Just as water is wet and the sun rises in the East, college basketball fans can count on a certain few “national” guys to come out of the shadows to hammer John Calipari and Kentucky when they struggle.
One of those guys, much like a shark circling wounded prey, is Jeff Goodman of ESPN.
In his most recent piece, Goodman wonders if this is John Calipari’s most disappointing Kentucky team ever. Check out an excerpt:
There’s no built-in excuse in Lexington this time.
In 2012-13, the lone season in which John Calipari was left out of the NCAA tournament at Kentucky, lottery pick Nerlens Noel went down because of a torn ACL in mid-February. The Wildcats were hardly a lock to go dancing at the time, but Noel’s season-ending injury was the common refrain among Big Blue Nation for why the team lost five of its last nine games and went to the NIT.
This team is at full strength now that Jarred Vanderbilt returned about a month ago, but the Wildcats are free-falling following Wednesday night’s 10-point loss at Auburn — giving them their first four-game losing streak since Calipari was hired in 2009.
And if not for a gift foul with two seconds left by Vanderbilt, the SEC’s last-place team, it would be five consecutive setbacks. And before Vandy, there was that miracle second half in which Kentucky came back from a 17-point deficit to beat West Virginia in Morgantown.
Now it’s time to start wondering if the Wildcats will make another NIT appearance, because it’s fair to question whether this team can beat anyone on its remaining slate.
Goodman even acknowledges later in the article that Calipari has taken the Wildcats to a national championship and three other Final Four appearances during his time in Lexington.
