What would Coach Rupp really do with this te..."/> What would Coach Rupp really do with this te..."/>

WWARD??? (What Would Adolph Rupp Do?)

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What would Coach Rupp really do with this team?

Makes you think doesn’t it? It did me. How would the Baron of the Bluegrass handle this year’s up and down, back and forth, unable to win on the road squad? How would he handle a team that is struggling to find itself and it’s strengths and learning how to play to them? Well, you don’t have to look very hard for the evidence of what the Baron prized in his recruits, nor in what he expected of them. And for those of you who are convinced that the game passed the man by, let me just say this, Adolph Rupp reinvented the game during his time on the court coaching the Cats. Don’t think that he could not do the same thing twice.

As Rupp’s career was winding down, during the 1964-1972 stretch, he suffered through the two worst seasons he ever experienced as a coach, sandwiched around his last trip to the NCAA Championship game. Basically the same team that had lost 10 games the year before in 1964-65, lost only 2 in 1965-66, with the final loss being the heartbreaker to Texas Western, which has been the subject of story after story, including a flawed story which became the major motion picture called Glory Road. Then the following year they went 13-13, Rupp’s worst year ever. So, why did Rupp have a team that did so poorly one year, then so well, then back to being so poor the next?

There was no major influx of talent in any of those years. Good players came and went, with the lynch pins of the “Rupp’s Runts” squad being there all three years. So what made them any better or any worse in any given year? The truth is that there was no real significant difference, the results just sometimes do not meet expectations.

There is not always a magic formula for success. Sometimes you work your backside off, do everything you think that you should and you still come up short. That is the very nature of collegiate athletic competition. Coach Rupp was a genius with the X’s and O’s, and he still faltered at times. And although they were few and far between, they still happened, and they can happen to anyone.

So, does John Calipari really have to do anything differently with the Cats this season? I don’t think so. My money says he has tried every trick in his gym bag, pulled out every stop he has, and the team is still not responding completely like he needs them to. That is not John Calipari’s fault, but it is his responsibility. And he works tirelessly to prevent the kinds of slides the Cats have had up until the last game. We know now that this is probably not going to be a banner year for the Cats. We know that there is still an outside shot at 30 wins, but at this point, the pickings are slim. But you know what? I am OK with that, considering what brought us to this point. A little luck and we still are hanging out at the Final Four, of that much I am certain.

So the next time you look at your TV, listen to your radio, or read about the game the day 0n line or in print, remind yourself, that there is a question that all UK fans need to ask themselves when things get tough. WWARD?

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