Tennessee Men's Basketball
John Calipari heaped praise on Tennessee. He also came away feeling not so bad about his own team Saturday afternoon.
"If you're a fan watching that on TV, that was a great game,'' Calipari said after Tennessee upset the No. 2 Wildcats 74-65 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
"For me, sitting there, when we went down 19 (points), I'm shaking my head and thinking we're going to find out now what we are.
"What we found out is we're not bad.''
Kentucky came all the way back from a 19-point second-half deficit to tie the score at 65. But then the Vols scored the game's final nine points.
"When it went 65-65, I thought we were winning, there was no question in my mind,'' Calipari said.
"But you've got to give (Tennessee) credit. They're a good team with good players and they're well coached.
"And the fans, what a great environment.''
Calipari had seen Thompson-Boling Arena twice before, splitting a pair of games as Memphis' head coach. This was his first trip with Kentucky.
It ended up being only his second loss in 29 games as Kentucky's new boss.
The Wildcats avenged their only previous loss with a home win over South Carolina on Thursday night.
Making a quick transition to play at noon Saturday broke the Wildcats' routine. Calipari said it was a learning experience which should serve the team well in the NCAA tournament format.
"In an afternoon game, which we could be in in the NCAA tournament, we need to get up and have a shoot-around,'' he said. "I don't care if we played Thursday night or not.
"I decided to not have a shoot-around (Saturday morning) and we had two guys, I'm not going to mention any names, who were sleeping the whole game.''
The Vols, who had been off since losing at Florida on Tuesday night, were wide awake, opening an 18-4 lead.
"To start the game, they really out-hustled us to every ball and were up 10 rebounds,'' Calipari said. "Then we fought back.
"The second half, we come out and break down again and they get up but we don't quit. That's all I can ask for my team.
"We don't make an open shot, we leave our feet and ran them over about six times and have a chance to win? I'm stunned. On the road?''
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Comments » 29
Major_Magilicutty writes:
Dirty compliments. He's a sneaky b@stard, that Calipari...
volman0529 writes:
All I can say is " Go Big Orange!" They played very well even though the refs made some very bad calls. Wall should have fouled out but oh well. Its good to see that we can beat the #1 and #2 team in the country in the same season! I thought everyone seemed to be on the same page. How about Brian Williams going up strong like a "BIG MAN" should on that one dunk attempt. I know he didnt make it but its that kind of effort that he needs to have every time! GOOD WIN VOLS!!!
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
It is pretty obvious in the many games that everyone has seen on TV that Wall and Cousins have free rein to do what they want without ref interference. How many times have we seen Cousins mug players to get a rebound?
jclowers writes:
I think it is funny after the refs called the charge on Wall that sealed the game late, I saw Cousins and Wall give each other a look that said way more than words. What I got from it was "We don't care, we'll be in the NBA next year."
Calipari may feel good about the way they got back up, but all it takes is an uninspired few minutes like that and a team in the NCAA's will put them out of it.
spvol writes:
Calimari for supper anyone?
bryanvolsfan writes:
Mike Slive and the SEC officials know that Wall and Cousins are top NBA prospects and they are going to make sure they get their calls! SLIVE is terrible and should be fired, if Bruce made any negative comments about any team he'd be fined, but SEC protects Kentucky and "The Cheat" Calipari.
eduardo writes:
Yeah that sneaky swine and world wide wes stole one of our prized recruits!!! It would be hilarious if Selby would thumb his nose at them and still come to UT.
rclarkvols#224537 writes:
We don't want Selby. We have some good guards coming in who will buy into the system and play defense. Let Selby go to the highest bidder. I can guarantee you that Kentucky will go to the NIT again before Tennessee does.
Couchdummy writes:
I am a Vol fan and appreciate the nice comments by Calapari. Can the fans on this site not win with dignity instead of spewing distain for classy remarks by a good coach who lost with dignity and grace?
doctorvol#211700 writes:
speaking of classy, the young (monster) cousins, who will be a great player, really looked good shooting a finger to the crowd behind ky bench, and then whatever he was doing leaving gym. Was impressed however by his FT improvement and ability to bull over defense and not get charge called.
hueypilot writes:
Agree Couch. Seems like Calipari is much more confident in his role at KY than at Tiger High. Not bothered with the inferiority complex now that he's at one of the most prestigious programs in the country. I'm glad Bruce can help to keep him grounded by paddling his arse every now and then.
tenacjim#211887 writes:
Wall certainly showed he's ready for the NBA....4 steps on every drive to the basket.
Pullingguard writes:
He showed more class than expected. Paid high praise to Vols and the staff and the fans. What more can you expect? I along with a lot of others thought they had come back from the dead and would win, but you gotta give the Vols credit for they played hard the entire game and it resulted in victory, and Cal gave them credit for this... So rejoice, Vols won and got praise.
utvol34 writes:
"Meow"
Bogytrain writes:
Well, Calimari is a good coach and so is Pearl. I agree it's just a matter of time before Pearl gets the right players in place to make a run. The man has shown he can beat anyone with whoever he has playing. Can't argue that.
SouthALVol writes:
Great win! Go Big Orange! But how 'bout Wall on that jump-stop-360 score in the second half? I just had to say, "Wow!" You've got to appreciate something like that no matter who you pull for.
1963volfan writes:
Did anyone see KY.wearing there camo. hats out of Thompson Boling Areana? Because they had a story about them wearing them in Fri. something about going to war.(come on callimari you can do better than that)
smokyredbone writes:
Nope !None for me I hate squid,LMFAO!!! V,B
govols9875 writes:
I think that caliperi is stupid for not having his team go through a shoot around...but he's caliperi, all he can do is recruit anyway & cheat..lol
GR82BAVOL writes:
Great win for Tennessee. This is the most resilient team I've ever seen in Knoxville. They are playing way above my expectations late in the season. This win just put them in the NCAA regardless of what happens from here on.
Williams seems to have a little more bounce in his step theses days. Could it be because he got a second chance? He also doesn't seem to be in a "haze" anymore and is willing to get physical with the opponent.
mgdchvol writes:
AATABABY!
Pompey writes:
The sooner he gets his NBA job the better.....
jdcdjc writes:
Ccouchdummy, you might not realize it when someone is talking down to you but I think the rest of us do. He can keep his left handed comments for all I care. Had Donavan said the same thing I would have believed him, but not this guy.
asleep#212036 writes:
It it sadly obvious that in every conference, in every sport, the top teams and the top players get all the calls. Beating one of those teams is doubly satisfying because you had to beat the refs/umpires too. One of my best friends was a high school football ref for over 20 years and he said no matter how hard you tried, when the game was over the better team generally came out with fewer calls against it, especially at critical junctures. He couldn't explain it but speculates that every official has a subconscious expectation of the outcome based on the quality of the players/teams involved and that expectation somehow influences his version of what he sees on the field. He said he never knew of a referee, on his crew or any other, who would intentionally call a game favorably one way or another but it just usually seemed to work out that way. Yesterday was another example of superstars Cousins and Wall apparently having a different set of rules than the rest of the players, including their Kentucky teammates. That's why I love this win even more. Go Vols!!!
vol_4_fan writes:
Great win for the Vols. I for one would rather read a article about CBP & him being able to get his undermanned team another big win. Nice piece about Big Game Bruce on ESPN college BB site by Pat Forde. Coach Cheat can keep his BS in Lexington! Go Vols
OrangePride writes:
Not only that, Cousins gets away with the most flagrant charge violations! Some of them on Saturday were not even close. And that one ref called a Tennessee foul every darn time that guy made contact. I think the big names get a LOT of calls they don't deserve. On the other hand, if Chism is in the same area code, they put the foul on him. Frustrating.....go VOLS!
kriskat writes:
After reading such a great article I came over here expecting you guys to be all pumped up about how great your team played Saturday-because they did play great from start to finish! Instead, all I have read is a bunch of sour grapes about Coach Cal and our players. I'm sorry, but Tennessee fans are definitely pot calling kettle black when you talk about class. Didn't you guys just dismiss 1 player and have 3 others suspended for a period of time over some criminal activites? That's what I thought. Maybe next time our Pros won't take your Cons too lightly!
VOLtraveler writes:
That was an atheletic shot but nothing to compare with the shot that Goins made at the other end of the court.
onevol writes:
My question is how far will UK go in the big dance without SEC officials helping them with all of the "no calls." I am sure that they will out talent the easy teams, but the good competition with even officiating will be very interesting.
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