Expecting Kentucky blowouts to end soon, Calipari pondering ‘how we finish a game’
An oft-cited sports maxim says teams should play ‘em one at a time. But Kentucky acknowledged last week that its thinking extended beyond Tuesday night’s game against Southern.
When asked Thursday how he wanted to see his team improve in the game against the Jaguars, UK Coach John Calipari said, “It’s not about the Southern game.” It was about addressing “what we have to get better at” in the long term, he said.
Before mentioning finding another low-post scorer besides Oscar Tshiebwe and shooting more accurately from three-point range, Calipari said Kentucky needed to improve upon “how we finish a game” more efficiently. Toward that end, he said he benched a player in the final minutes of Kentucky’s rout of Central Michigan last week.
“Oh, you’re going to mess around the last five, six minutes?” Calipari said as if speaking to the player. “Then, you won’t be in. This is about playing against ourselves.”
Lance Ware suggested this was part of Kentucky’s preparation for stiffer competition beginning in the near future. Southern, which has a 3-5 record after losing 79-62 at Akron on Saturday, completes a seven-game stretch in which Kentucky won the first six by an average of 28.3 points. Six of the seven opponents, including Southern, have had losing records going into the game against UK.
The so-called “tune-up games” end soon. UK plays at Notre Dame on Saturday followed by Ohio State the following Saturday and then Louisville on Dec. 22.
“I feel like we all know we’re going to start facing some tougher opponents coming up soon,” Ware said. “We don’t want to be in (close games) like that, but anything is possible. We just have to be prepared for it.
“You have to get ready (now) so you don’t have to get ready (on the fly).”
Kentucky began working on late-game situations in Thursday’s practice, Keion Brooks said on Friday.
Kentucky does not run a lot of plays, but instead has a “free flow” offense, he said.
“Not being sloppy and turning the ball over or being lackadaisical with the ball” is important on offense, Brooks said. “On the other end, not being complacent, getting stops (and) playing your man early.”
Coaches like to say that fans in the stands and win-or-lose stakes make games a revealing test for players.
Since the opener against Duke, Kentucky’s games have had little tension. Against Robert Morris, UK led by double digits the final 26:06 (by 20 or more points the last 12:28). Central Michigan got no closer than 20 in the final 14:01. The same was true of Albany in the final 6:19 and Mount St. Mary’s the final 17 minutes.
Of course, Kentucky had plenty of experience in late-game situations last season. Yet, UK had a 4-10 record in games decided by a single-digit margin.
“I don’t think we were disciplined enough to finish games . . . ,” Jacob Toppin said of last season. “We had a couple guys who just didn’t buy in, and that was the effect of it. We couldn’t finish games because people weren’t buying in.”
Former Alabama Coach Wimp Sanderson said all games — whether blowouts or drama-filled competitions — can contain teachable moments.
Drills and playing out late-game scenarios in practice also can be valuable teaching opportunities, he said.
“It’s pretty good if you have enough people who can play,” Sanderson said. “If you can play what we call good against good in order to see how good you are.”
Kentucky’s extraordinary depth has been well chronicled. Even with illnesses and injuries, UK would seem to have sufficient depth to make practices competitive.
ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla likened work on late-game situations to football practices including work on special teams.
Continuing the analogy, Fraschilla likened the point guard to a quarterback in terms of late-game execution.
“When you don’t have a quality point guard, you look poorly coached,” he said. “And it’s happened to all of us, even Hall of Famers.”
Mississippi State Coach Ben Howland echoed the sentiment. “The most important player is always your point guard,” he said.
UK’s point guard, Sahvir Wheeler, leads Division I in assists (8.7 apg).
Fraschilla went so far as to say working on late-game situations in practice might be better than doing so — more precisely, needing to do so — in game after game.
Said the ESPN analyst, “John (Calipari) would rather work on special late-game situations in practice than on Tuesday against Southern.”
Etc.
▪ UK announced that 150 tickets for the game would be given to three Lexington elementary schools selected by UK’s Diversity Advocacy Committee. The tickets will be given to students who are excelling in the classroom and in the school community.
▪ Mike Morgan and Pat Bradley will call the game for the SEC Network.
Tuesday
Southern at No. 10 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Southern 3-5, Kentucky 6-1
