ADVERTISEMENT

Stevie Beats the PussyCats Again

fpeaugh said:
every single coach would run the UK model if they could. They all want 5 star recruits. They don't choose 3 stars over 5 stars.
Click to expand...

Sure, coaches want the best players they can get. Every coach would.

But (and we've had this discussion before) just WHY does Calipari get the kids that he does? Because he promotes the UK program to be the best at preparing them for the NBA - and there is some serious questioning of just how much he "prepares" them for the league. But that's another discussion.

Calipari has been to the Elite 8 six times since arriving in Lexington in 2009. Let's take a look at those teams:

2009-10

2009 recruiting class - John Wall (2 RSCI overall ranking); Demarcus Cousins (3); Daniel Orton (19)

NCAA Elite 8 – lost to West Virginia. Along with Wall & Cousins, UK featured complimentary players like Patrick Patterson (Jr), Darius Miller (So), Darnell Dodson (So) and Deandre Liggins (So).

2010-11

2010 recruiting class – Brandon Knight (4); Terrence Jones (11); Deron Lamb (26)

NCAA Final Four – lost to UCONN in National Semifinals. Knight, Jones & Lamb were complimented with Miller (Jr), Liggins (Jr) and Josh Harrellson (Sr).

2011-12

2011 recruiting class – Anthony Davis (1); Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (3); Marquis Teague (7)

NCAA Champions – beat Kansas in the final. Along with the three freshmen, UK still had Miller (Sr), Jones (So) & Lamb (So).

2013-14

2013 recruiting class – Julius Randle (2); Andrew Harrison (5); Aaron Harrison (6); James Young (9); Dakari Johnson (10).

NCAA runner-up – lost to UCONN in title game. Along with the five top 10 RSCI recruits, UK still had guys like Willie Cauley-Stein (So) and Alex Poythress (So) left over from the previous year.

2014-15

2014 recruiting class – Karl-Anthony Towns (5); Trey Lyles (12); Tyler Ulis (18); Devin Booker (23).

NCAA Final Four – lost to Wisconsin in National Semifinals. Along with the freshmen, UK returned the Harrison twins (So), Cauley-Stein (Jr) and Poythress (Jr – sidelined with knee injury after 8 games),Johnson (So), Marcus Lee (So) and Dominique Hawkins (So).

2016-17

2016 recruiting class – De’Aaron Fox (6); Bam Adebayo (8); Malik Monk (9); Wenyen Gabriel (13); Sacha Killeya-Jones (21).

NCAA Elite 8 – lost to North Carolina. Along with the 2016 recruits, UK returned Hawkins (Sr), Derek Willis (Sr), Isaac Humphries (So) and Isaiah Briscoe (So).


See some trends? From 2009 to 2014, Calipari had 16 top 10 recruits, with nine of those being top 5. In the last three years (2015-17)? He’s had 1 top five – Skal Labissiere (2 - can we say over-rated?)

Besides 2016 (which was provided above), here are the recruiting numbers for 2015 & 2017:

2015

Skal Labissiere (2)
Isaiah Briscoe (11)
Charles Matthews (50) – now at Michigan


2017

Kevin Knox (10)
Jarred Vanderbilt (13)
P.J. Washington (14)
Nick Richards (18)
Quade Green (23)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30)
Hamidou Diallo (46)
Jemarl Baker (72)

Current 2018 UK recruits:

Immanuel Quickly (10)
Keldon Johnson (13)
Tyler Herro (34)

Is Calipari recruiting well? Absolutely – but not at the level he was up to 2013. And it’s catching up to him. Will BBN support only going to Elite 8’s? Tubby went to 4 in 10 years and won a title, but it still wasn’t good enough.

Calipari better hope Williamson commits. UK will still be good, but after the usual defection to the pros there may not be enough talent (or experience) left for Kentucky to be a true title contender.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bulk VanderHuge
Tasmanian Devil said:
Sure, coaches want the best players they can get. Every coach would.

But (and we've had this discussion before) just WHY does Calipari get the kids that he does? Because he promotes the UK program to be the best at preparing them for the NBA - and there is some serious questioning of just how much he "prepares" them for the league. But that's another discussion.

Calipari has been to the Elite 8 six times since arriving in Lexington in 2009. Let's take a look at those teams:

2009-10

2009 recruiting class - John Wall (2 RSCI overall ranking); Demarcus Cousins (3); Daniel Orton (19)

NCAA Elite 8 – lost to West Virginia. Along with Wall & Cousins, UK featured complimentary players like Patrick Patterson (Jr), Darius Miller (So), Darnell Dodson (So) and Deandre Liggins (So).

2010-11

2010 recruiting class – Brandon Knight (4); Terrence Jones (11); Deron Lamb (26)

NCAA Final Four – lost to UCONN in National Semifinals. Knight, Jones & Lamb were complimented with Miller (Jr), Liggins (Jr) and Josh Harrellson (Sr).

2011-12

2011 recruiting class – Anthony Davis (1); Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (3); Marquis Teague (7)

NCAA Champions – beat Kansas in the final. Along with the three freshmen, UK still had Miller (Sr), Jones (So) & Lamb (So).

2013-14

2013 recruiting class – Julius Randle (2); Andrew Harrison (5); Aaron Harrison (6); James Young (9); Dakari Johnson (10).

NCAA runner-up – lost to UCONN in title game. Along with the five top 10 RSCI recruits, UK still had guys like Willie Cauley-Stein (So) and Alex Poythress (So) left over from the previous year.

2014-15

2014 recruiting class – Karl-Anthony Towns (5); Trey Lyles (12); Tyler Ulis (18); Devin Booker (23).

NCAA Final Four – lost to Wisconsin in National Semifinals. Along with the freshmen, UK returned the Harrison twins (So), Cauley-Stein (Jr) and Poythress (Jr – sidelined with knee injury after 8 games),Johnson (So), Marcus Lee (So) and Dominique Hawkins (So).

2016-17

2016 recruiting class – De’Aaron Fox (6); Bam Adebayo (8); Malik Monk (9); Wenyen Gabriel (13); Sacha Killeya-Jones (21).

NCAA Elite 8 – lost to North Carolina. Along with the 2016 recruits, UK returned Hawkins (Sr), Derek Willis (Sr), Isaac Humphries (So) and Isaiah Briscoe (So).


See some trends? From 2009 to 2014, Calipari had 16 top 10 recruits, with nine of those being top 5. In the last three years (2015-17)? He’s had 1 top five – Skal Labissiere (2 - can we say over-rated?)

Besides 2016 (which was provided above), here are the recruiting numbers for 2015 & 2017:

2015

Skal Labissiere (2)
Isaiah Briscoe (11)
Charles Matthews (50) – now at Michigan


2017

Kevin Knox (10)
Jarred Vanderbilt (13)
P.J. Washington (14)
Nick Richards (18)
Quade Green (23)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30)
Hamidou Diallo (46)
Jemarl Baker (72)

Current 2018 UK recruits:

Immanuel Quickly (10)
Keldon Johnson (13)
Tyler Herro (34)

Is Calipari recruiting well? Absolutely – but not at the level he was up to 2013. And it’s catching up to him. Will BBN support only going to Elite 8’s? Tubby went to 4 in 10 years and won a title, but it still wasn’t good enough.

Calipari better hope Williamson commits. UK will still be good, but after the usual defection to the pros there may not be enough talent (or experience) left for Kentucky to be a true title contender.
Click to expand...
Good info. That's fair on top 10 players. I don't think that's a trend that will continue but we'll see. And I personally think it's splitting hairs to say the #8 kid and #12 kid in a class are that different. What's truly different is the #10 kid compared to the #50 kid. Then even more so the #50 kid compared to the #100 kid.

The bottom line is I think some hold Cal to a different, unrealistic standard just to make themselves feel better about where IU is at. I mean 90% of this board thought it was a big achievement for Crean to go to back to back sweet 16s. Yet they think 6 Elite 8s, 4 Final Fours, and a title in 8 years is somehow underachieving. I'd sign up for those results at IU all day every day. And I think everyone else here would too.

I believe your argument is that Cal's last year's are unsustainable in the future. Time will tell. I don't think he's showing any signs of slowing down.
 
fpeaugh said:
Good Lord Scott. This isn't complicated man. It's really not.

How many teams have one and done players each year? How many teams don't have one and done players? Compare the percentages and get back to me.

You still haven't admitted that the one and done rule has absolutely nothing to do with integrity. Nothing. Period.

College is about preparing kids for their careers. To these kids basketball is their career. Who cares if they're ready after 1 or 4 years? I guess Coach K is no longer developing and preparing kids for basketball/life anymore since he has a lot of one and dones. Give me a break.
Click to expand...
I care and many more IU fans care. I couldn't care less if the players make the NBA or not and I care what they do while playing for IU.
 
fpeaugh said:
Good info. That's fair on top 10 players. I don't think that's a trend that will continue but we'll see. And I personally think it's splitting hairs to say the #8 kid and #12 kid in a class are that different. What's truly different is the #10 kid compared to the #50 kid. Then even more so the #50 kid compared to the #100 kid.

The bottom line is I think some hold Cal to a different, unrealistic standard just to make themselves feel better about where IU is at. I mean 90% of this board thought it was a big achievement for Crean to go to back to back sweet 16s. Yet they think 6 Elite 8s, 4 Final Fours, and a title in 8 years is somehow underachieving. I'd sign up for those results at IU all day every day. And I think everyone else here would too.

I believe your argument is that Cal's last year's are unsustainable in the future. Time will tell. I don't think he's showing any signs of slowing down.
Click to expand...
I am not saying we should just recruit players ranked 50+ but I don't think we have to get the top 10 one and done players to win either. To me the way UNC has recruited the last 5 or so years is the perfect way. They have not gotten a top 10 player but most of their players are ranked between 15-75 and that is the way I think we should go. Most of their players have stayed at least 3 years and for the most part 4 years.
The reason some feel like Cal has not met his level is that he has the most talent every year and only winning one championship with that talent is underachieving. According to you having the most talent is the most accurate way in determining who will win so why has he not won more championships.
 
fpeaugh said:
Good info. That's fair on top 10 players. I don't think that's a trend that will continue but we'll see. And I personally think it's splitting hairs to say the #8 kid and #12 kid in a class are that different. What's truly different is the #10 kid compared to the #50 kid. Then even more so the #50 kid compared to the #100 kid.

The bottom line is I think some hold Cal to a different, unrealistic standard just to make themselves feel better about where IU is at. I mean 90% of this board thought it was a big achievement for Crean to go to back to back sweet 16s. Yet they think 6 Elite 8s, 4 Final Fours, and a title in 8 years is somehow underachieving. I'd sign up for those results at IU all day every day. And I think everyone else here would too.

I believe your argument is that Cal's last year's are unsustainable in the future. Time will tell. I don't think he's showing any signs of slowing down.
Click to expand...
I agree there’s not a lotta difference between #8 and #12 - but I do believe there’s a difference in top 5 kids, especially multiple. Duke is getting those kids now instead of UK, which is why I believe Zion is a MUST get for Calipari. Again, Cal is recruiting very well - but not at the same level he had been. I seriously wonder how long BBN will tolerate it.

I think Cal is a good coach. You’d have to be to get freshmen - no matter how talented - to play together as a team. But he’s not some miracle worker who brings a kid in and developes them into a lottery pick better than other coaches . He just isn’t that guy; no one is. But he’s a good coach.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back