Kentucky coach John Calipari will be the first to admit he fumbled after the team’s loss to Auburn on Saturday, but he kept the meaning of his message.
“What you’re trying to do is, I’m not trying – I want to win every game I train, but the flip side is, I’m not trying to take anyone’s heart,” said Calipari of his decision not to call Dontaie Allen and Jacob Toppin, the team’s two top scorers at halftime, to open the second half.
At the time, it seemed that Calipari was implying that the feelings of the Kentucky players are more important than those of his players. During his radio show on Monday night, however, the UK coach said he was being cautious about the mental well-being of all the players on his team in a way he never did before.
“Where we are now is unacceptable, I hope everyone understands this. None of us are happy, I am not happy. If you know anything about me, you know that I want to earn as much as anyone. This is a really different type of year, ”said Calipari. “I said a few things the other night that didn’t work out, but I’m trying to protect these players. When I said those words, they came out wrong, but I stick to what I meant. What these children, and what we all went through, besides COVID, the isolation, the loneliness, the uncertainty, all these things, I have to deal with that too.
“When people say,” Cal is different this year, “I stay. I am different. I am training emotions more than I have ever trained in my life. As a team, we are all trying to stay in tune with your mental well-being, more than ever. I probably should have done this before, but I’m being a lot more protective of these kids and their emotions than ever before, because that’s what’s best for them now. “
When he says “he is not trying to take anyone’s heart”, Calipari says he means he is trying to balance the emotions of everyone on the list from top to bottom. It all started with Dontaie Allen to start the season, but now that the redshirt freshman has won his role in this team and is a major contributor to the program, he is ensuring that everyone else remains afloat.
These are not stars or ratings, there are no favorites. It’s about believing everyone in the lineup from top to bottom.
“He was probably very protective of Dontaie, I put him at the beginning of some games. I wanted him to be 100% physically and mentally ready for his moment, the moment when he was ready all his life. ”Calipari said. “I could probably have thrown him there more differently or more quickly. At the moment, he has found a role and is working. Now, it’s not Dontaie, we have to make the other kids go.
“I am not trying to take the children’s hearts. Let me tell you what I meant by that. For our team, we have to get guys like BJ (Boston), Devin (Askew), Isaiah (Jackson), all these guys playing at a high level. I’m trying to balance the training of your emotions so that they don’t fall into more frustration and anxiety. It is not a normal year. It’s not about names, classifications, anything like that. I have a strong belief in each of these children. I have a strong belief in what this team is capable of.
“It is not yet communism. It takes time to figure things out. If you know me, you know that I want to do everything we can to win. This program is important and it is important to me. I love this program. “
To prove that “it’s not communism yet,” Calipari said he opened training today by telling his players that all five starting places are up for grabs, with “some guys” accepting the UK coach’s offer. In total, Calipari says we can see up to four new entrants on the team moving forward, with training on Tuesday confirming some of the changes that have taken place on the team’s trip to Georgia.
“Today, in practice, I opened the practice and said:” If someone wants to start, they will dominate “. Do you know what happened? I had some guys who haven’t started yet and moved on to a starting position, ”said Calipari. “… Looking at all of this, we could have four different beginners in this game. Let’s go again tomorrow, and if the guys go up in flames and are ready to go, have a lot of excitement, fight, shoot, I can say “get started”.
“Now they have to check it out tomorrow. You check, ”continued Calipari. “It’s the guys who are fighting and make us better when they are in the game. It is not what they are doing, it is what they are doing for us. Until you understand how much you need each other, you are basically hurting yourself. Nothing is offensively easy for anyone on this team because you are not succeeding with each other. … This team wants to win and is suffering from what is happening. “
Although he did his best to avoid choosing a player, he mentioned that “BJ (Boston) is rooting for Dontaie (Allen)” and “Dontaie is rooting for BJ”.
“I’ll tell you, BJ is rooting for Dontaie, Dontaie is rooting for BJ,” said Calipari. “What we have to do is make them uncomfortable like I did today, but still keep an eye on things. I am having one-on-one meetings to make sure that no one will enter that dark place. That they are tuned, engaged, outside the Internet. This is very difficult now. If people think this is the wrong approach, fine. I am trying to do what is best for these children and this program. These kids love this program, they love the University of Kentucky. “
The process was not quick or easy, again noting that the team had to be more cautious than usual during such a difficult season and year in general. But, as we have seen him do on several occasions over the years, he will make adjustments to the starting lineup when necessary.
Now may be that time.
“You do this during a team period, not just like,” Bang, I’m doing it now. ” If you remember last year, it took me 12 games to settle on that team. It was a different starting lineup (in 2017-18) with Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander). It took me time to find out that he needed to be there, ”said Calipari. “It takes time, but at the end of the day the cream goes up. It’s always that way. Am I sometimes too slow to fire? Yes, but I ask you, if it were your son, your son, would you like me to give him every chance to pop? “Please, coach. Love him, treat him as if he were your son. “Or would you say,” Stop, take him out, he’s not playing well. Try someone else ”?
“I am training every day, so I see these children every day. You can say, “Try this, try that”, but most of the time we have already tried it in practice. It will be necessary for other players to have an opportunity to practice and enter the game to be able to be there and do that. Takes time.
“… I could probably have formulated what I said the other night a little differently, but that’s what I meant. I defend these children. ”