Kentucky has had other games with same issues that led to NCAA tourney exit

screenshot-879

Vicky Graff Photo

Before he tried to explain what went wrong with his team, Kentucky coach John Calipari credited Kansas State for what it did to beat UK 75-69 Sunday in the NCAA Tournament.

“They played really rough. They played active with their hands, especially in the first half. And they made basketball plays at the end that we did not make. So give them credit,” Calipari said after the loss in Greensboro.

Then he admitted the mistakes that hurt Kentucky in 11 previous losses did again along with the inability to make big plays at the biggest time.

“This is what happened in certain games. You turn around, and you are, like, guys, you can’t — you don’t have to make them all. You just can’t miss them all,” he said.

He was referring to UK’s 4-for-20 shooting from 3-point range that included a 1-for-10 mark by Antonio Reeves, the team’s best shooter who did not make a shot until the final seconds.

“We’ve had games like that. You just hope in the NCAA Tournament you can go on a run. And I thought after the first game (against Providence) where we fought, and we didn’t shoot it great, but I thought that was a good sign,” Calipari said.

“Talking to friends of mine, they were like, You are due for a big shooting night. You guys are due. I was trying to, as these two (Chris Livingston and Cason Wallace) know, trying to build up Antonio for two days: You’re going to have a great game. You’re going to shoot it.

“Then throughout the game we just kept telling him what? Keep shooting. Shoot it. Just wasn’t that day for him, and it wasn’t his fault. We had other guys not make any shots either.”

Reeves had been a huge reason for UK’s late-season resurgence that got the Cats into the NCAA Tournament. But when he and Jacob Toppin went a combined 2-for-22 from the field, UK’s chances of winning went away despite 25 points and 18 rebounds from Oscar Tshiebwe, 21 points and nine rebounds from Wallace, and 11 points and seven rebounds from Livingston.

“That happens in this sport, but, yes, those — again, you outrebound them (44-25), you have five turns in the second half. These two play the way they do. Oscar plays the way he does,” Calipari said.

“You needed one more guy to play and go get baskets and play with that swagger that you have to play with in this tournament.”

Kentucky didn’t have that, though, and that’s why this disappointing UK season is over.

13 Responses

  1. I am just relieved that it is over. It has been limited minutes of joy against long stretches of anxiety the entire season. I do not blame the kids in any way. They are not the ones that chose who is sitting on the bench! Why should a school like Ky have half the bench unable to complete on an SEC level? These kids were exhausted from having to play nearly 40 minutes a game and that is all on Cal! Sahvir should have had a good backup point guard so that Cason could play in his natural position and CJ should not have had to play with broken ribs! I pray that Oscar may come back to us for one more year because he has been our biggest joy but I will completely understand if he has to move on to follow his dreams! He has already given us so much – we have no right to ask for more! Hope to find you and the family well. Goodbye from Nashville..GO CATS!!!

    1. Why should a school like Ky have half the bench unable to complete on an SEC level?

      Bingo!!!!! Too many kids on this team that simply aren’t good enough. There’s 5 that can’t “throw it in the ocean,” then 5 more that are so wildly inconsistent. Some days they can shoot half way decent then there are other days they can’t shoot it at all either.

  2. First, Calipari has had shooters, but they have been stripped of their confidence and relegated to a seat at the far end of the bench. Some of the shooters have seen the writing on the wall and moved on to other venues to pursue their dreams because they realized they did not fit Calipari’s preferences (ie they were not going to be lottery draft picks in June, so there would be no Green Room opportunities by playing them).

    This team has been a second round loser since late November when it established its identity. It is now proven to be a second round loser by the results on the court. The Standards for this program have been redefined, and we saw evidence of that redefinition throughout this season with all the hand wringing about whether UK would get in the tournament, and once that question was answered, the hand wringing stopped with a huge collective sigh of relief. Now the standard is getting in, and a successful trip is now defined by a first round win.

    This is the UK basketball equivalent of the dumbing down of America.

    Those that are content with this new standard can have it, but if that new standard is what the BBN wants, then I am probably done with UK basketball.

    This is a football state afterall, as we all have learned since Mark Stoops has arrived.

  3. Calipari as coach is just not working for anyone. It is time for him to move on or retire and let Kentucky move on. Nothing lasts forever and the Calipari magic at Kentucky is gone. If he has any love for our program, he should show it the same way Roy Williams showed his love for North Carolina and admit that he is no longer the man for this job.

  4. There is not a consistently decent shooter on this team. Why does Cal get so many players that are supposed Elite Talent, and then have so much trouble producing for him???? Even when PJ Washington came back, his father said it was because he did not get to show what he could really do in his first year. Why???
    There is not a player that can take his man off the dribble with any consistency. And why would you tell a player that is 0 for 10 to keep shooting 3’s. Reeves is the best at taking his man to the basket so why not have him start doing that after a couple of misses???? Take some easy shots to see the ball go through and then start moving out.
    We are seeing that Cal is not much better of a coach than most others unless he has players who are NBA ready when they come in.
    Cal is winning 60% of his games since signing the Lifetime Contract. Not acceptable!!!!

  5. Cal’s final 4 teams had generationally talent. Size, muscle shooting and dazzling speed. I could have rolled the ball out there for them. Just some of the little things bother me – not being able to defend an inbounds play and conversely not having any effective inbound play.
    Other teams seem to have that 6’9” or 6’10” 3 point shooter – oh forgot our 6’11” kid just won the NBA 3 Point contest – wasn’t allowed to shoot it at UK !!??
    Could go on but don’t want my heart to jump out of rhythm.
    If that HS scoring wizard goes to say UT and his jersey ends up being retired next to another Kentuckian I’d puke. Oh well , he has a lifetime contract so we better wish him the best and support him and the school – not really any other option.

  6. To bad Cal is not a senior! His time has passed and it’s time to go, him and Mitch! I lived and died over UK basketball, not anymore I’m done, I’m done, I’m done. Year after year all we get is disappointment after disappointment, if Cal cared about UK basketball he’d leave. He cares more about getting players to the pros than he does about UK basketball, a once proud and mighty program is now a has been that nobody fears. The college game has changed and passed Cal by years ago and he for whatever reason can’t see that and adapt and that has led us to a sorry program, even his fellow SEC coaches have said their teams no longer fear UK and the game has passed him by!!!

  7. Please note the 11 turnovers in first half against KS…the majority was because we kept trying to get ball to Oscar and KS was “packing the inside in”..HC instruction was to keep feeding Oscar…a better approach would be try to score from outside and loosen the middle up so Oscar didn’t have to deal with 3 players surrounding him constantly and hacking/holding which were not called by refs…again the definition of insanity was evident with this approach…we kept giving ball back to KS…HC does not understand or listen to anyone during the course of game but himself..his substitution pattern is not good which caused momentum to swing to KS at the end of first half…I read Bryce Hopkins comments regarding his transfer to Providence and how Coach Cooley let’s him play up to talent level as opposed to his previous HC…I’m so glad the season is over…it hasn’t been enjoyable…let’s see what happens next year and will the incoming group live up to the hype.

  8. Cal use to say players can’t hide at Kentucky as you will be exposed. Same thing for coaches. Cal and entire staff gotta go.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

All articles loaded
No more articles to load
Loading...