It was a frustrating night to say the least for the Kentucky basketball team as they suffered an upset loss by the hands of No. 14 seeded Oakland University, 80-76. This marks now just one win for Wildcats head coach John Calipari in the last five national tournament appearances for the program, which has people comparing him to current Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers.
It came as a reply under a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) where Jonathan Givony of ESPN had a quote from Calipari that talked about the Wildcats being “anxious” and how the coach “tried to push buttons,” but saying “they are freshman.” This would prompt a user on the social media website to compare the two coaches as Rivers has been accused of underperforming with really good teams.
“Our players were anxious. We missed a dunk, missed a layup, missed another play and it became anyone's ball game,” Calipari said. “You have to ask them (my players). I tried to push buttons to get the right combinations out there. But they are freshmen.”
John Calipari: "Our players were anxious. We missed a dunk, missed a layup, missed another play and it became anyone's ball game. You have to ask them (my players). I tried to push buttons to get the right combinations out there. But they are freshmen."
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) March 22, 2024
“Is Calipari the Doc Rivers in college basketball?” user “Chrisyellow23” asked under Givony's original post on X.
Is Calipari the Doc Rivers in college basketball? 😅
— Chris.H (@chrisyellow23) March 22, 2024
Calipari changing the structure of the Kentucky basketball team?
With a loss like this, it has prompted Kentucky basketball fans and sports media personalities to question if Calipari, despite being a highly successful head coach, should move on from college basketball. However, he was asked after the game if changing up the strategy in terms of constructing his roster was at fault and said “it's going to be hard to change that” according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN.
“I've done this with young teams my whole career, and it's going to be hard for me to change that, because we've helped so many young people and their families that I don't see myself just saying, ‘OK, we're not going to recruit freshmen,'” Calipari said.
Calipari citing the age of the team and facing more experienced teams
In the earlier comment about his team being freshman, while some may clearly label that as an excuse, it's not entirely wrong. Of the 15 players on the Wildcats roster, eight are freshman and three are sophomores, so it's a youthful group. Calipari would say that he will “look at other ways” to help the program but the current moment is “a different animal.”
“I'll look at other ways that we can do stuff, but, you know, there's — this thing here, it's a different animal,” Calipari said. “We've been able to help so many kids and win so many games and Final Fours, national titles and all this stuff, win league championships with young guys.”
“It's changed on us,” Calipari continued. “All of a sudden it's gotten really old. So we're playing teams that our average age is 19, their average age is 24 and 25. So do I change because of that? Maybe add a couple older guys to supplement.”
Calipari looking ahead and at the future of the Wildcats
In another disappointing finish for the Kentucky basketball team in an early exit from March Madness, the goal now is to rebuild for next season. For Calipari, the mindset now is to see who will be coming back next season, look at the transfer portal, but mentioning that they might not need it as they have an “unbelievable group” that he feels “really good about.”
“We've got to figure out who's coming back and who's not. We got this transfer stuff going on,” Calipari said. “We may not need it. We have an unbelievable group coming in that I feel really good about.”
“We add some guys and they stay,” Calipari continued. “I mean, you know — I'm going to — I'll meet with them tonight. I talked to them after. But I'm going to meet with them in my room tonight, and these guys took this really hard. I mean, they took it really hard, and I took it hard.”
The Wildcats finished with a 23-10 record and 13-5 in conference play as they finished fourth in the SEC. Calipari has been the head coach for the Kentucky basketball team since 2009 and has won six conference championships and even won the national title in 2012.
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