UK coach John Calipari instructs from the bench in the Cats' win over Tennessee. (Victoria Graff photo)
By LARRY VAUGHT
Based on what Kentucky coach John Calipari told veteran college basketball writer Dick “Hoops†Weiss, the UK coach is not afraid to go into next season with the roster he has put together if the Wildcats do not add another player.
Calipari lost five starters, his first player off the bench and another senior off last season’s national championship team. He’ll go into the 2012-13 season with North Carolina State transfer Ryan Harrow, sophomore Kyle Wiltjer (the player with the most experience returning) and four signees — 6-11 center Nerlens Noel, 6-4 guard Archie Goodwin, 6-8 forward Alex Poythress and 7-0 center Willie Cauley.
“We could use maybe one more guy,†Calipari told the New York Daily News writer. “A year ago, we played six and we went to the Final Four. This year, I played seven guys, really six and we went to the final game and won the title. This year coming up, I hope to have seven. But if it doesn’t happen, I can live with that. I like my team.â€
Weiss spent about 30 minutes one-on-one with Calipari when he was at the New York Athletic Club to receive an award.
“John has a totally unconventional way to look at many things,†Weiss said. “They had perfect chemistry last year. It was the perfect storm. No one got hurt. They didn’t have a point guard or center go down. Everybody stayed healthy. But maybe he can do it that way again. He’s convinced he can if that’s what it takes if he does not add another player or two.â€
Weiss noted that Calipari will still have five five-star players — Harrow, Wiltjer, Poythress, Goodwin and Noel — on this team next season, and that’s more than most teams will have.
“The team will be young, but the point guard has been there a year at practice and Wiltjer played some,†Weiss said. “Noel is really good. Goodwin and Poythress are very, very good. Cauley must be athletic to do what he did in football and basketball. They will have talent.â€
Perhaps that’s why Calipari told the dinner crowd — and Weiss — that he was not going to be coaching the New York Knicks or any NBA team. He left college once for the NBA and was fired by the New Jersey Nets before going to Memphis and then Kentucky.
“I have got the best job in basketball, in my opinion. You don’t need to make decisions financially, which I did the last time when I went to the Nets. Fifteen million back in 1996, when you’re a kid, is like $30 million now. At Kentucky, you can win championships. And you have a stage that really helps the young people. I’m not going to the Knicks,†Calipari said at the dinner.
Weiss believed him.
“He’s got a big contract and a great job. He’s making (Alabama football coach) Nick Saban money. And he loves Kentucky,†Weiss, who wrote that UK has “surpassed†Duke as the nation’s top program, said.
17 Responses to Calipari not afraid to play with six players, continues to like team he will have next year
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Did I miss something? What about John Hood? Cal never mentioned him.
hoping for a big year from Hood as well. Great kid, needs to get healthy and play confident
while i’m not quite ready to put jon hood in the same category with jeff sheppard it would not surprise me if he did not get there. he’s got game and fits well into the dribble drive offense.
Frankly, I do not believe for one second that John Calipari actually believes it is reasonable or wise to try to make it through a 35-40 game D-1 basketball season with six scholarship players, one of whom redshirted this year to rehab from a surgical ACL repair. He cannot possibly believe that. Although he got away with a six man rotatiin in 2010-11, that was obviously not by design. Calipari was counting on Enes Kanter, but the NCAA tampered with Kanter’s eligibility. Calipari has been very fortunate that no Cats besides Jon Hood have sustained serious injuries so far during his UK tenure, but it is counterintuitive for an experienced coach to think that kind of luck will continue. My guess is that Calipari has tactical reasons for everything he says publicly, but he actually knows he needs another scholarship player or two. And I’ll bet he adds at least one more before all is said and done.
As a rational, normal person, I would have to agree with messenger. It goes against every grain of common sense to feel so confident about having such a thin line between success and disaster.
HOWEVER, Cal is not wired like a normal person (fan). He sees things in a completely different light. I don’t think he is feigning confidence. I believe he really is. And if he is, I have to be.
We just need to hope for the best and realize that things can go wrong, but they can also go very right. I’m not going to jinx it by worrying about the bad posibilities.
I do believe Cal will add at least one more player, but I don’t think it will be anyone we have heard of yet. It is looking more and more like neither Jefferson or Mays will be here, so there will have to be efforts made in some other direction.
Everything will work out. In Cal I trust.
I too agree with messenger and think we need 2 more solid players one shooting guard, two an forward to make an serious run at another final four. However i am not sure if Hood and his now bench can or can not come together and give 10/12 solid min.’s of playing time .There is talent on that bench and maybe coach Cal see’s something he already has. I guess thats why coach Cal is coaching and me i am cheering .However it is good to know he loves Kentucky and has found an home because man we sure love him
Hmmm…let’s see——An eliete eight——a final four—–our eight National Championship in his three years as Coach and yet we still second guess and doubt his judgement. AAAH the nature of Kentucky Fans
That is a distortion of the truth, Ken. No one here is doubting Calipari’s judgment. I am saying that Calipari knows he needs more players on next year’s roster, just as everyone else knows it. I don’t frankly know why Calipari is suggesting he can play a full season with six scholarship players, but I believe he is saying it for some tactical reason thatisn’t obvious to me. I don’t think he actually believes it. This is not a question of whether Calipari has proven himself. We all know he has. But no coach in modern NCAA history has ever gone through a full D-1 season with only six scholarship players. And Calipari won’t, either. There is simply no reason to risk everything and lose the season over the possibility of one serious injury. There are still attractive uncommitted prospects out there, and I think it’s inevitable that Calipari will sign at least one more.
I think the tactical reason is all about the loaded 2013 recruiting class. They have a commitment from Derek Willis in hand and are in great shape with another dozen or so of the top 30 recruits. I think Cal sees a unique opportunity where he can almost pick which six or seven of those kids he wants. I don’t see it as coincidence that most of the chatter recently has been about Mark Lyons and Julius Mays, both one-and-dones of a different type than we’ve grown accustomed to seeing.
Me included! I think we do need another player and I feel Cal will get his man.
Do we go on what WE think or do we go on what Cal has done in three years as our coach ? Myself, I go on what I have seen him do in the years I have followed him living near Memphis and following him and now following him at KY. The man got the shaft by the NCAA at Memphis and Memphis knows they did and when they thought about fighting the NCAA “word” came came if they did they would be sorry. We all know that Emmert and his band of hoodlums are the worst there is and need to be disbanded.
cals great its still better to b safe than sorry….theres not much u can say against cal i mean after waitin 4ever for #8 he got it…hes the man,least 4 alittle while lol
Frankly I am still amazed at the 2nd guessing of some of BBN !!!I for one have always been a fan of John Calapari.
I sometimes wonder if we wouldn’t have already passed UCLA if he was hired to replace Pitino!!
I think they will do alright this season with what they have right now.
I am already thinking about the monster class he will have in 2013!! I bet it will be on par with the season we just had!!
But all in all, who else in college basketball, enters into these type of Conversations/thoughts??
I hope Joh Hood plays but I am not holding my breath. I want to see him succeed. Hopefully he will crack the rotation.
Several have stated that, as of now we only have 6 scholarship players, but I count 7.
Wiltjer, Hood, Harrow, Noel, Poythress, Goodwin and Calley. Remember Hood was a top-50 recruit and is a KY kid.
I am a believer in Jon Hood, a very good high school wing player with D-1 tools. Some fans have mistakenly and cynically concluded that a player must make an impact as a freshman or else he is trash. This is the sleazy, unfortunate fallout from the otherwise great story of the last several seasons of “one-and-dones”. But UK basketball history is replete with late blooming players like Jim Andrews, Larry Steele, Troy McKinley, Heshimu Evans, Cameron Mills, Anthony Epps, Jeff Sheppard, Mazr Mohammed, Jamaal Magloire, Josh Harrellson, and Darius Miller. Some of these slow developing Wildcats played key roles in NCAA championship seasons. Several of them are still playing in the NBA, and Darius may be next.
Jon Hood’s problem is on the defensive end of the court, but past Wildcats more defensively challenged than Hood have become important contributors. In terms of offensive tools, Hood can put the ball on the floor and become a midrange and perimeter scorer. Just because he didn’t shoot well in very limited pay in 2010-11 does not mean he cannot score in this offense, once given a real chance. I believe Hood will have a contributory career once he gets past his rehab and gets established in a regular playing role by Coach Calipari. At 6’7″ 220#, Hood is another long athlete with upside in this system.
But here’s the thing. Hood is recovering from a major surgical reconstruction of his knee. And although modern surgical techniques and rehab usually go well, these are still major procedures with no guaranteed outcome, requiring months of painstaking recovery work. So, although I expect and hope for a contributory season fo Hood, all of this depends on his rehab. Until he steps back onto the floor and proves that he can plant and cut, Jon Hood’s status is still a big question mark. Good luck to the young man.
To all of you who say UK fans shouldn’t “doubt Cal”, I don’t think that merely discussing the need for a few extra players constitutes “doubting Cal. In fact, its obvious that Cal himself wants more players, thats why he is still going after Jefferson and has also signed Mays. That gives him 8 players not counting Hood. And I really don’t think you can count on Hood for anything this year following his knee surgery, its fine to be hopeful and to want the Ky boy to succeed, but its delusional to expect it at this point. He has never shown anything on the college level for one, and although he may improve through his career, he has been set back by the injury most likely and it will take another year to develop into a player JMO though.