Kentucky head coach John Calipari will be the first to admit that he struggled through his words after the team’s loss to Auburn on Saturday, but he stands behind the meaning of his message.
“What you’re trying to do is, I’m not trying – I want to win every game I coach, but the other side is: I’m not trying to take anyone’s heart away,” Calipari said, deciding not to let Dontaie Allen and Jacob Toppin, the team ‘s two leading scorers at halftime, starting to open the second half.
At the time, it sounded as if Calipari was implying that Kentucky’s entrees were more important than those of its role players. However, the British head coach said during his call-in radio program on Monday night that he was careful with the mental well-being of all the players in his team in a way he had never done before.
‘Where we are at present is unacceptable, I hope everyone understands that. None of us are happy, I’m not happy. If you know anything about me, you know I want to win as much as anyone. It’s a very different year, ‘said Calipari. ‘I said things the other night that did not come right, but I try to protect these players. When I say these words, it comes out wrong, but I stand by what I meant. What these children and what we all went through, in addition to the COVID, the isolation, the loneliness, the uncertainty, all these things, I also have to deal with this.
“When people say, ‘Cal is different this year,’ I am. I’m different. I coach emotion more than I have ever coached in my entire life. As staff, we are all more than ever trying to keep up with their spiritual well-being. I probably should have done it sooner, but I protect these kids and their emotions a lot more than I ever had because it’s the best for them now. ‘
When he says that he is ‘not trying to take away anyone’s heart’, Calipari says that he means that he is trying to balance the emotions of everyone on the roster from top to bottom. It started with Dontaie Allen to start the season, but now that the first-year student has worked out his role in this team and is one of the biggest contributors to the program, he makes sure everyone else stays afloat.
It’s not about the stars or the rankings, there are no favorites. It’s about believing in everyone from top to bottom in everyone.
‘Dontaie was probably too protective, introducing him early in a few games. I wanted him to be 100% physically and mentally ready for his moment, the moment he was ready all his life. Calipari said. ‘Maybe he would have thrown himself in there differently or faster. At the moment he got a role and it works. This is not Dontaie, we need to get the other kids going.
‘I’m not trying to take away the heart of the child. Let me tell you what I meant by that. For our team, we need to get guys like BJ (Boston), Devin (Askew), Isaiah (Jackson), who play all these guys at a high level. I try to balance the coaching of their emotions in a way where it no longer falls into frustration and anxiety. This is not a normal year. It’s not about names, rankings or any of those things. I believe very strongly in each of these children. I have a strong belief in what this team can still accomplish.
“It’s still not communism. It takes time to figure things out. If you know me, you know I want to do everything in our power to win. This program is important and it is important to me. I like this program. ”
To prove that it ‘is still not communism’, Calipari said he was practicing today by telling his players that all five starting places are at stake, while a few guys’ take the British coach on his offer. In total, Calipari says we can see as many as four new starters in the series moving forward, with Tuesday’s practice confirming that some changes in the team’s trip to Georgia are confirmed.
“Today I practiced and said, ‘If anyone wants to start, go dominate. “Do you know what happened? “I had some guys who had not started yet, and moved on to a starting position,” Calipari said. ‘… If we consider it all, we could have four different entrees in this game. We’re going again tomorrow, and when guys get on fire and are ready to go, have a lot of emotion, fight, shoot, I can say, “Let them start.”
“Now they have to verify it tomorrow. You’re verifying, ‘Calipari continued. “These are guys who fight and make us better when they’re in the game. This is not what they do, this is what they do for us. Until you understand how badly you need each other, you basically hurt each other. Nothing is easily offensive to anyone in this team because you do not care about each other. … This team wants to win and is hurting about what’s going on. ‘
While going out of his way to prevent him from singleing out one player, he does mention that ‘BJ (Boston) is rooting for Dontaie (Allen)’ and ‘Dontaie is rooting for BJ.’
“I’ll tell you, BJ root for Dontaie, Dontaie root for BJ,” Calipari said. “What we need to do is make them uncomfortable like I did today, but still keep an eye on things. I hold separate meetings to make sure no one goes into that dark place. That they stay up to date, get engaged and stay off the internet. It’s really hard now. If people think this is the wrong approach, that’s fine. I try to do what is best for these kids and this program. These kids love this program, they love the University of Kentucky. ”
The process was not quick or easy, and once again noted that the staff during such a difficult season and year generally had to be more careful than usual. But as we have seen him do on several occasions over the years, he will adjust the starting lineup if necessary.
Now it could be that time.
‘You do it over a period of a team, you don’t do it just like‘ Afraid, I do it now. ‘If you remember last year, it cost me 12 games to settle in that team. It was a different starting lineup (in 2017-’18) with Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander). It took me a while to realize that he had to be there, ”said Calipari. ‘It just takes time, but at the end of the day, the cream rises. It always does. Am I sometimes too slow to trigger? Yes, but I ask you, if it was your son, your boy, do you want me to give him a chance to penetrate? ‘Please, coach. Love him, treat him like he’s your child. Or would you say, ‘Stop, take him out, he’s not playing well enough. Is someone else trying ”?
“I practice every day, so I see these kids every day. You can say, “Try it, try it,” but we’ve mostly tried it in practice. It will take other guys in practice and execution of the game a chance to be able to stand there and do it. It just takes time.
‘… I could probably put it a little differently the other night, but that’s what I meant. I stand by these children. ”