UK’s Tyrese Maxey is embracing responsibility. ‘I was selling myself short.’
After Kentucky’s victory over Vanderbilt, John Calipari said he had asked the players to guess which player has borne the brunt of the coach’s attention. The players answered correctly: Tyrese Maxey.
Then Calipari compared how the freshman guard had reacted to being so identified with Karl-Anthony Towns’ reaction in a similar exercise.
“Karl would go like this,” Calipari said as he raised his arms in the air as if to celebrate.
And Maxey? Calipari lowered his head and had a sad expression on his face.
This, a smiling Maxey suggested, was fake news.
“I don’t think I did that,” he said before telling reporters, “You know how Coach Cal is sometimes.”
A reporter asked if Maxey was saying Calipari lied about the the player’s reaction.
“No! No! No!,” Maxey said. “I did not say Coach Cal was a liar. I knew he was talking about me. And I was shaking my head.”
Calipari saluted Maxey for beginning to win sprints in practice. Maxey said this was true.
“I was selling myself short …,” the freshman said. “Just making the (required) time. I felt that was good enough. I realized that’s not good enough for me. I want to be competitive in everything I do.”
Coincidentally or not, Maxey was UK’s leading scorer in the 71-62 victory over Vandy with 17 points. That equaled the most he has scored since his 27 points against Louisville on Dec. 28.
While saying he appreciated how Calipari had been pushing him, Maxey said he has had to learn how to take the UK coach. Assistant coach Tony Barbee helped in this process.
“He was saying, like, ‘you’re listening to how he’s saying it and not what he’s saying to you,’” Maxey said of Barbee’s advice. “The last couple days I’ve listened and I’ve embraced it.”
‘He gets sloppy’
Ashton Hagans’ five turnovers raised his total in UK’s last three games to 12.
“He just gets sloppy,” Calipari said. “I mean, make the easiest play you can make.”
Hagans had four turnovers in the first half. “Which were, what are you doing?” Calipari said.
A moment later, the UK coach added, “but let me tell you. It’s hard (to complain) when a kid fights like he fights and plays as hard as he plays and pressures….
“I’m trying to promote him as the best point guard in the country because I really believe it. Can’t have five turnovers, though. Have two.”
In recalling the leads that were not expanded at Texas Tech last weekend, Hagans cited “sloppy plays” as a recurring problem for Kentucky.
“Myself included,” he said. “Probably you just see something. Trying to get the easiest basket. … Trying to rush things.”
Fitness a key
EJ Montgomery played one second short of 26 minutes. He has not played more than 26 minutes in a game since logging 28 against Ohio State on Dec. 21.
Calipari cited better conditioning as a key factor for Montgomery, who contributed nine points and four rebounds.
“I’m just trying to run my hardest in practices and things like that so I can get in better conditioning,” Montgomery said. “We have conditioning tomorrow, so we are just trying to get better every day.”
No qualifier
Nick Richards has repeatedly inspired Calipari’s more-more-more coaching impulse. For instance, the UK coach has reacted to a double-double by raising the bar to 25 points and 15 rebounds.
But after Kentucky beat Vanderbilt, Calipari made no mention of what else Richards should have done.
When asked about there being no “but …” in Calipari’s comments, Richards said, “Uh, I’m just happy he’s my coach. He’s always hard on me because I know he always wants the best for me. He wants to push me in the right direction.”
Relief in sight?
Stats savant Ken Pomeroy does not see relief in sight for Vanderbilt. As of Wednesday afternoon, he gave the Commodores no better than a 40% chance of winning any game the rest of the season. That 40% chance was against Missouri in Memorial Gym on Feb. 26.
Pomeroy gave Vanderbilt less than a 25% chance eight of the remaining 11 games. That includes an 18% chance to beat UK in Memorial Gym on Feb. 11.
No rush
Kahlil Whitney’s departure raised the question about Dontaie Allen helping fill the void. Allen has not played this season as he recovers from knee and shoulder injuries.
“I don’t think he’s ready to get in there and be on that court,” Calipari said of Allen on his weekly radio show.
On Tuesday, assistant coach Joel Justus said Allen was working hard. There is no rush to play Allen in a game, Justus said.
Numerology
Among the avalanche of numbers that suggested No. 13 Kentucky would rout Vanderbilt was this: Vandy’s record against ranked UK teams fell to 15-90. Of such games played in Lexington, Vandy has won one of 54.
