Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s win over Morehead State
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 81-45 win over the Morehead State Eagles in the 2020-21 season opener on Wednesday night at Rupp:
1. ‘We looked like an organized basketball team’
Those were John Calipari’s words after the win. You know Cal, he’s quite the kidder. During Monday’s media opportunity, the UK coach claimed that on Sunday he witnessed the worst team scrimmage in the history of basketball. Or at least the worst since he has been coaching basketball at Kentucky. As a result, Cal said he had both hands and both feet on the panic button. He said his team could start the season 0-6.
Watching UK play Wednesday, however, you had to wonder what in the heck was Cal talking about. This not only looked like a basketball team, but a good basketball team, with plenty of size, length, athleticism, skill and, yes, depth. Ten new players. First game. COVID-19 chaos all around. No problem.
This performance came after what Calipari said were 40 days of “torture” leading up to the opener. After all, this is a very young team, even by Calipari’s ridiculous standards, with a lot of new pieces, even by Calipari’s ridiculous standards. You had to figure we’d see some awkwardness and confusion and sloppy play, but there was very little of that.
“We’ve got to be a better rebounding team,” Calipari said, “but that will come.”
2. The debut of Olivier Sarr
Of all the newcomers, surely the 7-footer was UK’s most discussed player leading up to the season. Not that Sarr was new to college basketball, of course. He was the transfer from Wake Forest who went an entire summer through the will-they-or-won’t-they uncertainty of waiting to see if the NCAA would grant him a transfer waiver for immediately eligibility. Finally, the NCAA did just that, turning UK from a prospective top-20 team into a prospective top-10 team with a legitimate shot at the Final Four.
So how did Sarr play in his first game in a Kentucky uniform? The native of France played eight minutes in the first half without taking a shot or grabbing a rebound. But he made up for that in the second half, scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds in 14 minutes.
As expected, Sarr showed a nice touch on his shot. He was four of six from the floor. He hit a couple of mid-range jumpers. He didn’t post-up because he’s not a post-up player. He obviously likes to play out on the floor. Afterward, Calipari said he’s been leaning on Sarr to use his hook shot more. We’ll see how that develops.
It’s a small sample size on a player who came on at the end of his Wake Forest stint, but you could see flashes of why it was so important for Kentucky to have Sarr on the floor this season. A good beginning.
3. Look at all that depth
I’m not sure there is going to be a real star on this Kentucky basketball team because there really doesn’t need to be a star. There appears to be 10 good players on this team with very good upside who could be on the floor at any time playing with any combination.
Isaiah Jackson made a strong impression early on. He can run the floor and battles for the ball. Davion Mintz showed he is the perimeter shooter he was heralded to be. Cam’Ron Fletcher played hard. And Terrence Clarke was very impressive in his overall play. He appears to be the type of player who can do just about everything well.
That gives Calipari a lot of options. If we can get through this pandemic season without too many stops and starts, it will be fun to see how the coach utilizes all this talent, the combinations, the rotations, which players will consistently be in the game at the end of games.
So far, with everything else going on in college basketball, just be glad UK got the first game in. Keep your fingers crossed. And your masks on.
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 9:56 PM.
