Cason Wallace drew a crowd of defenders in Wednesday's win over Florida A&M. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Many Kentucky fans are disappointed with the way this year’s team has played and are even more frustrated with coach John Calipari for his inability to figure out how to get this team on a roll like many thought it would.
Remember last year’s team that lost to St. Peter’s in the first round of the NCAA Tournament beat both national champion Kansas and national runner-up North Carolina both by big margins during the season.
This season UK has lost to Michigan State, Gonzaga and UCLA in its three biggest games.
The Cats beat Florida A&M 88-68 Wednesday but were only ahead by seven points over a 37 1/2 point underdog with five minutes to play. That’s the same Florida A&M that scored only 58 points against Edward Waters — a Division II school — a week ago.
On his postgame radio show Wednesday night, Calipari pleaded with fans for patience, a clear sign he’s aware of the unhappiness in Big Blue Nation.
“They’re trying,” Calipari said. “It is hard to play here now and it’s become harder to play here. You don’t want it to be so hard that they don’t want to come here.”
He’s right but you can’t talk about Kentucky being the “gold standard” and claim UK is the best job in college basketball and then not expect to be second guessed or have players criticized. Calipari gets paid a lot to take criticism and normally tells fans to blame him, not players.
But Kentucky has not been to a Final Four since 2015 and not won a national title since 2012. It missed the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and then lost in the first round last year.
Maybe that’s why Calipari was trying so hard after Wednesday’s win to stay positive.
“We had to play to win the game at the end,” he said. “We ran clock, ran clock, ran clock, posted the ball, foul, two-point, they don’t have enough time now to catch up.”
Kentucky did but only because it gave up an 11-0 run to the Rattlers to put the game in doubt with five minutes to play.
“We’re still a work in progress, and I would tell everybody, just be patient,” Calipari said.
Good advice, especially at holiday time, but then Calipari made it clear he’s running out of patience with this team.
“We didn’t defend today like we’ve been defending. It’s crazy,” Calipari said after Wednesday’s game. “I mean, the one thing that we could rely on is that we would really, really guard. Well, they beat us on the bounce, they beat us shooting 3’s, they beat us offensive rebounding. We just had a little bit more than them.”
But just having a “little bit more” than a 2-8 team that was a 37 1/2-point underdog is not what any UK fan expected to be happening in late December.
8 Responses
I am not aware of any big blue fan who is impatient with these players or any prior players who play. There have been a few so-called players who matriculated through this program under Calipari’s watch who really were only here to satisfy the NBA 1 year requirement, and either DID NOT PLAY A SINGLE SECOND or DISAPPEARED FROM ACTION DURING THE SEASON but were always ready to go when NBA talk commenced.
My issue is with Calipari, and he can try as he does to shift that focus to his real players all he wants.
Cal is whining because he knows many fans are unhappy with him. I don’t blame any player. I blame Cal because he is destroying KY basketball and getting paid handsomely for doing it.
I don’t feel sorry for whiny Cal and he needs to go.
Cow states that UK is a “players first” program then whines when he sees players trying to impress the NBA scouts and not play as a team.
I want players that play for the name on the front of the jersey and not the back!
Calipari is not going to walk away from a $10 million a year gig plus endorsements. He will never own his shortcomings as a coach either. He will always point the finger at his players and at BBN for having unreasonable expectations. The rest of the basketball world is raving about the demise of our proud basketball heritage. They love the fact that Calipari is dismantling it one game at a time. They will be the first to scream about how unfair BBN is in calling for his dismissal. They want Calipari to be here for another 10 years to totally destroy the House that Rupp built. Sadly, UK administration seems to be more concerned in what the KY haters think than about how BBN feels.
Cat fans, don’t forget that the 1998 National Champions lost four games against lesser opponents than the teams who beat this year’s squad so far. Cal is right. Give them time to get it together. This is not March!
Come March, we may not have enough wins to get in the NCAATournament.
The 1998 team had a coach!
Cal looks tired and old just like his offense. Ky is not for everyone and he loved saying that over and over In years past. He’s now blaming fans because of the pressure he once loved. Winning takes care of all the problems not losing and excuses. Pack up and leave.
Fair point Crab about Cal saying UK is not for everyone.