John Calipari tells fans to be mad at him but stick with the players

John Calipari encouraged fans to be mad at him, not players, after the loss and obviously one fan at Rupp Arena Tuesday agreed with him even before the loss. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Kentucky has now played two straight Southeastern Conference games and never had a lead in either game.

I feel pretty confident that has  not happened since John Calipari came to Kentucky but then again a lot of things are happening this year that have not happened. Kentucky had not lost a SEC home game to a team with a losing record going into the game since coach Billy Gillispie’s final season in 2009 but did just that Tuesday by losing 71-68 to South Carolina.

The loss snapped Kentucky’s 28-game home winning streak — the longest running streak in the SEC — and dropped UK to 1-3 in conference play for the first time since the 1986-87 season.

Kentucky fans are frustrated, upset, disappointed, angry and desponded. Some are just apathetic and giving up on the season.

What message would coach John Calipari have for fans criticizing him and players after a sixth loss for a team many thought was good enough to make the Final Four this season?

Calipari was asked that question after the game and gave a lengthy answer:

“Stick with these kids. If you want to get on me, that’s fine. I’m the coach. If we weren’t ready to play, then I’ve got to look at me and say, well, what, why, where were we mentally,” Calipari said.

“And I was trying things today to get them in a positive mindset. Because it’s hard. It’s hard here. I mean, I always say, this isn’t for everybody. Including coaches. It’s not for everybody. When things go bad like this, there’s, you know. So, if you want to be mad, be mad at me. These kids, they’re trying. We’re still not quite in sync.

“Again, talking about 3, I thought we passed up some, but we’re not in a pick and roll with a point guard that’s going to launch 3’s like some of the teams we’re playing. That’s not who we are.

“But we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better than this. And that’s on me. Got to be better. I’m on a mission. I was into the game today. I was being as enthusiastic as I could be watching some of the stuff. Because, you know, just like you’re going to get mad, I get mad. These kids need me to keep teaching and keep working with them and keep believing in them. That’s what they need from me.

“I don’t listen to any of the clutter. None of it has any effect on me coaching these players. And are fans mad? They should be. We lost at home. We don’t lose at home. We lost at home. And we were down 10 at half. I expect fans to be mad.

“And we have the best fans. And I love our fans. I know they may be mad at me right now, but I’ve been here a long time teaching and working and having our fans be a big part of this. And all I’m saying is, just be with these kids. They need you now more than they need you when they’re 4-0. They need you.

“And like I said, I’m going to keep working, keep fighting. The kids are going to keep fighting. Are we all disappointed? Yeah, you should be in there. We’re all disappointed. But this happened in the first half.

“And really when we got it close and some things happened in the second half that it went back to, like, what in the world? Miss this, miss — I mean, there were things that like you want to shake your head. But listen, I’m coaching a team. I just had to keep being positive. We can do this. Let’s go.

“And we had our chances. It would have been — I would have liked to have won the game, but we didn’t deserve to win it, but let’s try to steal one anyway. That’s what that would have been.”