Terrence Clarke (SEC Photo)
Putting Kentucky in the top 10 going into this season was based on the expected play of freshmen Brandon Boston and Terrence Clarke and the improvement of sophomore Keion Brooks as much as anything else. Instead, Kentucky started 1-6 and is now only 5-9, including 4-3 in SEC play, but Boston is the only one of that trio who has played in every game. Clarke has missed the last seven games with an ankle injury while Brooks missed the first nine games with a leg injury.
Boston has been up and down but is coming off two straight solid games. Brooks is averaging 11.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game since coming back and is shooting a team-best 51.2 percent from the field.
So what could happen if and when Clarke does return?
“I don’t believe he’ll play this week. I don’t believe so,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “But he is now being able to run around. He hasn’t been in practice. He’s been at practice but hasn’t practiced. Hopefully he will be an addition that will help us.”
Kentucky plays Tuesday at Alabama, a team it lost to by 20 points earlier, and hosts Texas Saturday. Both are top 15 teams.
Former UK All-American Jack Givens said on the UK Radio Network pregame show before UK’s win over LSU Saturday that he had not seen much activity from Clarke during practices he had attended. Givens noted that when Brooks was not playing he was still running and doing some drills that he has not seen Clarke yet able to do.
“I have confidence in all my teammates, but Terrence will definitely be a key factor for us when he gets back out there,” Boston said.
Calipari has already talked to Clarke about what he will need to do to help the team when he returns.
“What I’ve said to him, ‘What can you add to this team?’ Don’t tell me what you want to do. Look at us. Where do we have deficiencies and where can you help us? What do you add to this team?'” Calipari said. “He’s been great.”
Clarke was expected to be a consistent and efficient scorer. He was averaging 10.7 points per game when he was hurt but shooting just 22.7 percent from 3-point range and 43 percent overall. Even worse, he’s hit just 47.1 percent at the foul line. He also had 21 turnovers compared to 13 assists.
But Calipari says not to overlook the difference Clarke could make defensively for a team that has trouble keeping opponents from getting into the lane.
“He really guards the ball. You can put him and Jacob (Toppin) out there, you have two guys (who can guard the ball),” Calipari said. “Most guys are not going to have five drivers, they’re going to have two. You put those two on, now all of a sudden it’s a little different. If we switch with his size, 6-7, he can still guard that big guy. So yeah. But he’s got to be healthy.”
Calipari then admitted he made a costly mistake trying to play Clarke against Louisville when he was injured going into the game. UK lost 62-59 and Clarke did not score or have a rebound in 14 minutes of play.
“I was trying to play him at 70 percent. Killed us. Kept guys out of the game that needed to be in the game,” Calipari said.
With Clarke out, Dontaie Allen has had a chance to play. He’s 19 of 43 from 3-point range — 44.2 percent — for a team that has struggled to make 3-pointers. He’s averaging 6.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.
So what happens to playing time when Clarke, who was averaging 31 minutes per game before he was hurt, comes back?
“When he comes back, we’re going to petition the NCAA to add 20 more minutes to the game so we have time for everybody,” Calipari said. “The typical 200 (minutes), we’re going to see if we can petition for 220.”
I asked the Kentucky coach what the odds are of him getting that extra 20 minutes to make his playing time dilemma easier to solve.
“I got better luck asking my wife for 20 than them giving us 20. When I ask her for 20, she says, ‘You’re 20 dollaring me to death.’ I said, You’re kidding me, right?’
“I would say no. That means it’s going to put in the best guys. Cream rises to the top.”
