Calipari to Kentucky fans: Come to Friday’s game because Ohio is no ho-hum opponent
The noticeable number of empty seats at Kentucky’s first two home games has not escaped John Calipari’s attention.
During a news conference Thursday, he cited one main reason for the no-shows . . . and it wasn’t the lack of marquee opponents nor enduring disgruntlement about the team kneeling during the playing of the national anthem before last season’s game at Florida.
“I think it’s mostly COVID,” he said in reference to the coronavirus pandemic.
For instance, Calipari mentioned that fans can use only two entrances to get into Rupp Arena.
“You get an older crowd, you have to walk 25 minutes to get in the building,” the UK coach said. “You’ll think next time, ‘I may not come.’
“I think most of it is COVID driven.”
Small crowds have not adversely affected revenue, he added.
With that, Calipari added a warning about fans not buying tickets.
“I’ll say this: Buy ‘em because you may not be able to get them for the next 15 (or) 20 years,” he said.
More than once during the 20-minute news conference, Calipari by inference defended the quality of opponents on UK’s non-conference home schedule as being part of the team-building process.
“You need to have tune-up games,” he said. “You can’t just go throw kids in the fire. But you also need to get challenged. . . . You need games where you can work through kinks. You can still build confidence and get guys to understand what they can and cannot do.”
UK next plays Friday night against Ohio, which has a 3-0 record and three starters back from a team that beat Virginia 62-58 in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament before losing to Creighton 72-58 in the second round. A fourth returning starter, Dwight Wilson, is sidelined after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament.
After playing Ohio, Kentucky’s remaining home non-conference schedule has games against Albany, North Florida, Central Michigan, Southern and High Point. The lone opponent sure to galvanize UK fans: Louisville on Dec. 22.
Calipari seemed to suggest that Ohio should not be considered just another ho-hum non-conference opponent.
Ohio’s front line includes 6-foot-8 Ben Vander Plas, who made the All-Mid-American Conference first team last season.
“We need our fans at the game,” Calipari said. “This is going to be a really hard game. Hard game.”
Ohio’s signature offensive weapon is the three-point shot. Or what former UK Coach Rick Pitino called the great equalizer.
In their victories over Belmont, Cleveland State and Robert Morris, the Bobcats made an average of 12 three-point shots. As of Thursday, that ranked 14th in Division I.
Almost half of Ohio’s shots have come from beyond the arc (94 of 200).
“I don’t think it’s necessarily a philosophy,” Ohio Coach Jeff Boals said of the three-pointers. “It’s kind of what we’ve been given and done.”
Nine Ohio players have already made at least one three-point shot. The five starters have made 27 of 72 (37.5-percent accuracy).
“It helps that your ‘five man’ is one of your better shooters . . . ,” Boals said. “We have two really good post players that are unselfish and probably two of our better passers as well.”
In terms of the three-pointer, the game may be strength against strength.
Kentucky’s three-point defense has limited the first three opponents to an average of 4.7 three-point baskets and 25.9-percent shooting accuracy.
“They’re so athletic,” Boals said. “We can’t simulate that in practice. We haven’t seen that in a game we’ve played. So I think sometimes we’ll think a shot might be there, and it won’t because of their athleticism.”
Calipari put this in the context of a UK team learning and evolving.
“First was post defense (that) we didn’t spend enough time,” he said in reference to Kentucky Wesleyan forward JoMel Boyd scoring 29 points in UK’s first exhibition game. “Then it was three-point defense, where we’ve always been pretty good. (We) didn’t spend enough time.”
Miles College made 15 of 30 three-point shots in the second exhibition game.
Work on pressing and creating pace came next.
Repeating a familiar coaching mantra, Calipari said, “You can’t be good at everything. Now, what is this team going to be good at? I like that we’re fast. I like that we shoot it. I like that we can score.”
Getting to the free-throw line more often remains a UK objective. Through three games, opponents have shot almost twice as many free throws as Kentucky: 52-27.
Friday
Ohio at No. 13 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Ohio 3-0, Kentucky 2-1
Series: Kentucky leads 14-1
Last meeting: Kentucky won 71-63 on Dec. 30, 2005, at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.
This story was originally published November 18, 2021 at 3:45 PM.
