John Calipari: “The way it ended… I’ll just say, sucks.”
“To put it simply, it sucked the way it ended.”
As the new head coach of Kentucky Basketball, Mark Pope has officially ushered in a new era in Lexington.
Some have found it difficult to comprehend Kentucky’s and former head coach John Calipari’s collapse over the last few years.
Even Calipari has admitted out loud that he detests how his relationship with Big Blue Nation ended and that it has been difficult to acclimate to life at Arkansas.
Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports drove to Fayetteville and spoke with the newly appointed head coach of the Razorbacks.
Calipari said without hesitation that he was thrilled to see BBN go and that he knew he was unhappy.
Regarding his departure from Kentucky, the coach remarked, “I think some people were happy.” “We’ve only won 500 games with this guy in 15 years, some people were saying. [Actually 410] We only achieved four Final Fours, eight Elite Eights, and one national championship? “What the devil is happening here?”
It’s no secret that a large portion of Kentucky supporters felt cheated because their team hadn’t made it to the Final Four or the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend since 2015.
Although it’s obvious that Calipari doesn’t like the fans, he did admit that he found it difficult to accept the way things ended in Lexington.
“The manner in which it concluded… To put it simply, sucks.
It was difficult for me to witness the program’s and Calipari’s demise as a Kentucky basketball fan after some of the best years of my life.
It has been an adjustment for the Cats’ supporters as much as for Calipari in Fayetteville.
Whatever your thoughts, Mark Pope has established himself as the head coach of the best men’s basketball program and has stated that he is up to the challenge of leading the program into a new era.
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The NBA G League Rookie of the Year is Oscar Tshiebwe.
16.2 points and 16.2 rebounds were averaged by the former Kentucky big man per game.
Oscar Tshiebwe, a two-way center for the Indiana Pacers and Mad Ants, was named the 2023–24 Kia NBA G League Rookie of the Year on Tuesday.
The league’s head coaches and general managers cast votes to determine whose first-year professional made the biggest impact on his team’s regular season success.
Throughout the course of the Mad Ants’ 23 games this season, Tshiebwe averaged 16.2 points and 16.2 rebounds. He also recorded 27 double-doubles, eight games with 20 or more rebounds, and seven games with 20 points and 20 rebounds. He finished the season as the NBA G League rebounding champion and set a new league single season rebound record (16.2), setting new franchise records for total rebounds (530), defensive rebounds (330), and offensive rebounds (200).
Tshiebwe made his G League debut in the Mad Ants’ 129-114 victory over the Sioux Falls Sky Force, finishing with 33 points and 23 rebounds. He also became the first player in franchise history to record a 30-point, 20-rebound performance. Along with that, he broke the franchise record for rebounds with 28, helping Indiana defeat the Motor City Cruise 117-107.
Tshiebwe was selected for both the NBA G League Next Up Game and the NBA Rising Stars Game. After averaging 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in eight games, he was also called up by the Pacers.
Tshiebwe, who filed to enter the 2023 NBA Draft, was not selected, but he did sign a two-way contract with the Pacers, allowing players to play in the NBA and the G League as needed.
With Tshiebwe ranking in the top 10 in rebounds (952), top 25 in blocks (87), top 30 in steals (112), and top 50 in points (1,117), it’s difficult to picture any Kentucky player accomplishing more individually or winning over Big Blue Nation more than Tshiebwe did over the course of two seasons.
In program history, Tshiebwe is the only player with 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, 100 steals, and 80 blocks, along with Kenny Walker and Chuck Hayes. With 48 double-doubles, he and Cotton Nash share the second-highest total at UK, only surpassed by Dan Issel’s 64.
Tshiebwe averaged 16.9 points and 14.4 rebounds in 66 games during his two seasons as a Wildcat, becoming just the ninth player in Kentucky history to be named a consensus All-American twice, and the first since Kenny Walker in 1985 and 1986. His 1,117 points rank second in program history for points by a transfer behind only Kyle Macy (1,411) and are the second-highest individual total over any two-year timeframe in school history behind only Bill Spivey (1,213). He leads in rebounds with 952.
Tshiebwe recorded eight games with 20 rebounds, although since the 1970–71 season, the total for all UK players has been seven. Last season, he had the most rebounds of any Wildcat since Mike Phillips in 1976 with 28 against Western Kentucky. This season, he scored 25 points in an NCAA Tournament game against Providence in the first round, which was a record since 1977.
Tshiebwe finished the season with three 20-20 games, and his career-high 37 points and 24 rebounds against Georgia was just the school’s fifth 35-20 game overall and the first by a Wildcat since 1976.
Tshiebwe averaged 21 points and 19.6 rebounds per game across his three NCAA Tournament games. He finished with 63 points and 59 rebounds.
After averaging 17.4 points and 15.1 rebounds in 2021–22, Tshiebwe joined Anthony Davis as the school’s second unanimous national player of the year. Tshiebwe also became the first NCAA Division I player to average 15 points and 15 rebounds in 42 years.
