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“Children finally fought.”
John Calipari’s side didn’t win Tuesday night at Rupp Arena, but they fought like hell.
Falling behind by 12 points with just over six minutes to go, Kentucky still looked like the same old Kentucky team we’ve seen lose several times before. They just didn’t have the juice to come back and win. You could feel it.
“There were eight or ten of us and then we took a shot and I had to get on top of them because they were doing that hanging head again,” Calipari recalls on the UK Sports Radio Network’s post-match show. “I’m like, we lost four baskets. There are five minutes left. Let’s go! To play! Throw daggers. Today we threw daggers.
Calipari implored his team this week to throw daggers. He’s been begging them all season to come together as a team. He struggled to press the right buttons for each individual to fully trust each other. Tonight Calipari could see this linked team as one, manifesting itself in something simple that is often overlooked: coats of arms.
“If you’re playing badly, what are you doing to help our team win? Maybe it’s talking. Maybe it’s to block. Maybe you are diving on the ground. Maybe you steal and do an extra pass because you know I can’t shoot right now. What are you doing to help us win? Or do you bow your head because of the way you play? Today they have started to backtrack.
“I loved it – we talked about nails. It’s hard to snuggle up if two guys don’t want to come in because they are so upset with the way they are playing. Today, have you seen these partitions? They’re like my teams from the past, the last 30 years.
Calipari then began to shout: “They huddled! They clung! They were on top of each other! They challenged each other. Finally! They need each other FINALLY! Now we have to build from there.
Kentucky is running out of time to build on what Calipari has seen today. Whatever the outcome of tonight’s game, they finally accomplished a few important goals
“Our team fought like hell and they finally won the last four minutes of the game,” Calipari said. “This team had to rely on each other instead of trying to be one on one in both attack and defense. Finally, we were together because we knew we needed each other.”
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