Quote Originally Posted by Raytoraid83 View Post
HAHHAHAAHAH Calipari is the only coach in the country to have a number 1 and 2 pick in the same draft. Gonna have to use a different argument than that.
Obviously, but the question is how much is Calipari developing them, and it's not an easy question to answer. Davis was the #1 pick from the day he set foot at Kentucky...he didn't need any development for that. Same with MKG. That was an incredibly special class. They were generally considered to be the top 2 players in the country coming out.

His more recent history isn't quite as positive. He took the #1 player in the country last year and turned him into the #6 pick (granted, he was injured, but the NBA also drafts mostly on potential and I'm not sure he would have been #1 healthy). He also took the #14 player last year and turned him into the #29 pick, and he's so ready for the NBA that he is being bumped down to the D-League.

The other 2 players from that class didn't leave early (Cauley wasn't really thought of as a one-and-done necessarily, but Poythress certainly was). Poythress was the #7 player in the country and is now averaging less than 7 ppg in his 2nd year in college and is clearly being passed over by newer guys on that team. Cauley is averaging a little under 8/7 per game. A pretty good college player who plays good defense, seemingly nothing more.

He has taken the #2 player in the country from this year's class, and while Randle has been very good, his draft stock has still slid, and he's now looking at probably being taken outside the top 5 as others have improved more than he has.

James Young has been good, though inconsistent. And the draft stock of the Harrison twins has gone in the crapper.

All I'm saying is that I like the improvement I've seen from the guys under Ray. Calipari usually doesn't have guys stick around for an extra year for us to see as much in terms of the growth he can achieve in someone's game, but using the argument that he's had top draft picks is not really a good argument.

If you're someone who doesn't want to think about things and just says, 'Coach X has had players drafted, so clearly he can develop me more,' then fine. But I get the feeling Horatio Webster isn't that naive.