Calipari, Cats Targeted in Work Toward Improvement
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Back in the preseason, John Calipari was bullish on his team’s defensive prospects, to say the least. His expectation was that Kentucky would develop to be the nation’s best defense by February.
Well, the Wildcats will spend the final hours before the calendar flips to February facing Georgia in Rupp Arena, but they aren’t quite there yet, though they’ve had their moments.
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| Kentucky vs. Georgia | ||
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Tue., Jan. 31 – 9 p.m. ET |
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TV: ESPN |
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| UK | 2016-17 Team Stats | UGA |
| 17-4 | Record | 13-8 |
| 7-1 | Conference Record | 4-4 |
| 91.3 | PPG | 72.0 |
| 72.9 | Opp PPG | 67.7 |
| .495 | FG% | .443 |
| .421 | Opp FG% | .401 |
| 40.6 | RPG | 38.1 |
| .355 | 3PT FG% | .311 |
| .307 | Opp 3PT FG% | .324 |
| .688 | FT% | .744 |
| 17.6 | APG | 14.2 |
| 6.3 | SPG | 6.0 |
| 6.0 | BPG | 4.0 |
So, in the wake of a loss against Kansas that was UK’s fourth time in six games allowing more than a point per possession, Coach Cal had a question for each of his players.
“In one of my individual meetings, I asked all the guys, ‘Can you be a stopper?’” Calipari said.
The question was equal parts a challenge and a means to explore the minds of his players. Coach Cal got exactly what he was looking for in the answers.
“A couple said, ‘Someday I hope to be,’ but there were five or six that said, ‘I can be,’ or, ‘I’m a stopper,’ ” Calipari said. “Well, then why are people scoring on us like they are if you’re a stopper?”
That question, those individual meetings and everything the Cats have done over the last two days have been a part of a targeted effort to find the remedy for what is ailing UK. Because Coach Cal is unwavering in his belief that it’s all imminently curable.
“It’s like I said, I’m not panicked,” Calipari said. “I wanted to win the game. You guys know me well enough. I’m fighting throughout the game and when I watched it, I walked away after watching the tape like, ‘OK, this stuff is all fixable.’ If it wasn’t fixable I would have a different approach, but the other side I would tell you is I’ve got good kids.”
Good kids who want to be coached, who want to realize the potential that had Coach Cal raving a few months ago. That’s why he’s so certain UK – which still sits at 17-4 (7-1 Southeastern Conference) and No. 8/6 in the rankings entering a matchup with Georgia (13-8, 4-4 SEC) – can improve on defense, as well as in terms of the toughness Calipari also said must get better.
“Look, it’s a skill to be like a hard, scrappy player,” Calipari said. “That’s a skill, just like ball-handling and shooting is a skill. Fighting for rebounding, it’s a skill. If passing and shooting and dribbling can be taught and mastered, then so can that other stuff. They’re all a skill. So you get in here and you make them fight each other.”
Toughness isn’t only about physicality though. It’s as much mental as anything else, says Calipari. It means not giving in to old habits. It means unwavering focus.
“When it’s late, four minutes, five minutes to go in the game, you know you’re tough enough that I’m not turning it over because I’m tough enough to know ‘I’m making easy plays,’ ” Calipari said. “Turnovers lead to easy baskets on the other end. We gave 21 points up last game from turnovers. Can’t win a game that way.”
UK has now tied its season high of 17 turnovers in two of its last three games, including the Kansas loss. The Cats have been exceptional in turnover avoidance for most of the season and still rank 10th nationally in turnover rate, so Coach Cal didn’t have too difficult a time diagnosing the issue upon further review.
“Casual play,” Calipari said. “I showed them all 17 (turnovers). We went through all 17. ‘Was it necessary?’ Aggressive turnovers don’t lead to baskets on the other end. The casual turnovers, you’re just dribbling it across and you lose it? Did he grab you? ‘Nah, it just kinda got away from me.’ Excuse me?”
Exasperating as that may be, it should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed UK’s perennially young teams during the Calipari era. It should also come as no surprise that there’s one overriding theme behind every piece of coaching, one ultimate goal Coach Cal is pursuing.
He wants the Cats to take the wheel.
“Until this team is empowered and it’s their team, until they’re doing this off of one another, understanding what each of them have to do and talking, until they’re empowered they can’t be the team that they can be,” Calipari said. “They’re still good. Good team and good players, but you’ve got to be empowered. It’s got to be their team, not mine.”
Wildcats Drop Second Straight Game in Blueblood Battle vs. Kansas
No. 4/4 Kentucky placed five players in double figures, but it was not enough as No. 2/1 Kansas rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat the Wildcats 79-73 on Saturday night in Rupp Arena in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Kentucky (17-4) was led in scoring by freshman Malik Monk and senior Derek Willis, who each poured in 18 points. Isaiah Briscoe scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds with a game-high six assists. Bam Adebayo had 10 points and eight boards, while De’Aaron Fox had 10 points.
Turnovers played a huge part in the game. Kentucky turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 21 Kansas points. Meanwhile, Kansas had 12 turnovers, but Kentucky was only able to convert those into seven points.
Kansas (19-2) hit 32 of 64 (50 percent) from the floor in the game, while Kentucky hit 47.3 percent (26 of 55) of its shots. Kansas had 44 points in the paint, compared to 34 for Kentucky. The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 35-34, but Kansas outscored Kentucky on second-chance points 17-7.
Kansas had an 8-7 lead early in the first half before Kentucky went on a 13-2 run to take a 20-10 lead with 10:40 left in the half. Monk was the catalyst in the run, scoring eight of Kentucky’s 13 points, including six in a row at one point.
The Wildcats would lead by as many as 12, on three separate occasions. But after Kentucky grabbed a 29-17 lead, Kansas rallied, ending the first half on a 10-3 run, making it 32-27 at the half.
Kansas opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers by Josh Jackson to take a 33-32 lead. But the Wildcats came right back, getting consecutive 3s from Willis and Briscoe to lead 38-33.
With the Wildcats leading 47-42, Kansas started a rally that would put the game away. When the run was over, Kansas had flipped the script by outscoring Kentucky 27-12 to take a 69-59 lead. That would be the Jayhawks’ largest lead of the game.
It was just the fourth time — and first against a nonconference opponent — in the John Calipari era that the Wildcats failed to win a game they led by 10 or more points in the contest. UK is now 204-4 in that regard. It was also just the eighth time in the Calipari era that the Wildcats have lost back-to-back games. They’ve never lost three straight under Calipari.
Additional notes:
• Kentucky still leads the overall series 22-8, including 7-2 in Lexington
• It’s only the third time in eight years under Calipari that the Wildcats have lost at least two home games
• UK fell to 47-20 against Associated Press Top 25 teams under Calipari, 5-3 vs. top-five teams
• Willis’ 18 points and five 3-pointers were both season highs
• It was the first top-five showdown in Rupp Arena since Dec. 31, 2011, when No. 3 UK took on No. 4 Louisville
• The crowd at Rupp Arena set a world record for the loudest indoor roar when it was measured at 126.4 decibels just before tipoff
#BBN Sets Crowd Roar World Record
Kentucky fans have long been known for being among the loudest anywhere. Now they have the world record to prove it.
With a representative from the Guinness Book of World Records in attendance at the UK-Kansas game, the crowd at Rupp Arena set a world record for the loudest indoor crowd roar when it was measured at 126.4 decibels just before tipoff.
UK Athletics and UK HealthCare’s Markey Cancer Center joined forces to encourage fans to #TurnUpRupp and break the previous indoor crowd roar record, which was set by the Sacramento Kings in November 2013. The crowd roar was gauged by natural noise such as cheering and clapping only. No digital or artificial noise was allowed.
Fox Named a Finalist for Bob Cousy Award
Kentucky floor general De’Aaron Fox is among 10 finalists for the 2017 Bob Cousy award, which annually honors the nation’s top point guard, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Monday.
Fox is one of four freshmen to make the list of 10 finalists, joining NC State’s Dennis Smith, UCLA’s Lonzo Ball and Washington’s Markelle Fultz.
The Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award is named after Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic and Holy Cross guard Bob Cousy. The award is in its 14th year of recognizing the top point guard among Division I players.
A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates in October and the same committee trimmed the list to the midseason list of 10 finalists. The winner will be announced at the ESPN’s College Basketball Awards show on April 7.
