SAN ANTONIO (AP) -His team was up 14 points with a minute to go, moseying back toward the bench for a final time-out that seemed like little more than a formality. Yet John Calipari was already three steps out onto the floor, sweat ringing the collar of an impeccably tailored gray suit, waiting for them and still screaming.
Calipari stuck his right arm out, violently yanked it back and then pointed at Joey Dorsey, letting Memphis' big man know he didn't want him getting pushed around under the basket, no matter how safe the lead was or how little time was left on the clock.
It was one of those moments when it was easy to understand why one of Calipari's former players once said, "Hard ain't hard enough for him.''
The Tigers are headed for the national championship game after demolishing UCLA 78-63, much the same way they demolished Michigan State and Texas before that. Depending on whom you believe, they're either pulling Calipari along or being pushed the entire way by him.
"I'm going to go down to the Riverwalk and do a power walk to use up some energy and then figure who the heck we're playing on Monday. But yeah,'' Calipari said, "I'm happy, excited for my team, all they've done.''
The man should have been in the championship game long before this. He's put teams in the NCAA tournament 10 times, the Sweet Sixteen six times, the Elite Eight five times, and now the Final Four twice. Calipari, though, has been derided as little more than a too-slick recruiter, dismissed as too much style and too little substance. But during his 16 seasons in college, including 30-plus wins during the last three seasons at Memphis, only North Carolina coach Roy Williams has won more games.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
Calipari stuck his right arm out, violently yanked it back and then pointed at Joey Dorsey, letting Memphis' big man know he didn't want him getting pushed around under the basket, no matter how safe the lead was or how little time was left on the clock.
It was one of those moments when it was easy to understand why one of Calipari's former players once said, "Hard ain't hard enough for him.''
The Tigers are headed for the national championship game after demolishing UCLA 78-63, much the same way they demolished Michigan State and Texas before that. Depending on whom you believe, they're either pulling Calipari along or being pushed the entire way by him.
"I'm going to go down to the Riverwalk and do a power walk to use up some energy and then figure who the heck we're playing on Monday. But yeah,'' Calipari said, "I'm happy, excited for my team, all they've done.''
The man should have been in the championship game long before this. He's put teams in the NCAA tournament 10 times, the Sweet Sixteen six times, the Elite Eight five times, and now the Final Four twice. Calipari, though, has been derided as little more than a too-slick recruiter, dismissed as too much style and too little substance. But during his 16 seasons in college, including 30-plus wins during the last three seasons at Memphis, only North Carolina coach Roy Williams has won more games.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
LinksMarker is a Web 2.0 content management system
Comments