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Kentucky head coach John Calipari will be the first to admit he delved into his words after the team’s loss to Auburn on Saturday, but he supports the significance of his message.
“What you’re trying to do is I’m not trying to – I want to win every game that I coach, but on the other side, I’m not trying to take anyone’s heart. either, “Calipari said of his decision not to pitch Dontaie Allen and Jacob Toppin, the team’s two top scorers at half-time, to open the second half.
At the time, it looked like Calipari implied that the feelings of the Kentucky starters were more important than those of its cast. On his on-call radio show Monday night, however, the UK head coach said he was careful with the mental well-being of all players on his squad in a way he didn’t had never done before.
“Where we are now 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 earn as much as anyone. It’s a really different year, ”Calipari said. “I said things the other night that didn’t go well, but I’m trying to protect these players. When I said these words they were wrong, but I stand by what I meant. What these kids, and what we’ve all been through, besides the COVID, the isolation, the loneliness, the uncertainty, all of those things, I have to deal with too.
“When people say, ‘Cal is different this year,’ I am. I am different. I am more a coach of emotions than I have ever coached in my whole life. As staff, we are all trying to stay tuned to their mental well-being, more than ever. I probably should have done it sooner, but I’m much more protective of these kids and their emotions than I ever have because it’s what’s best for them right now.
When he says he “isn’t trying to take anyone’s heart,” Calipari says he means he’s trying to balance the emotions of everyone on the top-to-bottom list. It started with Dontaie Allen to start the season, but now that the Red Shirt rookie has carved out his role on this squad and is one of the major contributors to the program, he’s making sure everyone stays out. flow.
It’s not a question of stars or rankings, there are no favorites. It’s about believing everyone on the top to bottom list.
“Probably been too protective of Dontaie, put him at the start of a few games. I wanted him to be 100% physically and mentally ready for his moment, the moment he had been ready his whole life. Calipari said. “I probably could have thrown him in there more differently or faster. Right now he has found a role and it is working. Now it’s not Dontaie, we have to get the other children to move forward.
“I am not trying to delight the hearts of children. Let me tell you what I meant by that. For our team we have to have guys like BJ (Boston), Devin (Askew), Isaiah (Jackson), all these guys playing at a high level. I try to balance the coaching of their emotions so that I don’t sink into more frustration and anxiety. It’s not a normal year. It’s not a question of names, rankings, none of that. I have a strong belief in each of these children. I firmly believe in what this team is still capable of accomplishing.
“It’s still not communism. It takes time to figure things out. If you know me, you know I want to do whatever we can to win. This program is important and important to me. I love this program. “
To prove it’s “still not Communism,” Calipari said he opened training today by telling his players that the five starting places were up for grabs, with “two guys” accepting the British coach. In total, Calipari says we could see as many as four new starters in the roster, with Tuesday’s practice confirming some of the changes to the team’s trip to Georgia.
“Today in training I opened up training and said, ‘If anyone wants to start, go and dominate. Do you know what happened? I had a few guys who didn’t start who moved on to a starting position, ”Calipari said. “… Looking at all of this, we could have four different starters this game. We’re going back tomorrow, and if the guys come up on fire and are ready to go, have great emotion, fight, shoot, I can say ‘Let them start’.
“Now they have to check it tomorrow. You check, ”Calipari continued. “These are the guys who fight and make us better when they’re in the game. It’s not what they do, it’s what they do for us. Until you understand how much you need each other, you are hurting each other. Nothing is easy offensively for anyone on this team because you don’t care about each other. … This team wants to win and they are suffering from what is happening.
While he went out of his way to avoid singling out a player, he mentioned that “BJ (Boston) supports Dontaie (Allen)” and “Dontaie encourages BJ.”
“I’m going to tell you that BJ encourages Dontaie, Dontaie encourages BJ,” Calipari said. “What we need to do is make them uncomfortable like I did today, but still keep an eye on things. I have one-on-one meetings to make sure no one walks into this dark place. Let them stay tuned, stay engaged, not connected to the Internet. It’s really difficult right now. If people think this is the wrong approach, that’s fine. I’m trying to do what’s best for these kids and this program. These kids love this program, they love the University of Kentucky. “
The process hasn’t been quick or easy, noting once again that the staff must have been more careful than usual during such a tough season and year overall. But as we’ve seen him do many times over the years, he will make adjustments to the starting lineup if necessary.
The time may have come.
“You do it on a team period, you don’t just do it like ‘Bang, I’m doing it now. “If you remember last year it took me 12 games to settle into this team. It was a different starting lineup (in 2017-18) with Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander). ‘Took a while to figure out that he needed to be there, “Calipari said.” It just takes a while, but at the end of the day the cream comes in. It still does. Am I sometimes too slow to relax Yeah, but I ask you, if that was your son, your my son, do you want me to give him every chance to pass? “Please, coach. Love him, treat him like he’s your child. Or would you say, “Stop it, take it out, it’s not playing well enough.” Try someone else ”?
“I practice every day, so I see these kids every day. You can say, “Try this, try this,” but most of the time we’ve already tried it in practice. It will take the other guys an opportunity in practice and in the game to be able to stand in there and do it. It just takes time.
“… I probably could have phrased what I said the other night a little differently, but that’s what I meant.” I support these children.
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