Kentucky's defense let Texas A&M almost get to the rim at will on Friday. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Could Kentucky coach John Calipari adjust his playing rotation/time for the NCAA Tournament based on who plays the best defense?
Maybe. He went all-in earlier this season on offense and getting his best scorers on the court more. However, the 97-87 loss to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament Friday night might have changed his thinking.
“Just got to guard better. Eighty-seven points is enough to win most basketball games, unless they score 97,” Calipari said. “We’re going to have to lock in.
“Again, I keep coming back to offensively, whoever I put in, we seem to be okay. Some defensive players may have to step in there and let’s get it locked down.”
Kentucky didn’t lock down often against the Aggies. Texas A&M’s three guards combined for 72 points. The Aggies also made 11 3’s and got to the foul line 30 times.
“We just weren’t ourselves today. I want to give credit to A&M because they played well. They did good stuff today. They made more 3’s probably than they have in a while. Give them credit,” Calipari said.
Even though UK scored 87 points, Calipari was not happy with the offense, either.
“We didn’t pass the ball to each other like we’ve been doing. When the ball stops, we’re not the same team. Go one on five, you can’t make a play that way. We haven’t for weeks. Today we kind of did,” the Kentucky coach said.
“Whether they did things to make us play that way … but they deserved that game the way they played. Again, I mean, we give up 97. How many games you going to win giving up 97 points? Two (actually three) guards got 72 points. You’re not going to win.”
Calipari said the right thing about the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Hopefully, he believes it and was not just staying what he knows his team — and UK fans — need to hear
“We got some stuff to figure out. But this is an unbelievable group that I’m coaching. All I told ’em is they got to stick together now. We’ve been on a run, it’s all been fun, you win,” the coach said Friday.
“All of a sudden you get dinged and now the real stuff starts next week. We got to be in the right frame of mind.”
36 Responses
That would be Onyenso, Mitchell, Thiero, Reeves, and Sheppard…but that leaves out Calipari’s pets. The Calipari way doesn’t work anymore. It’s time for Kentucky to make a change.
A real coach would have developed Big Z & Ugo into defensive aces with their shot blocking ability. And Z would be a big scorer as well.
UK would have a solid zone defense if the bigs had been developed AND of UK had been working on a zone all year!
Correct. However, Calipari doesn’t know what a good zone defense is or when to use it or HOW to teach it.
BP….Has Jimmy and his fellow Cauli-fraudi Aid drinkers been accepted into the witness protection program. Things have been a little quiet since the MELTDOWN!
No, Jimmy has a big mouth when we win a couple of games, but runs off and hides like the coward that he is when we lose one.
Let sleeping dog lie.
Jordan Burks can lock in defensively.. But he won’t see the court.
You are EXACTLY right – and he is also a rebounder and excellent scorer l – but not given the chance! He’s not a pet!
Burks has one of the highest individual player efficiencies (based on stats sometimes stated Professor), higher than all the pets, and is at the far end of the bench. It reminds me of how Dontae Allen was maliciously mistreated by the fraud after scoring like a machine to bring UK back from a game being lost on the road. After that, the comments and knee jerk subbing ruined Allen! Terrible!
I’m afraid the mistreatment of Kentucky kids will continue with Travis Perry next year.
He’ll have to be as good or better than Sheppard has been this year or King Cal will never play him.
Agree 100%. But also correct that Burks isnt one of his pets or his promises of NBA success and he has NO INTEREST in non NBA picks and will NEVER take the time or energy to make someone better over the years individually. Not only that, he has no idea how to do that. Never forget a quote of his after a losing season. When asked how to get better, he said " I have to get better players". Which outright admits that he cant coach or teach anybody to get better. Its NEVER his own fault or his failures. Thats what makes him a ZERO of a coach
In the second half I saw alot of passing, and shooters passing up shots. Namely Sheppard.
Defense, passing, communications, staying in front of your man. These are all BB 101. My question for most of the season is what are these coaches doing during the week in practice? Are these coaches all YES men that can’t penetrate Cali-fraudi’s stubborness or are they only on the staff to embellish their resumes? I think we need a total REGIME change. Cal started saying weeks ago that if you don’t play D you don’t play. I will continue to support Cal’s firing unless or until we put up a NC banner.
THANK YOU!!! Feel exactly the same way. He is an NBA agent that uses UK for his office space and NOTHING more. He will NEVER win another SEC championchip, much less a National one. That starts with winning more than one game every year in the NCAA tournament which has become a difficult task for him. Pathetic
Earth to Coach Cal: you have no players who have shown they can “lock in” defensively. That’s why Kentucky is ranked 334th in scoring defense and 203rd in defensive efficiency. That’s also why you’ve heard so many fans and analysts saying Kentucky needs to be able to switch to a zone defense.
STATS, TRUTH?– he has no interest in hearing about his failures. Nothing is EVER his fault and he has NO IDEA how to switch defenses on the fly. He doesnt even know what a zone defense is or how or when to use it. If there was any decency about him, he would step down.
Ever notice how UK players are incredible in summer games – innate chemistry, energized & win-oriented, unselfish, team 1st BEFORE the fraud has had time to destroy all of the winning factors?
Remember him sitting in the stands at least 1 summer game and not being on the sideline for his circus show, ranting, yelling and distracting players?
The “raw” talent WON in summer games and they looked like FF contenders with a shot at Banner #9… until they were de-railed by the pets 1st program at the expense of UK losing a lot of games & failing lost season year after year… since 2015 when he sold out UK in favor of making sure the twins feelings weren’t hurt!!! What about the BBN, the great guards who would have won the game?
Great call, LB!!! CAL’s teams are not built for March, they are built for JULY! they are built for Toronto, the Bahamas, whatever international spot they have played at in the summer–yes, that’s when u see CAL teams at their best, and how they SHOULD look during the season, based on the talent assembled. Starting in 2015, remember that summer tour before the undefeated reg season. Remember the summer tour in 2018 with the Wash/Herro/,KJohnson team, they looked like world-beaters, and by the time the 2019 tournament came around, that team was a shell of itself from the prior summer. Now look at this team, and remember how they looked in Toronto compared to how they look now. The best quality of play and the best team chemistry seems to take place when there is the least amount of involvement taking place from the "COACH"……..Then it’s amazing how the pendulum swings on that as the team transitions from the summer games into NOV/DEC into the SEC season, then into the SEC and NCAA tournaments—what has been the common trend and pattern with all these teams since 2016? The quality of play and team results goes down the further along the season goes and the higher the stakes get once the postseason arrives. The one common thread since 2016, and even before that against WIS in 2015, UCONN in 2014 and 2011, WVA in 2010–the more that coaching plays a factor in determining the outcome of the game, the worse the results have been for KY. See the above Elite 8 and Final 4 games in the first 5 yrs of the CAL era, and see KS ST in 2018 and 2023, AUB in 2019, and St Peters in 2022. CAL’s best talent has pushed HIM over the edge in alot of big tournament games, his best players have won IN SPITE of him. Also, see Memphis’s blown natl title in 2008 against KAN. and remember, CAL almost screwed away the 2012 championship against KAN–people forget that–we were up by almost 30 in the first half–everybody was hitting 3s–game was over early–until it was a 4-pt game with a min left and Anthony Davis had to single-handedly rescue us in the final minute from CAL putting his prints all over the outcome instead of just allowing his talent to continue doing what they were doing–doing what was working. When it comes to the biggest games, (the tournament games) and them having to be won in the last 2, 3, 4 mins, and it’s no more than a two-possession game, where COACHING DECISIONS come more into play than at any other time, that’s where our teams have failed the most. That’s why nothing has ever been the same with CAL since WIS in 2015, because deep down inside, HE knows that! The problem is, he doesn’t care. And what he destroyed in 2015 was such a demon for him that he just sold his soul to the devil, and made UK an NBA minor league farm system. We were setting the trends 10 yrs ago for all the things that were to come these past couple of years: transfer portal, NIL, players getting paid, basically being minor league professionals in college–CAL has been instrumental in ringing in so many of the changes we see today in the college game. UK has basically been the blueprint for everything we see today. UK fans want CAL gone because we just want the "college" back in KY BBALL. Yes, every other team’s players are getting paid and have all the same benefits–the difference is their coaches are not priming them for the NBA draft and promising them certain things based on prospective draft slots, they are focused on coaching their teams the fundamentals of the game and invested in game-by-game trying to win and scouting their next opponent and focused on preparing their team for next said matchup. Coach and team are focused on "winning", whether it’s a regular season conf game, a conf tournament game, or an NCAA tournament game–because to said coach and team, they ALL MATTER!!!! somehow, even with getting paid and having all the benefits they do present-day, they’re still focused on "winning", focused on winning their conf tournament, and trying to make the Final 4—alot of them will even say so! But it’s funny, I don’t hear those things out of KY"s camp anymore.
You nailed it!!! Kentucky players have been and will be mistreated. It eats up the fraud when Sheppard outshines all of his pets.
Willis had a banner game leading UK in a win over UL & the fraud said he needs to find minutes for him. The next game he only got a few minutes of PT!!!
Remember the game which Sheppard led UK down the stretch and then made the shot at the buzzer – and all the fraud talked about was Wagner – the guy who hugged the ball and was forced to pass to Sheppard even though he did not want to give up the ball.
Good to have you back Little Baron
Many thanks, Larry!!
VV is my primary sports internet site where I spend 90%+ of my time for UK info
I am not one who likes to read novels and if this had not been a dead-on narrative I would not have taken the time to read it but it saves me a lot of writing. Thank you, see you in Phoenix!
EXACTLY CORRECT. When he couldnt win a title with that team of pros, that told me ALL I needed to know about him. He played the Harrison twins over Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis. REALLY??? ONLY a moron pathetic coach could screw that up. He gets outcoached and outplayed by more senior players every year
Cal will not change. He said they would be pulled for not playing defense earlier in the season, but since that didn’t happen, they know it won’t happen now.
Cal does seem to have his pets and I still wonder what Burks could have meant to this team if he had been given any kind of a chance.
I don’t see a lot of improvement from Onyenso, Bradshaw, or Ivisic. Yes, they have been hurt, but there has also been a lot of time for improvement that hasn’t happened.
There is NOBODY coaching them to make them better. Ivisic and Burks need to hit the transfer portal. Otherwise they will WASTE their talent on the Ky bench. Either of those two guys could star at another school with a real coach
For Pete’s sake, how long has Calipari’s Pet Projects been obvious to any fan who is watching. It is not a question of "seeming" to be anything, it is what it is, and has been since his arrival and proclamation that the most important event on the UK basketball calendar is the NBA draft night.
NO!!!!
The most important date on any college basketball teams’ annual calendar is, and must be the first Monday in April to be the last team standing.
Calipari cares first, and foremost, about moving his PETS to the NBA draft, JUST LIKE HE PROMISED THEM HE WOULD DO WHILE HE SECURED VARIOUS PLAYER COMMITMENTS.
Ball Hog #1 on this team is the poster child for the Fraud’s heretical priorities.
After all these years, the question must shift to why would any UK coach not place the success of the program as his highest duty and priority?
How much money does this con job collect off the books from an array of NBA agents each season to advance the interests of these PETS?
This program has not been in such dismal condition since before Adolph Rupp arrived prior to the 1930 season.
We have no coach. We have a snake oil salesman.
Once again you have nailed it and clearly stated the pathetic condition of UK BB. This farce is NOT UK BB.
Hart (played about 5 minutes all season) would be a big time contributor and a TEAM player every game is given all the minutes and allowed to make multiple mistakes without being taken out of the game instead of all those minutes given to Wagner or Edwards!
Sheppard got National attention in Canada and as soon as the season started with even Coach K paying high compliments – and the fraud only talked about a turnover without any compliments for Sheppard. The fraud HATES Kentucky born & raised players & especially a certain “kind.”
We know the fraud sold his soul to many mothers & agents by guaranteeing their players would get priority even if they cost UK games. If you sell your soul to anyone for anything, you are in for a devil of a time in all things.
Perfectly said and 100% true. Here’s a fact. Every UK team that has won a championchip has had a KY kid right in the middle of it all each time. Look it up. And 2012– Darious Miller, whom Davis and Gilcrest said they wouldn’t have won a championchip without him. Lets see, Mr Ky basketball, state champion and Ncaa champion. Hmmm, you are right Calipari would not have even looked at him out of high school. Just a total winner. They certainly didnt win because of Coach Cal
Kevin—Thank you for pointing out said fact that I am always talking about and I feel like a lot of people either dont realize or have forgotten: all 8 UK natl championship teams had born and bred KY blue blood natives that played an instrumental role in winning said championship—does that not DEFINE what it means to play basketball at UK and compete for championships? The fact that statistic truly exists over the course of 8 decades tells me it’s not a meaningless coincidence–it tells me it means something. It tells me that’s the essence of being FROM KY and then playing basketball AT KY. And any coach at KY who publicly says any game does not matter should be fired over just that. In fact, do u hear ANY college coach in the entire country say that any of their games do not matter? Whether it’s conf Tournament, reg season, NCAA tournament, every game u play matters–if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be scheduled, and they wouldn’t be played. As the great one, Rupp, said many years ago, "if it matters not who wins and loses, why do they keep score?"
My sentiments EXACTLY. He is an NBA agent that uses UK for his office space. Nothing more. When he said that the names on the back of the jersey was more important than what’s on the front, what else do you need to know
BBN: Let’s start the fund for the billboard–we can’t afford to fund the Fraud’s buyout, but we can afford to all chip in on a billboard that reads: FREE BBN—FIRE CAL NOW!!!!
I’m in. Sounds good to me
Awesome idea!!!
If you play man to man and you don’t or won’t or can’t stop a point guard at the point of attack and he’s allowed to go downhill and it’s going to be a long day! Now you have to give help exposing where help came from. It’s just that simple. UK doesn’t stop it.
Stanford head coach Jerod Haase announced his firing at his press conference following a Pac-12 Tournament game loss. He handled it with class.
"I have not won here to the level that I expect," Haase said. "Just like I hold my team accountable, I’m being held accountable, and I have no issue with that."
That is taking accountability. It’s time for John Calipari to do the honorable thing as well.
We will NEVER see the fraud humble. He is so arrogant & egotistical – and demeaning to others including the BBN!
Exactly what I said, but he thinks he is great and everyone else around him is not. And, he is not a honorable person