"If you don't go hard, I can't play you"

Assistant Coach David Ivey at the University of Alabama in Huntsville emailed me an article from kentuckysports.com on Coach John Calipari and the new tone of the Wildcat program. Calipari is not one that is known as a strong disciplinarian but in all his college coaching stunts he has found great success. He is a coach that will rarely raise his voice but always has control over what is happening on the court. One thing that coach Calipari will not stand for is a player no playing hard. The punishment is quite simple; they just won’t play. Coach has a great deal of commitment to his players but if they are not producing on the court and giving complete effort he has to look in a different direction.
I have said in earlier posts, there are a million ways of doing things in any profession, and there is not a right and wrong way of doing them. Coach Calipari’s way of coaching will be very different from recently removed Head Coach Billy Gillispie. This doesn’t mean it will lead to greater success and only time will tell. I will say that the more I have watched press conferences of newly hired head coaches the more I hear the key to success is PLAYERS. A program is only as good as the players and quality of players that a program brings in. I strongly believe this statement but also believe that good coaching helps in the winning process and also helps with sustaining winning over a longer period of time. Calipari will be a great hire for the University of Kentucky because he is a proven recruiter and possesses great people’s skills, which is a must when dealing with the Wildcat faithful.