Kentucky’s squad reminded Chris Webber of his Fab Five days at Michigan

Before John Calipari re-invented Kentucky basketball, Michigan set the standard for freshmen leading a college team to success. The so-called Fab Five led Michigan to the national championship games as freshmen and sophomores in 1992 and 1993.

One of the Fab Five players worked the telecasts of South Region games. Turner Sports analyst Chris Webber had something of a flashback watching Kentucky’s freshmen practice and play.

When asked if Calipari’s team reminded him of the Fab Five, Webber said, “It seems a couple of Coach Cal’s teams have.” He singled out the DeMarcus Cousins-John Wall team of 2009-10 and this season’s squad.

“There’s a different maturity with them,” Webber said of this season’s UK freshmen. “I like to think we had that same maturity.

“It’s not just their size and their talent. Kentucky probably does not get enough credit for their basketball IQ. And these kids have it, especially with a guy like Cal pounding it into them.”

Michigan’s Fab Five fell short of a national championship. So did UK with Thursday’s loss to Kansas State. Maybe this says something about relying almost solely on freshmen. Maybe it says something about how difficult it is for any team to win the NCAA Tournament.

Webber, who also worked UK’s two NCAA Tournament games in Boise, Idaho, saw in Kentucky individual star players meshing as a team.

“They’re so young and still learning body language and themselves and how to be leaders,” he said. “How they were all kind of alpha males where they came from. The fact they can play together as teammates, they understand it’s bigger than them. I just really like the temperament of this club.”

What if?

Chris Webber was part of a then-record four McDonald’s All-Americans in one recruiting class. UK broke Michigan’s record (if such a thing is a record) with six in the high school class of 2013.

Kentucky recruited Webber, who grew up in the Detroit area. How basketball history might have been changed had he signed with UK immediately comes to mind.

Webber had known UK players Jamal Mashburn and Andre Riddick in youth basketball. Then-UK strength coach Ray “Rock” Oliver also made a favorable impression. Webber referred to Oliver as the “little ball of muscle they used to have back then.”

UK did nothing wrong in recruiting.

“It went great,” Webber said. “I was actually going to go on a visit there.”

Ultimately, Webber reduced his list of schools to Michigan, Michigan State and Duke. “My mother was a big Coach K fan,” he said in reference to Mike Krzyzewski.

Webber fondly recalled playing with “Kenny ‘Sky’ Walker” and an ongoing friendship with Rex Chapman. “So I still have a little Kentucky blood in me,” he said.

But he chose to play for Michigan, which was about 30 miles from his home.

Lack of respect?

It was widely presumed that Kentucky would win the South Region and advance to the Final Four. Chris Webber said this was “likely” if UK did not presume advancement to the Final Four.

“They could lose the first game …,” he said of Thursday’s game against Kansas State. “I just think there’s really good competition, and you better respect your opponent here.”

During a team meeting last weekend, UK Coach John Calipari cautioned his players against drinking the “poison” of overconfidence. After the loss to Kansas State, he was asked if his players consumed this poison.

“No,” Calipari said. “I think the game was physical. … And it kind of got us a little out of rhythm. And it wears you down.”

Calipari’s advice to Green

UK’s primary ball handlers and floor leaders, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Quade Green, combined for eight turnovers against Kansas State. Overall, UK was credited with six assists (equaling a season low) and committed 15 turnovers.

A sequence early in the second half brought to mind something John Calipari said on his radio show three nights earlier. Green, a capable jump shooter, committed a turnover on a drive to the basket. Calipari immediately replaced him with Hamidou Diallo.

“We need Quade to make some shots,” Calipari said on the radio show. “I keep saying, ‘Quit driving all the way to the rim. You’re not big enough. Shoot a runner. Shoot that little five-footer.’”

On Wednesday, Green acknowledged this was Calipari’s advice.

“Oh yeah, oh yeah,” Green said. “He wants me to get my floater game right. That’s what I focus on.”

How long had Calipari been saying to not drive all the way to the rim? “All year, I’d say,” Green said.

And why had Green continued driving?

“I just think I’m getting to the rim,” he said. “If something happens, I make it, I miss it or I get fouled. It’s a hard thing.”

‘Out of his mind’

Sacha Killeya-Jones did not have his most productive game in the physical matchup with Kansas State. He went scoreless and did not grab a rebound in 14 minutes.

But down the stretch of the season, Killeya-Jones significantly increased his contributions. In the previous four games, he helped fill the void created by Jarred Vanderbilt’s season-ending lower leg injury by making seven of 11 shots, scoring 18 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

“I think Sacha’s playing out of his mind,” UK Coach John Calipari said on his radio show Monday.

Hearing this pleased Killeya-Jones.

“It definitely feels good to hear that from your head coach. …,” he said. “I’m definitely playing my best basketball of the year. I’m playing as hard as I can.”

‘A cruel event’

With Kentucky and Texas A&M losing in the Sweet 16, the SEC had no teams advance to the Elite Eight.

Mike Tranghese, the former Big East commissioner who now serves as a consultant helping to raise the SEC’s basketball profile, bemoaned Tennessee’s hard-luck, second-round loss to Loyola Chicago.

“Every time the ball bounced, it just didn’t seem to go to Tennessee,” he said. “As I was watching the game, I got more and more nervous … It happens sometimes. Dave Gavitt used to always tell me, the NCAA Tournament is, like, an incredible event. But it’s a cruel event. In the end, there’s only one team winning.”

Vive la différence

The games in Boise proved there’s more than one way to have success.

Quade Green said John Calipari’s animated sideline demeanor should inspire a cartoon character. Think Yosemite Sam without the six-shooters.

By contrast, there was Ohio State Coach (and Jessamine County native) Chris Holtmann. Even during stressful periods of games, he was a restrained, contemplative presence on the Ohio State sideline at Boise.

“This time of year, your players have to be relaxed,” Holtmann said when asked about his composure on the sideline. “They have to play with great aggression and confidence, but they also have to be relaxed.

“And I’m way more excitable than probably it appears.”

So why doesn’t Holtmann show his emotion?

“I don’t want the guys to look over and say, ‘Man, coach is all over the place’ when I’m asking them to be locked in on the next play and focused in on the task at hand,” he said. “I just think my disposition is really important in what I’m asking our team to do.”

Interestingly, both excitable Calipari and contemplative Holtmann have been successful. There is no one true way. Calipari, who said he’d like to be calmer, has led Kentucky to unprecedented success (even by UK’s exacting standards). He has to be true to his emotional nature, he said.

This first Ohio State team coached by Holtmann was picked to finish 11th in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes finished second. Trial and error led Holtmann to adopt a quiet presence on the sideline. “I probably learned from doing it the other way early in my career,” he said, “and not liking how our guys responded.”

Love-hate relationship

The NCAA Selection Committee sending Kentucky to Boise last weekend made life easy for one UK fan.

Doug Stokes lives in Twin Falls, Idaho, which is about 130 miles from Boise.

Stokes, 38, is an insurance agent for State Farm. He said he became a UK fan when he first filled out a NCAA Tournament bracket in 1992. He picked Kentucky to go all the way. That, of course, was the year Christian Laettner made the famous game-winning shot.

“My love for Kentucky and hate for Duke has blossomed since then,” Stokes said.

Happy birthday

To Wayne Turner. He turned 42 on Thursday. … To E.J. Floreal. He turned 25 on Friday. … To South Carolina Coach Frank Martin. He turned 52 on Friday. … To Todd Bearup. He turns 51 on Sunday… To Alabama Coach Avery Johnson. He turns 53 on Sunday … To Wenyen Gabriel. He turns 21 on Monday. … To Saul Smith. He turns 39 on Wednesday.

This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Kentucky’s squad reminded Chris Webber of his Fab Five days at Michigan."