Examining John Calipari's good (not great) years at Kentucky | Cal Era Part 2

[@BigBlueReefAquatics]

You're videos are absolutely OUTSTANDING!!! Well Done again!

[@racking4507]

Part III coming? I have to admit, that's what I want to see even more than the first two. The first two are fairly easy to figure, the last part not easy at all. Most of what existed during the first 10 seasons still existed (with exception to 2021), yet totally and completely different results. Please do part III!

[@WatchKSR]

Part 3 is coming soon! The Baseball run to the CWS delayed it. But part 3 is on it’s way

[@dwphillips42]

this was good stuff. i use to right down a lot of notes and game stats after each game but got frustrated over the last 3 years and quit.ill be waiting for part 2.

[@Wetrockstah2116]

He never should have stopped platooning in the tournament in 2015. He always switchs things up when the games get big, he should have stuck with what was working through that entire season. When he actually would stick to the platoon rotation he never lost. That 2015 year was crazy, because the team was clearly the best team in the country by far and he lost to Wisconsin 🤦

[@mmartinez8439]

These are very well done. Really impressive stuff

[@oldudejones4367]

Love your Grandfathers notes!

[@WatchKSR]

Thank you! I’ll let him know!

[@bluechipBBN]

No doubt Wenyen had a MASSIVE impact on that SEC tournament… really displayed his longevity

[@KellsSmells]

Will always love Cal

[@wtk6069]

I now think of Cal like I do Star Wars: used to be great, but not worth my time anymore.

[@M00SE414]

To be fair to Cal, Star Wars has been worse longer. The only good things Disney has made since they bought it are Rogue One, Andor, and Mando season 1&2. Each of those are flukes that slipped through the cracks.

[@ukhistorian]

​@@M00SE414Don't forget last season of Clone Wars.

[@M00SE414]

@ukhistorian I'm not a big fan of the Clone Wars. There are some good story arcs here and there but too much filler. The last few episodes of the last season are good. I like Rebels better, even though it introduced time travel and they undid the death of Ahsoka.

[@ukhistorian]

Ahsoka is the reason why I love Clone Wars. She is an example on how to write a good female character.

[@M00SE414]

@ukhistorian Her character got better but she was just annoying initially and it doesn't make sense that they never mentioned her in episode 3 or even the original trilogy. Her death in Rebels was the perfect ending to her character and also made sense as to why she wasn't mentioned in OT. The guy who created both shows has gone on record saying he has problems with killing his characters off and ultimately that has gotten in the way of good storytelling.

[@mmartinez8439]

That auburn loss without their best player is when I finally realized it’s gonna go downhill for cal. He continued to call sets for Hagans and baffled me

[@jerryboucher8557]

When I knew it was over and all downhill ahead was when he had Booker and Ulis setting on the bench and the Harrison twins starting and he continued that kind of nonsense till they was ready to run his ass off.

[@babyj3386]

Fire video!

[@thebestSteven]

"the last image we would see of Rick Pitino in Rupp arena." hooo boy, I am from the future and boy do I have news for you. Also, Ulis won those games. lol. I still wish Cal had given Ulis control of the offense, and would still like to see Ulis at UK I think the 2017 game broke Cal, not the 2015 game. I think he gave up, and doubled down on everything like his outdated offense. He stopped innovating and stopped adapting. He sank into his worst habits, and tried desperately to squeeze one more championship out of it.

[@bshayc79]

That first half of the 2016 UNC game was the worst officiated half i think I've ever seen. It was such an obvious screw job.

[@RizzGawd69]

Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton, Josh Harrellson, Quade Green, Marquis Teague, Derek Willis, etc, all da underrated talent thooo

[@babyj3386]

Need that part 3 in my life.

[@WatchKSR]

It’s coming soon. Just Gotta win this baseball tournament first.

[@babyj3386]

@@WatchKSR Hell yea, Go CATS!!!

[@nationalchampions]

The Wichita State coach's wife is hilarious!😂

[@BlindVeganRescue]

UT and UK both were in the two regional groups where a 16 seed beat a 1 and neither have anything to show for it. Kansas State is the other team and at least they got an Elite 8. UK S16 UT R32 in 2018 and 2023 UK R32 UT S16.

[@chomama717]

Let it go guys

[@Wetrockstah2116]

You know what's crazy is Calipari was 190-38 in his first 6 seasons as UKs head coach. That definitely was elite. that's better than Dan Hurleys record in his 6 seasons at UConn. Cal I think he just lost all hunger to win at a high level, especially after almost going undefeated in 2015 and getting knocked off like that. That game broke his motivation IMO.

[@nathanharvey2568]

What really knocked off his motivation was his ego and the lifetime contract. Along with his need to want to see all "his" freshman players to go play in the NBA all stars game. 🙄

[@racking4507]

One thing nobody seems to know, is why? 2009-2015 were incredible, then 2016-2020 a downturn compared to the first 6 seasons but still very good, and then more or less the bottom fell out. My guess is it was multiple factors. Just would love to know what they were.

[@bobthabuilda1525]

I’ve put a lot of thought into this, and while I certainly don’t claim to be an expert, I have a few guesses based on what I’ve read and an entire lifetime of watching and damn near studying basketball. 1. Recruiting habits in the NCAA changed to counter one-and-down heavy rosters. Notice how Duke was often ranked higher than Kentucky when it comes to ranking recruiting classes? Well one that doesn’t get mentioned is that Coach K was keeping 3-4 year players IN ADDITION to recruiting NBA talent at the same level as Calipari. Other teams started approaching recruitment in the one-and-down era in a similar fashion as well, but Cal’s teams remained heavy on freshmen and light on experience. That meant that not only did Cal not have a huge talent gap against other teams like he did in the early years, but his biggest rivals now also had more veteran leadership (the Duke squad that beat Wisconsin for the championship is the perfect example of good balance, in my opinion). 2. The three point revolution. Although I would argue that the first 3 point revolution happened with Rick Pitino and his early Providence and UK teams, there was definitely a huge shift in the game at large following Steph Curry’s explosion in the NBA. The revolution was simply too much for Cal’s offense to keep up with, as he often only recruited one or two decent shooters per season in favor of freak athletes who could attack the rim, but often were mediocre shooters from deep. Three points are more than two, and teams that didn’t account for that were left in the dust in all levels of American basketball. Which brings me to the most important point… 3. Cal refused to change with the times, and the basketball world moved on without him. Other teams started picking up the players that he would have gotten in year previously, with every year seeming worse than the one before as UK stagnated. Cal could have changed strategies and started recruiting players that would stay longer than a single season (and actually all of his best teams had players who weren’t freshman as leaders [see: Darius Miller in 2012]) but he didn’t. He could have played more zone defense as young players struggled to guard more experienced players, but he didn’t. He could have modified his offense to include more 3 pointers and recruiter better shooters, but he didn’t. The sports world evolves quickly, and Cal allowed himself to become a relic from a different era of basketball. Unless he makes serious changes, my prediction is that he will never see major success in DI ball again.

[@bookertee3057]

Move on! Let's look towards the future.

[@dubcity2345]

The smartest BBN fan here 👍

[@Paducahrus]

The media covering Cal cavorting with Sister Jean would have been unbearable; though it would have been worth it to get to the Elite 8 and possibly beyond.

[@WatchKSR]

Biggest missed opportunity of the Cal era in my opinion. Never seen a bracket open up the way that one did. It’s really amazing that Kentucky got 0 banners out of 17,18,19. I think Kentucky beats Loyola. Not sure why but I do. 17 - lose by 2 18 - lose by 3 19 - lose in OT 3 years in a row of being basically one basket away from another banner and we went 0 for 3. Thats a little bit to do with being unlucky.

[@johnnystivers6788]

Malik had 47 against UNC btw

[@WatchKSR]

Good call. He did.

[@johnnystivers6788]

@@WatchKSR yeah I watch that game at least once a year

[@oakleyjack7600]

You know as you get older that you slow down a bit, make it home early to hang with the Wife. Then you smell something good from the kitchen and you sit down in your electric lounge chair and pull over the tv dinner table and wit on Mom to bring you supper. Cal has not been productive since that recliner and tv tray come in the house.

[@doncleaver5994]

He will do better at Arkansas because Kenny Payne is back as his assistant

[@marcbotts4080]

Screw him. He’s shown his true colors and it ain’t blue.

[@roycepettus7512]

His biggest issue is carrying home Timeouts... He just can't manage games anymore...horrible.

[@doncleaver5994]

He should have started Booker and Ulis and not the two twins. He probably would have won the championship.

[@sarahbrooks5883]

Time to move on. I’m not watching anything about Cal.

[@WatchKSR]

I get it Sarah. But it’s the offseason, and he’s a huge part of our history.

[@watchinglclowns9890]

So Sick of The Calipari Talk, move on Please plenty of other Stuff to Talk About.. As for A Great first 6 years No Remember Year 4 Didn't Qualify For The NCAA tournament So Don't forget He had 5 Out Of 15 Successful years.. that's History move Forward From Calipari University!!!

[@JAWS-ih1ww]

So greatness is defined by a one n done tourney literally labeled madness? We get y’all don’t like Calipari but the talent and if the tourney was a legit best of series (won’t ever happen for timing and money reasons) let’s not act like Cal ain’t been in the top 12 of rosters (excluding the Noel & TC5 💔 years) extremely sad how y’all treated Calipari towards the end. That entitlement shit up there with pride and can kill ya

[@dubcity2345]

The Cal obsession is disgusting. Focus on Pope getting his first ever tournament win! Kentucky will most likely be a bubble team this upcoming season so keep being miserable & bitter 😆

[@BBNBRM-mt4gs]

You Arkansas fans drank the kool-aide😂. Enjoy your 10 loss seasons and 1st round losses😂

[@oakleyjack7600]

Your obsession too or you wouldn’t be sniffing around UK media