John Calipari: Some Kentucky players were ‘relieved’ after Wisconsin loss

Kentucky fans had their hearts broken earlier this year when their team fell two wins short of completing college basketball’s first perfect season in over 30 years. But if you believe John Calipari, the loss wasn’t quite as devastating for the team.

In fact, Calipari recently claimed some of his players were “relieved” after they blew a 60-56 lead against Wisconsin with five minutes remaining.

@MrsTylerKSR pic.twitter.com/ULeSsczbsD

— Lisa Brown (@Lisa4UK) August 4, 2015

“It probably would have been better if we lost a game (in the regular season),” he said. “When we lost to Wisconsin, some guys were relieved in that locker room. When I walked in, I thought they’d be devastated. A few of them were relieved like, ‘whew!’”

If you believe that, I have a pair of white gloves and a ketchup Popsicle to sell you.

Calipari is a master of spinning things when the Wildcats face adversity, which is one of the things that makes him such a fantastic recruiter. His comments about players being “relieved” are similar to the ones he made a few months ago about what his team’s goal was last season.

It’s impossible to imagine 18- and 19-year-old kids not being crushed after a Final Four loss. A sense of relief may have come if Kentucky had lost earlier in the season, but there are no positive emotions after falling 45 minutes shy of winning a championship.