Let’s play three: Early-season Kentucky basketball opponent eager to tip off 2020-21
No matter how the games play out, Detroit Mercy will feel like a winner at the expected “bubble” beginning to Kentucky’s 2020-21 basketball season.
Detroit Mercy will join Richmond, Hartford and UK in the multi-day event, Detroit Mercy Coach Mike Davis said Monday.
“It will give our kids an outlet,” Davis said of the four-team event. “Because they’re also nervous about playing. They want to play. But at the same time safety is way more important than a basketball game.”
Hence Kentucky’s games opening the season around the NCAA’s Nov. 25 tip off are expected to mimic the NBA’s “bubble.” Davis said he expected all teams to stay at the same hotel and be tested for coronavirus infection two days prior to arriving in Lexington and before each game.
When asked about fans attending the games, Davis pointed out how Rupp Arena is spacious enough to allow for social distancing. “But the way I’m hearing it, they don’t want anybody coming in,” he said.
Reportedly the format will call for each team to play three games in a series of doubleheaders. Dates for the UK bubble games have not been announced. The NCAA said last week that teams could open play Nov. 25.
When asked about the challenge of playing three games in, say, three or four days, Davis chuckled and said, “I wouldn’t mind if we played three games in two days. We need the money for our program. And it gives Brad a chance to come back and play.”
Of course, Brad is Brad Calipari, the son of UK Coach John Calipari and a player who began his college career as a walk-on for Kentucky.
But first, the money. The UK coach has spoken of the importance of so-called guarantee games for lower-level programs.
Davis said Detroit Mercy will receive a $200,000 guarantee to play in the event.
“It’s great for us,” he said. “We’re not going to get any fans this year. It’s good for us to get the money.”
Davis said he donated $125,000 from his salary last year to the school, and plans to do the same this year.
“I just don’t want anybody to have to be furloughed,” he said of his donations. “You don’t want the school to suffer financially.”
The younger Calipari seemed primed for an improved season in 2020-21, Davis said.
“He’s really worked hard this summer,” the Detroit Mercy coach said. “He’s coming back in better shape than last year.”
Calipari is about 10 pounds lighter going into this season, said Davis adding, “You can tell the way he’s practicing and playing right now that he’s made a full commitment to it.”
The hope last season was that Calipari’s outside shooting would help dissuade opponents from stacking defenses to contain Detroit Mercy’s star (and the coach’s son), Antoine Davis.
Calipari shot almost exclusively from three-point range (121 of 134 attempts) and made 38.1 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. But his shooting and that of another guard, Willie Isiani (33.6 percent), was not enough to draw defensive attention away from Antoine Davis, the Detroit Mercy coach said.
The younger Davis still averaged 24.3 points and 4.5 assists. But his father spoke of a pair of 6-foot-11 transfers, Noah Waterman (from Niagara) and Taurean Thompson (Seton Hall), giving Detroit Mercy an inside game that opponents must consider this season. Detroit Mercy hopes those “bigs” also give guards like Calipari and Isiani more room to operate.
“We’re a lot better,” Davis said in comparing this team to the one that finished with an 8-23 record last season. “We’ve got some good kids here.
“We’ve got a real team. We’re not a top-25 team. But we’re a real basketball team.”
Richmond, which is also expected to play in UK’s “bubble,” might be a top 25 team. The Spiders return all five starters from a team that had a 24-7 record last season. Four of the five starters are 1,000-point scorers in their college careers.
In May, the website Busting Brackets labeled Richmond as the second best mid-major team in the country in 2020-21. Gonzaga was first.
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 10:29 AM.
