The House of Blue

Cal has created his own problems with this team. Goodwin should have been benched a long time ago. Polson showed the first game of the season that he was more ready to be the point guard then Harrow. This team needed to be playing zone defense from day one. Then u add the fact that there is no bench due to losing players after one year and this is what u get. Dont get me wrong, I am not one that expects a championship every year. These are problems that have been there all year. Nerlens helped offset most of them. Cal has to figure out how to recruit the best players as well as players who can develop into bench players and stay in school 4 years. If not, this will be the result more often than not.

Memphis, he had developed depth over the years. Yes Kentucky has enjoyed success in his first years, but he also had some players who had some older role players to provide some stability. Who does he have now? To be consistent he will have to start getting some kids that will stick around. That is just a fact. Sorry u dont agree, but this team sorely lacks leadership and discipline. That comes from older players. Who on this roster do u see being there and playing that role? Who do u see doing it in the next 3 years. Without those players there will not be that consistency. I am not saying Cal is a bad coach. All I am saying is that we are paying the price for only recruiting 1 year players.

This team has had problems all year. Even with Noel they were on the bubble for making the tournament. Yes he is a great recruiter and his record shows he is a good coach. But he is also not putting UK on solid ground for the future. Yes he should continue to recruit the top players but he has to also compliment that with program builders as well. Due to Tubby and Gillespie there was no foundation of those type players outside of Harrelson and Miller. Without those two this team does not go to a final four or championship. Now Cal must get some more of those type of blue collar players who can be the foundation of this program. Look at the top teams year in and out. They have veterans to steer the ship.

This is why coaches don't last at Kentucky. Nothing they do is ever right. Tubby didn't recruit well enough so he had to go. Gillispie was a mess so he had to go. Calipari goes to an Elite Eight, a Final Four and wins a title and then has one year where the formula doesn't work and people are angry. If you can't understand the connect between these types of criticisms and why the national perception of Kentucky fans is so low, well, I don't know that anything will ever make that point.

Calipari has made mistakes this year. He hasn't handled this team well. They've been worse in terms of their ability to buy in. But are we really to the point where there is an entire message board of complaining and freaking out because UK is struggling a year after a title and with what it's accomplished the past three years? Sheesh. No wonder people think UK fans are out of control.

Calipari's recruiting philosophy is not the problem people. Those complaining about that should ban themselves from posting on message boards, twitter, etc. We all see this team has issues, but Cal's recruiting is definitely not one. This team also had an unfair amount of pressure placed on their shoulders from the media and fans from day one.

This all doesn't fall on Cal's shoulders. He's proven in his three years at Kentucky he can bring a new group in bring them together and win. So it hasn't gone smoothly this year. Personally, I believe that comes down to the failure for the players to come together. Cal's first three teams seemed to love each other. This year it seems forced by some. I could be wrong, but that's my perception.

The other problem I see with this team is the fact Cal has publicly called two players out for being uncoachable. We can debate those two players all day, but I would think we'd all agree on one. There is your problem with camaraderie. By everything publicly said by Calipari I believe he's done the best he could to teach these young men to trust and love each other. I still see a problem there and some falls on Cal, but most is on the players.

To the basketball court where Cal is held accountable for putting these guys in position to win. He's done a pretty good job this year. He gets a buy from me in this UT game. Everything this team was built around defensively has been lost. He happened to think WCS could sort of fill that roll. I would have done the same. The problem I have is on the defensive end. Even with Noel this team was a bad perimeter defensive team.

So, instead of going man all game throw some different things at the offense. Play a little 2-3, 3-2, 1-3-1 trap and occasionally go man out of that. Press some and use your more marginal players a little more. I just think you have to try something a little different with these guys without Noel.

With all that off my chest I want to say in no way am I complaining about Cal or the team. Rather I'm giving my critical analysis for all it's worth. I'll continue to support the Cats whether we're up 30 or down 30.