It seems this “John Wall has lashed out at Coach Calipari” story (or lack of a story), is really catching steam. An article written by Alan Cutler has caught the attention of the national media and who knows where it will go from here.
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Alan Cutler broke the story yesterday when he discussed an interview/conversation he had with Wall. During this conversation, Cutler pointed out that Wall was not smiling as much as he had earlier in the season and asked him if that was true. Wall agreed and then mentioned Coach Calipari getting on to him about his play during the South Carolina game.
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“I don’t know. He said I played awful,”
“I didn’t think I played that bad. I don’t know what to expect. He’s probably going to say I played bad today too so. I don’t know. I just try not to listen to him and go out and play basketball and try and help my team win.” “Yeah, I think it’s going to bother any player when he tells you that.”
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The ESPN post pointed out that anytime your [B]starting point guard tells the media that he’s not listening to the coach, it’s a problem.[/B] I would agree, but I really think you have to not only hear what Wall is saying, but you need to listen. Those of us with kids should know this and if you don’t have kids, just think back to when you were nine-teen and you felt like everyone was coming down on you, what did you do? [B]It’s my opinion that Wall is trying to say that he’s not going to let any criticism he receives from his coach to affect his play. [/B]He communicates that by saying, “I try not to listen to him”. If I’m hearing something thats going to shake my confidence, I would try not to listen to it as well. That doesn’t mean that the message wasn’t received.
Wall then describes what the last two weeks have been like for him….
[QUOTE]”To be honest, I really haven’t been having fun for the last two weeks. It’s just being frustrated and things like that so, I just got to figure it out before we go further in league play.”[/QUOTE]
Haven’t we all had days, weeks like this at work? I think being frustrated is the only way to describe it. And lets be honest, is there anything wrong with that? I think the most important part of this conversation is that Wall realized that he needs to “figure it out” before the season progressed any further. That means he needs to get out of this mood and get back to having fun. That’s the attitude we all should have. It’s ok to get down on ourselves at times, but you must pick yourself up and move on. I think that’s a pretty big lesson for a nine-teen year old.
When you’re the best program in college basketball, it seems everyone has something to say and this is just one of those times. I’m fine with the media having an opinion, but I think they should really take a second look before writing a story that quotes our players. Especially when it’s obvious they’re going through a difficult time. A story that offers support is one thing, but to take a quote/cry for attention to drum up controversy is pushing it.
So lets’ take a second to thank Alan Cutler for getting this whole thing started. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Alan Cutler fan. When I think local UK News coverage, I think Alan Cutler. He probably didn’t mean the story to break the way it did. I’m also certain he meant nothing negative by it, but we will have to chalk it up as one of [B]his finer UK Sports Moments.[/B]
[B]Here’s a couple of Alan’s finer moments in case you missed them….[/B]
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[B]This is one of the best Alan Cutler Promos I’ve ever seen! Love that hair!![/B]
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[B]Now here’s the big question, What would you say to Coach Calipari today if you were John Wall?[/B]
[B]This recently broke as I posted this story…Here’s Wall addressing his comments that have been in question. And Alan Cutler is right there asking the questions!![/B]
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