Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari ripped into Duke’s players for flopping during Tuesday’s game between the teams.
Duke senior forward Ryan Kelly was trying for a put-back right before halftime when he flopped on his back in an attempt to draw a call. The call from the officials did not come, but the call out from Calipari certainly did.
“They’re flopping all over the place,” Calipari told halftime interviewer Andy Katz. “In the NBA, they’d all be suspended.”
Calipari also complained about the foul trouble his team was in.
Duke is notorious for its flopping, and their acting is one of the reasons people hate them so much. The good news is at least Dick Vitale didn’t cover for the Blue Devils like he did last year.
Video of the Ryan Kelly flop is below:
After Duke won 75-68, Calipari was asked about his halftime comment and called it a joke.
“It was a joke. You guys at Duke can take a joke, right?” he reportedly said.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski defended his team’s play.
“I mean, he has a right to say whatever he wants,” Krzyzewski said, via the Raleigh News & Observer. “I thought we took some amazing charges, and I thought we probably could have taken a couple more. There’s a difference between a charge and a flop. A flop means you don’t take any contact. I would hope that anyone who watches the game would say that our kids really played outstanding defense and were there to take charges.”
Sorry to break it to you, Coach K, but your team definitely flopped. At least you can claim scoreboard over the Wildcats for now.
H/T @cjzero
