John Calipari says Kentucky team has ‘unwarranted arrogance’

Following his team’s 76-68 loss to South Carolina on Tuesday night in which Chris Silva went off for 27 points and 8 rebounds, Kentucky coach John Calipari called out his team, saying they possessed “unwarranted arrogance.”

“There’s an unwarranted arrogance that we get up, we’re really good or I’m really good and I’m going to do what I’m choosing to do and I’m not going to listen what your saying,” Calipari said after his team blew a 14-point second-half lead on the Gamecocks’ home floor. “And that’s what happened and it started rolling and then all of a sudden we couldn’t stop the onslaught.”

John Calipari calls out a Kentucky players for ‘unwarranted arrogance’ following South Carolina loss. pic.twitter.com/sc0P3O0QzQ

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 17, 2018

Calipari was clearly sending a message to his players though the media. ESPN’s Seth Greenberg then called out both the Kentucky players and ESPN on SportsCenter.

“This is part of the process if you’re going to recruit these one-and-done guys,” he said. “These guys have been recruited since they’re 13 years old. They’ve been enabled since they’re 13 years old. They all think, ‘It’s not about Kentucky, it’s about how quick can I get to the league?’ It’s all about  me, me, me. They don’t know how to play hard. They can’t maintain an intensity. John Calipari coaches his team really hard, but they’re more concerned about themselves than the good of the group.”

Greenberg then called out ESPN — and the media in general.

Seth Greenberg also calls out Kentucky players. ‘They’re more concerned about themselves than the good of the group ‘ pic.twitter.com/lbgjYxsdWd

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 17, 2018

“To me, it’s a bigger problem,” he said. “We spend all our time talking about the freshmen, DeAndre Ayton, Marvin Bagley, the great Kentucky freshmen, instead of talking about the best teams. These guys are not the best teams. Why don’t we spend some time talking about the Villanovas, the Purdues, what Virginia’s doing. These guys are spoiled by the process by the time they’re 13 years old. And they’re clueless in understanding how hard you have to play, what type of teammate you have to be….They’re not connected because they’re all about themselves instead of the good of the group.”