Scheduling, ESPN, And Avoiding The Mid-Season Slump

If you follow any of our rivals in their quest to overcome the juggernaut which is the Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball program, you will by now have noticed that a lot of the contenders to the throne have fallen by the wayside a bit, and some have just dropped off into oblivion. In this situation, I feel we may be remiss about not giving credit where credit is due. This is another situation of John Calipari and his basketball knowledge and prowess coming to light.

Kevin Stallings has screamed to the top of his lungs to anyone who would listen, that Kentucky has a significant advantage of not having to do a Thursday-Saturday schedule in any week this week. Stallings has a legitimate point in this except for that great big logo in the sky we all call ESPN. ESPN is going to get their two cents worth in on this (or should I say 2 Billion) because they have paid for that privilege. And Kentucky being Kentucky, one of the most revered/hated programs in the country, as well as the most successful one, coached by one of the most revered/hated coaches in all of athletics, is the school they paid their mega-bucks to see. One because we put on a good show, and two because we are most always right in the thick of things come the end of the year, and no one, I mean no one has a bigger and more spread out fanbase than the Cats, which means they also promote good ratings and sell a lot of advertising dollars.

So when Stallings turns Vanderbilt into a national powerhouse, with fans all over the nation who clamor at any and every opportunity to see the Commodores in action, his argument might begin to hold a little more water. I respect Vandy and Stallings, but in this case, his ravings are for naught.

One of the other reasons that this is not usually a factor for the Cats is that John Calipari and Co. know how to schedule a season. He doesn't look for cupcakes, they come from all directions when the opportunity presents itself. He looks for games that are going to get his team ready to take things to the next level when conference play begins in January. This is the biggest reason that Calipari's teams avoid two-three games slumps in mid-season. The Indiana game showed us that talent alone does not always win the game, but since playing us, Indiana, who was undefeated when we played, which was helped greatly by the fact that they had only been on the road once, has been a paltry 5-4 since our meeting and shows no signs of righting the ship any time soon.

Then we have North Carolina, who has lost to every non-cupcake they have played this season, including us. UNC is more experienced, deeper on the bench, and has a coach with a better winning record than us. Someone claimed I ignore stats a lot. Well, there you go.

And then we have the curious case of the Louisville Cardinals. The Cards made it as high as being ranked #4 this season, just shortly before the rug was pulled out from underneath them. A lot of us knew then as now, that the Cards were way over ranked for their results, based on who they have played. But no one could have seen the guy who was driving the truck that has wiped out most of that team with one injury after another.

Teams like Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio State and a few others have learned the valuable lessons long ago. Play better teams when you get the opportunity. You may win the games, you may lose the games, but you will get game experience that is going to make your team ready for this mid-season charge that separates the men from the boys.

Kansas has played us, Georgetown, Ohio State, and Duke, all before they unwrapped one Christmas present. Ohio State has faced Duke, the afore mentioned Kansas, Florida, all before Christmas as well. And those are not all home games for those squads either. Coaches have got to start seeing the advantages of scheduling these big time games early on, even if they have to do it at neutral sites, a la the John Calipari offerings to some schools. And ESPN has even gotten in on this part as well, by scheduling things like the Coach's Classic and others and getting big time teams to play.

You cannot, as a coach, not be prepared to take on any and all comers with your squad, if you want to have those annual aspirations of winning it all. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it wont ( sorry, UNC), but you have to put those teams on your schedule, tip it off, and do what you get paid to do.

One of the side benefits of Coach Cal's freshman-heavy squads is that they are new to the challenge each and every year. Some coaches use this as a crutch, saying that it takes players with experience to deal with these kinds of situations. I think Coach Cal uses it to the exact opposite. He takes kids that have not played a UNC, or OSU, and he tells them that this is just another game, and he approaches it as such. And at this time, who can argue with his success model?

Every year since his arrival, I find more and more reasons to respect John Calipari's abilities as a coach. You see coaching does not start when the team hits the floor to play a game. It does not start when they arrive and begin practicing for the first time. It starts when the coach accepts the job and it ends when he either hangs up his or her whistle, or it gets taken away. And it never stops. You have to surround yourself with the best people, have the best working relationships with those people, and get everyone moving in the same direction at all times. Add in talent, a borderline psychotic fanbase, and some luck along the way, and it makes for something really special.

John Calipari knows he can't do anything about the SEC schedule.Except prepare, and he starts doing that as soon as the season ends the year before. I recommend that formula highly.