[Stardust]

John Calipari may be trying to backpedal from his ridiculous comment during the NBA draft on June 24 about it being the greatest moment in University of Kentucky basketball history, but he's close to tripping and falling as he does so.

During ESPN's coverage of the draft, Calipari made the now infamous comment to reporter Heather Cox that having five UK players become first-round picks "is the biggest day in the history of Kentucky's program." He spent the days after trying to clarify those comments, but he didn't do it very well.

"I'm not saying that winning national titles is not important; it is," Calipari said last Friday. "But if you told me we'd win a national title and no one gets drafted, or you go 0-for-20 against West Virginia and five guys get drafted, you tell me what you'd want?"

Uh, Cal, I think the fans would take the national title.

Last time I checked, most UK fans don't think all that highly of Elite Eight appearances (see: Smith, Tubby), instead measuring success by Final Four appearances and national championships. And most don't seem to care all that much about where an ex-Cat is playing in the NBA. Sure, it's nice to follow their NBA careers, but you won't find many UK fans who talk more about Rajon Rondo's success with the Boston Celtics than they do about the upcoming recruiting class.

Calipari built a lot of goodwill among starry-eyed UK fans for last season's success, but his comment last week hasn't gone over well among many fans who take a huge measure of pride in the program's winning tradition.

The backlash about his remarks came from all over Big Blue Nation. Perhaps no responses were more pointed, and valued, than those of several former UK All-Americans who took umbrage with the comments in last Sunday's Lexington Herald-Leader.

"This is probably the greatest moment in John Calipari's history," said Kevin Grevey, who led UK to the national championship game in 1975. "It's a huge milestone for him. (The draft) was special, but it doesn't top a championship."

Of course it doesn't, but what Calipari tried to do with his comment was do what he does best: spin control.

He knew he was being criticized for not leading a team that had a record five first-round draft picks to a national title, so he decided to play a shell game:

"Don't look over there where I couldn't even coach this team to the Final Four, look over here where I developed five first-round NBA draft picks."

The funny part is he didn't develop anyone. Patrick Patterson would have been picked in about the same spot last season, while John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins clearly would have been high draft picks without coming to UK. A couple of Calipari's Memphis players, Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, were talented enough to do the same, so don't think for a second Calipari "developed" them either.

The spin doctor went on to call the NBA draft a "two-hour infomercial," for UK's program during Monday's Southeastern Conference coaches' teleconference.

No it wasn't. It was a night that showed how talented Wall and Cousins and Patterson really are, as well as how the selections of Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton show how shallow the draft talent pool really was and how much the draft today is more about potential than performance than ever before, simply because there aren't enough draft-worthy upperclassmen left in college.

Hey, it's not a bad thing to bring in as much talent as possible because at the end of the day no matter how good someone is as a coach they can't turn a plow horse into a Kentucky Derby winner.

At the same time, don't take the road of the ultra-talented, one-and-done player and then, when the team fails to reach the ultimate goal (or more accurately get only halfway to that goal) in the NCAA Tournament, attempt to spin the season into a success by saying those players being drafted by NBA teams trumps anything the team or program could have accomplished.

I think Calipari has shown that he truly lacks the understanding of the tradition of UK's program and that even while he tries to spin the draft being about "the kids," it's really all about him.

Yes, draft night was great for Wall, Cousins, Patterson, Bledsoe and Orton. It was great for Calipari, too, even though he's still a coach who officially never has taken a team to the Final Four.

As for UK's program? The last time I checked, the 2009-10 team advanced only to the Elite Eight. That's not exactly "great" now, is it?

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100...AA-not-NBA

[Deathstar 80]

I think Calipari developed Patterson and Cousins into better players. He helped Patterson improve on his 3-pointers and it's said that he helped Cousins improve his maturity.

Also, Patterson would've went higher in the draft if he didn't let Cousins and Orton have all of those rebounds and let Cousins have most of the points.

Keep in mind, for a first year coach to come in, only lose 2 games in the regular season, and get to the elite eight is a great accomplishment! Don't forget that Coach Calipari had the best University of Kentucky starting record for a "rookie" coach and the second best starting record in Kentucky's history (with Coach Rupp being the first).

[Stardust]

I think Calipari developed Patterson and Cousins into better players. He helped Patterson improve on his 3-pointers and it's said that he helped Cousins improve his maturity.

Also, Patterson would've went higher in the draft if he didn't let Cousins and Orton have all of those rebounds and let Cousins have most of the points.

Keep in mind, for a first year coach to come in, only lose 2 games in the regular season, and get to the elite eight is a great accomplishment! Don't forget that Coach Calipari had the best University of Kentucky starting record for a "rookie" coach and the second best starting record in Kentucky's history (with Coach Rupp being the first).

Which might be the basis for the investigation hh:

[PC_You_Know]

I think Calipari developed Patterson and Cousins into better players. He helped Patterson improve on his 3-pointers and it's said that he helped Cousins improve his maturity.

Also, Patterson would've went higher in the draft if he didn't let Cousins and Orton have all of those rebounds and let Cousins have most of the points.

Keep in mind, for a first year coach to come in, only lose 2 games in the regular season, and get to the elite eight is a great accomplishment! Don't forget that Coach Calipari had the best University of Kentucky starting record for a "rookie" coach and the second best starting record in Kentucky's history (with Coach Rupp being the first).

Yeah, that totally doesn't make him sound suspicious. :eyeroll:

[dangerousdaneerfan]

John Calipari may be trying to backpedal from his ridiculous comment during the NBA draft on June 24 about it being the greatest moment in University of Kentucky basketball history, but he's close to tripping and falling as he does so.

During ESPN's coverage of the draft, Calipari made the now infamous comment to reporter Heather Cox that having five UK players become first-round picks "is the biggest day in the history of Kentucky's program." He spent the days after trying to clarify those comments, but he didn't do it very well.

"I'm not saying that winning national titles is not important; it is," Calipari said last Friday. "But if you told me we'd win a national title and no one gets drafted, or you go 0-for-20 against West Virginia and five guys get drafted, you tell me what you'd want?"

Uh, Cal, I think the fans would take the national title.

Last time I checked, most UK fans don't think all that highly of Elite Eight appearances (see: Smith, Tubby), instead measuring success by Final Four appearances and national championships. And most don't seem to care all that much about where an ex-Cat is playing in the NBA. Sure, it's nice to follow their NBA careers, but you won't find many UK fans who talk more about Rajon Rondo's success with the Boston Celtics than they do about the upcoming recruiting class.

Calipari built a lot of goodwill among starry-eyed UK fans for last season's success, but his comment last week hasn't gone over well among many fans who take a huge measure of pride in the program's winning tradition.

The backlash about his remarks came from all over Big Blue Nation. Perhaps no responses were more pointed, and valued, than those of several former UK All-Americans who took umbrage with the comments in last Sunday's Lexington Herald-Leader.

"This is probably the greatest moment in John Calipari's history," said Kevin Grevey, who led UK to the national championship game in 1975. "It's a huge milestone for him. (The draft) was special, but it doesn't top a championship."

Of course it doesn't, but what Calipari tried to do with his comment was do what he does best: spin control.

He knew he was being criticized for not leading a team that had a record five first-round draft picks to a national title, so he decided to play a shell game:

"Don't look over there where I couldn't even coach this team to the Final Four, look over here where I developed five first-round NBA draft picks."

The funny part is he didn't develop anyone. Patrick Patterson would have been picked in about the same spot last season, while John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins clearly would have been high draft picks without coming to UK. A couple of Calipari's Memphis players, Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, were talented enough to do the same, so don't think for a second Calipari "developed" them either.

The spin doctor went on to call the NBA draft a "two-hour infomercial," for UK's program during Monday's Southeastern Conference coaches' teleconference.

No it wasn't. It was a night that showed how talented Wall and Cousins and Patterson really are, as well as how the selections of Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton show how shallow the draft talent pool really was and how much the draft today is more about potential than performance than ever before, simply because there aren't enough draft-worthy upperclassmen left in college.

Hey, it's not a bad thing to bring in as much talent as possible because at the end of the day no matter how good someone is as a coach they can't turn a plow horse into a Kentucky Derby winner.

At the same time, don't take the road of the ultra-talented, one-and-done player and then, when the team fails to reach the ultimate goal (or more accurately get only halfway to that goal) in the NCAA Tournament, attempt to spin the season into a success by saying those players being drafted by NBA teams trumps anything the team or program could have accomplished.

I think Calipari has shown that he truly lacks the understanding of the tradition of UK's program and that even while he tries to spin the draft being about "the kids," it's really all about him.

Yes, draft night was great for Wall, Cousins, Patterson, Bledsoe and Orton. It was great for Calipari, too, even though he's still a coach who officially never has taken a team to the Final Four.

As for UK's program? The last time I checked, the 2009-10 team advanced only to the Elite Eight. That's not exactly "great" now, is it?

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100...AA-not-NBA

:Thumbs::notworthy:worthy:

[15thRegionSlamaBamma]

John Calipari may be trying to backpedal from his ridiculous comment during the NBA draft on June 24 about it being the greatest moment in University of Kentucky basketball history, but he's close to tripping and falling as he does so.

During ESPN's coverage of the draft, Calipari made the now infamous comment to reporter Heather Cox that having five UK players become first-round picks "is the biggest day in the history of Kentucky's program." He spent the days after trying to clarify those comments, but he didn't do it very well.

"I'm not saying that winning national titles is not important; it is," Calipari said last Friday. "But if you told me we'd win a national title and no one gets drafted, or you go 0-for-20 against West Virginia and five guys get drafted, you tell me what you'd want?"

Uh, Cal, I think the fans would take the national title.

Last time I checked, most UK fans don't think all that highly of Elite Eight appearances (see: Smith, Tubby), instead measuring success by Final Four appearances and national championships. And most don't seem to care all that much about where an ex-Cat is playing in the NBA. Sure, it's nice to follow their NBA careers, but you won't find many UK fans who talk more about Rajon Rondo's success with the Boston Celtics than they do about the upcoming recruiting class.

Calipari built a lot of goodwill among starry-eyed UK fans for last season's success, but his comment last week hasn't gone over well among many fans who take a huge measure of pride in the program's winning tradition.

The backlash about his remarks came from all over Big Blue Nation. Perhaps no responses were more pointed, and valued, than those of several former UK All-Americans who took umbrage with the comments in last Sunday's Lexington Herald-Leader.

"This is probably the greatest moment in John Calipari's history," said Kevin Grevey, who led UK to the national championship game in 1975. "It's a huge milestone for him. (The draft) was special, but it doesn't top a championship."

Of course it doesn't, but what Calipari tried to do with his comment was do what he does best: spin control.

He knew he was being criticized for not leading a team that had a record five first-round draft picks to a national title, so he decided to play a shell game:

"Don't look over there where I couldn't even coach this team to the Final Four, look over here where I developed five first-round NBA draft picks."

The funny part is he didn't develop anyone. Patrick Patterson would have been picked in about the same spot last season, while John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins clearly would have been high draft picks without coming to UK. A couple of Calipari's Memphis players, Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, were talented enough to do the same, so don't think for a second Calipari "developed" them either.

The spin doctor went on to call the NBA draft a "two-hour infomercial," for UK's program during Monday's Southeastern Conference coaches' teleconference.

No it wasn't. It was a night that showed how talented Wall and Cousins and Patterson really are, as well as how the selections of Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton show how shallow the draft talent pool really was and how much the draft today is more about potential than performance than ever before, simply because there aren't enough draft-worthy upperclassmen left in college.

Hey, it's not a bad thing to bring in as much talent as possible because at the end of the day no matter how good someone is as a coach they can't turn a plow horse into a Kentucky Derby winner.

At the same time, don't take the road of the ultra-talented, one-and-done player and then, when the team fails to reach the ultimate goal (or more accurately get only halfway to that goal) in the NCAA Tournament, attempt to spin the season into a success by saying those players being drafted by NBA teams trumps anything the team or program could have accomplished.

I think Calipari has shown that he truly lacks the understanding of the tradition of UK's program and that even while he tries to spin the draft being about "the kids," it's really all about him.

Yes, draft night was great for Wall, Cousins, Patterson, Bledsoe and Orton. It was great for Calipari, too, even though he's still a coach who officially never has taken a team to the Final Four.

As for UK's program? The last time I checked, the 2009-10 team advanced only to the Elite Eight. That's not exactly "great" now, is it?

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100...AA-not-NBA

this is a very good read I cant complain with any of it...

[Deathstar 80]

Which might be the basis for the investigation hh:

Yeah, that totally doesn't make him sound suspicious. :eyeroll:

I don't think accomplishing the feat of having the best start for a first-year Kentucky coach is bad. Was it best for Coach Calipari to not have a great year? In that case, we shouldn't complain about him not getting to the final four.

[Stardust]

I don't think accomplishing the feat of having the best start for a first-year Kentucky coach is bad. Was it best for Coach Calipari to not have a great year? In that case, we shouldn't complain about him not getting to the final four.

The comments above have ZERO to do with how well we did. The point of the earlier posts is that the NCAA may be investigating the University of Kentucky and it's players. It's having arguably the greatest group of freshman assembled on one team and the "HOW" they got here that's the question. Not that they did so well, they should have done well!

[Deathstar 80]

The comments above have ZERO to do with how well we did. The point of the earlier posts is that the NCAA may be investigating the University of Kentucky and it's players. It's having arguably the greatest group of freshman assembled on one team and the "HOW" they got here that's the question. Not that they did so well, they should have done well!

Sorry. I talked about the fact that Coach Calipari was successful because the article did talk as if he didn't succeed in some areas when I'm pretty sure he did, such as developing the players and only losing three games all season.

I'm not sure if it's talking about an investigation. I think it's mostly saying that Coach Calipari didn't have a successful season last year. I'm probably wrong though; could you point out the spots where it talks about an investigation?

[Overrated]

Well, These Cal thread's are already getting old..Whenever Jim B retires from Cuse, Please send Cal to Syracuse.:thanks: I also like UK, who could really be born and live in KY and not want them to win. I say if he cheat's let him cheat, Just don't get caught, Because i'm sure what he doe's isn't much different than most other coaches...From Highschool coaches to D-1 college coaches. :biggrin:

[Wildcatk23]

Sorry. I talked about the fact that Coach Calipari was successful because the article did talk as if he didn't succeed in some areas when I'm pretty sure he did, such as developing the players and only losing three games all season.

I'm not sure if it's talking about an investigation. I think it's mostly saying that Coach Calipari didn't have a successful season last year. I'm probably wrong though; could you point out the spots where it talks about an investigation?

I dont think it mentions the word death?

[Ballers]

Well, These Cal thread's are already getting old..Whenever Jim B retires from Cuse, Please send Cal to Syracuse.:thanks: I also like UK, who could really be born and live in KY and not want them to win. I say if he cheat's let him cheat, Just don't get caught, Because i'm sure what he doe's isn't much different than most other coaches...From Highschool coaches to D-1 college coaches. :biggrin:

I'll agree to that.