Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
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.
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!
"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.
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
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
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.
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)
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
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.