Canada spanks USA U-19 team (coached by Calipari) 99-87

[Spanarkel]

Jonathan Givony‏Verified account @DraftExpress 39m39 minutes ago
John Calipari is about to become the first coach of a USA Basketball squad to lose a game since Paul Hewitt (now a NBA scout) in 2011.

The 2015 USA Basketball Pan American Games team, coached by Mark Few, lost two games and finished with the bronze medal.

[JasonEvans]

That kid on Canada RJ Barrett looked like the 2nd coming of LeBron James today. And apparently he's just about to be a HS JUNIOR?? Wow.

Please get him Coach K.

#1 player in the class of 2019. The always accurate 247 crystal ball is 100% to Duke at this point.

[Indoor66]

#1 player in the class of 2019. The always accurate 247 crystal ball is 100% to Duke at this point.

WOW, that makes me confident.

[Troublemaker]

As awhom mentioned in the "International" thread, Canada was playing without their starting PG and one of their best players Lindell Wigginton. That forced Barrett to play a lot of PG as you can see in the highlights below. It would've probably made sense for Calipari to press and trap Barrett in the backcourt, force the ball out of his hands, and then play denial defense on him the rest of the possession to make things tougher for him.

[duke4ever19]

As awhom mentioned in the "International" thread, Canada was playing without their starting PG and one of their best players Lindell Wigginton. That forced Barrett to play a lot of PG as you can see in the highlights below. It would've probably made sense for Calipari to press and trap Barrett in the backcourt, force the ball out of his hands, and then play denial defense on him the rest of the possession to make things tougher for him.

It sounds like they played this game in a traffic jam. A steady dose of beeps and droning horn sounds.

It's always weird to hear how different crowd noise can be in other countries.

[Ichabod Drain]

The 2015 USA Basketball Pan American Games team, coached by Mark Few, lost two games and finished with the bronze medal.

Saw people bring this up on Twitter but apparently that wasn't a FIBA event. I guess it still counts but I imagine you don't really get the best talent at non-Fiba events.

[SCMatt33]

Saw people bring this up on Twitter but apparently that wasn't a FIBA event. I guess it still counts but I imagine you don't really get the best talent at non-Fiba events.

So I would think it exists in sort of a gray area. The pan-am games aren't a FIBA event, but that team IS organized by USA basketball, so from that standpoint it would count. In any case, this isn't the first time Calipari lost a large undefeated streak to a red an white team in the semifinals of a tournament in which they were heavy favorites!

[Indoor66]

So I would think it exists in sort of a gray area. The pan-am games aren't a FIBA event, but that team IS organized by USA basketball, so from that standpoint it would count. In any case, this isn't the first time Calipari lost a large undefeated streak to a red an white team in the semifinals of a tournament in which they were heavy favorites!

That calls for BadaBing, BadaBoom!

[jimsumner]

#1 player in the class of 2019. The always accurate 247 crystal ball is 100% to Duke at this point.

There's a real chance he reclassifies to the class of 2018.

[grossbus]

"It would've probably made sense for Calipari to press and trap Barrett in the backcourt, force the ball out of his hands, and then play denial defense on him the rest of the possession to make things tougher for him."

that would assume Cal knows how to coach.

[westwall]

Cam [Reddish] is a little too 3 happy for my liking. He's a beast athlete and slasher and needs to play to his strengths.

He shot 4 of his 7 shots from 3 vs Canada and missed them all. He shot 28% from 3 on the EYBL circuit. He did shoot 11-21 in 6 games in the tournament...but those 21 shots were 58% of his total FGs. He needs to work on being consistent from 3 and needs to rely on it less.

It wasn't just Reddish. Hamidou Diallo (KY) shot 2 for 11 (2/10,0/1) in 17 1/2 minutes, which must be another thing that displeased Calipari.

[Mike Corey]

My love of the USA far outweighs my dislike of any coach. The result of this game is deeply disappointing.

I agree with this. And my love for USA makes me terrifically disappointed that a dreadful coach like Calipari is allowed to steward the best U-19 players our country has to offer.

[Duke79UNLV77]

There's a real chance he reclassifies to the class of 2018.

I saw an interview from last year in which Evan Daniels asked him an open-ended question about recruiting, and Barrett said he grew up a Duke fan. Not a bad mindset to start the recruiting process!

[JasonEvans]

Hamidou Diallo (KY) shot 2 for 11 (2/10,0/1) in 17 1/2 minutes, which must be another thing that displeased Calipari.

Diallo is a remarkable athlete and physical specimen (he's 6-5, with a 6-11 wingspan), but not a highly skilled basketball player. We are talking about a guy who shot 20% from 3 on the EYBL circuit a year ago and then did about the same when playing for his prep school in the fall. He supposedly has some trouble with his handle and he tends to get lost on D. Far from being "none-and-done," as some said he might be a few months ago, I won't be all that shocked if he finds his way back to Kentucky for a second season in 2018-19. He's a product of hype, not results.

-Jason "DraftExpress has him #24 in the 2018 draft... not exactly a lock first rounder" Evans

[AtlDuke72]

I agree with this. And my love for USA makes me terrifically disappointed that a dreadful coach like Calipari is allowed to steward the best U-19 players our country has to offer.

I think all the criticism of Caliparai is over the top. He is obnoxious but obviously a great coach. Coach can't help it if the players miss 18 free throws and shoot poorly.

[sagegrouse]

I think all the criticism of Caliparai is over the top. He is obnoxious but obviously a great coach. Coach can't help it if the players miss 18 free throws and shoot poorly.

Moroever, we have to give credit to that brutal Canadian free-throw defense.

[kAzE]

I think all the criticism of Caliparai is over the top. He is obnoxious but obviously a great coach. Coach can't help it if the players miss 18 free throws and shoot poorly.

That's not obvious to me at all. He's a great recruiter. He's a mediocre coach. Even UK fans admit his X's and O's suck. He does 2 things well: recruit and manage egos. Those are important assets for NCAA basketball, but not very useful in a Team USA setting. It's a joke that he thought he should have been the senior national team's coach over Popovich.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Diallo is a remarkable athlete and physical specimen (he's 6-5, with a 6-11 wingspan), but not a highly skilled basketball player. We are talking about a guy who shot 20% from 3 on the EYBL circuit a year ago and then did about the same when playing for his prep school in the fall. He supposedly has some trouble with his handle and he tends to get lost on D. Far from being "none-and-done," as some said he might be a few months ago, I won't be all that shocked if he finds his way back to Kentucky for a second season in 2018-19. He's a product of hype, not results.

-Jason "DraftExpress has him #24 in the 2018 draft... not exactly a lock first rounder" Evans

He's the anti-Kennard: super athlete, mediocre basketball player. And Coach K loveeees his basketball players over his athletes. I really hope Duval can be the next in a longish line of great basketball/athletes at Duke (Jay Williams, Grant Hill, Justise Winslow [back when he could shoot], Jabari Parker, etc)

[GGLC]

That's not obvious to me at all. He's a great recruiter. He's a mediocre coach. Even UK fans admit his X's and O's suck. He does 2 things well: recruit and manage egos. Those are important assets for NCAA basketball, but not very useful in a Team USA setting. It's a joke that he thought he should have been the senior national team's coach over Popovich.

And he's a terrible person.

[BD80]

I think all the criticism of Caliparai is over the top. He is obnoxious but obviously a great coach. Coach can't help it if the players miss 18 free throws and shoot poorly.

I believe cool cal had a hand in selecting the team that shot so poorly. He placed his recruiting efforts (by selecting guys he's targeting and guys already committed to uk) above his DUTY to forward the cause of USA basketball.

The criticism is mild considering he put his own interests ahead of his country's.