LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Has John Calipari lost his mojo at Kentucky?
This isn’t a cop-out, but I don’t know. What I do know is it’s not a great year to be a Hall of Famer.
Has Mike Krzyzewski lost his mojo at Duke? What about Roy Williams at North Carolina? Don’t forget Tom Izzo at Michigan State.
As long as I’m limiting the discussion to college coaches who are Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers, let’s look at the entire puzzling 2021 scoreboard.
There are seven active guys who have already been enshrined in Springfield, Massachusetts. How many are locks to bring their teams to Indianapolis to play in the NCAA Tournament in March?
One.
Bill Self of Kansas.
His team (10-4) projects as a No. 3 seed in the latest NCAA Tournament bracket by Joe Lunardi at ESPN.com.
Everybody else?
Extra-strength antacids, please. Nick Saban never has a year like some of these guys are having.
"Some of it is luck and some of it is timing," ESPN basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla said.
"It’s usually a cycle for all coaches to have a down year. Some of these guys rarely have. This year the teams that are older have been stronger."
"Strange times," one college coach said in a text message.
"It has more to do with age of teams and lack of practice. I don’t know if it’s that any of (the coaches) have 'lost their touch.'"
You know the Kentucky Story. Even if the Wildcats had not bungled the final two minutes and spit out a six-point lead at Georgia Wednesday, the Wildcats (4-9) were tracking to need four wins in the Southeastern Conference Tournament to extend their season.
But look at what Lunardi’s latest bracket forecasts for five other active Hall of Fame coaches:
*Louisville can knock Mike Krzyzewski and Duke from a No. 11 seed into the Last Four In line (or worse) by defeating the Blue Devils Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center. Duke is 5-4.
The Blue Devils’ best win was against Notre Dame, No. 85 in Ken Pomeroy’s power formula. Zion Williamson is not walking through that door. Heck, Mason Plumlee is not walking through that door.
*North Carolina has better wins than Duke, but the Tar Heels also have five defeats. Lunardi made coach Roy Williams' team an 11-seed and one of the last four squads in the tournament.
*There is another 11-seed led by a Hall of Fame coach. That is Tom Izzo at Michigan State. The Spartans are 8-4 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten. Pomeroy’s final projection for Izzo’s team is 13-10 and 7-10. Ugh.
*There’s grumbling at Syracuse, too. The Orange do not have any Top 75 wins. They were swept by Pittsburgh. Jim Boeheim’s team is seven spots on the wrong side of Lunardi’s bubble.
*The final Hall of Famer likely to be on the outside of the NCAA Tournament is a familiar face — Rick Pitino of Iona.
It’s a tougher comparison because Pitino competes in a one-bid league. It won’t matter how many regular-season or conference games Iona wins. All that matters will be how the Gaels perform in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.
Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams and Rick Pitino
For the record, Iona has not played since Dec. 23. The Gaels are not scheduled to play again until Jan 30 because of issues created by the novel coronavirus. Iona is 5-3 overall and 3-1 in its league, second to unbeaten Siena.
Times are tough for the Hall of Famers. Coach K's problems are on defense. The Blue Devils rank last in the Atlantic Coast Conference in sending opponents to the foul line and next to last in defending the three.
North Carolina ranks last in the ACC in effective field goal percentage. Syracuse gives up more offensive rebounds than anybody. Michigan State is next-to-last in the Big Ten in offensive efficiency.
Kentucky?
There’s no John Wall/Devin Booker/Jamal Murray/Shai Gilgeous-Alexander/Immanuel Quickley in the backcourt.
The Wildcats lack that one guy who can simply go get a basket — or make a stop.
The three-point shooting?
During its current three-game losing streak, Kentucky has made 18.8 percent of its three-point attempts. The Wildcats have been outscored by 42 points from the three-point line. Never been a winning formula.
"Some of these guys don’t have the plethora of NBA talent they’ve had in the past," Fraschilla said. "Not all one-and-dones are created equally.
"They’ve been left with young guys (who aren’t NBA caliber talent yet) like every other coach in the country."
And, now as many as six Hall of Fame coaches could be left on the outside of the NCAA Tournament, too.
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