Cats Starting to Roll as Cal’s Coaching Takes Root
Friday felt entirely different for John Calipari.
Compared with just a couple weeks ago, it felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Coach Cal had become used to having to grind through pretty much every practice, but he breezed through Friday’s.
It’s no mystery why.
“Yesterday in practice, what I said to them, at one point I stopped them and I said, ‘The reason I’m so relaxed and having fun coaching you: I’m not fighting everybody,’ ” Calipari said. “It was only a month ago, three weeks ago half the team, it was a fight to get them to play how we were trying to get them to play.”
The Kentucky Wildcats are spending a lot more time battling their opponents than their coach these days, which has never been more true than on Saturday.
UK claimed its third straight double-digit victory against Missouri, downing the Tigers 87-66 in Rupp Arena to avenge a loss to the Tigers on Feb. 3. The Cats moved to 20-9 (9-7 Southeastern Conference) and had their largest margin of victory since a 90-61 shellacking of rival Louisville on Dec. 29 by defeating the Tigers (18-11, 8-8 SEC).
“They gave us a good one at their place, so we just wanted to make sure that we came out with aggression, came out with energy,” said Kevin Knox, who scored 21 points. “The crowd was great tonight. We just wanted to make sure we gave the payback for what they did to us at home.”
The payback was nice, but Coach Cal enjoyed the way his team played much more. UK took advantage of open-floor opportunities early and hit 10-of-16 3-pointers to build a big lead, then the Cats were able to preserve that lead by transitioning into a more half-court style late.
“What you’re seeing is a team that can play fast and a team that can grind it out,” Calipari said. “You’re seeing when I put Jarred (Vanderbilt) and PJ (Washington) in there, a team that can really, really rebound. Our assist-to-turnover ratio, which was under water now is going the right way. We’ve kind of figured out Quade (Green) and Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), and I gave Hami (Diallo) a hug in front of the team.”
The hug was well earned, as Diallo played his best game in a long while in scoring 11 points and adding two assists and two rebounds. He hit all three of his 3-point tries, the first coming less than four minutes into the game and drawing a big reaction from his teammates, his coach and fans alike.
“It was great,” Diallo said. “It was great knowing that the team is here for me and the crowd was here for me as well. So it was just great having everybody have my back and hopefully I can play the same way I did next game.”
Calipari having Diallo’s back is hardly a new thing. Though the 6-foot-5 freshman’s minutes declined in recent weeks, Coach Cal’s support never wavered.
“I know he was supporting me no matter what,” Diallo said. “That’s why I chose to come here. He was going to be on me no matter what and he was going to protect me no matter what was going on.”
Fans seemed to follow Calipari’s lead in that. As Diallo failed to reach double figures in six of seven games, the crowd in Rupp looked for every opportunity to pick him up. Shots, however, just kept finding a way not to fall.
Until Saturday.
“I love the fact that our fans gave Hami a standing ovation,” Calipari said. “That’s what fans should do. Instead of being down on a kid—that’s someone’s son. That’s someone’s child. And if it were their child, how would you want them to be treated? And you should see the smile on his face in there. And the players love it. They knew he was struggling.”
The way Diallo’s teammates lifted him up is a mark of a team that has embraced the all-for-one mentality Calipari has been trying to cultivate for so long. After months of fits, starts and plenty of frustration for Coach Cal, the Cats are getting it.
“I feel like we’re playing well together and we’re finally noticing that we need each other,” Diallo said. “That’s the biggest thing, having a group of guys that we all love and care about each other. That’s really what we’ve been identifying these last couple weeks, how much we care about each other and how much we all need each other.”
It’s all about trust. It always has been.
“This team is beginning to know that we’ve got to do this together,” Calipari said. “We’ve got to be about each other.”
