Running 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament thread

Couldn't agree more – on all of it.

 

My God are some of you ridiculous.

Yeah, because UMass was a bastion of hoops success before he arrived and got it to three fucking tourneys in a row, including a Sweet 16 and Final Four. And it is just a coincidence that when he got to memphis he took it from a program that went from shit and in the wilderness to a staple in the Elite Eight and one fucking free throw away from the national title.

He did that at fucking Memphis and UMass --- not North Carolina and Arizona not even North Carolina State and Arizona State-- Memphis and fucking UMass.

He was absolutely the right hire for Kentucky but I suppose it is a coincidence that in his first year, they went to the Elite Eight and won the SEC and SEC Tournament.

Winning titles at ANY program is not a given - how many TITLES (which is the standard you are trying to hold Cal too) does Izzo have? How about Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon? How about Jim Boeheim - who has been around forever and has one to show for it?

 

He is a fraud because he is no better than some message board fan boy who is ripping on a rival school from his fanboy blog.

The fact that you are trying to compare the idiot fanboy who wrote this drivel to Doug Gottlieb - who works for a legitimate and respected national media outlet - not a fanboy blogger site -- is ridiculous and basically says everything anyone needs to know about the strength of your argument.

Let's see -- ESPN analyst on one hand - fanboy former player who is a blogger --- yep, yep I can certainly see where the comparison fits..... :

 

Nobody shits on as many threads as Zagoshe. No matter where I click here, he's dropped another turd on another thread.

Its actually quite amazing, his consistency.

 

I'm not placing any blame on Cal. He did a great job. To think (or to blame Cal that they did not) this team should have won the Tourney is crazy. Did they have a chance? Yes. Lock solid? No.

Should UK be suprised in five years when they are scouring the Apppy hills for anyone to play on their team in the nuclear winter of post-Cal sanctions? No.

 

I don't think anyone on here is doubting the guy's ability to recruit talent – and if they are, then they aren't paying attention.

Yes, he does a fantastic job of rounding up Top 50 kids and even taking some under the radar type guys and turning them into solid players.

He gets those players, crushes 32 cupcakes a year and then, with as much (or more) talent than anybody in the field, fails to get it done in March.

He's a fantastic recruiter, and a pretty good developer of individual talent – but a great overall coach? I'm not so convinced.

 

And, yes – he's dripping with slime.

But then again, who isn't in the world of college recruiting?

 

Do you understand, even have the slightest idea, how difficult it is to get a team full of freshmen to play at a high level?

There are only a few guys who could consistently get what is in essence a brand new team to play at as high of a level as Calipari has -- and along the way, he's beaten a lot of those other guys who we're consistently told are great coaches.

Let me ask you an honest question -- do you really think losing to a No. 2 seed on a night when your shooters couldn't hit a fucking shot - particularly against a team who, nobody has been able to score against -- has anything to do with coaching? Did you even watch the game?

I have far less of a problem with what John Calipari did this year in terms of "underachieving" than Bill Self, Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams, Jay Wright and Rick Pitino-- and all those guys are hailed as geniuses by some of you around here.

I get it, you don't like John Calipari, don't like what he stands for, think he is a cheater, whatever -- fine I get it and if you want to rip him for vacated wins and NCAA probes, fine.

But then man can coach and he is one of the few guys on the planet who has figured out how to put together a team of one-and-dones and make it work.

To argue otherwise is silly.

 

I think Cal's game coaching can be questioned at times but there is no doubt the guys can put a team together and get it to mesh quickly.
I think his teams are very well prepared going into a game but he does have some adjustment trouble. It's kind of "this is how we play and if it isn't working, we still aren't going to change."

 

Oh I watched the game – and it looked like a team that had never seen, nor been introduced to, a 1-3-1 zone on the floor wearing blue.

Look, I could care less. I'm not saying the guy's a bum here – he can flat out recruit, he does a great job of relating to kids, teaching a system and getting guys to go all out for him.

No doubt about it. He's an elite coach. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't be talking about him.

No one brings in rentals and gets them into a more cohesive unit faster than this guy.

I'm just not so sure that maintained success and multiple championships can be had by doing that. And that, like it or not – believe it or not, is what folks at UK expect.

No doubt he'll bring in five or six studs next season and they'll be one of the top teams in the country – just don't know if they'll get it done in March when it matters.

 

I agree, he sometimes get caught up trying to out-athlete teams - but I think almost every coach has some flaws in their armor -- none are perfect (well, though Izzo is close it seems).

For instance, I watch Jamie Dixon a lot because he is the coach of the home team here - he is an excellent coach and excellent at making adjustments -- but his stubborness and refusal to use zones some times and even worse, his refusal to press (until it is too late) has cost him some games and cost him some chances to advance in the tourney. That doesn't make him less of a coach, it just means he has a comfort zone with what has worked for him to the tune of 8 NCAA Tourneys and a few Big East titles.

But here is the problem with the "Cal can't coach" bullshit that happens when his team loses in the tournament game -- in that game against WVU the other night, when his team started missing shots -- WVU packed it in even more and refused to allow them to get in the lane or get the ball down low and dared them to make some shots.

They couldn't make a shot and there really isn't much of an adjustment for that. They were taking good shots, they were taking open shots, they just couldn't make them and in one-and-done -- you shoot poorly against a great team, you go home.