Cal: No team surpasses UK’s upside this season

Cal: No team surpasses UK’s upside this season

On a SEC teleconference Monday, Kentucky Coach John Calipari explained why he gets so animated during games, most notably when television cameras caught him cursing freshman Terrence Jones.

“This team’s upside is enormous,” Calipari said. “. . . I don’t think any team in America has got more upside.”

That’s why Calipari yells and teaches and cajoles so much. He’s trying to transform that upside into concrete reality.

“You’ve got to let them know what’s acceptable,” Calipari said. “If you accept mediocrity, you’re going to get (mediocrity) every single time. If you demand a lot, you’ll get a lot.”

Without specificially addressing the well-chronicled profanity he directed at Jones late in the Alabama game last week, Calipari spoke of the affection he has for the freshman.

“Oh, he’s a great kid,” the UK coach said. “I look at him and say, ‘I love you, you know.’

“He says, ‘Yeah, I love you, too.’

“He’s young. He doesn’t play with the kind of desire and fight he needs to the whole game. When he does play that way, people look at him and say, Wow! My job is to get him to play that way all the time and have that mentality. It’s very hard.

“Much easier “