ESPN Analysts Urge Fans To Not Give Up On Cats

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Before Kentucky beat Ole Miss Tuesday night to end a three-game Rupp Arena losing streak, national analysts were calling for Kentucky fans to quit being so frustrated with coach John Calipari’s team.

ESPN analyst Jay Williams said Monday fans should give this season a chance to play out before calling for a new coach.

“To all the Kentucky fans that are trying to run John Calipari out of there — take a step back,” Williams said. “Take a second and breathe. We’re in February, I know how sensitive people get. Let’s see how we finish in March.”

Problem is Kentucky has one NCAA Tournament win and one SEC Tournament win total in the last three years, not the kind of March runs that calm a fan base. Kentucky has not been in the second weekend of the NCAA since 2019 and not in a Final Four since 2015.

Another ESPN analyst, former college coach Seth Greenberg, has not lost hope that UK can remedy its defensive woes as it did a little bit in the win over Ole Miss.

“They got a young backcourt, a young frontcourt, three seven-footers  trying to figure out how to put them together and become a team,” Greenberg said Monday. “Cal usually figures it out.

“I would give him the benefit of the doubt. I can hear about getting upset in NCAA Tournaments. This team has the potential to be special if they learn to defend in the next five games.”

Calipari said on his weekly radio show Monday that this team was built for March despite the recent injuries and losses.

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said during the Ole Miss game he understands what Calipari means.

“Why he is saying they are built for March is the number of players that can get 20 points and they can score a bunch of points (as a team),” Bilas said. “The question is can they play good enough defense to make sure they can win in the tournament and I think they can do that.”