Kentucky basketball freshmen should return, says analyst

Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari talks with redshirt freshman guard Hamidou Diallo during the Wildcats’ 85-74 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies in Reed Arena at College Station, TX on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018. George Bridges Lexington Herald-Leader

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John Clay blogs about UK sports, the SEC and more

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Kentucky basketball freshmen should return, says Fox analyst

By John Clay

jclay@herald-leader.com

Doug Gottlieb, former college basketball player at Notre Dame and Oklahoma State, former ESPN analyst and now a radio show host for Fox Sports, had some interesting takes after attending Kentucky’s 85-74 loss at Texas A&M on Saturday.

A succession of tweets from Gottlieb:

Sat right behind Coach Cal tonight calling the game on radio. Here is my biggest takeaways - Cal holds guys accountable for bad shots and missed assignments. Guy messes up he yells at him, happens again he points at him and takes him out and explains to him. Kids need this -cont
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) February 11, 2018

Cal is very aware of who is playing hard/well and who isn’t and he adjusts accordingly. Every player wants a coach to see what is really happening- he does - it just takes him a bunch of substitutions to find it. You better have confidence to place for him - cont-
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) February 11, 2018

The only negatives I see are 1)the style this team might need - diamond press/swarming zone or switching man— he doesn’t seem to truly love like a more traditional m2m/ run and jump press — also his offense needs some updating and refining. He is used to having far superior -cont
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) February 11, 2018

Talent- that ball needs to move, but also there needs to be more purpose for the ball movement - their stuff is super basic and gives player space and freedom... this team just isn’t good enough to score that way
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) February 11, 2018

Honestly everyone except maybe Knox should come back. You just can’t win with all kids. If Cal kept a core for 3/4 years it would be a wrap and this group, has mostly 3/4 year kids.
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) February 11, 2018

Kentucky fought back in final five minutes Saturday. Coach John Calipari was asked where is that same fight in the previous 35 minutes?

Kentucky Coach John Calipari talks about his team’s 85-74 loss to the Aggies on Saturday.

John Clay: 859-231-3226, @johnclayiv

SEC men’s basketball standings

Team	SEC	Overall
Auburn	10-2	22-3
Tennessee	8-4	18-6
Florida	8-4	17-8
Missouri	7-5	17-8
Alabama	7-5	16-9
Miss State	6-6	18-7
Kentucky	6-6	17-8
Arkansas	6-6	17-8
Texas A&M	6-6	17-8
LSU	5-7	14-10
Georgia	4-8	13-11
South Carolina	4-8	13-12
Ole Miss	4-8	11-14
Vanderbilt	3-9	9-16