John Calipari said his players better not think the game against Louisville is going to be easy. (Vicky Graff Photo)
John Calipari isn’t shying away from the criticism going into Kentucky’s showdown against rival Louisville set for noon Saturday at Rupp Arena.
“All of this stuff outside the program that goes on here, what’s said and all that stuff, that’s a tax that you pay to be here,” he said Friday. “You want to be at Kentucky? Here’s the tax. When it doesn’t go right, here’s what you deal with. And that includes me. I’ve been paying taxes for a long time.”
The Wildcats (8-4, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) are coming off a disappointing 89-75 loss to Missouri in the Southeastern Conference opener Wednesday night in a performance that rattled Big Blue Nation. Despite the struggles, especially against Power 5 conference teams, Calipari remains confident Kentucky can turn the proverbial corner starting with the Cardinals.
“I’ve got great kids (and) I love coaching these guys,” Calipari said. “We just need them to be mentally more sturdy so when things don’t go right, they’re mentally sturdy. So, what do you do? You talk about it. You tell them, here’s your response to stuff. You do stuff in practice and you call it out.”
Calipari hopes the Wildcats can answer the bell soon and and get back on the right track.
“I don’t know when it’s going to kick in, I hope it’s soon,” he said. “I can’t tell you.”
Louisville struggled to losses in its first nine games under first-year coach and former Kentucky assistant coach Kenny Payne. Louisville hasn’t played since dropping a 76-64 loss to North Carolina State on Dec. 22 and has split its last four games.
“They’re coming in with the mentality that they’re going to win the game,” Calipari said. “It’s going to be a war. Don’t think it’s going to be anything easy.”
Payne has been on both sides of the rivalry as a player and a coach and isn’t shying away from the importance of the instate showdown and added he’s not “sugar coating” the yearly battle against the Wildcats.
“This is a rivalry and it means a lot to a lot of people,” Payne said. “It means a lot to me. It means a lot to (Calipari), it means a lot to the Kentucky fans, it means a lot to the Louisville fans, it means something to the universities, it means something to the state.
“It’s not just go dribble and shoot a basketball and whatever happens, happens. That’s not what this is. That may be somewhere else, but it’s not in the state of Kentucky. That’s why.”
* * *
Gametracker: Louisville at Kentucky, noon, Saturday. TV/Radio: CBS, UK Radio Network.
One Response
What hubris. He is a $10 million per year tax on the Big Blue Nation. The Big Blue Nation has every right to demand excellence from its coach, and to demand that the coach place the program first. Not players, not the NBA, not anything first ahead of the success of the program.
We all have been paying his tax for too many years.
Comments are closed.