John Calipari explains decision not to foul Florida at end of regulation

The first question John Calipari fielded when he sat down at the podium following Kentucky’s 94-91 overtime loss to Florida was one many of us are still asking. Why didn’t the Cats foul Florida before Walter Clayton Jr. launched a three to force overtime?

“There was a little more time than we wanted. But everything we were doing was to make them shoot some, too. And the kid drove it in the lane and one of my guys just left his man and he threw it out. So if we were going to foul with that much time against a really good rebounding team, it’s just dangerous and I would rather play it out. And I thought they played it out pretty good.”

Of course, the guy that Calipari is referring to is Reed Sheppard, who fell for a ball fake by Clayton, which Calipari chalked up to exhaustion. By the end of overtime, Sheppard had played all 45 minutes.

“There were some breakdowns, like, ‘Why did you do that?’ kind of breakdowns. And I’m owning it up to, they were exhausted. Like the last three [by Clayton], why did you leave that guy? We were guarding the three-point line and he stopped in the lane and you left your man. Why did you do that? Well, he’s probably exhausted.”

We could write novels about Kentucky blowing a four-point lead with 37 seconds left in regulation, but almost as frustrating was the fact that the Cats were up by 10 with 1:10 left in the first half before allowing Florida to cut the lead to five at halftime. The Gators carried that momentum to the second half, going on a 6-0 run out of the gate to take the lead at the 18:28 mark. From there, it was a back-and-forth battle until the end, with Kentucky unable to get separation.

“I mean, again, we sometimes are not disciplined enough,” Calipari said of Florida’s run to end the first half. “Like, here’s how we’re playing, and then we do our own thing. You can’t, at these times, you know, but we’re young. I mean, we’re the youngest team in the country. We’re playing in these kinds of games. And we still have our ceiling.”

The Cats have eleven regular-season games left to reach that ceiling — and hopefully, in the short term, get healthy. Calipari said he’s unsure if DJ Wagner (knee) or Justin Edwards (leg) will be able to go Saturday vs. No. 5 Tennessee. Fatigue was a clear factor tonight, so between now and then, Calipari will be working on his rotations in case Kentucky is shorthanded once again.

“I’m proud of how we fought. I’m just disappointed because we had our chances to get it to six and, you know, why did you throw that ball back? Shoot it and miss it, Tre [Mitchell] lays in it. I mean, we just did stuff. I’m like, what in the world? But let’s put it to [they] played too many minutes. I had no choice. I had to.”

John Calipari Postgame Transcript

Q I know it was off a missed free throw. Was there thought of a foul there? Was it the plan to foul?

JOHN CALIPARI: There was a little more time than we wanted. But everything we were doing was to make them shoot some, too. And the kid drove it in the lane and one of my guys just left his man and threw it out. So if we were going to foul with that much time against a really good rebounding team, it’s just dangerous and I would rather play it out. And I thought they played it out pretty good.

But, yeah, that was — we talked about it. I said, let’s play this out, make sure they are not getting 3’s. I thought about calling a timeout before his second free throw and then I’m like,

I will freeze the kid. Why? Let him shoot it, he’ll make it. So that’s basketball. Whatever decision you make, if it works you are a genius. If it doesn’t, ah, should have done it the other way.

But…

I mean, the thing is, I mean, so many categories we did, we beat them in. And this was similar to the game down there, where you look at it and say how did we win? And the same thing here. We make a free throw, we are up four, it is a ball game, they come down and make that three, it goes to overtime. And we had chances before that to get it even more. So…

They deserved to win. They played it and made plays and we missed plays. But I’m proud of how the kids fought shorthanded; you know, they are a good team, just like South Carolina.

South Carolina is a good team. This league is good.

Q Cal, no subs in the last 10:25 of regulation, especially in a game that went to overtime. How tough is that not only physically but mentally to stay engaged at the end there?

JOHN CALIPARI: Hard. It is really hard. And you have a guy like

Ugo who has, like, an unbelievable game. And, again, probably should have had Aaron in for Tre a bunch more than I did because —

you know, but Ugo was playing so well, that’s why I did what I did. But, you know, we — you know, it’s kind of like we got tired out, but we didn’t — there was not a whole lot of subs. It was like here’s who we have. Adou hurt his back and was giving us whatever he could. So…

And, by the way, when I was at Massachusetts I played guys

39 minutes. And if it went to overtime, they played 5 more minutes. If you asked, would you rather play or sit, they all want to play. But it’s hard when you are in that kind of game.

Q Cal, Reed was one who played all 50 minutes tonight. Just how indispensable is he, especially when you have the injuries and Wagner can’t go and it is a short —

JOHN CALIPARI: He did good. You know, there were some breakdowns, like why did you do that kind of breakdowns. And I’m owning it up to they were exhausted. Like the last three, why did you leave that guy? We were guarding the three-point line and he stopped in the lane and you left your man. Why did you do that? Well, he’s probably exhausted. But we didn’t — you know, who are you going to take out and who are you going to put in? Robert even went back in with cramps.

Q Cal, there were some comments that you made last year, even before last, you thought Ugo could be one of the best if not the best big men in the country. Was this kind of what you envisioned when you made those comments last year?

JOHN CALIPARI: Yeah. And, but again, he was exhausted. So there were a couple of plays late where I kept telling him, you cannot get blocked out. They are going to try. Just don’t get blocked out, run, run left, run right. And he was just exhausted. But he blocked nine shots. Nine. He got how many rebounds?

Q 16.

JOHN CALIPARI: How many points?

Q 13.

JOHN CALIPARI: I mean, he made those free throws. He missed one, but he made — I mean, he played. And that’s why I left him in. The way he played and the way some of our other guys played, you need to win that game. We just needed a couple of subs and we didn’t have them.

But I’m proud of how we fought. I’m just disappointed because we had our chances to get it to six and, you know, why did you throw that ball back? Shoot it and miss it, Tre lays in it. I mean, we just did stuff. I’m like, what in the world? But let’s put it to played too many minutes. I had no choice. I had to.

Q John, you said you like those gritty games, like that Arkansas win. But you don’t love giving up 90 points. And I know it is frustrating to see the defense give up a ton, too. What happened there late in the game? You know, you got those stops down in Arkansas, just didn’t tonight.

JOHN CALIPARI: Well, this is a better team. And we were scoring on them the same they were scoring on us. And I thought we had the game in-hand and then all of a sudden you turn around. It’s funny, the last play was the same last play they had down there, to shoot it and miss it to win the game. It’s two pretty evenly matched teams, to be honest. But we needed a full roster in this kind of game. You can’t be shorthanded.

But, you know, we did some good things. They shot, what, from the floor? Forty what? You are asking me about defense. You should know it, right? I think it is 41 percent. It’s pretty good.

41 percent is like whoo. And a couple of 3’s late, if we don’t give those up, you know. Now, we lost the foul line. They had seven more makes from the line than us. Probably the major difference.

I look, we — more points from turnovers, more points in offensive rebounds, more points in transition, more points in the paint. And I said, how the hell did we lose when you look at some of these numbers? But that’s why it was an overtime game. And then we missed a free throw, they made a three, boom, now it goes to overtime.

Q Coach, you guys have number 5 or 6 Tennessee coming in Saturday. How do you expect your team to bounce back and do you see there being a chance you do get to full health?

JOHN CALIPARI: I don’t know about if we will have a full roster. But, you know, we have got no choice. They are coming in. They’re really good. They’re really veteran. They have got a couple really— guys that can just break you down and score.

Rick does a great job. You know, like, this — if anybody watched this game, they were — this was a fun game to watch. It was not a fun game to coach. But to watch the game and how the guys went at each other and, you know, wide open kind of game and they broke us down. Their guard was able to jump over our guards and I thought we fouled a couple jump shooters. Again, that’s four points. In a game like that, that is huge.

And, you know, we have got stuff to work on. You know, I haven’t lost any faith in this team. I believe in the team. We just have to get healthy and have a full roster. In these wars like this, you are going to play a 45-minute game, 45 minutes, and some of the guys played 45 minutes. If Antonio didn’t get in foul trouble, he would have probably played 42 minutes of the game. Thanks.