Vicky Graff Photo
Let’s give former Kentucky All-American Jack Givens credit for having the nerve to say on the UK Radio Network after Kentucky’s disappointing 103-92 loss to Tennessee Saturday night what so many UK fans were also thinking.
The Vols had five players score in double figures and were never in serious trouble after jumping in front 8-0 and then 13-3.
“You just kind of wonder why the guys were not any more ready to play at the start of this game,” Givens said. “You are playing Tennessee. You know what to expect and you know they are coming after you.
“You have to be ready to dish out what they are and Kentucky just did not have it tonight.”
No Kentucky didn’t and that is what is so disturbing. The Cats got knocked around in a loss at South Carolina on Jan. 23. They barely survived at Arkansas on Jan. 27. They lost at home to Florida on Wednesday night. Now they got mashed by rival Tennessee.
Does that sound like a potential Final Four team?
“From the opening tip, Tennessee has won loose ball scrambles on the floor and the glass,” ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes said. “Kentucky’s inability to guard the ball was also really exposed tonight.”
Givens didn’t disagree after UK let an opponent shoot a higher percentage in the second half than it did in the first half for the sixth straight game.
“There were so many 50-50 balls that Tennessee got to. A lot of that 50-50 ball is just giving the extra effort to get to those. Tennessee did that,” Givens said. “It was like they valued every possession they could get and they went after it. There were just a lot of negatives unfortunately for Kentucky.”
Kentucky assistant coach Orlando Antigua did the UK Radio Network postgame show that coach John Calipari normally does. He admitted the 50-50 stat was “not in our favor” against Tennessee.
“That is something we must control, especially when you are trying to win a game of this magnitude,” Antigua said. “They got the 50-50 balls because they hustled.”
Tennessee also had 18 offensive rebounds, a killer for a team that struggles to get stops like Kentucky has this year.
“We have got to do a better job of offensive rebounding. When the bigs are going to challenge shots somebody has got to crack down and hit the other big,” Antigua said.
The UK assistant coach said Tennessee’s early aggressiveness was no surprise and the staff tried to prepare the players for that. Only Antonio Reeves and Adou Theiro had played against the Vols before.
“It’s one thing to show them on film and another thing to experience how physical they can be and the intensity and fight you need on every possession. They are learning that,” Antigua said. “Now our young guys have experienced for themselves what that is like.
“It is still a long season ahead. We have to keep working and pushing and keep building. The games we don’t win, we learn.”
Unfortunately, Kentucky has had way too many learning lessons recently.
24 Responses
Jeez – the Prof will have a field day with this – prepare yourselves for a 10 page diatribe !!!!
Is that all that you have to say about last night’s embarrassment? You take a shot at the Professor when he has been right about Calipari all along? Let me repeat my other post. Since Rupp opened, we have only had back to back home losses 8 times. It has happened 3 of the last 4 years with the fraud! The last time anyone dropped 100 points in Rupp was when Billy Clyde was here. No diatribe is needed…John Calipari is a good man and a lousy Hall of Fame joke for a coach! We have become the next Indiana and we owe it all to Calipari and his band of sissy lovers!
I am a Volunteer fan and I have to tell you be careful what you wish for. People that wanted rid of Phil Fulmer sure had a bad 17 years to think about getting rid of a legend . Coach Cal does have 794 wins in his pocket which is not to shabby
We didn’t have a head coach last night and haven’t for some time.
He is an arrogant narcissist!
Had we won last night he would’ve done the post game show and called us all basketball Bennie’s.
But we lost so he skipped it.
This man is not right for KY basketball. From not playing in tournaments like Maui or the Phil Knight Invitational, to hating the SEC tournament- one that UK fans love, save money and take vacation days, to grossly underachieving and letting our once great program slip.
He is wrong for KY basketball in so many ways!
AMEN to all this—WRONG for KY BBALL. Bingo. And there was a day when that WASNT true–but that day has passed. Because it’s now not the same CAL as before COVID. I mean, you are 100% right, had we won that game, he would have been out there sucking up and playing up to that crowd, but actually tallking DOWN to them–he actually makes a mockery of those fans who pay their money to go to the games, then sit there and take that bullsh** from him afterwards–and yes, the many yrs of dogging the SEC tournament–i would love to hear somebody say "u know what–shut up CAL!!!" I’m sorry guys, but CAL is a CANCER–hes not only a CANCER to KY BBALL, but he is CANCER culturally and societally to this state–hes on a level of narcissim and untouchable ego that this state is not about and doesnt want–its on a very ugly, unhealthy level…..I honestly wish the guy would just pack his bags, take his family and pets, and just get the he** outta the state when this season ends with the streak of not getting past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since 2019 still intact, along with probably a loss on the Thurs of the SEC Tournament. And u probly say: gosh, u must really hate CAL. I don’t have any respect for the man. For his actions, esp in 2021, for the way he has treated the fans for years, and for his agenda regarding tossing UK BBALL to the side in favor of an NBA minor league draft camp. "oh but we have 10 guys in the NBA averaging so-and-so", and 5 guys named to the All-Star team!" That’s all Ive heard for the past month. Last time I checked, that’s not the goal of KY bball, and thats not what the coach of KY bball is paid to do! That’s great if that’s what results in time–and im happy for those players–but not at EXPENSE of the program for God’s sake! So it’s not that I hate the man–I hate what he has done to the program and what he has caused fans like me Todo, who have loved this all our lives since we were in diapers–he finally pushes u so far away that u finally stop supporting and watching, and your secretly happy when they lose because the way u figure it, each loss is anothr step closer to him maybe finally being gone. I know people don’t wanna hear that, but Im just sharing how I feel–apologies. I know other people who feel the way I do, but we r the ones who never get heard, because people don’t want to hear it or face it. They don’t see what’s really going on with CAL behind the scenes because they don’t want to. And I know: it hurts!!! Listen, I have been hurting for the last 4 years!!! But I know a day will come when that will get better, so I just continue to follow along each day, and wait for it to come. Im just not able to have any respect for someone who I know deep down doesn’t respect the program, doesn’t respect the fans, and only cares Abt his own agenda. I truly do wish the man would do the fans a service, and seriously for the sake of his own mental health and his family’s: just leave. Just leave, CAL. Leave the state. Leave the memories we live with every day behind. Leave all the new program-record-lows u have set the last 5-6 yrs behind. Leave it all behind for all our sakes. Because u know what? In the end, u won’t still be here, but BBN will ALWAYS be here!!! And that’s exactly what u have forgotten after COVID, and after the lifetime contract: this program is about the state, the fans, the tradition, the legacy……Coaches come and go, players come and go–the fans will always be here. It’s what they do while they’re here that is remembered–good or bad. Thank u Mr Larry for giving us a space to vent–apologies for some of us who get a little raw, but some of us are in a camp that have been ignored and tossed to the side the last few years. Some of us want what’s best for the bball program no matter what those costs. Sometimes u have to make short-term sacrifices for the long-term HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY of the program. U can’t live in that mentality of "well we would no longer be able to win or get good recruits" without __fill in the blank__ I call bullsh** on that. UK bball has been around for 121 years with 5 different coaches who have won national championships , and a plethora of players with jerseys in the Rafters, and in a book full of century-long records……UK BBALL is what it is and does what it does long before, during, and after CAL. and thats the lesson he will learn in the end, whenever that is: that one man will NEVER be bigger than this program, even though u tried to make it so, and were allowed to. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later, so that then maybe some of the fans can get back some of what has been TAKEN. That history and tradition is exactly what has been ignored, forgotten, tossed to the side while he has been here blinding and brainwashing new generations of fans, and I say it’s time for the true fans to take it back!!!!
JM 4…..WOW…very well spoken and all very TRUE. The only cancer and rot on this team is Calipari. Does anyone really believe that all of the game after game injuries are really that valid? Z did not look too sick last night and Dilly didn’t look that sick last game. Is Wagner really that injured? The one valid SICK person on this team is the HC, and he shows it game after game and year after year.
Thank you James for speaking the truth about how this fraud had damaged one of our most treasured sources of state pride.
Now I don’t have to write a 10-page book for Paul.
HAHA!! Glad to be of help–for u and Paul both!! I wish Paul would share HIS BOOK with us! And thanks to all u guys for the support and the shout-outs–im just one man and one fan, but this one fan is one die-hard fan, UK has been in my life-blood since birth, and in my family’s as well. And I know in the end, it’s just sports–and I know sports are changing–but I believe that’s where UK is falling behind present-day: they need to change the bball and fball programs and adjust them AROUND these new changes in sports overall. But KY BBALL is special, and the BBN community is special, and the state is special. And those are the areas where CAL fails as not only the coach, but as the so-called ambassador. There was a day he wanted, loved, and cherished that role, and it meant something to him. But that was long ago, and that day is gone. And again, I know that it’s just sports we are talking about —but I am reminded of how special UK BBALL, BBN, and the state truly are when i hear that there are former UK players who played for Pitino supposedly in thick discussions with each other and others about the state of the program right now. If that’s true, that amazes me in one way, but it’s another testament to everything I just said. Those guys obviously still have the love, the care, and the pride for what being at KY is–and it makes me wonder if alot of them have ever really been thrilled abt CAL being here from the start–if u think back about the history with CAL back in the 90s between he and Pitino, and us and those UMASS teams, it would make sense and be understandable. I wouldn’t be shocked if inside some of those players have never stopped feeling about CAL the way they did back then. I know just speaking for myself, I pretty much felt about CAL back then the same way I feel about him now. LOL but if u think back to the ’92 game against UMASS, the game before DUKE, when we took him out, and of course one of my favorite UK wins of all-time: the 1996 Final Four win against him, which in reality, was the true championship game. Whoever won that game was winning it all–everybody knew it–and I will never forget that game or that day. I was 16 yrs old at the time, and ’96 was my first UK natl championship of my lifetime. I came along two yrs after the Goose became Golden. 😊 My high school years from ’94 to ’98 with KY bball were an absolute blast–three straight natl champ games, and two titles–really from ’92 to ’98 is the best stretch of KY bball of the modern era, and of my generation–no question about it. And that’s the KY BBALL that I miss dearly. But thanks guys, for reading, and for letting me share my feelings Abt the current stuff, and for letting me share my memories as well. Again, u all and we all are what make BBN what it is, and what make it special. We represent the very community that CAL has tossed out in the gutter.
The fact of the matter is that John Calipari is a garbage coach. Great recruiter, but a garbage coach. It’s amazing how much talent he can recruit and still the teams play badly. I look forward to the day he leaves Kentucky Basketball.
It’s not a good look to send another coach out for the radio show. It seems week after week a struggling opposing team and or struggling players get well against Kentucky. The common denominator unfortunately is this defense.
Yep, that’s all I have to say. I have 6 fraternity brothers that played BB for UK who I still communicate with frequently. I hear and feel an abundance of things I choose not to put into print.
Are the fraternity brothers happy?
If they are, then the man behind the curtain has managed to brainwash more people than I even realized……I would love to hear about the "abundance of things chosen not to be in print"—lets hear about it, let’s get it out! Its amazing how people will be so quick to tell u they "know things" but they don’t have the guts to put them in print. Or maybe they really don’t know anything …..too bad we’ll never know for sure!!
Go back to the days of Ramsey, Cliff, Hatton,Smith and Cox, I grew up in Western Kentucky, my blood is Kentucky blue-what is going on in the land of basketball,bourbon, horse racing and southern Baptists-a turncoat coach who can recruit but doesn’t get near the x s and o s. Money and nba stars can’t hide the false floor of honor and integrity. Go Cal or I will again order Calapari instead of Calamari at my favorite Santa Fe restaurant (serve crispy) Good bye Cal-pick up your check on your way back east.
I married a girl who is a cousin to Ralph Beard. My dad was the Ky Deaf School coach that won a National Deaf Championship about 1935, he took me to UK BB games where Frank Ramsey saw me talking to dad in deaf sign language and he took me to get not only his signature but Hagan, Tsiorpolus, Bill Spivey etc. I gave those signatures to Larry Vaught. So you see I’ve been a UK BB Fan a long time but I am ready for Calapari to leave the program. He is absolutely absorbed with himself so he can just take his millions of dollars UK has paid him and leave.
As long as Cali-Boy is the NBA Recruiter and U.K continues to pay him millions, Kentucky will never see a championship. NOT a SEC or NCAA. He’s there to recruit for the NBA. And, he brags about it. They might beat Vandy, but will.lose to Gonzaga. If they make the Big Dance, they’ll lose in the first round. The fans should STOP attending games. Maybe that’d make a statement. Cali needs to go!
It has been frustrating indeed Sheena
Hey gents, my wife and I are UK grads and I should never have said I hear things from ex BB players. We give religiously to the university and the last thing I would do is something detrimental to the school, or the athletic programs. Think of me as you may.
Don’t worry Paul, Calipari is doing all the damage for you.
Another piece of this puzzle is that parity has reached the SEC and NCAA. Cal is but another coach: no better and perhaps less. The real question and problem still resides with the players themselves. The days of UKBB when players focused on where they were, what uniform, and tradition is gone. Never will return. UKBB is just another team; better than most but average. Those who rant that coach changes will solve the fan expectation and produce winners are living in past. Need look at UK as semi-pro in a really equable league. They are paid to provide entertainment. That they do – like it or not. This team provides great excitement and Next year either in NBA, Europe or elsewhere via the portal. We’ll have same discussion next year only different names. At present, the current players with exception of notable few are providing what they were recruited (hired) to do. Apparently, they expect to winingly compete on talent alone. Lots have that; few the hustle and determination required to win. Don’t dispair. There will be the hype of next year with all hope and dreams to share before reality sets in!
That’s a great take Bill.
I agree, Bill. The SEC has improved vastly in the last 4 years, along with a total change in the college basketball landscape. One only has to look at the records of the top 25 teams to see that the sport is evolving. What so many fans get hung up on is their dislike of Cal. Some of that criticism is fair. (Not all of it). But the question is – what is the answer? I can’t name a single active coach that I could confidently say can come in and win immediately. And then begins the rebuild. So do you give a HOF coach a few tries to figure out how to get ahead of the changing industry? Or go ahead and start over? It’s a good thing I’m not AD, because I don’t know what the answer is. But seems to be a symptom of a bigger issue that most programs are facing, and is not necessarily specific to UK.
Great post Katie .Might highlight that on my website story
Parity is a myth spewed every year about this time to excuse away UK’s lasckluster levels of performance.
It is not parity. The distribution of team strength, top to bottom has not changed year to year, and I have the data to prove that conclusion.
PARITY is an excuse for mediocrity.