Adou Thiero and John Calipari were fueled by Kentucky's doubters
Adou Thiero was unbelievable against Auburn. Those are John Calipari’s words, not mine–although I agree. The sophomore forward with a bad back played 33 of the 40 minutes in Kentucky‘s victory on The Plains, scoring 14 points with eight rebounds, two of his highest outputs in both categories this season. Thiero has emerged as one of Kentucky’s most significant contributors since he returned from a monthlong absence at the start of SEC play. At Auburn, his one-handed slam early in the game stands out as one of his best contributions against the Tigers. The exciting finish helped silence the hostile crowd in the first half.
After the game, Thiero had the honor of sitting with Jack Givens for the postgame radio interview. Speaking as the Defensive Player of the Game, Thiero admitted the outside noise helped fuel the Wildcats in a rare underdog situation.
“We knew people was going to doubt us coming into this game, but we knew it was only us on the court, Thiero told Givens. “They’re not going to affect us. So, we came into this game, trying to stay a unit, and that’s what we did; just came out, kept doing what we were supposed to do, and came out of here with a W.”
Thiero also revealed that the online clutter played a role in inspiring the team ahead of the upset. John Calipari typically tells his players not to look at it, but Thiero made it sound like the clutter was intentionally highlighted behind the scenes.
“They tried to make this emphasis, the coaches, showing us what people were saying on social media and stuff like that. You know, we don’t look at it, but they were showing us the people who were doubting us, disrespecting us. We’re a young group. We’re competitive. We didn’t take that lightly.”
John Calipari’s postgame message
John Calipari didn’t take a seat at the postgame press conference before he told the room to stop bashing his players. “Keep attacking me,” he said. “I might be the worst in the country. Just attack me and leave these kids alone.”
It’s clear the team has taken the ‘us vs. the world’ mentality. Whatever it takes to win.
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