Kentucky coach John Calipari traded good-natured shots with ESPN’s Dick Vitale during halftime of Kentucky’s 86-37 domination of Missouri Tuesday night.
At halftime, Calipari told ESPN’s Shannon Spake that he is back to using his platoon system, which he temporarily shelved after the Alex Poythress injury.
“I went back to full platoons,” said Calipari, whose team improved to 16-0. “Five-on-five, five in, five out, hasn’t hurt our rhythm. I know Dickie V, who got fired as a coach by the way, is talking about rhythm. It hasn’t hurt our rhythm. And what it does is it adds energy. And the guys on the bench know when they’re going in, so they’re ready.
“Right now I want to keep doing this. Our bench looks better.”
Vitale, doing the game for ESPN, immediately responded when Calipari was done.
“I got fired, I’m undefeated,” Vitale said. “I got a better record than him, I’m on TV for 36 years. And I’ll disagree with him again, it hurts them offensively. Let them match up with the great ones, the Virginias, the Dukes and play those platoons. He won’t use the platoons.
“I love John. He’s right, I did get fired.”
Vitale later added: “I guarantee you when you get to that NCAA Tournament time, you will not see the platoon system. I will guarantee it.”
