Quote:
Originally Posted by capone0
How does Cal get you ready for the NBA? His best players were consensus #1 recruits and just followed that into the NBA. I guess some of his 2nd tier guys have done better than they should have but most of his successful players were gonig to be successful with or without him. His success has coincided with the advent of the 1 and done rule where he has already had what 7 players do it (Evans, Rose, Wall, Cousins, Knight, Orton, Bledsoe). He has gotten some decent play out of CDR and Harrelson.
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I said I didn't want to argue about whether Cal was a sleazebag/cheat but you raise some interesting points about whether he is actually superior at player development. I think the evidence suggests that he is.
I didn't follow Cal that closely while he was Memphis. You are right that Wall is probably a #1 pick practically regardless of which school he goes to, but I don't think the same is true for Orton/Cousins/Bledsoe.
Cousins had (still has to some extent) an attitude problem, Cal dealt with it extremely well. There are plenty of cases of players as talented as Cousins (Josh Selby and Derrick Caracter off the top of my head) who didn't pan out due largely to attitude/personality reasons. Under Cal, Cousins was a productive and motivated team player. I personally don't think that would have necessarily been the case with many other coaches.
Bledsoe and Orton were not extremely highly heralded before coming to Kentucky. Neither were McD all americans. Not many non-McD players get drafted in the first round after one year of college. I personally think Orton is pretty overrated, but whatever.
Patrick Patterson improved his NBA stock quite a bit after his senior year under Calipari. As I recall after his junior year he was a considered a mid-late 1st round pick. After his senior year he was projected 7-10, slipped a tiny bit but still got drafted in the lottery.
Liggins and Harrellson were practically scrubs playing under Gillespie. Liggins was one of the most out-of-control players I'd ever seen and Harrellson was basically a big body. They were still basically bench players in their first year under Calipari, Harrellson didn't even see the court most games - he was like 5th on the depth chart. But last year they were both excellent players and managed to get drafted.
I would have thought you were crazy if, 2-3 years ago, you suggested Harrellson would be an NBA draft pick. He's a 6'9 center with modest athleticism and skills. He didn't start playing basketball until high school and he was a JuCo transfer. But he made it. I'm quite confident Liggins and Harrellson wouldn't have had a sniff at the NBA if they were still playing under Gillispie.
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