John Calipari after Kentucky's 1-6 start: 'This was the stupidest schedule I've ever put together'
The Kentucky Wildcats fell to 1-6 with a disappointing 62-59 loss at rival Louisville on Saturday afternoon.
It is a historically awful start for the Wildcats, but not all the 6 losses have been bad. No, this isn’t an elite Kentucky team thus far, but it has played some top teams.
The Wildcats’ 6 losses have come against Kansas, Richmond, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Louisville. The only really “bad” loss in there was against Georgia Tech.
But, after Saturday’s loss, coach John Calipari put the blame on his shoulders, saying he should have scheduled a few easier games to give the Wildcats a chance to build confidence by winning:
John Calipari: "You gotta play games you can win to build confidence. And this was the stupidest schedule I've ever put together."
— Ben Roberts (@BenRobertsHL) December 26, 2020
John Calipari: “This was the stupidest schedule I’ve ever put together. I’d like to smack myself in the mouth.”
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) December 26, 2020
But, Cal added that there’s still plenty to play for, as the Wildcats haven’t even started SEC play yet:
Calipari said he doesn't believe the season is over. "We haven't played a league game yet." Says the "true fans" are still cheering the team on.
— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) December 26, 2020
Kentucky is scheduled to open SEC action on Jan. 2 in Starkville against Mississippi State. Win that game, and confidence could start to build quickly.
Football – 4-6
Basketball – 1-6
That’s rare.
We’re a football school.
At some point the switch is going to flip. If this team gets it together and gets some confidence they can still make some noise and still make tge dance but it is fun for most opponents to see them struggle like this. Like if bama was 0-3 in football. Everyone would love it but bama.
You coach at Kentucky, a blue blood basketball school. Stop making excuses. You should have won most of those games regardless of who you scheduled.
I’m sorry Coach but your team is a little more stupider than your schedule at this time.
Or you can take these games a learning lessons for your team. By the time SEC play rolls around, Kentucky will be dominant again.
Trask > Game Manager Jones
Trask 3 losses… Jones none to date… (2020 season)
Football is a team sport. Teams win and lose games. That’s why teams get invited to the bowls, not players. You should have given up chess and played football.
Kentucky will get better, and it will happen this year. The thing that worried me watching them play was Coach Cal himself. He does not look healthy. It looks like he’s gained 30-40 pounds, almost like he’s pregnant. When the front side is bigger than the back side, that is bad news.
Louie Dampier and Pat Riley had lousy senior seasons at UK. They were blown out on their home floor by Cornell. They lost to Georgia for the first time in decades and only scored 40 points. They were swept by Tennessee and Vanderbilt, and there were calls for Adolph Rupp to retire, as this was the second bad year in three. Kentucky rebounded to win the SEC each of Rupp’s last five years afterwards. The Cats will rebound and be quite good again.
Not sure that’s a comment I would have wanted to make. A BB power for decades saying they played too tough a schedule.