(04-03-2015 11:16 AM)poppaslaw Wrote:
38 - 1*
Who's laughing now, John?
Certainly not Coach Ryan of Wisconsin. He will coach his team today in preparation for the NCAA national championship game against Duke.
Calipari had 9 McDonald All Americans on his team this year and somehow failed to win it. He blew it in 2008, 2011, 2014, and especially this year. No other team had such a stockpile of skill and talent. Yet he continues to choke in the absolute crunch time; the white hot crucible of the Final 4.
Calipari is the best coach ever to
ALMOST win multiple NCAA championships. He is a damn good recruiter, salesman, and motivator; extremely good at walking the line of violating NCAA rules, and the undisputed king of buying those players through his intermediary World Wide Wes. But...he really isn't the best in game tactician to stalk the side court. He has some legitimate brain farts sometimes that cost his team dearly. Hey, no one is perfect, LOL.
Calipari definitely belongs in that 2nd circle of coaches, the ones who did win a title. But, a lot of coaches have won it ONE TIME. Valvano, John Thompson, Massimino, Sloan, Al McGuire, Richardson, Haskins. They happened to be in the right place at the right time in history and circumstances worked out for them.
But let's NEVER confuse Calipari with true wizards like Coach K, Wooden, Knight, Dean Smith, Calhoun, Crum, and Pitino; truly great coaches who have won multiple NCAA tournaments over the decades.
Hey, 38-1 ain't chopped liver. I nominate super fan Ashley Judd to valiantly lead the hordes of frustrated Cat fans back to Lexington to donate those 40 - 0 t-shirts to the underprivileged in that area.