UK Heads to the Garden for Next Leg of Season-Long Ride
John Calipari has been on somewhat of a roller-coaster ride of late.
Coaching his youngest team to date and one of the most inexperienced in recent college basketball history, Coach Cal just doesn’t know what to expect from one day to the next.
“I just think it’s going to be day-to-day,” Calipari said Thursday. “Yesterday I told them, ‘I feel encouraged right now.’ They were like, ‘Wow, really?!’ Today I’ll probably say, ‘I really feel discouraged right now.’ That’s how this has been.”
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| Kentucky vs. Monmouth | ||
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Sat., Dec. 9 – Noon ET |
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| Coverage | ||
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TV: ESPNU |
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| UK | 2017-18 Team Stats | MU |
| 7-1 | Record | 3-6 |
| 0-0 | Conference Record | 0-0 |
| 78.4 | PPG | 74.4 |
| 66.2 | Opp PPG | 78.1 |
| .502 | FG% | .462 |
| .382 | Opp FG% | .429 |
| 40.5 | RPG | 37.9 |
| .343 | 3PT FG% | .462 |
| .296 | Opp 3PT FG% | .352 |
| .668 | FT% | .642 |
| 16.0 | APG | 10.8 |
| 6.4 | SPG | 4.4 |
| 6.4 | BPG | 3.0 |
None of that surprises him. How could it with five freshman starters plus another freshman and two sophomores coming off the bench to play most of Kentucky’s minutes?
“I mean they’ve never done what they’re doing right now, which is 45 days of practice, academics, tutoring, travel, all this stuff, playing in games, having all this social media out there that they’ve never had before,” Calipari said. “Dealing with all this stuff they’re dealing with, it wears you down, and the first thing that goes is your focus and concentration so they’re trying.”
That – effort – has been the one thing Calipari has been able to count on. Focus and concentration might wane from time to time, but it’s never for lack of trying. That’s what’s allowed the Wildcats to win seven of the eight games they’ve played and hang around against No. 4 Kansas in the other.
As UK prepares to travel to New York City to face Monmouth (3-6) at Madison Square Garden on Saturday at noon, that’s also what reassures Coach Cal.
“They’re trying to please me too,” Calipari said. “I’ve had people come in and say, ‘Coach, that isn’t always the case now. You’ve got a team full of guys trying.’ You may be watching TV and guys are sulking because ‘he got more shots than I got.’ We don’t have any of that. I think this team wants to be special, they just, they thought they could do it easily, and they’ve figured out now ‘oh my gosh, this is really gonna be hard.’ “
The latest example of that came this week. During practice on Tuesday, Calipari turned up the heat. The Cats responded and Rob Harris, UK’s strength and conditioning coach, noted the players’ heartrates reached higher levels than at any other point during that practice.
“That’s a problem,” Calipari said. “Because if I’m the one that has to get them to do that, they’re not getting this. I told them that. I said, ‘You mean to tell me I’ve gotta be that mean for you to do what you should want to do and what you’re supposed to be learning to do?’ “
On Wednesday, the Cats improved in their self-motivation. Another step in a development process that will require many, many more.
“As everyone buys in, this team will start taking off,” Calipari said. “But we all gotta buy in. And buying in isn’t that anyone’s selfish. Just, they don’t know better. Buying in—they’ve created habits that the minute they’re fatigued they go back to and all those things. When I get tired, I stop. When I get tired, I just do what I want to do. We’re working on that every single day.”
UK will face a test in that regard on Saturday against a Monmouth team that has played a difficult schedule, including four games decided by five points or less. Moreover, the Cats will have to do it in their first noon game following their longest break between games of the season.
“Really big and physical inside, and we better show up and play,” Calipari said. “I’m more concerned about just let’s go 40 minutes and see what happens. It’s a noon game. Hard to play at noon. Normally at noon whoever shows up to play wins the game. So let’s just hope we’re showing up to play, and we have a chance to do what we need to do.”
There’s no telling where the roller coaster will take Calipari next, but Saturday isn’t the end of the ride regardless.
“This is a good group,” Calipari said. “We have some flaws, but so does every team out there. Every one of them. Can’t shoot free throws, can’t shoot, too small, to this, too that. Come on. This is a different team. Long as heck, and getting better defensively, but we’ve got a ways to go. We’ll see.”
Kentucky Downs Harvard 79-70
Just as No. 7/7 Kentucky seemed headed toward blowing out another opponent, the Wildcats suddenly lost the focus and accuracy that had Harvard on the brink.
The pesky Crimson took advantage down the stretch to get within single digits, only lacking enough time to make things even tenser against a team still learning that a 20-point lead should be a starting point toward finishing off games. The Wildcats held on for a 79-70 victory.
Officially, Harvard’s deficit was nine after Seth Towns’ 3-pointer with 22 seconds left capped an 18-7 closing run after trailing 72-52 midway through the second half. Kentucky (7-1) ran out the clock, which seemed logical considering it missed seven of its final eight shots and went without a field goal for the final 2:31.
Before that, the Wildcats appeared to show hints of following up Sunday’s 107-73 pummeling of UIC with another big game.
Kevin Knox scored 20 points and Hamidou Diallo added 19 as Kentucky used a 13-0 run over 2:42 for a lead that seemed safe during a game when things were mostly clicking on both ends. The Wildcats returned from a break to shoot well for most of the game and led the Ivy League Crimson throughout.
It wasn’t easy, and the Wildcats needed that initial accuracy to counter Harvard’s 12 3-pointers — including six by sophomore forward Towns (25 points) — that kept the Crimson within reach.
Kentucky made three of four free throws in the final minutes to win the first meeting between the schools and earn its fifth straight victory. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 12 points for the Wildcats, who shot 46 percent but were just 2 of 14 from long range.
• Knox scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half. The 16 points are the most by a Wildcat this season. It was also the third game this season and second in a row he’s reached double figures before halftime. He’s the only Wildcat to have scored in double figures in every game
• UK outrebounded its opponent for the seventh straight game
• The Wildcat dominated the points battle in the paint (42-20), on the fastbreak (15-0) and off turnovers (24-3)
• Kentucky’s 10 turnovers tied for its season low
• Diallo’s 19 points tied his career high, set last game vs. UIC
• Nick Richards scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds and tied his career high with three blocks
• Sacha Killeya-Jones was 4 for 4 from the field and scored a season-high nine points
Fast and Furious, Now Slow and Steady
Kentucky certainly didn’t ease into its 2017-18 schedule.
The Wildcats opened the season with three games in five days, including a matchup vs. Kansas in Chicago for the State Farm Champions Classic. UK played three more over a six-day stretch and six total games in 13 days. All told, the Wildcats played seven games in 17 days to start the season.
Now that that busy stretch is complete, Kentucky will have considerable more time between games — an important development for a team that hasn’t been able to get on the practice court all that much this early in the season to fix any problems and improve.
After seven games in 17 days, UK is now in the midst of five games over the next 33 days, concluding with Louisville on Dec. 29 (it should be noted that those games include opponents such as UCLA, Louisville and Virginia Tech). Part of that period will take place while classes are out of session, allowing for John Calipari to institute what he calls “Camp Cal.”
During that time period when there are no restrictions on practice hours and the Wildcats are free of any academic responsibilities, the Wildcats often practice two times a day and sometimes even three if one includes a workout session with strength and conditioning coach Rob Harris. The team will basically eat, sleep and drink basketball during that time of the season, and it’s often when Calipari’s teams improve the most.
Suffice it to say, after the busy stretch the Wildcats just had, Calipari is looking to get on the practice court with his team. “We basically have… to where we can try to get better and I can try to focus on some areas that I know we gotta get better at,” he said after the UIC game to end.
