Vicky Graff Photo
Why didn’t Kentucky foul with a three-point lead in the final seconds against Florida Wednesday night?
Instead, Florida hit a 3-point shot with :04 left in regulation to tie the game and they beat host UK 94-91 in overtime.
Coach John Calipari explained his logic for not fouling to Tom Leach on his postgame radio show but also made it sound like he was second-guessing himself.
“We had them on the ropes. We missed a free throw (with 13 seconds left) and there was a little too much time in my mind to foul,” Calipari said. “We were going to fan out and make them take a tough 2 and not a 3.
“Give Florida credit. I am telling you a decision I had to make but they played. We collapsed and gave up that 3, but he still had to make it and he did. They made some free throws and we didn’t.”
He said it could be “dangerous” to foul, leading by three points against a good rebounding team like Florida. He also understands it is easy to question a decision any coach makes after a game ends and when the decision works it is the one you should have done.
Calipari admitted he almost called timeout after Rob Dillingham hit his first free throw to make it 84-81 but did not want to freeze his own shooter by doing that.
“Those are things that go through your mind,” Calipari said.
Sophomore Ugonna Onyenso had 13 points, 16 rebounds, and eight blocks in 33 minutes. Aaron Bradshaw had two points, no rebounds, and one block in nine minutes. Tre Mitchell had five points on 2-for-10 shooting (0-for-5 from 3), nine rebounds, one block, and one steal in 38 minutes.
“If I could do it over again I would have played Aaron more with Ugo,” Calipari said. “Tre, how well has he played, and how clutch has he been all year? He has been the guy.
“We even got him some 3’s on purpose and he went 0-for-5. That happens. As I look back Aaron should have had 10-12 more minutes. I expected he (Tre) would make a play.”
That’s understandable. Even ESPN analyst Jay Bilas called Mitchell UK’s most “indispensable” player because of what he’s done this season. But he was never in sync offensively in this game.
With freshmen D.J. Wagner and Justin Edwards out with injuries, Calipari had fewer rotation options. Freshman Reed Sheppard played all 45 minutes. Mitchell went 38 minutes, Antonio Reeves 37, and Dillingham 39. Florida had one player go 41 minutes and three others play between 31 and 35 minutes
“At UMass I played four guys for 39 minutes (a game). If you ask the guys they would rather play than not play but playing that kind of game and not subbing is a hard deal,” Calipari said. “But they fought. We won the game and then lost the game.”
27 Responses
Edwards and Wagner would rather NOT play than play. It’s obvious! Ray Charles can see what’s going on now and what has happened in past seasons.
More Calipari lies.
Just curious. When did Wagner and Edwards tell you they would rather NOT play.
Based on the last several seasons I can just tell. Savir Wheeler didn’t tell me he didn’t want to play. But he pouted when he lost his starting job and quit playing and said he had a ankle injury.
In 1998 Jeff Sheppard turned his ankle and it was severely swolen. He came back and played and was MVP of the Final Four.
Shadon Sharpe didn’t have to tell anyone he didn’t want to play. It was obvious.
Terrance Clark and the Vanderbilt guy also "milked" injuries all the way to March and we’re home free to go pro.
It’s just common sense observation. Common sense is in very short supply up here.
I counted 13 cheerleaders last night. We don’t need Wagner and Edwards to be 2 more.
That’s hilarious. Cal goes from just playing his pets to not playing them and now it’s a ploy. Conspiracy theorists are plentiful.
Put the Kool-aid down and open your eyes jimmy.
I’m switching my support and attention to East Kentucky University Mens Basketball. Their players "want" to play. Their team is undefeated in the ASUN conference.
Good call.
John Calipari has become the Donald Trump of college basketball. When the truth doesn’t work…LIE!!!
Or Joe Biden. Do a terrible job and have the media cover his a"’
NBA speak…bites again. Not to mention the SEC. Better hope that’s a truly weak bracket we get put in. Just sayin’. Somebody let me know that this "foul" strategy has been in the game how long? I can hear Dickie V…"you should absolutely foul" especially a Ricky P coaches guard.
That Florida team is all built on transfers. Coaches have it made anymore.
I’ve never seen a HOF coach that loses games the same way over and over and over and never makes an adjustment.
How did he even get into the HOF? Has to be recruiting because it’s definitely not coaching ability.
You are exactly right. His ego is to big to win games and it’s sickening.
But he is distinguishing himself in the Hall of Blame. He continues to get outcoached and undercoach the superior ?? talent that he gets. KenPom now projects UK to finish 11-7 with 2 L’s to UT. Califraudi continues to get exposed.
Let’s just be honest. Our defense is terrible our rebounding is improving with Big O playing and finally healthy. Why would you not at least try a 2-3 zone if our man to man defense is as bad as it is? Calapari is one of the best recruiters in college basketball and that is all he is… He can’t call plays to save his life. How many close games have we lost and he just let the time run and never called a timeout and set up a play. Everyone do me a favor and watch Bradshaw closely. He never sets picks by the time he gets to the player he is setting a pick for they have already blown by him. He jogs around players 6’8 go over top of him and score with ease. Edwards knows he is hurting his NBA stock by playing in the games. He is lazy he shows no emotion and he looks lost just like bradshaw does. I agree with not playing Wagner if he says he’s hurt but he has actually gotten better as the year has gone on. I would play Big Z over Bradshaw any day of the week. Bradshaw us a liability on offense and defense. Why doesn’t he play Big O at center and give Mitchell a break sometimes and play Big Z. I don’t know any team in the NBA that would want Bradshaw or Edwards. It just ain’t going to happen. We went from being one of the best passing teams in the first 14 games to being one of the worst in the last 6 games. It all goes back to Calapari. If we aren’t playing a team that pushes the tempo and aren’t getting alot of fast break points we struggle. When the other team slows the game down we struggle because we don’t run plays on offense. We also don’t run any plays on defense except a NBA man to man. It worked better when we were playing small ball but once we got our 3 7 footers he should definitely mix it up and play zone. I’m even saying play a 70/30 zone over man to man. Why wouldn’t you play a zone when you have big long players who’s length cover alot more area in a zone? It makes no sense whatsoever. We will never win another championship with Calapari as the coach. The game changes every 5-6 years and we still play the same way we did when he got there in 2009. Every big coach knows how to stop Calapari.
I think 3 7footers in a zone would definitely mess with the other team. But NO! We have To be predictable and play man to man every minute of every game.
Disappointed in all of the bigs although Ony did have good defensive game last night. He also missed at least 7 shots at the rim. Bradshaw just comes in and looks like a jumping jack that really does nothing. Also disappointed in Z. He came in and never really looked for a shot. He appears to be looking only for a Ticket to Ride to the Pros. Cal is common denominator here that fails to upcoach anyone.
I was at the game.. it wasn’t a lack of effort let me tell you..the TV is a liar. It was a physical brawl. I really don’t know if calipari is great or not but I was close to the bench and calipari coached his butt off.. Antigua and chin too.. it was a bruising game
Not calling a timeout after Dilly’s first free throw was a huge mistake. Yeah he might make the second and the game is over. He might miss it though, and he did, and you want your team to know to guard the 3 point line only to make it difficult to hit the shot that would tie up the game. High school coaches know this, but Calipari was a deer staring into the headlights. Maybe after he wrecks this season he will do the honorable thing and LEAVE.
I thought Sheppard inbounding with a couple seconds left was weird..I get he’s a great passer but we needed shooters.
Again, Calipari should have called a timeout, but he want Dilly to be the hero.
Yeah he always takes it out and maybe they were supposed to get ball back to him
All I got to say is a good coach would have won that Florida game!
Take it however you want at the end of the day your top major college coach would have gotten that W.!!!
you knuckle heads amaze me. We played pretty well. We missed our FT. Sheppard missed one or two as well. We missed 20 layups at least. The officials in the SEC are letting teams brawl, no call, reffing. UK is not set up for that. We are more of a finesse team this year. If Cal would have called time out and "iced" Dillingham between FT you all would be saying only an idiot would "ice" his own player, especially a freshman. UT just lost at home to S.C. has 5 losses, same as us. Let me tell you something. There are literally 6 teams in the SEC that can go deep in March. UK, UT, S.C. Auburn, Florida, Alabama. All could make a run to the final four. No league has even a smidgeon of the depth we do. UK is young, very young. We brought in Z and Onyenso and they ALL get up and down the floor. Bradshaw is like a colt, he’s just learning to walk but he’s got the tools. Onyenso is going to be fine, just fine. The mistake of not fouling is the key. We should have pressed to slow it down and then fouled at mid court. In bound to Sheppard and it’s lights out. There is the mistake.
Z should be getting more PT than Brad because of his offensive and passing skills. Cal continues to mismanage players and abuse conventional situational thinking. He continues to get outcoached and gets more exposed every year. If he is not the laughing stock of the SEC then who is?
I think the coaching is pathetic! NO other coach at any level would have lost the Florida game. Period! Make all the excuses you want to for this inept coach, but he simply is not getting the job done! Every game (and I watch them all!) our team appears to be unprepared to play. We have been blown out in the first five to ten minutes by division 2 schools and lower level division 1’s! Six losses on the home court in the past 12 months to unranked teams including two this season and had to go to overtime to win another. Yeah, he can recruit but he can’t coach! Playing man to man with players who can’t guard their man is borderline stupidity! Not fouling a Florida player in the last seconds of the game and forcing two free throws and instead giving up an open three (hasn’t guarded against the three in several years, why this time? Duh!). Any coach at any level knows what to do in this situation and they ain’t making nearly $10 million a year!!! We lost this game with our worse player (Edwards) on the bench and an erratic starter (Wagner) on the bench! Missed shots at the rim!!? How many???
Game after game after game, year after year! Missed shots at the rim!!! Count them today. Get the feeling I don’t like this coach’s ability and performance? Yep, I don’t and never have!
It’s the same every year they start out looking good in top 5 or 10.as the season goes along they get worse THAT IS Major Coaching mistakes.Its not fair to the fans or the players!!!We are a. Top 5 team with a terrible Coaching staff