Paul Finebaum unleashes critical view on John Calipari, accomplishments at Kentucky

On3 imageby:Sam Gillenwater08/15/22

samdg_33

The conversation around John Calipari this week was supposed to be about his team’s success coming off their undefeated run on their Bahamas trip. Instead, some comments he made to end last week about Kentucky that rubbed Mark Stoops the wrong way have dominated the headlines. When breaking down the spat in recent days, some have begun to break down Calipari’s recent lack of success in Lexington. ESPN’s Paul Finebaum was one and he didn’t hold back.

Finebaum appeared on ‘McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning’ to talk about the divide between Calipari and Stoops. He talked about Calipari’s success similarly to how Stoops did in his press conference Saturday by saying he didn’t have to do much to get the Wildcats to where they’ve been in his tenure.

“Calipari has been phenomenal and his resume backs it up…But Kentucky gives that to you,” said Finebaum. “All he did was take over a Kentucky program that had really been wrecked by Billy Gillespie and he put it back together again.”

The start to Calipari’s time in Lexington was as successful as any program in the nation. Over his first 10 seasons, the Wildcats at least made the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament eight times. They made the Final Four in half of those seasons and won a national title in 2012. Since then, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing.

Kentucky hasn’t reached a Final Four since 2015. The pandemic held them out of March Madness in 2020 and then a 9-16 season kept them out in 2021. In their return in 2022, they suffered an upset loss to 15-seeded Saint Peter’s in the opening round. Overall, Paul Finebaum says the expectations for Calipari in Lexington are the same as Nick Saban’s in Tuscaloosa. The only problem is the two have had very different postseason runs as of late.

“He’s got a difficult resume to analyze. When you analyze it, you have to use the base of others who have done better during this stretch…I’ve always thought Kentucky basketball and Alabama football were on the same line in terms of expectations and tradition. Can you imagine if we were having a similar conversation about Nick Saban?,” Finebaum said. “Not won a national championship since 2012 and not been to the CFP since 2015? I mean he’s got 10 wins a year and Alabama goes to bowl games, but I don’t think Alabama fans would be very happy today because that’s the expectation.”

The lack of success based on the standard that was the start of his time in Lexington has made Calipari an easy target in this spat. That is especially true when considering the postseason runs Stoops has led the Wildcats to on the football field. John Calipari is undoubtedly one of the best coaches of his era and one of the best off all time. The present-day shortcomings, though, may hurt his career in the end according to Paul Finebaum.

“You can get carried away with adjectives and describing his career, but results don’t really add up. At Kentucky, results are national championships and Final Four appearances. He is missing badly in both of those in recent years.”