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Over the last several years, Memphis has pumped out NBA players like nobody’s business. The reason? John Calipari’s coaching style
By Chris Wilder
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Calipari: "Rose is driven like Tiger Woods. He's unique like that."
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As the John Calipari-coached Memphis Tigers polish off their game plan for the second annual Puerto Rico Tip-Off, they have a tough challenge ahead of them—as the team most everyone would love to beat. While it can be argued that the 2008-09 Tigers have dropped off in the talent department—having lost Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Joey Dorsey to the NBA—this much is true: Memphis, under Calipari, has become a feeding ground for the NBA.
Over the last several years, Memphis has pumped out NBA players like nobody’s business going back to when Coach Cal first stepped on the Memphis scene in 2000 and brought New Jersey high school phenomenon, DaJuan Wagner, with him. Since then, it’s been one NBA player after another—from to Rodney Carney to Shawne Williams. In all, Calipari has helped groom 11 players to the NBA—nine at Memphis, and two at the University of Massachusetts, where he coached from 1988 to ’96.
So, what exactly is Coach Cal’s secret ingredient? “We can’t take a player that doesn’t have pro potential and make him a pro,” explains Calipari, who has compiled a 77 percent winning percentage in eight seasons at Memphis. “That’s not what we do. What it is here is our style of play. Instead of teaching plays, we’re teaching them how to play. We’re teaching them how to attack the rim and be very aggressive. We’re teaching them NBA spacing. So, we’re teaching all the things they need; but, [the players] have pro potential before they get here.”
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Calipari coaches with fire. (Just ask the refs.)
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To further bolster his argument, Calipari points to the three “none-and-dones” that had committed to Memphis before the NBA changed its rules requiring players to have played somewhere else or be 20 years old to be drafted. Amar’e Stoudemire, Kendrick Perkins and Qyntel Woods were all heading to Memphis had they not been able to go directly to The League. (Imagine that!)
But it doesn’t stop there. Several players, including Derrick Rose, only play at Memphis for one year before moving on to David Stern’s playground. Not to mention the four or five players playing in Europe as you read this article.
While Calipari’s style of coaching is conducive to the NBA, he emphasizes other aspects as well. “If you’re not physically ready to be in the NBA, you can’t be in that league,” says Calipari. “If you’re not mentally ready to be in that league you can’t be in that league.”
Calipari has the benefit of having coached in the NBA. Though his three-year stint in New Jersey wasn’t filled with great success—he was 72-112 from 1996-’99—Calipari used the experience to his benefit at Memphis. To watch a Memphis player in The League is to watch a calm, cool, collected type who has no fear and most importantly, won’t turn the ball over. Calipari-coached players have been successful at all positions; no one can call them “Guard U,” for instance. Points guards, centers and every position in between have come out of Memphis in recent years. Rose, Marcus Camby (who played at UMASS) and Douglas-Roberts are three examples of players whose games are as diverse as their height.
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Here are the John Calipari-coached *players who have gone on to the NBA
Earl Barron, Miami Heat
Antonio Burks, last played with the Memphis Grizzlies
Rodney Carney, Minnesota Timberwolves
Marcus Camby, L.A. Clippers
Chris Douglas-Roberts, New Jersey Nets
Joey Dorsey, Houston Rockets
Lou Rowe, last played with the Golden State Warriors
DaJuan Wagner, last played with the Memphis Grizzlies
Darius Washington, San Antonio Spurs
Shawne Williams, Indiana Pacers
Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
*list does not include players in Europe
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The 2008-09 Tigers aren’t as talented and deep as last year’s squad, which lost to Kansas in a thrilling champion game. Six-foot-nine-inch forward Robert Dozier and 6-6 guard Antonio Anderson are back as Memphis’ only returning starters—so Calipari enters the Puerto Rico Tip-Off with caution.
“We’re going in to play Chattanooga, a team that’s picked to win their conference. If we don’t play we get beat,” Calipari says of their upcoming trip to Puerto Rico. “The next game will be against either Seton Hall or Southern Cal, alright? If you’re not ready to play, those teams are beating you. Both of those teams have talented players.
“And then on our side we still have Xavier and Virginia Tech. So, all of a sudden, you could walk away 2-2 and still be a pretty good team. You could walk away 1-2. You’re hoping you’re not walking away 0-3, which could happen.”
Clearly they’re no guarantees there, but let’s see who churns out the most NBA prospects at season’s end. (I’ve got my money on Memphis.)
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Veteran sports writer Chris Wilder is the editor of www.insideathletics.com, a sports magazine/social network.
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Courtesy AP Photos
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