THE "OFFICIAL" AROUND THE NBA 2012-13 THREAD...........

Yeah he probably won't be in the league long.

What I'm trying to say about Calipari is that it can't be easy getting all those guys, with their gigantic egos, to play at least somewhat as a team. Throwing top recruits out on a basketball court together doesn't just magically work, there's a good deal of coaching involved.

 

Paul George is a certified playa. Averaging 20/10 in January. I want him.

He'll be the next player in the league that emerges as a star.

 

Lou Will out with a torn ACL.

 

I think the point that's being missed is Callipari is a brilliant salesman in terms of recruiting, and it only makes sense that that same skill carries over to being able to sell the guys on cohesive team play being the best avenue to their NBA goals. Watching the style of play of Callipari teams in recent years, I feel like coaching is a very small part of the equation. They overwhelm you with size and athleticism, not a precision offense. But he gets them to buy in as well as any coach in the country.

 

I think that is all a part of coaching. Especially getting the players to buy in.

 

Reminds me of Andre Iguadola. Would be a nice second or third piece on a championship contender. His PER isn't franchise-player level at all.

 

He's a much different player than Andre Iguodala.....

 

Better shooter worse defender probably on par athleticly.

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Did I mention he's averaging 2.8 stls in January? Averaging 20/10 with almost 3stls. Crazy numbers. Only 22.

I want. I want. I want.

Crazy athleticism for his size and length, and tops it off with a great smoothness and fluidity to his game.

He will emerge as a star in a couple years.

 

Pretty much every player is a "worse" defender than Iguodala

 

He's a nice player. Don't get me wrong. I'm just not sure he'll be worth what his future contract is going to be, because if Indy doesn't pay him, somebody else will.

I'd rather have Batum at his contract with Lillard and LMA than George on a max, which may happen.

 

I have always been a fan of Iguadola. I think we have a player like him already in Batum. Batum has less strength and post moves, but shoots and defends better IMO.

 

You gotta pay to keep elite talent.

 

He's getting there with the way he's progressing. Only 22.

Agree with the Hibbert thing. I said he was overpaid from day 1.

 

They're not random at all. I was thinking of coaches who don't get the big time recruits yet continue to mold average recruits into great college basketball players, and Izzo, Dixon, and Few are prime examples. They all have certain coaching styles that are conducive to developing a certain toughness and basketball IQ in their players. I also thought of Bo Ryan, who is an amazing coach, but I've always seen him as more of a system coach. He recruits under-the-radar players that can excel with the swing offense, so while I'd consider him a great coach, I left him out because he's still a system coach in a lot of ways.

Coach Calipari, on the other hand, runs a pro-style offense that's all about spreading the floor, emphasizes the transition game, lets players have a lot of individual freedom, and doesn't place an emphasis on the fundamentals. He's basically created a glorified prep school for draft prospects.

It's easy to win when you have players like Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Anthony Davis, Alex Poythress, Nerlens Noel, and Archie Goodwin flowing through your program. Given the caliber of players that he's had, if he were a better coach, he'd have a better track record. Now that he's won a title, he's somehow validated as a coach, when in reality, he's just a great salesman that knows a little bit about basketball.

Trust me, I have hundreds of damning things against Calipari's coaching ability and recruiting tactics. I was close to the University of Memphis program all throughout high school, and I know what's going on with John Calipari better than most. If you want to keep getting into it, I'm okay with that, but I don't want to start typing that rant on Cal right now, because I have so much say on the subject that it'd honestly be time consuming to even scrape the surface.

 

Calipari's the biggest snake oil salesman in college ball. His coaching brethren all can't stand him. There's been so many times where he's stole recruits that were pretty much signed and sealed to other schools.

 

Great game in Denver tonight! OKC stormed back, but lost in OT!

ESPN

 

It's hilarious to see you slobber over George but hate on Nic at every possible opportunity. They're like the same player, with George being the better rebounder, and Nic the better playmaker.