John Calipari defends comments over not caring about conference tournaments

As the SEC got ready to converge on Bridgestone Arena for the conference tournament, John Calipari made waves for saying he “doesn’t care” about it. His focus, he said, was on the NCAA tournament.

After Arkansas’ first-round victory over South Carolina, Calipari defended his message behind those comments. He said it wasn’t about “not caring” about the SEC tournament in that he wasn’t going to try to win. His argument was more about relieving some of the pressure around his players.

Calipari said March Madness seeding is the important thing to figure out in conference tournaments. Along the way, he wants to see improvement from his team before heading to the big dance.

“Not quite,” Calipari said when asked whether he “couldn’t care less” about the SEC tournament. “Every tournament we go in, we’re doing it for one reason. We want to win games to build up our seed. Now, along the way, for a guy that does not care about conference tournaments, I’m guessing it’s 15 or 16. So if you don’t care, the kids don’t care, no one cares. Then, I’m a magician. So how about maybe you’re taking the pressure off the kids? That this is just another thing for us to get better and improve ourselves. Then, along the way, you know what? You’re reaching for the stars, you grab a moon and all of a sudden, you’re standing there with the trophy.

“So yeah, it matters. We’ve got to play. Now, there’s another coach in this league that said, ‘I’m not sure I really want this tournament because last year, we got a guy hurt in it. I’m not really sure how I feel.’ You’re going to ask him that same question, aren’t you? And his team was one of the best teams in this league because he’s saying, we’ve got a chance to win a national title. This league has been a meat grinder. Is it going to be any different here? No. We want to win every game we play. But I don’t need the kids – got to do this, you don’t. There’s the next tournament. Then, you win it anyway.”

John Calipari then pointed out his record in the tournament to show his success in the postseason. Wednesday marked his 25th SEC tournament win, moving him past Tubby Smith for second all-time. He said for a coach that “doesn’t care,” he seems to do well when it comes time for the event.

“It’d be nice to win it again,” Calipari said. “I don’t know exactly how many of those we won. … Somebody told me 87 tournament games. For a guy that doesn’t care? … I think it’s about almost 80% win for a guy that doesn’t care. There should be a lot of guys not caring.”