Kentucky head coach John Calipari will be the first to admit he messed through his words after the team’s loss to Auburn on Saturday, but he backs 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 the heart away from anyone,” Calipari said of his decision to take Dontaie Allen and Jacob Toppin, the The team’s two top scorers at halftime, failing to start to open the second half.
At the time, it sounded like Calipari was suggesting that Kentucky’s entry-level feelings are more important than those of its role players. However, during his radio show Monday night, the British head coach said he is careful about the mental well-being of all the players on his team in a way he has never done before.
“Where we are now is unacceptable, I hope everyone understands that. None of us are happy, I am not happy. If you know anything about me, you know I want to win as much as everyone else. This is a very different kind of year, ”said Calipari. “I recently said some things that didn’t work out, but I’m trying to protect these players. When I said those words they came out wrong, but I’ll stick with what I meant. What these children, and what we have all experienced, in addition to the COVID, the isolation, the loneliness, the uncertainty, all this hassle, I have to deal with that too.
‘When people say,’ Cal is different this year, ‘I am. I am different. I coach emotion more than I have ever coached in my entire life. As staff, we are all trying to maintain the level of their mental well-being more than ever before. I probably should have done it sooner, but I protect these kids and their emotions much better than I ever did because that’s the best for them now. “
When he says he is “not trying to take someone’s heart away,” Calipari says he means he is trying to balance the emotions of everyone on the grid from top to bottom. It started with Dontaie Allen to kick off the season, but now that the freshman has earned his role on 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 on the squad from top to bottom.
“Probably too protective of Dontaie, put him in the start of 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. He probably could have thrown it in differently or faster. Right now he has found a role and it works. Now, it’s not Dontaie, we have to get the other kids going.
‘I’m not trying to take the hearts of children. 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 play at a high level. I try to find a balance between coaching their emotions in a way that they don’t end up in more frustration and fear. It’s not a normal year. It’s not about names, rankings, all that sort of thing. I strongly believe in all these children. I strongly believe in what this team can still achieve.
‘It’s still not communism. It takes time to figure things out. If you know me, you know I want to do everything I can to win. This program is important and also important to me. I love this program. “
To prove that it is “still not communism,” Calipari said he opened practice today by telling his players that all five starting places are up for grabs, with “a few guys” accepting the British coach’s offer. In all, Calipari says we see perhaps as many as four new starters in the lineup moving forward, with Tuesday’s practice confirming some of the changes in the team’s journey to Georgia.
“Today I opened the practice and said,” If someone wants to start, then dominate. “You know what happened? I had some guys who haven’t started yet and who have moved to a starting position,” said Calipari. “… If you look at all this, we could have this game four different starters. We’re going tomorrow. again, and when guys get on fire and are ready to go, have a lot of emotions, fight, shoot, I can say, “Let them start.”
‘Now they have to verify it tomorrow. You verify, ”Calipari continued. “They are guys who fight and make us better when they are in the game. It’s not what they do, it’s what they do for us. Until you understand how badly you need each other, you actually hurt each other. Nothing is offensive to anyone on this team for not getting it over together. … This team wants to win, and they hurt with what’s going on. “
While he did his best to prevent one player from being taken out, he did say that “BJ (Boston) is rooting for Dontaie (Allen)” and “Dontaie is rooting for BJ.”
“I’ll tell you, BJ is rooting for Dontaie, Dontaie rooting for BJ,” said Calipari. “What we have to do is make them feel uncomfortable like I did today, but still keep an eye on them. I have individual meetings to make sure no one enters that dark place. That they stay informed, stay engaged, stay off the internet. This is really difficult 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 was neither quick nor easy, again noting that staff had to be more careful than usual during such a difficult season and year in general. But as we’ve seen him do on numerous occasions over the years, he will adjust the starting lineup as needed.
Now the time may have come.
“You do it for 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 get into that team. It was a different starting line-up (in 2017-18) with Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander). It took me time to find out that he had to be in there, “Calipari said.” It just takes some time, but at the end of the day the cream rises. Always like that. Am I sometimes too slow to pull the trigger? Yes, but I ask you, if it was your son your son, would you like me to give him every chance to break through? Please, coach. Love him, treat him like he is your child. “Or would you say,” Stop, take him out, he’s not playing well enough. Try somebody else “?
“I exercise every day, so I see these kids every day. You can say, “Try this, try that,” but most of the time we’ve already tried it in practice. It will take other guys a chance to get into the practice and the game to be able to stand 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. ”