Vicky Graff Photo
Point guard Sahvir Wheeler drove inside, scored, got fouled and hit the free throw for a 61-60 lead. Next trip he got fouled again and hit one free throw to make it 62-60 UK with 5:56 left. The Peacocks helped by making two straight turnovers and Keion Brooks added two more free throws for a 64-60 lead with 5:22 left.
Two Oscar Tshiebwe free throws made it 66-62 and then Wheeler drove and scored for a 68-62 lead — and 10-2 UK run — with 4:06 left. However, Kentucky made two turnovers and missed a shot as underdog Saint Peter’s rallied to tie the game 71-71 and then won 85-79 in overtime when UK missed five of six free throws.
So what happened? Why couldn’t UK secure the win?
Rather than speculate, here is the complete answer that Kentucky coach John Calipari gave after the game.
“I think, again, my whole thing coming in, because I knew they had never played in this stuff, was to get them free and loose, and we never got to that. Never,” Calipari said.
“And you know, even in timeouts, I was trying to do that, and — but we made, up eight, we just didn’t do the things we normally have done. But I come back to, when you’re up eight with three minutes to go, you figure out how to win the game. That’s your job as a coach.
“We had some guys that had not played the way they had been playing, and you know, you look back and say, could we have put Bryce (Hopkins) in, could we have put Daimion (Collins) in, just try something. But the game, it was a touch-and-go game, and then it’s not fair for those kids to be put in that position and do something that hurts our season.
“But hindsight when you are coaching, could have done this, could have done that; at the end of the day, I’ve been in these situations, and the hard thing is because we — the thing I talked about, we got injured and we never kind of went back. So I may have been trying to coach a team that I coached a month ago. And we had some guys that weren’t playing like they were a month ago.
“But I come back to, this was an unbelievable group. Just picked a bad day to not make a shot, and you know, we are trying to throw it to Oscar (Tshiebwe) every time. That’s how we played. I mean, he’s — you know, just, okay, come down and throw it to Oscar.
“I feel bad for the guys because I mean, they are taking it hard. They know, you guys ask Kellan (Grady) a question that’s tough for these kids. They know what they did and how they did it, but I also say, I’m going to say this again, an eight-point lead with three minutes to go, let’s go. Let’s win this thing.
“A couple errors to make the game close. They went zone. Couldn’t get them to throw the ball to the middle. I mean, we had not had that issue against any zone we played. But we did today.
So give Saint Peter’s credit.”
Buying that? Confused?
First, UK didn’t have an eight-point lead. It was six points.
Second, can’t play Hopkins or Collins because it might hurt the season. Come on. Saint Peter’s played 10 players. The Cats needed a spark. Not sure those two could have hurt and who knows, maybe they could have helped.
Third, injuries happen. Teams have to adjust. If Calipari believes players were not the same as before they got hurt but kept coaching the same way, that’s on him, not the players.
Couldn’t throw the ball to the middle of the zone? Why not call a timeout to correct that? And just think if a zone stopped UK’s flow maybe the Cats could have done the same to Saint Peter’s by maybe using a zone defense, a no-no in the Calipari coaching manual.
The questions just go on and on.
But numbers don’t lie.
In Calipari’s first five NCAA Tournaments at UK, the Cats were 22-4, won a national title and made the Final Four in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015. In the last five NCAA tournaments, UK is 9-5 with no Final Four trips and just lost to a No. 15 seed.
Again, more questions about what has happened that Calipari seems to have no answers for either.
23 Responses
When he talks I hear things like, “blah, blah, blah ,blah, could have, blah, blah, blah, maybe, blah, blah, blah, blah, we gotta, blah, blah, blah, blah, I don’t know.”
It’s time for Calipari to move in to his next career. Whatever that may be. Unfortunately the sun has set on this one.
He’s not going anywhere, 44 million dollar buyout. I haven’t watched a game since the kneeling incident and won’t as long as he is the "coach"( I for one think the coach left with Kenny Payne). Unfortunately, who would want him-I hope some pro team offers and he goes, those guys don’t get coached anyway and he would be perfect.
The game has changed and Cal has been too stubborn to change with it.
He hasn’t figured out that 3’s count more than 2’s. He runs nothing to get shooters open and threatens to yank them if they don’t shoot so it leads to bad shots. He managed to finally beat Grady down like he did Allen.
Outside of Duke no one gets the top recruits anymore. Cal will never have a superstar team again. You have to be able to coach X’s and O’s now and he’s terrible at it. We were the most talented team on the court last night and still lost due to poor coaching.
The Sharpe situation was a distraction and it’s 100% Cal’s fault. I guess Cal can be in the green room smiling in June and laying claim to another UK player getting a contract in the league.
I’ve tried telling people on here and other sites this team wouldn’t make the Final Four. And it’s not because the players. It’s 100% Cal. We had a good group, we just needed a coach.
Cal still gets top recruiting classes. That’s what’s so frustrating
The title of this article tells the tale. Calipari has never had answers.
Just a bunch of unmitigated BS
A Tweak tweak here, a tweak tweak there. That’s the way we do it in the fairytale land of UK Basketball for the last 12 years.
A lifetime contract? OMG who made that decision? He must go first and then fumigate the place.
Larry, chief, 96 champs, and prof agree wholeheartedly with your comments.
“Had never played in this stuff “. – assume Cal means the tournament against an inferior opponent who has never been in the tournament
“Get them free and loose”. – Cal’s method intrigues me, you make this happen by screaming at the top of your lungs while jumping up and down vigorously. Also yell GOOO and RUN every time we get a defensive rebound!
He always uses the excuse of maybe I should have done this or this after every loss. Apparently he is a slow learner even though, by his own admission, he has been doing this for a long time
Truth is, UK is fortunate that he only makes $9mil for coaching. If he was paid by every non-sensical word spewing from his mouth we would be on the hook for a lot more! Fan for over 50 years, no UK Coach has done less with more. A change is needed immediately and I want a coach who wants to assemble a team that plays for the name on the front of the jersey and not their NBA draft position.
They should build a statue of Oscar and put it in front of Rupp Arena. He did everything humanly possible and got no support from his teammates. When your point guard misses two free throws in the clutch you’re not gonna win. When your designated shooter goes 1-9 you’re not gonna win. When you can’t defend the three in the clutch you’re not gonna win. Down the road I won’t remember anyone on this team except Oscar. Other than Wheeler none of the rest of them lived up to expectations. You can blame Cal all you want but he wasn’t taking the shots. Will be glad when this tournament is over and we can move on.
Agree with your Oscar comment. One of my favorites of all time going back 50 years.
Wheeler made mistakes but we were not the same team without him on the floor.
Brooks 20 points one game 4 the next. Never know which one will show up.
Jacob somewhat inconsistent, but his rebounds and defense always there. Should have played many more minutes
Grady and Mintz much like Brooks. Which one is going to show up. Grady stands around too much, Cal’s fault not his. Mintz a hustler but terribly inconsistent. As Cal said blame him and not the players. Well for me and probably 95% of the fanbase, that is certainly no problem Coach. He does not know how to assemble a roster. It is either mostly one and done or this years team that had many veteran players but the majority were had only 1 year of eligibility. Truth is, His number one goal is getting players to the NBA. No Coach, your #1 job is to put together the best UK team year after year. Done with his holier than thou attitude toward the program and it’s fans. He is not the scum of the earth as he does many charitable works for individuals and the community. I just think his time has come. Thank him for the job he has done and move on, Mitch, if that is financially possible
We got a Hall of Fame coach, National Player of the Year, playing a 15 seed, but all 4 guards are nervous and can’t shoot? I think Cal needs a sabbatical. He and his staff can’t be THAT bad, can they?
With you Rick. Scenario about four guards being too nervous doesn’t seem logicial to me
Defense. Defense. Defense. Cats didn’t play it.
Enough is enough. Calipari is no longer a fit here at Kentucky. He needs to move on to whatever is next for him and we focus on getting a real coach. Forget the one and done guys. Go out and find kinds with solid fundamentals, but most importantly, want to play for Kentucky. The Peacocks played as a team. We looked like we didn’t want to be on the floor with each other. Unfortunately, Barnhart is a Calipari lover, so he must go first, then the flim flam man.
Barnhart is a “Calipari lover”? Are we talking about the same two people? Anyone close to the program would tell you that they hardly speak. I would say they “tolerate” each other more than “love” each other.
Also, why would anyone in the country not recruit one and dones if they had a shot at getting them?
Oh yeah, who was the person who gave Calipari the lifetime contract? Where has recruiting one and dones got us? If Barnhart isn’t a Calipari lover, then now is his time to prove it.
My sentiments exactly.
Even though we had more veteran layers this year, many were playing together for the first time. Only Jacob, Dontaie, Keion, and Davion have been at UK 2 or more years. I cannot remember our last 4-year player.
After last night , I myself think it’s time for a change and Champ 1996 your right the game has caught up with Cal. I always thought if you got the length play zone defense and Cal refuse to use it. Stubborn is his nickname.
never using a a zone or calling late-game timeouts — things he has not changed since he got here in 2009
Plain and simple, it never should have come down to winning late!!!
We had a lot of good players, but only 1 that was consistent and played his heart out every game.
Not a winning combination.
Kamala Calipari. — both talk a lot but never answer the question asked nor make any sense when they speak off the cuff!
Maybe they are the same person!!
Want to beat KY? "Push the guards out a few steps which makes the pass to the interior a little longer which allows weak side defender time to get into the lane for defense against the KY post guy and grab a rebound." – Charles Barkley This is exactly what happened. It’s the weakness of the dribble drive concept. The dribble drive must have superior guard play to be successful. When you don’t have superior point guard performance; You lose. If you go back and evaluate KY’s losses, this a common theme.
Larry, you are absolutely right. Calipari doesn’t have any answers as to the demise of KY basketball, but worse yet, feels that he doesn’t need to have any answers. Just pay him his 9 million dollars and shut up. Even if Calipari wanted to change…he doesn’t know how to do that. Roy Williams was man enough to admit that he was no longer the right man to coach North Carolina. It’s time for John Calipari to do the same here at Kentucky.
No defense. When you play a switching man to man with no accountability this is what you get. Remember 2015? Wisconsin’s big kid had Booker down low 3 times in a row to start the second half because of that switching defense.
Whenever the Cats guards are guarded tight , we crumble . Anytime They play slow down , they lose due to the fact that has previously been mentioned, Cal can’t do X&O’s .