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Himmelsbach | 'Can't coach' talk riles Cal

Adam Himmelsbach
ahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com

There is a common if tired argument that Kentucky coach John Calipari is far more proficient as a recruiter than he is as a basketball tactician. There is a belief that if you matched up two teams of identical skill level and had Calipari coach one and another elite coach lead the other, Calipari would lose.

It's not especially relevant if Calipari's success is due more to his ability to recruit than his ability to draw up a play with five seconds left. Nevertheless, the criticism will always be there, and Calipari never seems to pay much attention to it. He makes us believe he truly doesn't care what others think.

And then came his interview on Mike Francesa's New York-based radio show on Wednesday. It was so fascinating and intriguing that it's worth deconstructing.

Calipari was a guest on the show, but things really got juicy after he left the studio. Francesa basically rehashed the same argument we've all heard before: Calipari can recruit and motivate, but he's not the best with X's and O's. It sounded like Calipari then sent Francesa a text message disputing that claim. And then Francesa took a call from 'John in Kentucky.'

That John, of course, was Calipari. He started off speaking in an amazingly nasally and magical John-Calipari-pretending-to-be-a-UK-fan voice. Sadly, Calipari didn't stay in character for long. But their exchange after he revealed his identity was compelling and at times even uncomfortable.

"Why didn't you say that when I was sitting there next to you?" Calipari asked.

It was a legitimate question. At the same time, it also sounded like the 'Say it to my face' you might hear in a schoolyard. Francesa responded by telling Calipari to 'Come back up, come back up,' insinuating that he would, in fact, say it to his face. Calipari laughed an uneasy laugh before continuing with his message.

"That's basically saying I can't coach. How do we win? With mirrors?" he said, continuing later, "You know what they call me? The Magician. Cal the Magician."

In this case, clearly, Calipari cared what someone else thought. To be fair, he was probably most frustrated with being blindsided. He had taken time to give Francesa a one-on-one interview, and then the moment he left the room he was criticized.

After a minute or two of talking over each other, Francesa ended the call by hanging up on Calipari.

"Thanks for the call, because you're gone," he said.

He did it sort of playfully, and this is how he ends many calls from listeners, but there was unmistakable tension there. Francesa then continued his point, this time — once again — leaving Calipari unable to respond. The interview hit the internet on Thursday and caught like wildfire, so much so that Calipari took to Twitter to tell everyone that he and Francesa 'are good.'

No, Francesa reciting a well-chronicled criticism of Calipari didn't make this interesting, but Calipari's response made it riveting. It was a rare example of the coach blasting back at someone taking a shot at what he can't do. He was talking to Francesa, but he might as well have been talking to all of his critics.

Is John Calipari the best X's and O's coach in America? Probably not. Is he one of the best coaches in America? Yes. But Calipari clearly wants to be respected for his knowledge of the game, for his ability to outsmart an opponent. Maybe John in Kentucky does care what other people think after all.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at 502-582-4372 by email ahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com and on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach