The latest change for this Kentucky basketball team? A more ‘positive’ John Calipari?
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Game day: Kentucky 74, LSU 71
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and LSU in Rupp Arena.
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John Calipari disagrees with the descriptor, but it sure seems to fit.
Anyone who’s accustomed to peeking over at the Kentucky sideline during basketball games to see what the UK coach is up to surely noticed a different approach taken throughout the Wildcats’ eventual 74-71 victory over Louisiana State on Tuesday night.
There was hardly any yelling at his players from across the court. More applause for the good plays, little to no reaction toward the bad ones.
And it began before the ball was even tipped.
As UK’s starting five broke the huddle and headed onto the court, their 63-year-old coach followed after them, slapping hands with each Wildcat before hugging point guard Sahvir Wheeler around the shoulder and leaning in for some final words before the game got underway.
Kentucky’s first offensive possession wasn’t pretty, ending with a missed jumper by Jacob Toppin late in the shot clock. Calipari stayed in his seat. UK got off to a good start — and that almost certainly helped — but the always animated Wildcats coach was far more subdued during the team’s first home game of the Southeastern Conference schedule, coming just six days after an embarrassing 14-point loss at Missouri and the latest game in a 2022-23 season that has, so far, fallen well short of initial expectations.
There were certainly moments when Calipari could’ve let loose and unleashed his ire on a Kentucky player who’d erred. But that didn’t really happen. There were times when it seemed to be bubbling up, and the UK coach would start to raise his arms in disgust, only to finish the motion with a clap or two.
On those occasions when the emotions bubbled over, Calipari channeled the anger toward the officiating crew — Doug Shows was the main recipient — or turned around toward his assistants and cut loose in their direction. His players — during the flow of the game, at least — never really got the brunt of it.
This display of relative restraint came three days after Kentucky beat Louisville by 23 points on the same court. After that game — one in which Toppin scored a career-high 24 points and broke out of a slump, then talked about the “mental struggles” he’d been dealing with on and off the court — UK star Oscar Tshiebwe said he had gone to Calipari and talked to him about being more “positive” with some of the Wildcats who clearly weren’t responding to his methods of motivation.
After Tuesday’s victory, Calipari bristled at the notion that he was more “positive” with his players in recent days. “I don’t know who told you that. No,” he said.
But as he spoke of walking the fine line between encouraging his players and holding them accountable, he revealed a layer of a different approach that is taking form with this team.
“If you screw up, I’m just leaving it alone,” was his message to players. “So I’m not going to try to correct you in the game. We’ll correct you after.”
In essence, Calipari is still holding his guys accountable. But the biggest difference seems to be that — during games — he’s going to let those players hold themselves accountable when they’re on the court.
“He wants this to be like a player-driven team,” Toppin said. “He always says that — he wants the players to take control. So he’s kind of given that opportunity to us as a group — as we’re starting to play better — to take over that role. So it’s good for us. It’s obviously helping us win games.”
Toppin scored 21 points against LSU, hitting a huge three-pointer down the stretch and sinking two free throws in the final seconds of a one-possession game. Afterward, he described a more collaborative approach on game days, with Calipari asking players what they’re seeing and taking input on what comes next.
“And he’s trusting us. And it’s all about trust,” Toppin said. “… It just shows that he believes in us, honestly. Just having that trust in his team and believing that his team can make decisions for themselves — it just helps a lot.”
Calipari didn’t like the word “positive” one bit, but Wheeler used it twice, without prompting, to describe what’s been happening the past few days.
“Continue to be the same person. Continue to stay patient with us and having a great mindset was something he’s talked about,” UK’s point guard said of the head coach’s approach. “And him being positive. You know, we’ve got the pieces to win. We’ve got the pieces to win the SEC. We’ve got the pieces to compete for a national championship. But it takes time. Not every team is at the peak in December or November.
“We’ve got the pieces. We’ve shown flashes of what we can be. And I think he’s starting to notice if he’s patient — he’s with us, guiding us, being positive with us — then we can be a really good team.”
That doesn’t mean Calipari is going easy on a team that is now 10-4 on the season but has lost by double digits to its best three opponents. Wheeler said the UK coach has been “empowering” his players. But …
“He’s also holding us accountable when we’re not. So he’s a little tougher in practice. He’s getting on pretty much everybody — holding them to a higher standard,” he said. “But in the games now, it’s so much more — not necessarily free-flowing, but it’s such a positive, ‘Hey, we’re good. What are you guys seeing? Tell me what you see.’ And then he’s adjusting to how he’s coaching from there. And it’s helped.”
On Tuesday night, Tshiebwe clarified his comments from three days earlier to say that Calipari is always generally “positive” with his players, but that he’s also constantly challenging them to work harder and be better. Tshiebwe said he thought that message might simply be getting lost with some of his teammates. He also said that — during games — it’s often difficult to hear Calipari’s shouts over the din of the crowd, which can cause more confusion on the court. He also likes the more “player-driven” approach during those times.
“It’s been helping us a lot,” Tshiebwe said.
Calipari acknowledged the difficulty that comes with holding players accountable but also making sure they’re staying engaged on a positive path forward.
“It’s tough,” he said. “Now I want you to understand, and I always tell them this: You’ve got a guy that loves you and will be with you till the wheels fall off. Will never leave your side. And he’s getting on you to challenge you to be better and holding you accountable. How can that really affect you when you know, ‘Dude loves me. The guy is for me.’”
Toppin, Tshiebwe and Wheeler — the three top returning players from last season’s Kentucky team, all three in their fourth year of college basketball — each said they knew that’s how Calipari feels about them. They also all clearly like this more positive — or whatever you want to call it — approach during games.
“I love it,” Wheeler said. “And as long as Coach Cal and I are on the same page and continue to talk through things and have a great relationship, I’m good. I know he’s my guy and I’m his guy. And we’re going to continue to learn from each other and continue to get better, so we can win.”
Next game
Kentucky at No. 7 Alabama
When: 1 p.m. EST Saturday
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Kentucky 10-4 (1-1 SEC), Alabama 12-2 (2-0)
Series: Kentucky leads 116-40
Last meeting: Kentucky won 90-81 on Feb. 19, 2022, in Lexington
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 12:42 AM.
