Gilgeous-Alexander's Story Worth Repeating, Emulating
It is a memory that John Calipari has recalled so often this season that he should start with, “Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.”
As it’s told, the coach asks his team who among them is showing up to the gym in the morning to take extra jump shots and watch game film.
The team: “Shai.”
The coach then asks strength coach Rob Harris who among the players is the hardest worker in the weight room.
Harris: “Shai.”
The coach closes by asking the players who among them is showing the most improvement.
The team, again: “Shai.”
If Calipari gets repetitive, it is easy to understand why. According to the story, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was always the team’s hardest working player. And as the Wildcats prepare to begin the NCAA Tournament, he has developed into one of its best.
“It’s changed who he is and his opportunities,” Calipari said Thursday in his latest re-telling, this time during a media gathering in Boise, Idaho, site of Kentucky’s first round matchup with Davidson Thursday.
Gilgeous-Alexander downplays the story. If you listen to his side of it, he’s simply a morning person.
“I like to work on my game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I just go in the morning because it’s easier to go.
But consider another oft-repeated Calipari topic – that the Wildcats are the youngest team in college basketball – and Gilgeous-Alexander’s example takes on added significance.
“I knew he was a great player since the summer, but he was kind of raw back then,” Wenyen Gabriel said. “To see him develop throughout the season, it shows how much better our team has gotten because of how much better he’s gotten.”
If Gilgeous-Alexander’s individual work set a standard, it’s his play within the framework of the team that may prove to be most important to Kentucky’s tournament success. And it’s a subject that received a dose of late-season maintenance.
Following a four-game losing streak in February, each player met with Calipari to better define his role. Gilgeous-Alexander was tasked with finding the balance between playing aggressively and getting his teammates involved. The order was to focus on creating offense for others without sacrificing his scoring. To work to create for others while knowing that in moments when Kentucky needed a basket, he would likely be the go-to guy.
“[Calipari] just said he’s going to need me to make plays for this team, get guys shots a lot more than score sometimes. But when I need to score, I need to score,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
He struck the balance nearly immediately, averaging 18.4 points and seven assists over Kentucky’s last seven games. Simultaneously, Kentucky’s offense began to operate with better cohesion. During the four game losing streak, Kentucky averaged 65 points per game. In the eight games since – seven of them wins – the average is up to 80 points a game.
“I’ve just been trying to embrace the role and be for these guys and try to help the team win,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
“With me penetrating and kicking and the ball movement, we’re a better team.”
