Kentucky fans are tired of tournament losses and disappointment in March. (Vicky Graff Photo)
By KERI SCAGGS, Contributing Writer
John Calipari likes to say, “Be mad at me, not the players.” I can do that.
You are the CEO of what used to be the gold standard for college basketball. Now, the Wildcats are just another team whose glory days are about a decade old. No one is scared to play the Cats at Rupp — or anyplace else for that matter.
And while I’ve been mad, like many I’ve also been sad and frustrated. To see this much talent squandered is a head-scratcher and hard to watch.
Hard to get excited. Hard not to be anxious because you never know what team is gonna show up. This great group of young men has given us some amazing moments. Flashes of real brilliance. But those in charge were unable to get them to their full potential.
However, they will most likely reach that potential in the NBA. Over the years many criticized Cal for making Kentucky a farm system for the league. I think it’s safe to say that a lot of fans didn’t mind that — as long as the Cats were in the hunt for a title every season. But those seasons are long gone, and Cal is paid to make Kentucky basketball great, not the NBA.
There’s so much to be dissected here, but I think the main thing is what Kyle Tucker of The Athletic wrote about at the beginning of the season: he has lost his way. It is a story as old as time with successful people. Little by little the ones who tell them the hard truths are exiled or move on, and those who replace them are more concerned with losing their jobs and status than doing the difficult things. An environment is created where dissent is no longer valued and the tone deafness takes off like wildfire
We could all understand how tough it can be to navigate “the noise” (as he calls it). With social media amplifying all the criticism, it has to get old. BUT IT’S WHY THEY PAY YOU THE BIG BUCKS. You have to have the wisdom to chew up the hay and spit out the sticks. It’s also why you look petty and small when you duck out of pressers when you lose but preen like a peacock when you win one big game.
You are paid to take the heat, to lead with excellence, not close yourself off into your own kingdom and echo chamber. It is a recipe for disaster, and we’re seeing it play out in front of our faces, being played for fools. We can all see the emperor has no clothes, right? It’s like the Wizard of Oz: pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
To hear him talk about tweaks, how they are freshmen, they aren’t robots or machines, teams play out of their minds against us. Well, what’s the common denominator here? Prepare for it! We knew Oakland had a dude who could put up 3’s and they would play zone and the Wildcats looked like they were surprised by it all. You are in charge, and if you don’t understand how people are weary and tired of hearing the same ol’ schtick it is clear you’ve lost the ability to be self-aware.
Sadly, the tone-deafness isn’t just with Cal. You’ve got people pulling down big salaries who are expecting the fans in the Bluegrass to pony up thousands of dollars to follow the teams, regardless of performance (and this is not a rich state). These people do not have to watch every penny or plan their vacations around tournaments. Speaking of …
To see what’s happened to Kentucky in the SEC tournament is a slap in the face to families who made it their big trip. It was a special weekend, often for the folks who couldn’t afford to go in the regular season or even dream of buying tickets for the NCAA. This was IT. When I renewed my tickets for 2022-23, I put in for the conference. My seats are in the upper level, so my hopes weren’t high. But, I got them and forked out $700 for the entire weekend. We drove down on Friday, lost to Vandy, and were back in the car at 7 a.m. Saturday. I tried to sell the remaining games, but guess what — when Kentucky is gone, no one is buying. I lost about $500 on that deal and said never again. The risk is too great.
And this is where it gets lost on some. It isn’t about winning, or being a fair-weather fan. It’s about being asked to fork out a small fortune for what will most likely be disappointment. The last several years have played out that way and there seems to be no interest in planning for the long haul of the program or understanding what’s made Kentucky something that generations have wanted to experience.
Should we all be grateful for the first half of his tenure? Absolutely. The joy during those years was second-to-none, and Kentucky felt like, well, Kentucky. But it is clear the relationship is no longer healthy for anyone.
The fans are being told everything is fine, we’ve got a great group coming in, same ol’ same ol’. At this point it feels like we’re being gaslit, unappreciated and often unfairly criticized. We. Are. Tired.
It was the great Cawood Ledford who said “And the lights just went out all over the state of Kentucky” after an NCAA loss. It’s true, and it hurts. I just wish the ones with the power switch in their hands knew it.
55 Responses
Ok, coach. I’m mad at you. You happy?
Cal needs to go. He doesn’t have it anymore. And after what I’ve witnessed the past 5 years…I’m not convince he ever had it. All he can do is recruit. When it comes to just fundamental (or any kind of coaching)…he’s an imbecile.
Cal says "be mad at me" then gets mad when the fans get mad at him.
Absolutely. Then you get called a basketball Benny. Or you must not be a "real fan". Cal spills the banks of talking in circles , contradictions , clichés, and sentence fragments a person can’t hardly keep up.
Funny…this story is exactly the discussion I had with my brother a week ago! I had told him that it seems as though Cal and the administration care about the kids coming into the program but not the kids watching the program! That some how they have disconnect the college community from their objective to further the advancement of a select group of student/players. It actually looks like our current political environment!
Amen
Time for a change. That would be best for all parties.
It is a time to change coaches and the AD..
Look at the amount of talent he’s squandered in college. Good grief
So true, Dirks Minefield, I think most of Cal’s recruits want to win. But mostly they want to impress NBA scouts. Guys like Reed Sheppard play for the name on the jersey also.
First this commentary is very well put in light of everything that is going on with Kentucky basketball. I’m sure i’m alone in the pain we are all feeling. I’m hoping that the powers to be will make the right decision number one for these kids that are giving their all for our satisfaction..
I’ve wanted him gone since pre 2017 season. I started to miss the players being here for 3-4 years. Even when a stud freshman McDonalds American would sign with us he would stay 2-3 years. Because he had players around him that had been here 3 or 4 years chasing a championship. That’s how you really build for march. Not trying to figure every player out on the team every year. You don’t get to see players stay and get better every year. That’s why I was always a fan of getting players ranked 30-100 in the rankings. They usually stay 3-4 years and watch them grow from a teenager to a man and get gradually better every year and they are still however you recruit them to be. If you have a team full of athletes and the game has shifted to more 3s being launched in the history of basketball my guess is you need some shooters. A great team usually needs 4-5 guys who can really shoot the ball good and 2-3 others who are decent at shooting. Calapari doesn’t care if he has 10 slashers he is still gonna go after that #22 recruit who is a slasher over the guy who’s ranked #98 who can shoot the ball. His teams never mix. If Oscar is would have came back and I heard that he wanted to come back calapari told him to leave because the draft wasn’t as good last year as this years because he thought Edwards and Wagner and Bradshaw was all gonna be lottery picks and it would overshadow Oscar. But Oscar was clearly 10 times better than any of our bigs this year. I heard people say Oscar would hurt this team but I think that’s a silly accusation. How can a man who dominates college basketball hurt the team. He would have been the leader of this team and the younger players would have loved him. Our post presence hurt us all year. I don’t know how many balls I seen hit big z right in the chest and its not hid fault he needs time getting used to American basketball he should come back next year. I don’t know how many times I seen the ball ripped and taken away from Bradshaw. He needs to hit the weight room and gain about 15 pounds of muscle and come back and improve his all around game. UGO should transfer to greener pastures. I don’t think his game fits Kentucky he would do good at like seton hall. Edwards should improve but I wouldn’t want to take another chance wasting slot of minutes on a player with a low motor. He reminds me of Brooks but Brooks was a little better player. Bring Sheppard back and Thiero and your talking about a incredible nucleus for next year. We need to add 1 transfer point guard because nobody on kentuckys team this year was a true point guard and thats desperately needed. Boogie fland is better than anyone on this years team dribbling and passing the ball. Dillingham plays street ball but that’s not taking away from him being a great player his game just transfers more to the NBA than college. We desperately need a fast point guard who can shoot the 3 ball. We have 2 centers coming in and we have 3 on the roster you could say that big z and Bradshaw are power forwards but they don’t move good enough to be a 4 in the NBA. I think Dillingham leaves. I think Wagner leaves. I think Ugo leaves. I think Edwards leaves. I think Sheppard is a 5050 I think Bradshaw is a 5050 I think big z is a 5050. I think Burks is a 5050 to transfer. Run young man. I think Hart transfers. Run young man. I think Thiero comes back and is the leader of the team next year. He will be a 6’9" nightmare next year. Go Big Blue
Bingo. Best players Thursday were the two old guys. Now, Coach must know something about teaching, because the guys who do stick around do get demonstrably better year over year – we just need more of them, and fewer (or even no!) one-n-dones. Imagine if we’d had just one more Antonio in the mix this year – or last. This COVID bubble of extra-year guys will pass, but I’d still like to watch young men grow over 2-3 years and see only the rare phenoms make the early jump … and my advice to every single one of our current frosh? Come back next year; you ain’t near ready to go pro just yet.
Where have you had your coaching experience?
Hope bid z comes back and you think Wagner would be much better next year ??? Ithink Reid is gone but who know with the nil money , What ya think about the kid from lyon county , such a pure shooter
Let those seats at Rupp start being empty & then we night see a change.
You are so right Sheila Watson. Money is always the deciding factor.
Very true. The home schedule has been a joke for many years, and it get worse every season. It is a disrespectful way to treat those who buy season tickets. Plus, this season they lost in Rupp 4 times!
Cal loves players that take the blame…it takes him off the hook
John, it’s time!
Be careful what you wish for! Wasn’t it Barnhard who brought in Billy Gillespie
Good one Ed, and an excellent point.
UK basketball is no longer a college program. It is a NBA G League team prepping players for success in the NBA. They do not care about a college degree.
I was at Rupp in its inaugural season. I had ’78. My father was a professor at UK, where he spent much of the summer with me in tow. I remember watching Minnifield play pick-up games. I played tennis next to Bowie on UK’s tennis courts. I was in my prime during the Pitino years. I was ecstatic when Cal came to UK. We’ll always have 2012. The long-term fans understand the arc of the program over time. We know it is simply time to move on. We’ll welcome Cal back with welcome arms when he returns to be commemorated in 5 or 10 years.
It would cost about $30mil to buy out his lifetime contract. Rich alumni can get together and give him his walking papers. Ky should learn not to do a contract like this again. The coach that ended up with the job they were offering Cal is doing quite well and I’m sure no where near the cost of Cal. Performance should always be in a sports contract. Be mad at those responsible for the lifetime contract.
Don’t get mad, be glad…FIRE THE FRAUD!
I’m not going to another game until Kentucky has a new coaching staff…top to bottom.
That’s a great decision and one that needs to be made by any true Kentucky fan, because when you go to the game your not only supporting the team but your supporting the coach as well. I would love to get Mark Few of Gonzaga he’s been to 9 straight sweet 16s and I think 3 or 4 final 4s in that span. It baffles me that he’s not on every Kentucky fans wish list. I’ve heard alot of people who wants Bruce Pearl I think he would do better than Calapari but it doesn’t take much to do better. Drew at Baylor would definitely recruit top 5 classes every year and he’s a better coach than calapari. Billy Donovan will never walk through the door he’s content in the NBA. Out of all the coaches me personally I want Mark Few. He does a good job at recruiting for it being a small school and he would recruit better at Kentucky and we would actually have a college basketball team again and not a NBA farm team.
John has gotten fat off UK in more ways than 1
😆 so true Dirks minefield 💯
If someone donates to buying Calipari out, is that tax deductible since it is for disaster relief?
you win the internet for today
😄😆😂
You are free to like any team you want. If it bothers you so bad just choose another team to pull for. I enjoyed watching this team play, just happen to not shoot well in a game where one of the opposing teams players played out of his mind. Move on and quit complaining.
Could we please start a go fund me acct to help pay for the buyout that Mitch created?
Well written rant. Aside from the hair-pulling absurdity of the one and done model I loved the early Calipari years. But then he stopped worrying about winning and became more of a philanthropist who cared more about getting guys drafted. That’s an honorable pursuit but it’s not what he’s paid to do. The icing on the cake is the regurgitated excuses and sound bites, collapsed relationships with media and fans, and worst of all, throwing players under the bus and refusing to take responsibility for any of the failures. Not to mention the failure to WIN the last 4 years. He should have had the presence of mind to walk away 4 years ago while on top but I am assuming his ego loved the spotlight too much.
Well said and true Pblue!
Cal thinks he is bigger than the UK program. we were here before Cal and we will be here after Cal. We want the players to find success after basketball whether that is in the NBA or another career. However, just trying to produce a professional basketball player for the NBA without the UK program having success in SEC and NCAA tournament is not acceptable. For that person who is worried what we had before Cal, Billy G never lost 3 home games.
Why are we putting up with this mediocrity? We (Kentucky taxpayers and fans and alum) didn’t put up with it from Joe B. Eddie Sutton, Tubby, and Billie G! Why are we putting up with all the historical losses and mediocrity now? This acceptance is the true definition of insanity. Old team, young team, it doesn’t matter with this coach. He just makes excuses. Come on, Cal makes $8.5 million a year from the Kentucky taxpayers for this mediocrity. If he were making $3 or 4 million, I would be more forgiving! (Not really!) I graduated from UK. I’ve been done with Cal since we lost to UNC in the Elite 8. No one is IRREPLACEABLE. No one. His contract has an offset and is prorated over the life of the contract if he is let go. Let’s get it done. We have the money.
33.34 million reasons why. Thanks Mitch!!
His contract expires in 2029, so the buyout is $6.6 million a year not counting the offset if Cal gets another coaching gig. Mitch, get it done and help Cal find another coaching gig, say, maybe in the Big East or ACC.
We pay Stoops more than Cal and he has not won anything other than against weak teams. Should he be fired? Barnhart gave him the contract. Stoops off the field reputation is not good. He has a new qb every year, kinda like one and done, are tired of that? If Cal is bought out then who do we get? Few, forget it. Wright, really??? Some want Pitino or Bruce, you are sick. Who out there can put up with what Ky fans want? I would tell Cal one more year, he has earned that. But he must get rid of Antiqua and Coleman and bring back Kenny Payne. Our slide started when Kenny left. If Cal won’t do it, buy him out.
His one more year should have been this year. Most people believed that if this team failed which it ultimately did it was Calipari’s issues. Calapari has been known as a defensive coach and his offense was stagnant, so this year most games they were fun to watch offensively but Calapari couldn’t even get them to play basic defense most games. As good as Dillingham was on offense I watched him get down in his defensive stance only to watch the opposing guard blow right past him.Cal always said he doesn’t promise playing time, but he constantly played Wagner and Edward’s hoping they would have breakout games which rarely happened. Maybe we wouldn’t have to fight from behind most of the start of the games if he had started Sheppard and Dillingham, but no he always used the excuse that playing time was all that matters.
Coach, whatever you’re selling, we ain’t buying no more. We’re one and done, no more. Time for a change, Mitch can go too. What about a lifetime contract? Who in their right mind would do such a thing? It’s all about the money now days. You say my team all the time, no Coach, they’re our team, you’re just going along for the ride. I’ve been watching the CATS since 73/74 season, born and raised right here in this great state of Kentucky. You were given way to much power for the University. Time to end that, Go CATS!!
I have always been a Calipari fan. He is very personable and has done a lot of good philanthropically. He has represented the University well. But I agree that it is time to move on. All good things usually come to an end. We are there.
Trying to make sense of it all. Lifetime contract, NBA farm, squandered talent. Massive inconsistencies. Losing to an unranked team then beating a top 10 team. The Kentucky jersey means nothing to "one and done" kids. Who’s getting kick-backs?
The fraud says this every season.
Hey, Calipari, no one is angry with the players. In fact, I feel great sympathy for the players who cannot develop to their potential because of the PET PRACTICE tied to NBA DRAFT NIGHT.
I am particularly sympathetic about players not on the FRAUD"S PET LIST.
I was really frustrated the last few years. We couldn’t finish the deal. Well, unless the deal was an NBA career. We seem to have no plan, except the one made in October. It must have been perfect. I wanted change, but I decided Cal deserved one more changed. He had the #1 rated class coming in and ended up adding Reeves and Mitchell – how could you do any better than that. W did set a bunch of records this, ALL BAD. I’ll keep watching UK basketball, because I’ve done it my whole life. But I don’t believe in Cal. I think he’s proven, ONE and DONE is accurate. He won the NCAA in 2012, and now he’s done. Note that since Rupp, our best coaches have been One and Done as well. Time to move on. I see 2 options, remove Cal or remove Barnhard (and then Cal). Somethings gotta change.
What if they had a UK game and no one came? What if Big Blue Madness was Big Blue Sadness – maybe it already was? Sad times for lifetime fans.
And how much more money and success would these NBA campers from UK would be worth if they learned toughness and doing what has to be done to do the job.
We have been terrible for most of 7 years. Always lame excuses, always condescending attitude, always smug looks, always mindless comments & lies, usually a jackass. Good man, great recruiter, poor at preparations, cannot make an in-game adjustment to save his life, questionable motivator, etc…. what a waste of all the talent we’ve had – and only one title – in 15 years.
Cal has financially raped Kentucky for 15 years. Enough. Do something for the Sate, the school and millions of fans who support it. We don’t want a NBA training team.
Ok Cal has noooooooooo excuse for the way our big men play . The other teams just back down on us and jump up scoring on us . You could take any of our 7 footers and hand them the ball 4 feet from the basket and they would have no clu what to do with it . Its a shame !!!
Be careful what you wish for. We would take him back in a heartbeat. He gave UMass a once in a lifetime sniff of the big time. Calm down and enjoy your elite status. It can go away quickly.UMIE
It is time for change. Do the people in charge have what it takes ( guts/balls) to do what needs to be done?
NOPE!!!
Gary Rick would not leave for the money took 50 million and left for Boston. Cal gets a lifetime contract and enough time to milk UKfor 50 million. Sorry don’t see a difference