Calipari wants Cats to pay the price

John Calipari has spent a lot of his time with the media this season talking about getting his team to buy into each other and to play with commitment on every possession.  At times, they seem to be doing it.  Calipari doesn't think they're there yet.  So, before Saturday's game against Georgia, he placed something inside of everyone's locker (and also one of those scented cherry car deodorizers in Terrence Jones') that summarized what he wants his team to understand this season about "paying the price".  It was something he reiterated today on the SEC Coaches Teleconference. Here's what was on the paper:

THE LAW OF THE PRICE TAG

- OUR TEAM WILL GET EXACTLY WHAT WE PAY FOR

- SELDOM DO YOU GET MORE THAN WHAT YOU PAY FOR

- SUCCESS WILL NOT COME EASY OR CHEAPER THAN THE PRICE YOU PAY

- EACH TEAM MEMBER MUST DECIDE IN HIS HEART WHETHER THE GOAL IS WORTH THE PRICE HE WILL HAVE TO PAY

- SACRIFICE — BE SURE NO MATTER WHAT YOU EXPECT TO GIVE FOR THE TEAM AT SOME POINT MORE WILL BE ASKED

- THE STRENGTH OF THE TEAM IS IMPACTED BY ITS WEAKEST LINK — IS THAT YOU?

- THE PRICE MUST BE PAID BY EVERYONE — YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP SOMETHING TO BE A MEMBER OF THE TEAM

- THE PRICE MUST BE PAID ALL THE TIME — THERE ARE NO VICTORIES AT BARGAIN PRICES

- THE PRICE NEVER DECREASES — MOST TEAMS DON’T QUIT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MOUNTAIN; THEY QUIT HALF-WAY UP

- A TEAM FAILS TO REACH ITS POTENTIAL WHEN IT VIOLATES ONE OR BOTH OF THESE LAWS:

1. THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND THE PRICE OF SUCCESS

2. THEY DO UNDERTSAND, BUT ARE NOT WILLING TO PAY FOR IT

IF WE WANT IT, WE ALL MUST BE WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE ALL THE TIME, NOT JUST WHEN IT’S CONVENIENT

-RTL-

Besides wondering how many people got a sinking feeling in their stomach when they read the line about the weakest link, it reiterates the core value of Kentucky Sports Radio.  You get what you pay for.  We live it every day and Calipari wants his Cats to do the same.  According to him, it starts with the veterans and works its way down.  How much the Cats buy into this idea should be pretty obvious in the season's final ten games, all of which could directly factor into the SEC regular season title race.  And it should also give Not Jerry Tipton some material to work with.