A writer at TheRealSportsandStuff.com has some strong opinions on the Kentucky Wildcats and head coach John Calipari.
Check out these thoughts and give yours in the comments section:
Following last night’s embarrassing loss to Arkansas (really no other way to put it), I tried to digest it, find a silver lining and move on. I woke up today expecting to do just that, but the more I thought about that loss, and this season as a whole, the more angry I became. Angry, first, at players who don’t seem to enjoy playing together. The “offense”, an endearing term that would make James Naismith roll over in his grave if he knew I was calling what UK tries to run “offense” is a mess, and the defense from the front court is nothing short of an attempt to imitate wearing shoes made of concrete. Yeah, I was angry at a bunch of freshman who can’t seem to understand the sheer will and non-stop aggression, focus and hard work it takes to win at Kentucky, let alone the Division 1 level.
I was mad at those freshman until I started reading Coach Calipari’s post game comments. There he was, after another loss at Rupp Arena (mind you, we were one Randle putback from losing 3 straight at home), trying to downplay the various factors that caused us to lose. Calipari said a couple players quit (they did), but he also said some questionable things. He said he wasn’t worried about the free throws…a mere 15 minutes after his team shot 11-22 from the line while his opponent was a perfect 16-16. You’re saying free throws matter more to an unranked Arkansas team who was 7-7 in the SEC than they do to a team that started the season as the #1 team in the nation? Second, he said some guys played too long and were gassed, and that he was trying to make them understand they need to sub themselves out. Wait, what? What exactly are we paying Calipari to do on the sidelines? If the head coach isn’t subbing his players in and out based on their conditioning, who is?
So, my anger transferred; it transferred from the freshman who don’t want to, and at this point it is clear they never will, play together and are instead setting their eyes on their draft stock (It has become commonplace for various blogs and news organizations to post Chad Ford’s updated 2014 NBA Draft after each game – don’t think the players don’t know where they stand). Instead, I am angry at the car salesman of a coach who doesn’t want to own up to his team’s bad play of the last two years, and more importantly, his insistence that his way of recruiting is only done by UK because no one else can do it, and that this system we have in place – a basketball factory that plucks 5 star guys out of the AAU circuit for a few months (we’re lucky to make it to double digit months with most of these players) and then ship them onto the NBA, works. So, I’ve stopped drinking Calipari’s Kool-Aid. I’m not asking you to, but hear me out. Maybe it will start to taste a little old to you too.
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