After his team beat Baylor to advance to the Final Four, Kentucky coach John
Calipari asked, "Is the floor going to be raised (in the Superdome)? Does
anybody know?"
When it was confirmed that the floor indeed would be elevated a couple of
feet above field level for the games, Cal replied with an oft-repeated, if unproven, shooter's theory.
"That makes it
harder. When they raise that floor, now it becomes a little harder," he said. "So a
team that doesn't shoot a whole lot of 3s has an advantage."
Kentucky, while being a very good 3-point shooting team, hasn't had to rely on
the outside game, so, in theory, the raised court should work in its
favor.
As if Kentucky needed another advantage.
The Wildcats already are a Final Four staple with the most skilled group of athletes in college
basketball, a team ranked No. 1 almost all season that plays as selflessly as any in recent memory, and one
that has put on its best performances when it counts the most: in this NCAA
tournament.
"This team hasn't been rattled all year," Calipari said. "We've
had teams come at us and play absolutely out of their minds, but to do it for
40 minutes is a little tougher."
Cal will be criticized for his game-day coaching style because he pulls guys in
a second if they blow a defensive assignment or miss a pick-and-roll.
"My coaches tell me, 'We're not shutting them out, Cal. You
act like we're going to shut them out.' And they're right. We'll go on a 16-0
run and then defensively we give up one basket, and I'll go bonkers. They'll say, 'It's like you're nuts. They're going to score.' But I've
always been that way. I can't help it."
The never-ending pursuit of perfection, demanding the best on every possession
and striving for that never-going-to-happen shutout, and the talent he recruits make Calipari one of the best coaches in the game and a good bet to win his first title. It also makes him one of the most criticized coaches. He
recruits the best players knowing full well that they are going to stay one
year and go to the NBA, but as he says: "I didn't make the rule. I don't
like the rule. I don't agree with the rule.
"I'm trying to do the best job I can for each of these kids and their
families to make sure that we're being fair and that we're challenging them and
that they're getting all the help they need in the academic areas and the
training areas," Cal said. "There are some people who think I should
convince these guys to stay in school when the numbers say they should
leave. I just won't do it. I want to help these kids reach their
dreams.
“Brandon Knight was a 4.0 student with 60 college credits,
but I had to tell him, 'You're the seventh pick in the draft.' He was
a great student, but he was reaching his dreams."
Two Kentucky freshmen, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis, will
get that same speech from Cal at the end of this season. Both are expected to
be high first-round picks, and Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb and Marquis Teague are expected to go later in the round.
Some will argue that Louisville’s Rick Pitino is a better game-day manager than
Cal.
"We're friendly acquaintances," Cal said of his relationship
with Pitino. "We're not sending Christmas cards to each other, but if I
see him in public, we'll spend some time."
But who draws the best X's and O's might not matter as much as who puts the
best team on the floor and who gets the most out of each of them. On that
front, Kentucky can't be touched. The only ones who can beat the Wildcats in
this Final Four are themselves.
