CBS column: Calipari’s greatness not measured by titles

The UK volleyball team defeated UofL in a match that went five games on Wednesday, September 1, 2010, in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky. Photo by Chet White

The UK volleyball team defeated UofL in a match that went five games on Wednesday, September 1, 2010, in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky. Photo by Chet White

Gregg Doyel, CBSSports.com’s national columnist, was in town this Saturday to check out UK. He went to practice on Friday. He went to the game on Saturday.

And he wrote this on Monday, in which argues that the perception of a coach needing a national championship to be great is wrong:

The issue is Calipari’s coaching acumen, and whether he needs a national title to get everyone off his back, and it’s another forest-or-trees argument. The forest shows one great player at UMass in 1996, several at Memphis in 2008, several more at Kentucky since ’09 — and no national title for the coach who had them. The forest says Calipari is a great recruiter, isn’t a great coach. That’s one way to see it.

Another way is to consider Calipari in comparison to Boeheim, Self and Roy Williams, great coaches whether they won titles or not. And there are numbers that say Calipari ranks right with them.

There’s lots more words in Doyel’s column, words that I highly suggest you read. He makes great points throughout the piece, including one that I’ve always thought about. Doyel points out the 2008 national title game between Calipari (then at Memphis) and Bill Self (Kansas). How close was that game? It swung on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. But that single shot, that one single make-or-miss proposition, has changed the perception of one coach for the better (Self now has the title to be great) and has solidified the perception of another (Calipari will never be great until he wins one). That shot, that slimmest of margins, is too thin to be able to draw a concrete line of demarcation and consider anyone on THAT side great and anyone on THIS side not.

Anyways, read Doyel’s column. It’s thoughtful stuff.