John Calipari celebrates with UK president Dr. Eli Capilouto after Kentucky's win at Tennessee. (UK Athletics Photo)
The days following Kentucky’s home loss to South Carolina had to be gut-wrenching for Kentucky coach John Calipari.
His team was not in the national rankings. His team was 1-3 in Southeastern Conference play. His team had players injured. His team had fallen out of favor with many Kentucky fans.
So how did Calipari approach the past few days going into Saturday’s game at No. 5 Tennessee where UK pulled a monumental 63-56 upset?
“(University of Kentucky president) Dr. (Eli) Capilouto was with us. He was in the shoot-around with us. He was in the meals with us. And I was so happy he wanted to come and I wanted him absolutely immersed so he can see what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it,” Calipari said after the win in Knoxville.
“You know, these players did that for themselves and the fans that have stood by them. They just did it for them. I’m saying I’m happy for Dr. Capilouto, Mitch (Barnhart) , Dr. (Lee) Todd, the guys who brought me here. I’m happy for them.”
That just got Calipari rolling as for the first time this season, he really had reasons to feel good about his team.
“Look, I told you I haven’t lost any faith in these guys, I’ve done this a long time. All you that are shooting arrows and bullets, I’ve got bazooka holes in my body. They go right through. So it is what it is.
“You could be mad, happy, sad. I’ve got a good team. I’m not making excuses.”
He noted that Oscar Tshiebwe, Jacob Toppin, Lance Ware Sahvir Wheeler, Cason Wallace and Daimion Collins had all missed games with injuries. Wheeler and Collins did not play Saturday.
“But here’s what happened today. We defended and fought like my teams normally do. We hadn’t been that to this point. They made a commitment to each other that they would fight this game and it was between them. I wasn’t in a couple of the meetings they had,” Calipari said.
“So happy for Jacob, did some good stuff, missed some plays down the stretch, a free throw and all that and I said ‘Are you okay?’ Because what’s happened to this team is guys are so engaged in their game, if they’re not playing well, they can’t play for us. Because they’re not thinking about us. Today, every guy was locked in and focused on us.”
2 Responses
Obviously, Dr. Calipouto’s presence not only at the game, but also at a recent practice and shoot around indicates that he wanted to see firsthand what was going on with this team. Apparently, Calipari and the rest of the team took notice of this and changed the way that they play as well as the way he coaches. It never should have come down to this, but if this is what it took to get this team focused, then kudos to Dr. Calipouto. Moving forward, will Calipari limit his pet’s (Wheeler) PT and give it to Frederick, Reeves, and Theiro? We can’t beat the better teams with Wheeler playing double digit minutes…he is too short, too soft, and too determined to play his way into the NBA regardless of how that affects the team. We can’t count on the refs giving us an edge on the foul line or the other team missing multiple layups. We need to play faster and look to get 65 to 70 shots per game…30 of those shots need to be 3’s. Everyone needs to rebound instead of leaving it all to Oscar. I have no idea of what produced the excellent free throw shooting yesterday, but keep on doing it. Coach, you are on Dr. Calipouto’s radar. You got a stay of execution yesterday not a pardon. You need to at least win the SEC tourney and get to the Final 4…nothing short of this will calm the uproar in BBN. For the Calipari lovers who are crowing…we told you so, better not crow too loud or too soon. For the Calipari haters like me, Coach did what he had to do yesterday to keep on coaching this season. I will support him until he shows a return to his cuteness and players first philosophy. I bleed blue…always have and always will, but that doesn’t mean I will sit back and watch our program be dismantled by misguided aspirations from either our coach or players and not speak out. This team has its work cut out for them. They can only afford two more losses for the season and need to win the SEC tourney to show that Kentucky is back. A trip to the Final 4 would give Calipari a get out of jail free card to allow him to coach our team next year. No more "pets", no more "players first" nonsense. We play as a team win or lose, but this team has already lost enough…it’s winning time now.
Couldn’t agree more with what you’ve said. I love UK and always will but, losing is one thing, not trying is another. I’m super glad we be UT. But, I don’t understand why they acted lol they won the natty. Just saying