So numbers do matter? Calipari has used stats to motivate PJ Washington.
The question brought a smile to PJ Washington’s face. Would he like to score 35 points and grab 20 rebounds on a regular basis?
“I would love it,” he said. “That would be good for me.”
But are 35 points and 20 rebounds a realistic goal for any player?
“I don’t know,” Washington said. “I’m just trying to come out and bring energy every night.”
Earlier this season, Kentucky Coach John Calipari mentioned 35 points and 20 rebounds as a standard for Washington try to achieve.
“I don’t think he meant that literally,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said. “Because that’s not going to happen to any player. No player he’s ever had has done that.”
In Calipari’s nine previous seasons as Kentucky coach, Jamal Murray averaged the most points (20.0) in 2015-16.
“But he’s capable of putting up 30 points in a game or (grabbing) 20 rebounds in a game,” Bilas said of Washington. “He’s put up close to that already in a game.”
Washington had a career-high 29 points against Seton Hall on Dec. 8. He grabbed 18 rebounds against VMI on Nov. 18.
Perhaps tellingly, the smallest average for a UK leading scorer in Calipari’s time as coach belongs to Aaron Harrison: 11.0 points in 2014-15. That was the season Kentucky took a 38-0 record into the Final Four.
Does that say something about any player, Washington included, needing to balance the pursuit of big numbers while staying within the team concept?
“Looking to score is not a selfish act,” Bilas said. “It’s a team act. Taking bad shots is a selfish act. And there’s a big difference between those two things.”
By talking about 35 points and 20 rebounds, Calipari was trying to spur greater aggressiveness and assertiveness, Bilas said. To borrow a term that’s fallen out of favor, he was not inviting Washington to be a ball hog.
Washington downplayed the notion of having to balance individual and team goals.
Of 35-and-20, he said, “it comes with doing things in the flow, and trying not to force shots. I’m not a guy to come out and just force shots.
“I’m trying to be aggressive and make plays for my teammates and also make plays for myself.”
In the last week or two, Calipari has been preaching a message: “Numbers don’t matter.” The inference is players should not feel pressured to score a certain amount of points or shoot a certain amount of times.
This would seem to contradict his 35-and-20 goal for Washington.
Not necessarily, Bilas said. Coaches use numbers “all the time” as “measuring stick,” he said. They just don’t want players to consumed with numbers.
“You use statistics to help illustrate your point,” Bilas said. “You could ask one of the players, ‘Hey, do you think you’re one of the best rebounders in the league?’
“If they say they are, you ask, ‘Why are you ranked 20th in rebounding, then?’”
Speaking of using numbers, Calipari spoke a few seasons ago about Kentucky monitoring the heart rates of players in practice. So he had an objective number to cite when telling a player to try harder.
“Showing a player you’ve got more to give,” Bilas said. “Here’s a barrier you can break through.”
With Washington and the call for 35-and-20, it might be helpful to keep in mind that he’s in the middle of his sophomore season.
“He’s still a young player,” Bilas said. “If this were 20 years ago, nobody would be questioning this. This is the normal maturation of a really good player.”
‘Snowflake Cats’
A recent story about Kentucky not getting calls from referees caught the attention of reader Robert Bentley.
Nick Richards said he expected a flagrant 1 call when he was elbowed in the face by Vanderbilt’s Matthew Moyer. But he added that he was not surprised by the non-call. “You go to Kentucky, it is what it is,” he said.
This echoed something UK Coach John Calipari said on his radio show of Jan. 7. “We’re not getting any calls,” he said. “We’re not getting any. … Just play. No body language. No nothing.”
Calipari seemed to be saying the players should not become preoccupied with the officiating. He did not seem to be implying that the referees had an anti-UK bias.
Still, Bentley scoffed at the idea of Kentucky not getting calls.
“UK has attempted 371 free throws, making 279,” he wrote in an email early last week. “Opponents have attempted 228 free throws, making 159.
“Yeah, those mean old refs really have it in for the poor little Wildcats. Those little Snowflake Cats need to quit their whining.”
In a follow-up email, Bentley described himself as “a grouchy old man … ‘Get off my lawn!!!’ Uh, excuse me. That slipped.”
Bentley, 63, grew up in Greenup County and lives in retirement near Morehead.
“I guess I’m somewhat of a fan,” he wrote, “but not as much as I was in my younger days.”
‘A terrific job’
As the story is told in Athens, first-year Georgia coach Tom Crean was walking on campus. He came upon a car stopped at a red light and gestured for the driver to roll down the window.
Crean then suggested the driver attend an upcoming Georgia home game.
In his attempt to build enthusiasm for Georgia basketball, Crean has also handed out Chick-fil-A sandwiches to students. This was reminiscent of John Calipari trying to engage UMass students at the start of his head coaching career by going to dorms and giving away free pizza.
At an earlier home game, 2,700 Georgia students got in line. Many were turned away since Georgia allots 2,000 seats for students.
Maybe not so incidentally, the Kentucky game was one of seven sellouts this season for a Georgia program that had never before had more than one capacity crowd in a season.
Bruce Pearl, who whipped up enthusiasm and produced good teams at Tennessee and now Auburn, noticed Crean’s work as a first-year coach.
“Tom Crean has done a terrific job,” Pearl said. “They play with a confidence, an energy and a passion. … He’s got them believing.”
‘Proud and happy’
The Associated Press made news with its top-25 poll last week. For the first time in almost six years, Ole Miss was ranked. Coming off the program’s first back-to-back victories over ranked opponents since 2002-03, the Rebels were No. 18. Ole Miss beat Auburn and Mississippi State.
First-year coach Kermit Davis said the ranking was good for the players, the fans and as part of a recruiting pitch.
“Blue bloods” might shrug at a No. 18 ranking, Davis said. Not Ole Miss.
“For a team that’s trying to grow its national brand in basketball, I couldn’t be more proud and happy for the people involved,” he said.
Commemorative coin
Sometime Monday between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ESPNU will televise highlights from a ceremony regarding a fund-raising effort to benefit the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A commemorative coin will go on sale in 2020.
The ceremony will be in Springfield College’s Blake Arena.
Among those attending are the co-sponsors of the Commemorative Coin bill: U.S. representatives Andy Barr (R-Kentucky) and Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts).
Hall of Famers expected to attend include Thomas “Satch” Sanders, Bernard King, Ralph Sampson, Spencer Haywood and former UConn Coach Jim Calhoun.
Expense report
Paying expenses for family members to attend the Final Four will be discussed at the annual NCAA convention, which runs Wednesday through Saturday in Orlando.
The NCAA Division I Council will consider making permanent a pilot program begun in 2015. In this pilot program, the NCAA helped with travel, hotel and meal expenses for players’ families to attend the men’s and women’s Final Four.
There is a two-person limit for each player’s family. The NCAA has allotted $3,000 for each player on teams in the national semifinals. The NCAA raised the allotment to $4,000 for each player on teams in the championship game.
Participating schools decide how to distribute the money.
Get-well wishes
To Lexington businessman and sports marketing pioneer Jim Host.
He underwent left knee replacement surgery on Tuesday.
Happy birthday
To James Lee. He turned 63 on Thursday. … To Dirk Minniefield. He turned 58 on Thursday. … To Oliver Simmons. He turned 53 on Friday. … To Tyler Herro. He turns 19 on Sunday (today). … To former Alabama player and coach Mark Gottfried. He turns 55 on Sunday (today). … To Larry Conley. He turns 75 on Tuesday. … To Perry Stevenson. He turns 32 on Wednesday.