Not Jerry Tipton's Friday Basketball Notebook

The 2013-14 season is here, and Kentucky will spend the entirety of it trying to atone for the disaster was the 2012-13 season. John Calipari’s team is trying to do something that no team in the history of college basketball has ever done: Win a national championship relying primarily on 6 freshmen who were McDonald’s All Americans. With disappointing losses to Michigan State and Baylor (lol), the team will fail to reach its ultimate goal of perfect season, and will instead try to console itself with a national title. To stay apprised and educated, follow me on Twitter @NotJerryTipton. Here’s the weekly notebook:

*Silent Night: Last Friday, Kentucky was embarrassed. Not just by how it played against Baylor, but by the anemic turnout in Cowboys Stadium. The iconic venue holds an estimated 88,000 fans, but only about 7,000 bothered to show up to watch the Cats play. Why the apathy? One theory is that the UK fanbase is still smarting from last year’s train wreck. Another is that Kentucky fans are fed up with the current team’s inability to reach its potential. One more is that the revolving door of one and dones on campus has finally taken its toll, and BBN is saying “we can’t do this anymore.” Predictably, the excuse makers have cited the Dallas weather as a factor, and said that the ice, snow and freezing conditions made the roads and skies unsafe for travel, but last time I checked, basketball has always been played in the winter, so this is hardly anything new. And it’s not just Kentucky fans who have no interest in seeing “The Greatest Recruiting Class In History” play. Practically no Baylor fans were there to see the Cats either.

*Please Come Home For Christmas: At Monday’s press conference, John Calipari reiterated that the decision to end the UK/IU series was that of Indiana coach Tom Crean. Calipari says he offered Crean the opportunity to play two games in Indianapolis at the RCA Dome, but that Crean refused, and insisted on playing a home and home. Though UK fans want to blame Crean for this, it’s hard to argue with his reasoning. He is obviously confident that his Hoosiers could handle the Cats no matter what the venue is. However, he also knows that given the layout, it would impossible to storm the court in a dome. Likewise, his teams have always drawn inspiration from the surroundings in Bloomington, but the fact is that there are no Sweet 16 banners hanging in the RCA Dome. This seems like an unfair advantage for UK, despite the fact that it’s ostensibly a “neutral” site. Crean probably also knows that the 2015 Final Four is being held in Indianapolis, so it’s not like his team needs the practice of playing there anyway.

*What Child is This?: During a sit down interview with Fox Sports’ Bill Raftery UK coach John Calipari was asked whether he had any regrets in coaching. His response was telling. He said that he wishes he had been home more frequently when his children were younger, as nothing is more important than family. This does not bode well for Kentucky. If this current UK team is to reach its goals, it has to be single minded in purpose, willing to stop at nothing to get to the promised land. But by admitting that he cares more about his family than his basketball team, he is admitting that he really doesn’t care whether Kentucky wins another game or not. Consider: Tom Crean publicly kisses his son, and he hasn’t been beyond the Sweet 16 is more than a decade. Compare that to Rick Pitino, who has publicly betrayed his wife, and he has a national championship ring to show for it. In sum, there are approximately 2 million families who reside in the state of Kentucky. John Calipari must make a choice as to who’s more important, his family or the other 1,999,999 who want Kentucky to win every game.

* On this date: On this date in 1953 Kentucky was on its way to an undefeated season that wouldn’t really count because they didn’t play in the NCAA Tournament because they were scared they’d lose, probably.