By LARRY VAUGHT
What do Kentucky fans and coach John Calipari have in common? Easy. They are all disappointed with UK’s loss at Alabama Tuesday.
“To be honest, I’m disappointed, but my disappointment is more with me than it is with the individual players on this team,” Calipari posted on www.coachcal.com Thursday. “Over the years, we have always taken great pride in getting guys to accept roles, to play for their teammates and to play to win versus playing not to lose. Our teams have always played tough both mentally and physically. This team is doing none of that right now, but that comes back to me.
“They are going to give you what you demand. If you demand a lot, you will get a lot. If you accept mediocrity, you will get it every single time. That’s what I must be accepting right now. My will has always been stronger and longer than individual players on the team and the team as a whole. I can only tell you that I haven’t given up any individual player on this team because guys like Kyle Wiltjer have gotten it and are improving.”
19 Responses to Calipari more disappointed after Alabama loss with himself than individual players
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That’s what I took from the Alabama loss…
Yes, even fine coaches can learn. Though it’s hard to criticize Cal, I think he’ll be more selective in team chemistry. Frankly, this team overall has problems in all areas-shooting, passing, rebounding, speed, foul shooting, ball handling, etc. I don’t know the answers since I think we have classy kids on this squad, but I have confidence Cal and his coaches will continue having great teams.
Wow ! This Game: Poor Guard Play, Terrible Shooting, Defensive Breakdown, And, 4 or 5 very bad calls…This Team: As Stated, ” Youth “,,,These are Kitty Kats, Not yet ” Wildcats. It’s hard for this Team to be Mean, get Mad and just Fight ! Kitty Kat’s, will snuggle up next to you and Purr… A Wildcat will rip your face off with one swat of his paw. A Kitty Kat, will bounce around, play with your leg and run and hide…A Wildcat will stalk you, analysis your weakness and then attack with bad intent. I Still Love This Team…Wilter, continues to develop his Game, I took ” something “good away from this unlikely loss
If players learn to share and find the open man this team will succeed.
I agree. A very fundamental practice – team first.
The thing that bothers me the most about the Bama loss,is,Cal did not take control.He continually lets Goodwin play hog ball (out of control) but yanks others for minor miscues. It’s obvious that some players don’t listen to him,and he does nothing about it.
I’m really dissappointed in this collection of players and Cals’ handling of them.It seems it’s all bluster and no action. Or maybe these guys are not as talented as we thought,and just don’t have the skills necessary to perform at this level of competition.
HARROW set this team back at the beginning of the season – illness could not be averted, but ‘personal’ matters should have been. We are still several games “behind schedule” as far as team chemistry and team comfort level are concerned, and it is because we got a “late start”. Not only late, but interrupted. Here, gone and here again. We had to adjust IMMEDIATELY after the start of the season, because after all the preseason being geared toward Harrow at PG, we had to SUDDENLY change the game plan. Then, after wondering for a week or so if we did or did not have our PG, we finally get the answer, and he is then slow adjusting and getting strength.
This was not a true freshmen, but a 3rd year Sophomore, with a year’s experience in the tough ACC, and a year practicing with (or against) one of the greatest teams in history. So, why the theatrical beginning of the year.
Just a reminder that we lost some valuable time, and that cohesiviness we needed to acquire has been slow coming.
Great observation…and, I believe Coach Cal was trying to help Harrow, ” break thru that wall ” in the Alabama Game…Coach kept telling him to ” Drive the Ball or come out of the Game “.
It is amazing to me that we have all these arm chair coaches in BBN who know more about this team than Coach Cal does. If you consider what Cal said “if they are not going to call those fouls then Archie needed to pull up or shoot around them, I just kept telling him, and he just kept going.” It sounds like to me he was telling Archie to drive the ball but pull up on body to body contact and either shoot or dish. Should he have found the open man, yes, but I saw very little movement by other players to get open down the stretch. I also give Alabama credit for their defense, and UK’s lack of rebounding giving Alabama to many second chance baskets.
Who is Cal going to sub in for Archie down the stretch, or Harrow? He used Polson some. Maybe Hood should have played more. Our problem is quality depth. We have none. Archie was just trying to save the day make a play, but could not score at the rim. From what I saw he was fouled too, but it wasn’t called. On the fouls we did go to the line to shoot ft’s we missed 5. Make those and we win the game by 1.
Bottom line we have a young team, and some are probably going to return next year. That begs the question on what will we do with them when all the new stars arrive next year? There is only so many scholarships.
I am not to sure we want Goodwin going to the line and shoot free throws, he shoots 66% from the line, not what I call good. Ryan Harrow is shooting 60% and Willie Cauley Stein is shooting 36%. Mayes 83% and Wiltjer 76% have the best shooting percentages then Poythress at 70%.
Cal needs to figure things out and pretty quick or this season is going down the toilet.
I do agree with you Larry Pup that Cal needs to play Hood a little more if Goodwin does not listen and is not willing to become a team player, doing what is good for the team should be the team philosophy
You’re right. He did say he told Archie to pull up and – but Archie’s reverted to his old AAU style. So, have a seat Archie. Let Polson get more time. And definitely give Jon Hood more than 1 minute. Let him break a sweat and stay in for at least 5 or 6 possessions. THEN, maybe we will find there is another sub on the bench, just the way Harrelson was ‘discovered’ when he got the chance to play. Real game experience is simply needed to have bench strength, and to have the opportunity to send a message to a player like Goodwin. Goodwin is super talented, quick, can rebound and I hope he some day shows us he can really defend. Until he’s ready to “buy-in”, let him rest on the bench.
I would much rather see Poythress on the floor than Goodwin – better shot from the 3, inside and the FT line. Mays can play the 2 with a lot less haphazard play than Archie, until Archie gets the message.
I agree with you Little Baron. I also think in tight games toward the end, like last 3 minutes of game, Willie needs to sit the bench, I say this because he can’t hit a free throw to save his life!This might also apply to Harrow and Goowin look at their stats I posted above. This team is hurting in many different parts of the game and they have to improve these area’s to win and compete.
I’m a big fan of Willie, but fully agree that he must sit the last 3 minutes or so in a close game. Maybe he can be shuffled in for defense, if the pace of the game allows it and if we have a few time-outs “to spare”, but otherwise, he needs to watch from the sidelines.
If Cal were to do as you say and set Goodwin and Harrow on the bench for any significant amount of time during a tight game, especially down the stretch we’ll lose more than we win. IMO we need to develop bench strength by putting in subs when we get a big lead on a team, which has been difficult to do so far. Even then it can be risky. I trust our good coach to know his team. He sees them practice every day, most of us don’t have that kind of knowledge about individual players, their attitude, desire, and ability to perform in a tough game day situation, Cal does. He took alot of heat for this loss. I say he will figure it out. This is not his first rodeo.
Larry…
4 or 5 very bad calls.
Yes, for sure. And it has never been addressed by an AD, letting the SEC offices know that the flagship basketball program should not get the shaft so often from the officials. Decades and decades of such nonsense – I still remember Dan Issel, Mike Pratt and Mike Casey getting ripped off on the road in the SEC, and personally witnessed some of the most pathetic officiating imaginable. It’s time someone took a stand, and it needs to be the AD, to call out the unbelievable calls.
The one where 2 Alabama players fumbled a ball out of bounds, and not a UK player near them, with the ref standing a few feet away looking directly at the two players who lost the ball, and the CROOKED ref gives the ball to Alabama. Not even a close call. Just a crooked call. The difference in fouls called on Poythress compared to no calls when Goodwin, Harrow and others were shooting is such a stretch that it does not take a genius to recognize there were simply crooked calls. Shows and Hess are known for being anti-UK in their game calling history, and when I saw they were TWO of the 3 refs, I was concerned before the tip-off. And when a game is close, it doesn’t take too many crucial calls to affect the outcome. So sad, but true.
If Larry does not mind, here is a link to this years team stats. I will let you guys look at the stats, how many times everyone shoots the ball and all their percentages.WOW coach has got his work cut out for him.
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/stats/_/id/96/kentucky-wildcats
thanks. I keep a link to the stats on my favorites list and check them after every game. Poythress maintained a high (62.1) FG% from the field, and a high (47.4) FG% from 3-point range, and has recently begun to nail FT’s (season at 70%, but recent games much better).
I wonder how much time has been spent through the years shooting 3′s and FT’s, by these guys who have spent most of their waking hours in a gym… Obviously not enough. Is all their time spent hot-dogging and fooling around? Surely, practice would help improve their shooting… and they would practice hard if they really cared. Some folks have a natural shooting touch and some don’t, but practice makes those shots fall when under pressure in a game. Larry Bird was a worker, and that’s why he could hit the 3 – lots of practice.
I realize Calipari encourages (and really strongly encourages) these guys to put in more time in the gym, alone, because he has only so many hours for team practice. It has to be their desire to improve AND to win, in order for the BBN to see the results on the court. And some simply don’t look they put in ‘genuine’ extra time, ie time spent really working and not shooting silly shots.
In all fairness to Calipari, the practice habits and shooting woes are oh so common throughout college (and all levels of) basketball. The game has been shifted toward a contact sport, in which contact is inconsistently allowed by different teams and players, in the same game. So, it’s difficult to find pure shooters, since someone is often shoving, pushing or bumping the shooter. Calipari has no choice but to (wisely) coach players to play through the bumps.
Interpretation of: “play through the bumps”…
practice to make the shots when fouled, no matter how hard, since you are wearing the UK uniform, and even when you hit the floor there probably won’t be a foul called
With that being said, I will spare Goodwin and Harrow some of my discontentment, since a lot of their problems were the result of no calls, even when obvious.
I would rather lose with people who play for the team, who are proud of the name on the jersey.Not some young punk who is trying to stuff his stats to insure he gets to the NBA bench AG and we who have been fans for over 45 years will still be fans when the dust settles.Number 9 comes next year.
I have known and posted along with Little Baron for several years, and his instincts for this game, and his knowledge of UK lore and history is front cabin.
As far as the statistics are concerned, this team reveals its short comings. Among the players who logged significant minutes on last year’s team, Kyle Wiltjer was the least efficient player. This year’s team has 4 players with lower individual efficiency than Wiltjer’s numbers last year, and three of those 4 are starters on this year’s team. That is not an equation for great success. Furthermore, when Jarrod Polson is the third most efficient player on the team, which he is through 18 games, that is not necessarily a testament of how great he is, because frankly he is a smart basketball player, but he is not blessed with all of the natural attributes of a great athlete and basketball player, below the neck. His lofty ranking on this team is more an indictment on the inefficiencies of Poythress, Goodwin, and Harrow. Put those guys up where players with their natural gifts would be given the level of intensity that Calipari ususally brings out, then Polson’s individual numbers would be still be impressive, but not third best on the team.
Please do not take what I have said as criticism of Polson, because that is absolutely not what I am saying, because his contribution to this team have been remarkable.