No Kentucky player who played in the loss to North Carolina was willing to talk to the media after the game. (SEC Photo)
Nothing wrong with Kentucky coach John Calipari praising Keion Brooks Jr. for “volunteering” to do the postgame press conference after UK lost to North Carolina last week even though he’s hurt and did not play in the game. Calipari said he was “proud” of Brooks during his postgame press conference and shared the same message again Monday night on his radio show.
“So the team in the locker room, you had tears, you had guys, it was hard because I think we all thought we were gonna win that game,” Calipari said on his call-in show. “And some guys played poorly, some guys didn’t play with the energy they needed to.
“And Keion walked out and said ‘Coach I’m gonna do the media and I said ‘Well why are you gonna stand up there and take the bullets? You didn’t play’ He said ‘Coach they need me to do this and I need to show them what leadership is about.’ Oh my gosh was I proud.”
He should have been. Nice move by Brooks to protect his younger teammates.
But why no mention about any concerns over no player who did play in the game willing to be accountable for the loss?
Olivier Sarr and Davion Mintz are both seniors with plenty of postgame interview experience and players who have lost college games before. However, Kentucky’s freshmen all came to UK knowing what the fan and media spotlights were like and to bail out after poor play in the team’s fifth straight loss is just another sign of this team’s lack of mental toughness.
No, it’s not easy being out there alone taking questions about why the team cannot make shots, get stops or quit turning the ball over. However, going all the way back to the Billy Gillispie era I can remember Patrick Patterson, Jodie Meeks and others being available after losses. Same with UK’s 2012-13 team that went to the NBA. Those Cats didn’t bail out on taking responsibility for their play.
Now I don’t know how emotional or disruptive the locker room was or what was said that eventually led to Cam’Ron Fletcher being asked to leave the team. I just know it’s a bad long-term sign for this team that players who thought they were good enough to win a national title and be lottery picks a few months ago suddenly want no part of explaining what’s wrong with this team.
Again, too much I and not enough we as former UK All-American and current UK Radio Network analyst Mike Pratt said earlier this week on the Leach Report.
Kentucky has a scheduled media opportunity Thursday morning with Calipari and “select players” available. We’ll see who comes out — if anybody does — to face the media knowing questions are going to be asked about what went on after the loss at North Carolina.
