"Objectively the dumbest thing I've heard a coach say": Fans pounce on John Calipari's "unconventional" explanation to clutch strategy

The Arkansas Razorbacks, led by coach John Calipari, defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks 72-68 in the first round of the Southeastern Conference on Wednesday. During his postgame press conference, Calipari claimed that he told Razorbacks guard Johnell Davis to miss a free throw with 2.5 seconds on the clock.

Davis scored the first of his two free throws and somehow made the second one despite seeming to intentionally miss it thus icing the game.

"He tried to miss it," Calipari said. "Shot it flat and banked it in. You're up three and two seconds to go. Miss it, by the time they get it, there's a second. On the other side of that is what if they throw one deep and bank it in? But I've done it before so I do some unconventional stuff and he banked it in and I was happy. I told him, 'Good, I'm glad you banked it in.' But he listened to me. He tried to miss it. He shot it flat and banked it in."

Calipari went on to give different scenarios in different game states and how teams should deal with the situation.

"It's kind of like being up six with like, 18 seconds, 20 seconds [left]," Calipari added. "You're up six. How about you foul? Because what are they coming down trying to do? Shoot a three. Foul. Now it's a four-point game and there's 12 seconds. Get it in, you're back to [a] six [point-lead]. Do you foul again? Maybe not, maybe so. Fouling up six ... It's not conventional but it's ... Things that make a difference sometimes."

College basketball fans on X had mixed reactions to Calipari's unconventional approach to the game.

"This is, quite objectively the dumbest thing I’ve heard a coach say in a post-game presser. No words," one fan wrote.

Some fans tried to find the logic in coach's words.

"Only way it could maybe be reasonable is if he thought they were only up 2 when the shot went in," one fan tweeted.

"Had to try to do mental gymnastics to tell myself it made sense. I couldn’t do it," another fan tweeted.

"He’s taking the bullet for Nelly. Loyalty. Cal would not do that," one fan tweeted.

John Calipari's team almost blow the lead

Last week, Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari found himself in hot water when he revealed that he did not care about the SEC Tournament and was instead only focused on the NCAA Tournament.

While the Razorbacks started the clash against the South Carolina Gamecocks in dominant fashion building a 20-point lead, they almost blew it down the stretch. While leading 59-41 with 14:18 remaining, the Razorbacks missed 12 straight shots to allow the Gamecocks back into the game 59-58.

Calipari's team will now face the Ole Miss Rebels in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday after surviving the South Carolina comeback.