The unofficial online home for fans of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(04-08-2024 05:58 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  

(04-07-2024 10:31 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  

Caliperi has always dreamed of living in Fayetteville.

The don't hire a big conference coach who is a year or less away from being fired rule is in effect.

That hire makes no sense at all. Why would a program with big money to spend hire someone who hasn’t been able to recruit effectively in the NIL/free transfer era?

(04-08-2024 07:54 AM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(04-08-2024 05:58 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  

(04-07-2024 10:31 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  

Caliperi has always dreamed of living in Fayetteville.

The don't hire a big conference coach who is a year or less away from being fired rule is in effect.

That hire makes no sense at all. Why would a program with big money to spend hire someone who hasn’t been able to recruit effectively in the NIL/free transfer era?

Cal has millions of dollars already. Why endure the hatred and wrath of everyone in Big Blue Country for the rest of his life when he can make millions at Arkansas? The Razorbacks hung a National Championship banner and have had some excellent basketball in the not too distant past. If he wins enough there, they'll be satisfied. If not, he rides off into the sunset a little bit richer.

Instead of being a pariah in Lexington for the rest of his life, Cal can return in a few years and be honored for his National Championship and four Final Fours. They'll roll out the red (or blue) carpet for him, especially if his successor is an abject failure.

And personally, I wouldn't mind if his successor is an abject failure.

(04-08-2024 07:54 AM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(04-08-2024 05:58 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  

(04-07-2024 10:31 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  

Caliperi has always dreamed of living in Fayetteville.

The don't hire a big conference coach who is a year or less away from being fired rule is in effect.

That hire makes no sense at all. Why would a program with big money to spend hire someone who hasn’t been able to recruit effectively in the NIL/free transfer era?

i don't follow recruiting closely enough but from the little i do follow, it wouldn't seem like recruiting was the issue, and we all know he can't coach.

Recruiting wasn't the issue. His coaching stinks.

He was generally opting more for the 5 star type high school guys over a steady diet of portal transfers. NIL wasn't the issue...they were probably spending more than most. He learned the hard way that sometimes that even the one and done 18 year olds can struggle physically against 24 year old grown assed men.

(04-08-2024 07:54 AM)Former Lurker Wrote:  

(04-08-2024 05:58 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  

(04-07-2024 10:31 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  

Caliperi has always dreamed of living in Fayetteville.

The don't hire a big conference coach who is a year or less away from being fired rule is in effect.

That hire makes no sense at all. Why would a program with big money to spend hire someone who hasn’t been able to recruit effectively in the NIL/free transfer era?

His roster was fine. He actually had an obscene amount of offensive talent this year, but none of them were developed enough to defend at a high level. The thing about Cal is he's always been a pretty good defensive coach and a throw the ball out and let his players make plays offensive coach. This year they just didn't defend worth a crap, but the offensive talent was so good they kind of Calipari proofed the offense.

This chart is kind of hilarious because UK is such an outlier making a crazy amount of shots while having terrible shot seleciton.

https://twitter.com/Shot_Quality/status/...1840491735

Anyways... i'm not down on this hire for Arkansas. He took Memphis to a title game. he won a title at UK. He's probably going to get enough talent that Arkansas makes the tourney almost every year. You just wait for the year where he has a singular talent or two so great that his coaching issues don't matter as much.

(04-08-2024 08:25 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Recruiting wasn't the issue. His coaching stinks.

He was generally opting more for the 5 star type high school guys over a steady diet of portal transfers. NIL wasn't the issue...they were probably spending more than most. He learned the hard way that sometimes that even the one and done 18 year olds can struggle physically against 24 year old grown assed men.

(04-08-2024 08:37 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Anyways... i'm not down on this hire for Arkansas. He took Memphis to a title game. he won a title at UK. He's probably going to get enough talent that Arkansas makes the tourney almost every year. You just wait for the year where he has a singular talent or two so great that his coaching issues don't matter as much.

To your point though opting for younger players in this era was a recruiting problem. Not that he wasn't getting talent but that he wasn't reading the market properly. His big success started when he embraced the one and dones before anyone else and his downfall started when everyone was in that market. Being behind the curve on trasfer portal is what got him.

And I agree with Mark. He's always been a great recruiter. Changing jobs probably gives him the opportunity to reevaluate and reengergize for the last part of his career. And even though they don't have the history of UK they have plenty of money to spend so I think it's a good swing for them.

(04-08-2024 09:12 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(04-08-2024 08:25 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Recruiting wasn't the issue. His coaching stinks.

He was generally opting more for the 5 star type high school guys over a steady diet of portal transfers. NIL wasn't the issue...they were probably spending more than most. He learned the hard way that sometimes that even the one and done 18 year olds can struggle physically against 24 year old grown assed men.

(04-08-2024 08:37 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Anyways... i'm not down on this hire for Arkansas. He took Memphis to a title game. he won a title at UK. He's probably going to get enough talent that Arkansas makes the tourney almost every year. You just wait for the year where he has a singular talent or two so great that his coaching issues don't matter as much.

To your point though opting for younger players in this era was a recruiting problem. Not that he wasn't getting talent but that he wasn't reading the market properly. His big success started when he embraced the one and dones before anyone else and his downfall started when everyone was in that market. Being behind the curve on trasfer portal is what got him.

And I agree with Mark. He's always been a great recruiter. Changing jobs probably gives him the opportunity to reevaluate and reengergize for the last part of his career. And even though they don't have the history of UK they have plenty of money to spend so I think it's a good swing for them.

The thing about Cal, is you're going to have years where you underachieve relative to the talent (more of those years than you'd like), but you're also going to have a pretty high floor because in the end, talent is going to win you a lot of games.

And then there are some transcendent type guys whose talent is such that it's hard for coaching to get in the way of success. Anthony Davis was transcendant. Derrick Rose was transcendent. Feels like this will work out fine for Arkansas unless Cal decides this is a retirement gig and he's not going to put forth the effort on the recruiting trail.

(04-08-2024 09:19 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(04-08-2024 09:12 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(04-08-2024 08:25 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Recruiting wasn't the issue. His coaching stinks.

He was generally opting more for the 5 star type high school guys over a steady diet of portal transfers. NIL wasn't the issue...they were probably spending more than most. He learned the hard way that sometimes that even the one and done 18 year olds can struggle physically against 24 year old grown assed men.

(04-08-2024 08:37 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Anyways... i'm not down on this hire for Arkansas. He took Memphis to a title game. he won a title at UK. He's probably going to get enough talent that Arkansas makes the tourney almost every year. You just wait for the year where he has a singular talent or two so great that his coaching issues don't matter as much.

To your point though opting for younger players in this era was a recruiting problem. Not that he wasn't getting talent but that he wasn't reading the market properly. His big success started when he embraced the one and dones before anyone else and his downfall started when everyone was in that market. Being behind the curve on trasfer portal is what got him.

And I agree with Mark. He's always been a great recruiter. Changing jobs probably gives him the opportunity to reevaluate and reengergize for the last part of his career. And even though they don't have the history of UK they have plenty of money to spend so I think it's a good swing for them.

The thing about Cal, is you're going to have years where you underachieve relative to the talent (more of those years than you'd like), but you're also going to have a pretty high floor because in the end, talent is going to win you a lot of games.

And then there are some transcendent type guys whose talent is such that it's hard for coaching to get in the way of success. Anthony Davis was transcendant. Derrick Rose was transcendent. Feels like this will work out fine for Arkansas unless Cal decides this is a retirement gig and he's not going to put forth the effort on the recruiting trail.

At least, unlike his last 2, he's not leaving one step ahead of the cops - or is he?

if i were these kentucky fellers, i'd wait and see who the next coach is before i'd go portalin. bet it's billy donavon

(04-08-2024 09:19 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(04-08-2024 09:12 AM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(04-08-2024 08:25 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Recruiting wasn't the issue. His coaching stinks.

He was generally opting more for the 5 star type high school guys over a steady diet of portal transfers. NIL wasn't the issue...they were probably spending more than most. He learned the hard way that sometimes that even the one and done 18 year olds can struggle physically against 24 year old grown assed men.

(04-08-2024 08:37 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Anyways... i'm not down on this hire for Arkansas. He took Memphis to a title game. he won a title at UK. He's probably going to get enough talent that Arkansas makes the tourney almost every year. You just wait for the year where he has a singular talent or two so great that his coaching issues don't matter as much.

To your point though opting for younger players in this era was a recruiting problem. Not that he wasn't getting talent but that he wasn't reading the market properly. His big success started when he embraced the one and dones before anyone else and his downfall started when everyone was in that market. Being behind the curve on trasfer portal is what got him.

And I agree with Mark. He's always been a great recruiter. Changing jobs probably gives him the opportunity to reevaluate and reengergize for the last part of his career. And even though they don't have the history of UK they have plenty of money to spend so I think it's a good swing for them.

The thing about Cal, is you're going to have years where you underachieve relative to the talent (more of those years than you'd like), but you're also going to have a pretty high floor because in the end, talent is going to win you a lot of games.

And then there are some transcendent type guys whose talent is such that it's hard for coaching to get in the way of success. Anthony Davis was transcendant. Derrick Rose was transcendent. Feels like this will work out fine for Arkansas unless Cal decides this is a retirement gig and he's not going to put forth the effort on the recruiting trail.

My money is on a Tubervillian stay in Fayetteville.

That used car salesman is going to hate Fayetteville. It's such a a crazy fit.

I got a scholarship offer to go there for law school. Took a visit and the town gave me the heebie jeebies.

It's a bizarre mix of rednecks who are the first generation to move to the city, bible thumping baptists who ask what church you attend within the 1st 15 seconds of meeting you and a whole foreign caste of sales and marketing pukes sent to spend 1-2 years in Siberia licking the boots of Walmart who count down the days until hey get back to civilization.

Nice place to attend a football game for a weekend and then get the heck out.

This probably won't end well. But the beat feet before getting fired job rarely does.

(04-09-2024 08:30 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  That used car salesman is going to hate Fayetteville. It's such a a crazy fit.

I got a scholarship offer to go there for law school. Took a visit and the town gave me the heebie jeebies.

It's a bizarre mix of rednecks who are the first generation to move to the city, bible thumping baptists who ask what church you attend within the 1st 15 seconds of meeting you and a whole foreign caste of sales and marketing pukes sent to spend 1-2 years in Siberia licking the boots of Walmart who count down the days until hey get back to civilization.

Nice place to attend a football game for a weekend and then get the heck out.

This probably won't end well. But the beat feet before getting fired job rarely does.

This was my take away from the football trip. On the surface I was really impressed by what a nice little college town it is. All the UA fans I encountered were very happy we made the trip. It caught me a little off guard when some of the younger UA alums we talked to seemed weirdly envious about our part of the country. On two separate occasions the people we met went out of their way to explain how UA was located in one of the worst regions of the country.

DeCourcey's take on the UK candidates:

John Calipari replacements: Ranking Kentucky's best coaching candidates, from Mark Pope to Rick Pitino

Sean Miller?!

He probably heard that from Sean Miller.

I have no fire in my belly to coach anymore but I continue to get paid like I do...

(04-09-2024 02:27 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  He probably heard that from Sean Miller.

That was my first thought. His name was thrown around for a bit for the Ohio State job, too. I wonder how Xavier fans would feel if he left so soon again and about their future in general.

(04-09-2024 01:52 PM)Bearhawkeye Wrote:  DeCourcey's take on the UK candidates:

John Calipari replacements: Ranking Kentucky's best coaching candidates, from Mark Pope to Rick Pitino

Now... is that the Sean Miller who is the current coach at Norwood U???

Or the Sean Miller who was the IRA villain in "Patriot Games"???

(04-09-2024 03:32 PM)The Big O Wrote:  

(04-09-2024 02:27 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  He probably heard that from Sean Miller.

That was my first thought. His name was thrown around for a bit for the Ohio State job, too. I wonder how Xavier fans would feel if he left so soon again and about their future in general.

Bolded, I can't imagine X fans are feeling very good about their future regardless. I believe I read in the Enquirer that they have eight players headed to the portal. NIL dollars have to be much harder to come by for a small, private school that's hardly a Notre Dame--or even a Marquette or a Georgetown for that matter.

Why wouldn't Kentucky just go ahead and hire Will Wade? I think just about everything he got fired for at LSU is now highly encouraged under NL.