Calipari Talks UK, UGA, AU And More
September 28th, 2010 01:13 PM║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink
║ Schools: Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee
John Calipari had plenty to say yesterday at a speaking engagement in Birmingham… but not about Eric Bledsoe.
Here are some highlights from Coach Cal’s chat:
* On last season’s team and it’s loss to West Virginia in the Elite Eight:
Do you know how badly we wanted to play Duke (in last year’s Final Four)? I think that’s why we played so badly against West Virginia. We wanted Duke so badly we couldn’t see straight.
“I’ll be honest. I really felt we had the best team, not at the beginning (of the season), but at the end. The one thing we were fearful of is that we’d go on a shooting slump, which was the question about our team from Day One. But we made shots, we willed shots in. And that game, we went 0 for 20 and I kept saying, ‘We’re going to be alright, and their eyes are like, no we’re not.
“How about that? Five first-round picks on one team, and that dummy couldn’t win a national title.”
* On UK’s offense with freshman point guard Brandon Knight:
“I never wanted to bring another defender to my best player. With this young man, I think I’m going to do more pick-and-rolls so he can read, ala Steve Nash, and find people.”
* On Georgia flying under the radar:
“Georgia has two of the best players in our conference.”
* On Auburn’s new arena:
The Auburn Arena is “unbelievable” and will “put Auburn on another page and another step up.”
* On impermissible phone calls and text messages:
Those are not “the issue” compared to dealing with runners and agents. “There are only 25 basketball players that the agents are worried about. … In football, how many is it? 70? 60? So we have to get it under control. I think we will.”
As usual, Calipari carried himself well. He was self-deprecating, positive about rival SEC programs, and he even passed up an impermissible phone call shot he could’ve taken at rival coach Bruce Pearl.
Calipari has everyone in America eyeing him. There’s not a soul who wouldn’t like to catch him cheating. But no one has. That tells me he’s not cheating.
Oh, sure, he takes some chances with players who might have someone else bending rules for them, but the plausible deniability remains for Calipari. Twice his programs have paid for his dice rolls. He’ll live with that stigma even though he’s never personally been sent to the NCAA penalty box.
But as an ambassador for his school’s program? No one has any problems with him while he’s in town. (It’s after he leaves that folks sour on him.)
Kentucky’s top man is simply one of those coaches who rival fans love to hate. That’s not going to change and UK fans had better get used it.
But the man isn’t the Prince of Darkness that many make him out to be.
