Kentucky lost again Saturday but John Calipari still says he has a "good team." (Vicky Graff Photo)
Give John Calipari credit for not letting losses change his message.
“We got a good team. Now we’re gonna have to pull it together and my job is to keep letting them (UK players) know I believe in them, but they’re going to have to do some things here now,” Calipari said after Kentucky’s loss at Georgia Saturday.
That came after UK was dominated by Arkansas in the second half of Tuesday’s loss at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky now has a Quad 4 loss to South Carolina and a Quad 2 loss to Georgia. It is only 1-7 against Quad 1 teams.
How bad is Georgia? Even after it came out that UK guards Sahvir Wheeler (ankle) and CJ Fredrick (ribs) would not play because of injury, Kentucky was still a 7-point favorite against Georgia, a team that had lost six of its previous seven games.
Kentucky has gone from a NCAA Tournament bubble team to a team not in the 68-team field after Saturday’s loss. Kentucky has six more games to build its NCAA resume and improve its 16-9 mark and Calipari was remarkably optimistic that would work out fine even with road games at Florida, Arkansas and Mississippi along with home games against Auburn, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
“Here’s what’s great: We’ve got the kind of schedule that, let’s go win games, and we’ll be fine. Just you’re gonna have to win games. They’re games, that we’re playing against teams, that you beat those teams, you’re fine,” Calipari said.
True. But what makes him think they will win those games? Kentucky lost to South Carolina at home. It lost at Georgia and was down 11 points at home against Georgia before rallying to win. Those are two of the worst teams in the SEC.
Kentucky is only 7-5 in league play and is being outscored 71 to 70.8 in league play and has allowed opponents to shoot 45.9 percent while making 43.9 percent of its shots in league play. Kentucky has given up 79 3-pointers in 12 SEC games and made 71. Opponents have shot 12 more free throws in league play and have nine fewer turnovers than UK. That’s a resume for a .500 type of team.
“Whether we’re healthy or not, we’re going to have to go at those teams (left on the schedule),” Calipari said.
“And those are going to be important games for us. But we have them, it’s not like we don’t have any other chances to go get this right, and we do.
“So, I’m fine. I’m not happy we lost. Not happy when you’re up four (and) we do the stuff we do. Not happy for some breakdowns, but we’re gonna learn and get better. And then we got games (that) we gotta get.
“This one coming up Wednesday, is it Mississippi State? Hard game, down there. Come on, and they’re gonna smell blood in the water.”
9 Responses
If it was the Mississippi State Vultures, I would be even more worried because rather than the smell of blood in the water, I think the smell of rotting dead flesh may be more accurate.
And yes, Calipari is good with where things are because for him it has never been about winning for this program, it has always been an appearance in the NBA green room on draft night, and I am absolutely sure he will be there again this year for the biggest day on the annual calendar.
Do we expect him to stop fighting? Just throw in the towel?
I expect him to do what Roy Williams did at North Carolina 2 years ago. Admit that he is no longer the man to coach Kentucky basketball.
It looks like some players have.
Eactly
I expect him to treat this program as the gold standard that it always has been rather than being fine with the decline that has been occurring for the last several years on his watch.
He is OK with that decline because the health of the program has never been his measuring stick. He is only concerned with his list of NBA millionaires he had the good fortune to touch (not play) on their way from high school to the NBA.
As a coach, as the CEO of the UK basketball program, he is a complete and utter fraudd
Of course Cal is fine with it.
He can spend more time eating donuts and petting his dogs.
Why do Democrats demand an end to meritocracy in education and employment, forcing "affirmative action" quotas yet applaud meritocracy in professional sports where black players are far over-represented? You never hear them call for "affirmative action" for more white players.
He is fine, just cashed his big check the night before. Georgia is a tough game now. Hell, Eastern Ky is a tough game.