John Calipari wants his team to believe in itself as much as he believes in them. (Vicky Graff Photo)
After Kentucky’s win over Auburn Saturday, coach John Calipari said he wanted this team to be “something people talk about for the next 20 years.” That might not sound surprising since UK is having a historically bad season. Even with Saturday’s win, Kentucky is only 6-13 and seemingly headed for its worst record in the lifetime of almost every UK basketball fan.
Except that was not what Calipari meant. He wants this team talked about because of the great turnaround he still believes it can make.
“This may be one of those years that if we keep this going, that I talk about this was the greatest year for me ever,” Calipari said.
You have to love his optimism and I do remember the skepticism I had in 2014 when Aaron Harrison said after a late February butt-kicking at South Carolina that UK could still “write its own story” and the Cats did reach the national title game.
But this team is only 5-7 in SEC play and still not out of danger having to play five games in five days to win the SEC Tournament to even get into the NCAA Tournament.
“All I can tell you is this team is fighting,” the UK coach said. “They haven’t given up one bit.”
That was clear Saturday in the 82-80 win over Auburn after UK had lost 81-80 to Arkansas Tuesday. Former UK standout Scott Padgett said before the game the fight the team showed in that game would tell a lot about the players’ character. The Cats did not always play well but they did play hard and that’s part of why Calipari is encouraged that his team can make a dramatic turnaround.
“I’m trying to get them to believe what I believe and I’m trying to motivate them that way. I’m trying to hug them and be positive, yet here’s the tightrope we walk, you gotta hold them accountable,” Calipari said.
“My hope now is these kids get it. We can look back but I tell you we got another tough game and another tough game and another tough game. There’s no easy games. We just gotta worry about us getting better. If we continue to grow and come together as a team and limit these turnovers — cause we’re not trying to be heroes — we’re trying to play basketball as a team and keep defending and blocking shots and rebounding. Winning will take care of itself.”
Calipari has stressed all season that the pandemic has created unique issues for UK compared to other teams. He’s noted how difficult no summer or typical preseason workouts were on his young team. He’s also noted time after time that he made the schedule too difficult early despite saying all summer he really liked his team.
“I just want to keep painting the picture that I believe in you. We have some flaws. We have some limitations. But guess what, so does everybody else,” Calipari said. “We also have enough. I’ve done this now 30-something years. We have enough to win.
“The mental toughness, the physical toughness is the thing that’s still in flux. If we ever get that — like today it was Isaiah (Jackson). The rest of the guys couldn’t come near a ball, but Isaiah did,” Calipari said. “What if we had two-three guys play like Isaiah? You can have a bad shooting night and still win.”
