It’s hard to learn much from early-season college basketball, even when you’re talking about a Top 10 matchup like Duke and Kentucky Tuesday night. So it was nice of John Calipari and Mike Krzyzewski to spice things up for the rest of us.
Calipari calls out Duke, and Mike Krzyzewski offers a Hall of Fame comeback
On Tuesday night John Calipari called out Duke basketball for flopping on National TV, and afterward, Coach K had the perfect comeback.
Kevin C. Cox
TO RECAP:
1. Going into halftime John Calipari told ESPN’s Andy Katz, “We’re still... We’ve got... They’re flopping all over the place. In the NBA they’d be suspended.”
BOOM. There’s some blissful catharsis for anyone who’s ever had to endure 40 minutes of Duke basketball, because let’s face it, whatever game you’re watching, there’s a good chance that they are, indeed, flopping all over the place. But Coach K got the last laugh.
2. Not only did his no. 8 Duke team walk away with the upset 75-68 win over third-ranked Kentucky Tuesday night, but afterward, Coach K addressed the flopping comments head on. From the Raleigh News & Observer:
“I mean, he has a right to say whatever he wants,” Krzyzewski said. “I thought we took some amazing charges, and I thought we probably could have taken a couple more. There’s a difference between a charge and a flop. A flop means you don’t take any contact. I would hope that anyone who watches the game would say that our kids really played outstanding defense and were there to take charges.”
3. But then, “And we don’t make any money, so we can’t be fined.”
BOOM.
Touche, Coach K. A great comeback if you’re addressing the coach of Kentucky basketball.
For his part, Calipari clarified afterward, “It was a joke. Come on, you guys at Duke can take a joke, right?” But seriously: Duke basketball flops all over the place, and Kentucky players are all getting paid. Isn’t it great to have college hoops back in our lives?
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