Kentucky, once hailed as the mecca for college basketball has been irrelevant on the national scene since they cut down the nets in 1998. All of that has changed with the firing of Billy Gillespie and the hiring of John Calipari this Spring. The school spent a lot to bring him to town. Will it pay off? 
Calipari's credibility comes after great success at UMass (have you heard of them doing anything since he left?) and Memphis. His last four years at Memphis he won 33+ games each season, reached a National Title game and dominated Conference USA, winning league title after league title. He made Memphis a hotbed for some of the best recruits in the nation to come and spend anywhere between 1 and 4 years. Some may claim it was the great BarBQ that brought the talent into town or maybe the fact that the Memphis Tigers are a bigger draw than the Memphis Grizzlies (NBA Franchise) but I think we all know that is a lie.
Calipari is a players coach. He runs an offensive that the greatest players in the high school ranks want to be involved in that allows them to showcase their skills which in turn will help them get to the next level. His offense is all about spacing and allows players to drive and dish or drive and finish. The spacing makes defensive blocking out for rebounds a nightmare. Memphis was one of the best offensive rebounding teams in America year after year. If you like going after the ball, this is a dream offense for you, there is so much freedom. Don't think if you are going to play for Calipari it is all about offense. If you don't play tough defense you won't see the floor. That is the difference between Calipari and most major college coaches. Most programs don't mind if their stars take a night off on the defensive end. Calipari won't allow it and as a result it betters the player himself and the program is rewarded with successful season after successful season.
Calipari's credibility comes after great success at UMass (have you heard of them doing anything since he left?) and Memphis. His last four years at Memphis he won 33+ games each season, reached a National Title game and dominated Conference USA, winning league title after league title. He made Memphis a hotbed for some of the best recruits in the nation to come and spend anywhere between 1 and 4 years. Some may claim it was the great BarBQ that brought the talent into town or maybe the fact that the Memphis Tigers are a bigger draw than the Memphis Grizzlies (NBA Franchise) but I think we all know that is a lie.
Calipari is a players coach. He runs an offensive that the greatest players in the high school ranks want to be involved in that allows them to showcase their skills which in turn will help them get to the next level. His offense is all about spacing and allows players to drive and dish or drive and finish. The spacing makes defensive blocking out for rebounds a nightmare. Memphis was one of the best offensive rebounding teams in America year after year. If you like going after the ball, this is a dream offense for you, there is so much freedom. Don't think if you are going to play for Calipari it is all about offense. If you don't play tough defense you won't see the floor. That is the difference between Calipari and most major college coaches. Most programs don't mind if their stars take a night off on the defensive end. Calipari won't allow it and as a result it betters the player himself and the program is rewarded with successful season after successful season.
Kentucky will remain irrelevant no longer. If Jodie Meeks decides to stay at school and pull his name from the NBA draft hat, they will return all players from last years squad including inside power Patrick Patterson. You sprinkle in 5-star recruits PG John Wall, C DeMarcus Cousins and C Daniel Orton along with 4-star players such as SF Jon Hood and PG Eric Bledsoe and the 2009/2010 Wildcats may go from getting bounced early in the NIT last year to the best team in America this season. This transformation basically happened overnight. With no Calipari, Meeks and Patterson would most likely have left and Wall, Cousins and Bledsoe would be wearing something other than blue and white next season.
Not that any passion was lost in Lexington over the past years, but the excitement of the team and program will be at a fever pitch this upcoming season. Kentucky will be back on the national scene. Every penny (and there are a lot of them) they spent/are spending on John Calipari will be well worth it.
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ReplyDeleteBledsoe is a 5 star recruit...and UK was very relevanat in 2003 (#1 overall seed in the NCAA's)...I'm guessing that your relevance is only satiated by a banner...but keep in mind that team did what no other SEC team had ever done before...go undefeated in conference play and win the SEC tourney...that's relevant to me
ReplyDelete1 year of relevance in a 10 year period characterizes you as irrelevant in my book. Keep in mind I hold Kentucky hoops to a higher standard b/c of the fact they have the most tradition and are the all-time winningest program. 2003 was a great season, but ended short of a final four. I believe they had another Elite 8 trip in that time period, but when you are Big Blue, that doesn't cut it in my book or any true follower of the 'Cats.
ReplyDeleteBledsoe was 5-star to some and 4-star to others, depends where you go for the information.