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Stephen A. Smith calls out John Calipari for Sweet 16 loss
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Stephen A. Smith said Arkansas got rattled in the second half of Thursday night’s 85-83 loss to Texas Tech, and he questioned why coach John Calipari didn’t try to change up his approach in the waning moments of the game.
On ESPN’s First Take on Friday morning, Smith and Seth Greenberg went back and forth over a wild and dramatic close to the Arkansas-Texas Tech game on the opening night of the Sweet 16. Arkansas led by as many as 16 points in the second half, led by 13 with 4:43 to play in regulation, and led by 3 in the closing seconds of regulation but decided not to foul.
Calipari has been criticized for that decision in the aftermath of the game, but the bulk of the conversation has centered around the head coach’s decision (or indecision depending on how you look at it) to save a timeout in the final 10 seconds of overtime and let his team play out the final possession.
Texas Tech scored the go-ahead basket with 7 seconds remaining. Rather than call time once Arkansas got the ball across halfcourt, DJ Wagner dribbled out the clock and took a long, contested 2 that fell short.
“Calipari can get credit for the season that they had and then still be criticized for last night,” Smith said on First Take. “Why no timeout?”
“Because that’s not what they do,” Greenberg shot back.
“Well, damnit, there’s exceptions to every rule,” Smith responded. “This man had a 16-point lead in the second half. They lost it. … Things couldn’t seem to go right for them while everything seemed to be going right for Texas Tech. That might be cause to pause and change things up a little bit. That didn’t happen. So, we’ve got to point that out, too.
“This is not questioning his coaching ability. It’s not questioning his coaching acumen. It’s not questioning his coaching greatness. … But it is questioning what the hell he was thinking last night in terms of not calling a timeout because they seemed a bit discombobulated for most of the second half. I was watching the game. I didn’t like what I saw from them offensively.”
Calipari himself admitted after the game that, with hindsight, he wished he had used his final timeout. But he also made clear that he has routinely played similar situations the same way throughout the course of his career.
The loss was Calipari’s first-ever NCAA Tournament defeat in a game where his team led by at least 6 points at the halftime break. He was 35-0 before Thursday night.
Arkansas closed out Calipari’s first season with a 22-14 record.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
