Prepare the panic button? Calipari sees Kentucky team that might test his patience.
To borrow from the coronavirus pandemic, Kentucky Coach John Calipari tested positive for negativity on Monday.
An unsatisfactory scrimmage made him doubtful about a good start to the 2020-21 season, which begins Wednesday against Morehead State.
“Worst scrimmage since I’ve been the coach here,” Calipari said during a video teleconference. “I’ve got both feet and hands on the panic button right now. I’m just hoping they need to play against somebody else and just got tired of each other.
“Because if not, I’m going to have to be the most patient soul on the Earth when we start the season, like, 0-6.”
Of course, Kentucky has never started a season with six straight losses, although a 1-4 start to 1984-85 and an 0-4 start in 1926-27 came close.
When asked about the likelihood of six straight losses to start the season, Olivier Sarr smiled. The transfer big man from Wake Forest fell back on the truism of not thinking beyond the next game.
But neither Sarr nor Davion Mintz contested Calipari’s appraisal of Sunday’s scrimmage failing to bolster a coach’s confidence.
“We wrecked the car yesterday,” Mintz said.
Added Sarr: “We didn’t bring the energy from the jump. The second team really punched us in the mouth from the get-go.”
Sarr said those who got punched were Devin Askew, Brandon Boston, Terrence Clarke, Isaiah Jackson and himself.
Calipari blamed himself for setting the wrong priority.
“The mistake I may have made with this group (is) I should have worried more about fight,” he said. “Playing the whole possession.”
Rather than the time spent on offense, out of bounds plays and how to respond to certain game situations, the team should have focused on competing with relentless and unified purpose, he said.
He suggested the players may need “to get smacked a little bit to where they’re looking at me, like, ‘Coach, tell us how we’ve got to do this because we’re not liking this . . . ,’” Calipari said. “They’ve got to understand how they’re all tied together. Your jobs are to pick each other up. Your job is to make it easier for each other. If you’re out here doing your own thing . . .”
The UK coach did not need to finish the thought.
Frustration may have played a part. In playing against teammates, both sides know the plays. The defense can anticipate what’s coming.
Calipari used his first Kentucky team to show that talent and competitiveness can trump execution. The 2009-10 Kentucky team led by John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe had plenty of star power. “Worst execution team I’ve had,” Calipari said. “But they would fight and we won a lot of games.”
Of course, that Kentucky team lost to West Virginia in a 2010 Elite Eight game due in large part to 4-for-32 shooting on three-point shots.
Mintz and Sarr agreed with the suggestion that playing against another team can help enhance Kentucky’s competitive spirit.
“I think we’re tired of playing each other,” Mintz said. “That was like the biggest problem. . . . It’s been the same faces for I don’t know how many months now. We’re right here at the finish line and we’re just ready to get going.”
Kentucky will play its first three games — following Morehead State with Detroit Mercy and Richmond on Friday and Sunday, respectively — without its only player who’s ever scored a point or grabbed a rebound for Kentucky: Keion Brooks.
“I do not believe he’ll be here the first week,” Calipari said. “It’s day-to-day kind of stuff.”
Brooks, who has been limited several weeks this preseason because of a calf injury, has not participated in what Calipari called “live stuff” during practices. “Till he’s in there, I don’t feel comfortable” playing Brooks, the UK coach said.
In the meantime, Kentucky cannot afford to have bad body language or self-absorption, Calipari said.
“Yesterday showed us that we’ve got that in us,” he said of the scrimmage. “Oh my God, let’s hope we got it out yesterday because if that becomes who we are, whew, going to be rough.”
Thanksgiving!
The Kentucky team will have a Thanksgiving on Thursday, Calipari said. He did not offer details other than to say players’ parents are invited.
“How can I tell parents not to come when they haven’t seen their son in five or six months,” the UK coach said.
While in Lexington, parents will not be allowed to attend practices, he added.
Thanksgiving?
Sarr said that Thanksgiving is not celebrated in his native France.
“But,” he added, “as long as it’s good food, I’m ready for it. I’ll celebrate it every time.”
Season opener
Morehead State at No. 10 Kentucky
When: 6 p.m. Wednesday
What: Bluegrass Showcase
Where: Rupp Arena (limited spectators)
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Series: Kentucky leads 10-0.
Last meeting: Kentucky won 81-70 on Nov. 21, 2012, in Lexington.
