Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Back in August, I wrote that Kentucky fans ought to ignore the negative nancies who were ready to try and ruin the upcoming college basketball season. Jeff Goodman, primarily, seems to be the leader of the “There will be chemistry issues in the UK locker room this year” group. Whether it’s trying to prove Tyler Ulis is a better point guard than Andrew Harrison or Devin Booker is more clutch than Aaron Harrison, Goodman comes across as a man on a mission. And in doing so, he’s getting exactly what he wants—page views, twitter replies, and hate mail. So I thought, as UK gets ready to start conference play in a few days, that it would be a good time to revisit the advice I gave back in August. It remains advice I need to follow.
On Monday, as Kentucky was in the middle of putting a spanking on team of professional basketball players from France, Jeff Goodman of ESPN tweeted
@RobDauster @EvanDaniels Those bigs gonna be pissed sitting on bench regardless. I think Marcus Lee may be odd man out again.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) August 11, 2014
Since the end of the 2013-2014 college basketball season, when everyone not named James Young or Julius Randle announced they were coming back for another season at Kentucky, the narrative about John Calipari (and Kentucky at large) has shifted from “Cal is ruining college basketball with all those one-and-dones” to “Ain’t no way Cal can keep all those guys happy; those guys should have left for the NBA”. Few in the media—local or national—haven’t piled on.
As I said many times last spring (and again on Monday), those who dislike Cal fear his ability to convince elite recruits to stick around for more than one season. It immediately destroys the image of John Calipari they love to peddle, of an ego-maniacal coach who pushes kids out the door less than a year after they arrive on campus. And so, they are forced to change their story and make us believe that 5-star recruits simply cannot accept playing less minutes for the greater good of winning conference and national championships. These 6 games in the Bahamas are but a preview of the story the media will push throughout the college basketball season. Last season, Calipari commented that his Kentucky team was the most scrutinized team in all of sports, which probably wasn’t entirely true. This season, it absolutely will be. Guys like Jeff Goodman and Seth Davis and Pat Forde will look for any evidence that there problems in the locker room. They will tweet about it, write about it, and go on television whenever possible and talk about it.
So I have some advice for ‘Cats fans: Ignore it. If you haven’t already, unfollow them on Twitter. Don’t read their columns. Don’t give them attention they so desperately seek. Ask yourself: is there anything you really gain from following those guys on social media? Do you really learn anything new from their columns that you won’t read anywhere else? I think we could agree the answer is “No” to both questions.
Kentucky should be very good this year. Are they national title-winning good? Probably. And, as Cal tweeted out earlier this week, along the way the ‘Cats have the potential to not only be good but special. So enjoy this season and avoid those who seek to ruin that joy.