Why is John Calipari making this face?

If pictures tell a thousand words, what does this photo say about John Calipari? Let me explain without using quite 1,000 words.

You probably did not see when the following photograph was taken. ESPN cut away from the action in Fayetteville to go to another game, forcing the Big Blue Nation to miss the postgame interview between John Calipari and ESPN’s Jess Sims. It’s probably for the best.

As the Wildcats left the court following a 63-57 Kentucky win at Bud Walton Arena, Calipari was asked what his team learned in the victory. It’s a pretty common question for these sorts of interviews.

“What I like is it was a hard-fought, physical game and we withstood. We didn’t do what we did the other day,” said Calipari. “South Carolina deserved to beat us, the way they played, how they shot it. We didn’t create shots. Today we created some shots. But (in) the second half all of those layups and stuff we were missing, were made.”

He added, “Let me just tell ya, Arkansas is a talented team…”

You’ve heard Calipari do that plenty of times. After beating a bad team, he shares effusive praise for his opponent. “They’re better than their record,” is a common cliche he likes to say. He was happy to pump up Arkansas for a few seconds. Then things got awkward.

Jess Sims is new to the sideline reporting gig. She got her start as a cycling course leader with Peloton. ESPN hired her to join the College Gameday crew last fall and this year she’s sticking with the college basketball traveling road show to report from the sideline. Her inexperience showed when she took Calipari’s Arkansas garble and asked this follow-up:

“What do you have to say about their coach? Coach Muss put on a huge performance tonight as well. You must be proud, as someone who’s coached alongside him for so many years.”

Now you know why John Calipari was making such a strange face.

Watch the Entire Interview Between Calipari and Jess Sims

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