Even when Kentucky’s bigs return, Calipari won’t be able to take this Cat off the court
The two players who joined John Calipari at the press conference following Kentucky’s oh-so-close 89-84 loss to No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday night weren’t the Wildcats’ two projected NBA lottery picks. Or UK’s only two upperclassmen. Neither duo was represented.
Sitting to Calipari’s right was freshman guard Reed Sheppard, who scored 13 points, made three 3-pointers and came up with four steals while keeping UK’s offense steady during a back-and-forth game.
Sitting to the Kentucky coach’s left was sophomore Adou Thiero, the under-recruited 6-8 guard who played sparingly as a freshman — changing roles to suit the team’s needs of that particular day — and finds himself doing the same this season. Albeit on a much bigger scale.
And on Tuesday night, he turned in his best college game on one of its biggest stages.
Calipari repeatedly mentioned the youth factor following Tuesday’s loss in the Champions Classic — a game that UK led by as many as 14 points in the second half — and nodded at Thiero as one of the young guys.
“He’s 19. So you might as well say he’s a freshman,” Calipari said. “He didn’t play much last year.”
He didn’t play like a young guy Tuesday night.
Thiero scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Both were career highs by significant margins. (His previous bests: seven points and five boards.) Thiero ran the floor and showed no fear going right at the tall trees of the Kansas frontcourt.
“He fought. He played hard. He subbed himself,” Calipari said.
Thiero checked himself out “three or four times” over the course of the game, according to the coach. That’s a good thing, said Calipari.
“To play the way we’re trying to play, to play fast and random, you have to be in great shape and the second thing is you got to sub yourself when you feel winded. But he played. Played above the rim, went and got balls, was physical. He was good.”
It’s fair to assume that Thiero wouldn’t have received nearly as much run — 31 minutes, another career-high — if Kentucky’s roster was at full strength. With UK’s trio of 7-footers — Aaron Bradshaw, Zvonimir Ivisic and Ugonna Onyenso — still sidelined, the Cats are going with 6-9 forward Tre Mitchell at the 5 and Thiero and 6-8 guard Justin Edwards at the forward spots.
A late addition to last season’s roster, Thiero arrived in Lexington with little fanfare and few outside expectations. He showed sparks in limited playing time as a freshman. The physical tools, point guard-ish skills — Thiero began his high school career at about 5-9, before a late growth spurt — and willingness to battle won over Calipari pretty quickly, even if Thiero couldn’t break into the rotation right away.
“He will have a huge impact on college basketball,” the UK coach predicted midway through last season, when Thiero was barely playing at all.
But with Calipari’s bigs out and the Cats needing some help in the paint, Thiero is getting an opportunity.
On Tuesday night, he fought for rebounds, easily grabbing the most of any Kentucky player. He had two putback dunks — both courtesy of running the floor in transition — worthy of the highlight reel. With the Cats trailing by one late in the game, he took the ball right at 6-10 senior Parker Braun, failed to score over him, but grabbed the rebound and powered it back in the basket to give UK the lead. In the first half, he took it right at 7-2 senior Hunter Dickinson — a preseason All-American — and finished on him at the rim.
“He literally could be one of the best finishers in the country,” Calipari said after the Cats’ final exhibition game this month.
Dickinson had 27 points and 21 rebounds against the undersized Cats, but it could have been worse. Kansas coach Bill Self noted that UK ran other guys at the Jayhawks star, making it tougher to get the ball to him in the post. A lot of that was Thiero, who didn’t get credit for any blocks or steals but deflected balls and put Dickinson in tough spots at various times.
There was one curious number next to Thiero’s name in the box score that didn’t compute with the eyes. His plus-minus rating: 26. As in, minus-26 — the worst on the team.
Calipari noticed that as soon as the game was over. It didn’t diminish his assessment of Thiero’s performance. He noted that Thiero was in the game for Kansas’ 9-0 opening run — in fact, a Thiero 3-pointer accounted for UK’s only basket in the first five-plus minutes — and also at the end, when the Jayhawks pulled ahead and ultimately went on an 11-1 flurry to finish the game. He wasn’t out there for a couple of the Wildcats’ biggest runs.
Calipari wasn’t bothered. If anything, it was an indication of that stat’s faultiness, especially in such a small sample size. Calipari knows that for a young team to flourish, its players have to fight. And he’s getting plenty of that with Thiero.
“They want to win. We got dogs,” he said of his team. “… You can’t win with a group like that unless they are dogs. Like, you know, they will battle, they will bite, they will go in and they’re not going to just give up and let you do what you want.”
Even when those bigs return, Calipari is going to need Thiero on the court. That much is clear. Bradshaw and Ivisic aren’t traditional centers, and they’re likely to face struggles, especially on the boards. Onyenso is the closest player to a true 5 on Kentucky’s roster, but — assuming Ivisic is ruled eligible by the NCAA — he’s the furthest away from a return to the court.
Thiero spoke like a veteran after Tuesday’s game. He talked about turning the page, learning from this loss, and looking ahead to better results down the road. Whatever happens next in Kentucky’s season, he appears likely to play a major role in it.
“It feels good to have this type of performance,” he said. “But when you don’t walk away with a W, it doesn’t really feel the same.”
Friday
Stonehill College at No. 17 Kentucky
What: Wildcat Challenge
When: 7 p.m.
TV: SEC Network+ (online only)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Stonehill 1-3, Kentucky 2-1
Series: First meeting
This story was originally published November 16, 2023 at 6:50 AM.
