in 2015 and lost to Wisconsin. Those are probably the four best shots that he had in terms of talent, even if none of them reached the Final.

Don't think he had the best teams in the 2011 or 2014 fields by any means, but he was able to reach the Final Four and lose to the eventual National Champion by 1 in the former and to go the final in the latter. UConn was ahead by 6 for most of the last four minutes of that Final, but it certainly wasn't as if the game was out of reach or they couldn't have won if they'd have played a little better.

One of those six really good shots work out differently and he's in more select company. Two of them pan out with 2012 and we're probably having an entirely different discussion.

Going back and watching some of those highlights on YouTube, I see how sound his UMass team played and wonder where some of that execution and hunger might have gone over the years.



In comparison, I think Pitino's legacy is what it is and there's much less that's up for debate. Three Final Fours with different schools. Two national championships at different schools. Yes, another National Championship in '93 (#1 overall and lost to eventual champ Michigan in the Final Four) or '97 (#1 overall, but missed repeating by losing to Arizona in the Final) would have elevated him even further, but he left the college game at his peak for a second stint in the NBA.

Talk coaching chops all you want, but I don't see a world where Coach K, Bobby Knight, Roy Williams, or Jim Calhoun are essentially being offered control of the Boston freakin' Celtics after they'd already taken the New York Knicks to the Eastern Conference Final.

This may sound crazy, but outside of Larry Brown and maybe Brad Stevens or Billy Donovan, has anyone else had more success at both levels? Stevens has a more impressive overall resume, but he has zero titles to show for it. Donovan, a Pitino protege himself, caught lightning in a bottle at Florida but hasn't been out of the first round of the NBA Playoffs either.

[Old School Hound]

Enough typos to make me cringe a bit, but still thought this one might have sparked more debate.

Regardless, here's to hoping that he can produce more finishes similar to his first six years than most of what we've seen since.

I think your analysis was excellent. You are spot on with Cal being both open to embrace new ideas AND stubborn. I like Cal and I think he's a good basketball coach, overall, when you consider everything that goes into making a coach a winning coach. Cal, I believe, is a guy that truly cares about his kids and their lives after UK and after basketball. He's not the absolute best x's and o's coach but he does a lot that is better than most coaches.  Winning 28 or 29 games a year is nothing to sneeze at. He's got the type of talent this season that fits a lot of what he likes to do and it wouldn't surprise me to see him lead them to a FF appearance. However, there's a lot of good fortune that has to happen to reach a Final Four. Let's hope everyone's healthy and playing their best down the stretch. I think by the time he's done at UK, especially if he wins another title, he will viewed by many as one of UK's most successful coaches.

I think Cal is so interesting in that he's one of the few coaches whose entire legacy could wind up in so many different places with a a few more breaks or a single loss. We're literally talking about being on a list with only six other coaches (who've won more than two titles) or considered a complete choker with a loss in 2012.

In 1996, his UMass team beat The Untouchables and were down 71-67 with possession of the ball and 1:30 remaining in their Final Four rematch. They'd miss a shot but still go on to cut the lead to 3 and put Mark Pope (a 66% shooter) on the line with about a minute to go. Not the best team that year, but probably win it in most of the years immediately before or after where they wouldn't have been running up on what's largely considered one of the best college teams of all-time. I don't know that 94 Arkansas, 95 UCLA, 97 Arizona, or 98 Kentucky are ever mentioned in the same breath as The Untouchables.

In 2008, Memphis chokes the Final away to Kansas at the line in OT. Easily could have been a national championship. In 2010, he had the best team but ran into a bad match-up on an off-shooting night (play the tournament 100 times and Kentucky wins 70 or more times IMO). Had the best team in 2015 and lost to Wisconsin. Those are probably the four best shots that he had in terms of talent, even if none of them reached the Final.

Don't think he had the best teams in the 2011 or 2014 fields by any means, but he was able to reach the Final Four and lose to the eventual National Champion by 1 in the former and to go the final in the latter. UConn was ahead by 6 for most of the last four minutes of that Final, but it certainly wasn't as if the game was out of reach or they couldn't have won if they'd have played a little better.

One of those six really good shots work out differently and he's in more select company. Two of them pan out with 2012 and we're probably having an entirely different discussion.

Going back and watching some of those highlights on YouTube, I see how sound his UMass team played and wonder where some of that execution and hunger might have gone over the years.



In comparison, I think Pitino's legacy is what it is and there's much less that's up for debate. Three Final Fours with different schools. Two national championships at different schools. Yes, another National Championship in '93 (#1 overall and lost to eventual champ Michigan in the Final Four) or '97 (#1 overall, but missed repeating by losing to Arizona in the Final) would have elevated him even further, but he left the college game at his peak for a second stint in the NBA.

Talk coaching chops all you want, but I don't see a world where Coach K, Bobby Knight, Roy Williams, or Jim Calhoun are essentially being offered control of the Boston freakin' Celtics after they'd already taken the New York Knicks to the Eastern Conference Final.

This may sound crazy, but outside of Larry Brown and maybe Brad Stevens or Billy Donovan, has anyone else had more success at both levels? Stevens has a more impressive overall resume, but he has zero titles to show for it. Donovan, a Pitino protege himself, caught lightning in a bottle at Florida but hasn't been out of the first round of the NBA Playoffs either.

You're a roundball guru. My go-to guy for basketball knowledge.

[plantmanky]

Cal is the best coach UK has ever had. No real argument against it.

[Cactus Jack]

You're a roundball guru. My go-to guy for basketball knowledge.

Thanks, but I did have a bit of a miss in that last post. North Carolina beat Michigan in the '93 final. Michigan won in '89.

[Old School Hound]

You're a roundball guru. My go-to guy for basketball knowledge.

Thanks, but I did have a bit of a miss in that last post. North Carolina beat Michigan in the '93 final. Michigan won in '89.

Even gurus are allowed a miss ever now and then.  lol    Seriously, though, you are very good.