(01-09-2023 07:55 AM)esayem Wrote:  

(01-09-2023 02:25 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 11:09 AM)esayem Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 09:16 AM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  

(01-08-2023 09:08 AM)esayem Wrote:  And Mark Few has 0 titles and plays a schedule softer than bathroom tissue (the good kind).

People are judging Cal with their personal biases. I would reckon it’s a hell of a lot harder to coach a brand new team of freshmen every season to the success he’s achieved. If there’s a downfall, it’s his recruiting practices. But if he stopped that approach then the fanbase would cry.

Once again, his UMass teams were not loaded with NBA talent, but I distinctly remember them beating the defending champion Tar Heels and whipping powerhouse Arkansas as well. Anybody saying he can’t coach should stick to football commentary.

Not sure why you're taking a swipe at Gonzaga. Since Kentucky's last final four (2015) Kentucky has 3 S16s and 2 E8s. Gonzaga on the other hand has been to the S16 in all 6 seasons, 3 E8's, and finished runner up twice. So they've kind of been the better of the two programsas of late.

The whole premise is Calipari does't win enough titles. Few has never won one, but nobody is calling for his head.

Cal won a title over a decade ago at the sports most premier program. Can’t keep reading off that forever. As for the Few-Cal comp, really? They’re at two completely different programs with entirely different standards/expectations. Kentuckys got a championship pedigree that literally predates Gonzagas program. Gonzaga on the other hand had two NCAAT appearances prior to Few and 3 total tournament wins. They’ve made 22 straight tournament appearances and won 38 tournament games since Fews arrival. He is Gonzaga basketball. Completely different dynamic with Cal and Kentucky. Cal had it going on at the beginning of his Kentucky run. From 2011-2015 he made the final four 4 times and won the tourney in 2012. I think where his fortune began to turn was the 2015 run. His failure to win the tourney with the most talented team ever assembled kind of ensured that he’d never be viewed as a member of the uppermost echelon of the coaching ranks. He followed that run up with four more solid years, never missing the tourney but also never making it past the E8. 2020 was a lost year. But he followed that up in 2021 with Kentucky’s first losing season in 30+ years and then their worst tournament upset in the first round of last years tourney. Now he’s 10-5 in the “redeem team” year with another team that doesn’t look like it has the horses to make a deep run.

Tbc, Cal is a good coach. At 95%+ of programs this level of success would get him a statue built but he’s not at one of those programs. He’s at the program. And the downward trajectory of his teams over the last 7-8 seasons seems to indicate that he’s peaked. Don’t cry too hard if he gets fired though, Cals made a hell of a lot of money coaching at Kentucky. For of us will ever have the good luck to be as unfortunate as him.

I feel like you’re agreeing with me that this is a unique Kentucky situation.

Gonzaga is the equivalent of starting a marathon in the last leg. They can basically coast for two months to gear up for the tournament.

Even the WCC's conference tournament is set up to give Gonzaga a double bye before they play a game (preventing further degradation of their strength of schedule).