John Calipari has a new podcast and he has a really great guest to update us on. Former President Barack Obama joined Calipari and co-host Craig Robinson, Obama’s brother-in-law and former head coach at Oregon State, on âWays to Winâ a podcast about using on-field wisdom to solve off-field problems.
The episode was taped after the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, so the bracket was a big topic of conversation. Obama counts Kentucky among his Final Four teams, along with UConn, Baylor and Purdue; in fact, he caused the Cats to lose to the Huskies in the final.
âI’m going to chalk it up a little bit this year and I think UConn is going to take it, but you know, who I’m going to play them against in the final is Kentucky,â Obama said. âI still have Houston to get to the Elite Eight but I think Kentucky beats them.â
Calipari and Obama discussed several topics during the episode, the main one being how Calipari gets his team in the right frame of mind for the NCAA tournament. He mentioned how he had taken them bowling on Sunday and was now in “cheerleader mode”, encouraging them to bowl fast and free.
âYou have to play like you have nothing to lose,â Calipari said. âHow can you put yourself in that state of mind?â I won’t let anything happen to anyone in the room, so let it go.
âYou won’t be perfect, you will make mistakes but we just have to do less than them. You don’t have to make every shot, but we’re the best three-point shooting team in the country, so we have to continue to play that way. This is our strength.
Calipari said he thinks Kentucky is one of six or eight teams that can win it all because they have a few players who can take over a game. He didn’t mention any names, but I will: Rob Dillingham And Reed Sheppard.
âYou have to have a few stars who can take control of a game, even if itâs just for three minutes,â Calipari said.
âYou have dogs, donât you?â » said Obama.
“Yeah, they’re taking over,” Cal replied. âMaybe itâs on defense. It could be that it’s making four baskets in a row that creates a gap. I have these guys.
“I know you don’t want me to jinx you, but I agree with you: As young as your team is, that backcourt is impressive and you have a group of people who can put the ball in the hoop and you’re one of ten teams that can win, that sounds about right to me,â Obama said.
That’s it, I hope. You can listen to the whole episodewhich also includes a discussion of how name, image and likeness (NIL) changed sports, below or wherever you find your podcasts.
