Cats Make Strides vs. SIU with Many More to Come
John Calipari said on Thursday his immediate priority is to find a group of five players who will fight together.
On that count, Friday night brought progress.
“Today I thought some guys played for us,” Calipari said. “I thought every single guy last game played for themselves. Every single guy on the court. Today they played for each other.”
Progress was far from the minds of most with a little under 14 minutes left. Southern Illinois had just made a pair of free throws to extend its lead to 46-40, bringing nervous moments for a Kentucky team and fan base in dire need of a victory after the way the season had started. Thanks in large part to a group of players who stepped up to take spots in that group of five, No. 2/2 UK (1-1) outscored the Salukis 31-13 over the final 13:39 to tally a 71-59 victory in its Rupp Arena opener.
“We made strides today,” Calipari said. “Nick (Richards) made strides. Immanuel (Quickley) made strides. EJ (Montgomery) made strides. Quade (Green) made strides. And just so you know I’m riding the guys that are playing. If you’re fighting like crazy and making good decisions then I’m going to ride you and we’re going to play.”
Richards didn’t even score in double figures, but he fell firmly into the “fighting like crazy” camp. With Reid Travis saddled with two first-half fouls, the sophomore took it upon himself to step up.
“My team needed somebody to get rebounds because Reid was out of the game,” Richards said. “We needed energy and effort so I had to put myself into the game, do (his role) in that. That’s through rebounds.”
He got plenty of those.
Richards had 19 rebounds – the most for a UK player since Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 19 against Louisville in 2011-12 – with nine coming on the offensive end. Not that his performance didn’t have its warts, but the fight he showed was encouraging.
“Now, he should have had about 10 more points, he faded away on shots, there’s still that stuff, he fumbled a couple balls, one-handed caught a couple balls,” Calipari said. “But look, if he’ll fight and go after balls and block shots, we can deal with the rest of it. He was good. Happy for him.”
Calipari felt similarly about Quickley, who drew the start at point guard and answered the bell by scoring 15 points. The most important of those came on a 3-pointer right after SIU extended its lead back to six.
“I was more aggressive today,” Calipari said. “Could you tell? I was a little more aggressive today. And I was happy with Immanuel and how he dealt with it, because it’s what it is. It’s a man’s world, let’s go.”
Montgomery, meanwhile, scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds, using his length and athleticism to block two shots and pull down four offensive boards. Green scored 14 points, balancing effectively between attacking the basket and shooting from outside.
Though it wasn’t the prettiest game UK will play this season, it brought progress. Memories of what happened against Duke still might be lingering, but the Cats are moving forward.
“I can’t speak for the all the fans, but I do know what this team has and I do know this team can still be special,” Quickley said. “We got a lot of pieces – many pieces, actually – and a lot of talent. We can still turn this around and we’re just going to take it day by day to keep getting better.”
Frankly, Quickley and the Cats don’t have much choice in the matter – not with the way Calipari is coaching now. In spite of having only one day of practice before facing SIU, Coach Cal revved up his favorite exercise machine on Thursday. With five days before UK’s next game, it figures to get lots more action this weekend and early next week.
“Today we grinded, we need to score easier, but we had to grind it,” Calipari said. “But this thing, as we go forward, is you’re held accountable. This is what we’re asking you to do. And there’s no—we’re not arguing, we have what we have, we have our buddy in the gym. He’s called the treadmill that’s going at 17 miles an hour for 30 seconds. Get on the treadmill.”
Fully realizing the task before him, Calipari is attacking it.
“I got a lot of work,” Calipari said. “We got a lot of work to do to get this team where it needs to go. But I’m loving this group of guys and I’m just saying, hey, be responsible, own your performance. Don’t blame anybody, don’t blame me, don’t blame the fans, don’t blame the other team, don’t blame the officials. Own your performance. That’s the only way you get better.”
