Kellan Grady and his teammates face their first true road game today at Notre Dame. (Jeff Houchin/Nolan Media)
Kentucky has yet to play a true road game this season and the Wildcats will get that first experience today when they take on Notre Dame. Following a 79-71 loss to Duke in the Champions Classic to tip off the season, Kentucky stayed at home for the remainder of November and reeled off seven consecutive victories, including a 76-64 win over Southern University last Tuesday.
The competition gets tougher for the Wildcats (7-1), starting with the Irish (3-4), who have played five consecutive games away from home and coming off a 73-57 setback to Boston College on Dec. 3. Notre Dame won their first two games of the year at home before the five-game road stretch.
Kentucky veteran guard Kellan Grady and the rest of his teammates are looking forward to the second phase of the schedule, a mixture of games that include Ohio State, instate foe Louisville, and High Point, led by former Wildcats coach Tubby Smith.
“When you win games by a decent margin consistently, I think you’re ready for another challenge,” Grady said. “Cal always tells us to respect everyone but fear nobody, We respect Notre Dame and we’re excited for that challenge and opportunity.”
For the first time in two years, Kentucky will play in front of a packed arena, and Kentucky coach John Calipari expects a hostile environment.
“It’s the game that they mark on their calendar,” he said. “It’s the game they’re excited to play. My guess is, if you look at every team we play on the road, their highest attended game will be our game. Like, it’s just what it is. It’s playing here; that’s what makes it unique.”
The Wildcats certainly haven’t forgotten last year’s contest against Notre Dame on their own home court. The Irish dealt the Wildcats a 64-63 setback. Kentucky guard Davion Mintz hasn’t forgotten the disappointing setback.
“Notre Dame has a great home arena and they’re going to come at us,” Mintz said. “… for us to go to Notre Dame and the history that they have and the way they manhandled us going into the season last year, this will be good for us, for sure.”
Although he knows what to expect from Mike Brey’s squad, Calipari said the Irish won’t be the same as other teams the Wildcats will face and have played this season.
“You’ve got to take it up to another level,” Calipari said. “Every game has its own personality. This Notre Dame game is going to be different than the Ohio State game, which is going to be different than the Louisville game, which is going to be different than the game at Kansas, which is different than the game with Ohio, or with Duke. They’re all different.”
The Wildcats appear to be ready for the task at hand on Saturday in South Bend.
“‘It’s a fun environment to be in,” Mintz said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Gametracker: Kentucky at Notre Dame, 5:15 p.m. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network.
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Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at Keith.taylor@kentuckytodaycom and via twitter at keithtaylor21.
7 Responses
"For the first time in two years, Kentucky will play in front of a packed arena, …"
If this is true, it is shocking that any UK basketball team must encounter a packed arena only at another team’s place.
A story a couple of days ago about attendance at Rupp this season was eye-opening. One explanation for empty seats was the $300/game cost of the tickets. That was an example taken from a current season ticket holder who has choice seats due to contributions to the University for the privilege of buying those tickets. That money has already been spent by that and similarly situated ticket holders. The cost of the ticket is no excuse for not attending, or at least making sure that someone who wants to attend has the tickets and uses them.
Some want us to believe that the root of this attendance issue is the lack of quality of the opponents that are appearing at Rupp Arena. However, the quality of the opponent does not explain the poor attendance. I recall the days when Rupp and Memorial before Rupp were filled to the rafters for all games, and fans enjoyed watching their Cats show them how the game of basketball is played by a well-coached, efficient team that defends, rebounds, make shots, and runs the fast break better than nearly anyone in the nation. These were true hallmarks of the Rupp, Hall, Sutton, and Pitino teams regardless of the wins and losses.
The basketball that Calipari routinely produces with his coaching does not do these things. His teams do not play high-quality basketball. His teams are not well-coached. UK fans have been among the most sophisticated college basketball fans in the world, and UK fans have come to expect high quality, well-coached, efficient basketball as a matter of routine, not as an exception to the general condition because UK fans have seen it and have appreciated it for decades. Furthermore, after all those decades, UK fans not only recognize high-quality basketball, they expect it.
I left the last game I attended at Rupp with a great feeling of disappointment due to the poor quality of the basketball I observed, but the overall experience inside Rupp was an even greater source of disappointment. I recall when Rupp and Memorial before Rupp were respected shrines of college basketball. Today, Rupp is more like a cheap circus than the Mecca of college basketball that Kentucky once protected with honor. Add this cheap circus environment to the steadily declining quality of play, and it is no wonder that the fans have stopped flocking to fill Rupp game after game. I can stay at home and watch this type of basketball, without the circus sideshows, any day of the week.
One thing you failed to mention Prof – the players are “different “ as well.
As a freshman I lived on the dorm with the BB team. There were SIX Mr. Basketball’s in the freshman class that year. None were pria donnas. A couple were a bit cocky but that quickly disappeared after their first practice with Adolph. Thereafter what they had in common was fear !
Pure and simple.
The players are different, but part of that is this OAD emphasis that Calipari ushered in. These kids are prima donnas and are treated as such from the day they arrive to the day they leave for their day at the NBA draft.
That is his policy, not a general change of character of basketball players across the board. Calipari has treated Kentucky bred and raised players with disrespect, while those players had been the backbone of this program for Rupp, Hall, Sutton, and Pitino. Oscar is not one of prima donnas. Oscar is the old fashioned, blue collar hard worker that achieves on the floor because of his hard work.
People make assertions about things, but when the data is examined, the assertions don’t withstand scrutiny. This business of poor non-conference opponents is a bogus argument. Since 2002, the weakest non-conference schedules for UK belong to Gillispie (08 and 09) and Tubby (05).
Calipari’s non-conference SOS has been strong overall with the exception of his 3 weakest schedules (10, 12, and 13). His non-conference SOS in all of the other years have been at or above the average SOS between 2002 and 2019.
For completeness, I do not include 2020 because that season’s SOS is slightlyy lower than 2014 through 2019 because UK did not play in the post season (no one did) and the post season elevates the non-conference SOS values. I do not include 2021 because the COVID limited schedule drove the non-conference SOS up so high it is off the charts and truly not representative of anything. Finally, 2022 is a work in progress, but the projected non-conference SOS should be similar to those under Calipari since 2014, and that Tubby had in all years except 2005.
The quality of non-conference scheduling is a diversion from the place where the real focus should be placed, on the job Calipari is doing.
Bob Guyette – IL; Kevin Grevey – OH; Mike Flynn, Jerry Hale, Steve Lochmueller – IN; Jimmy Dan Connor, GJ Smith – KY. Only 2 from KY?
Robey, Phillips, Givens Lee – Only 2 from Kentucky
Casey, Issell, Pratt – Only 1 from Kentucky
Dampier, Riley, Conley, Kron, Jaracz – Only 2 from Kentucky
Hord, Master, Turpin, Hurt, Minnieffield – Only 3 from Kentucky
The point is there are none from Kentucky these days, except for the occasional player relegated to the end of this man’s bench.
Well, I guess no one was really ready for the challenge except Notre Dame and Oscar.
With Oscar, this team is weak. Without Oscar, this team is pitiful.
There are only 6 players thus far with a positive individual efficiency and offensive efficiency above 1.00 pppe,
Oscar, 2.05 pppe
Collins 1.38 pppe
Wheeler 1.16 pppe
Grady 1.08 pppe
Tyty 1.05 pppe
Mintz 1.01 pppe
Hopkins eases in at #7, 0.93 pppe
Toppin, Allen, Brooks, and the rest should not get any playing time until they are capable to contribute at least 0.9 pppe, and that threshold ought to be 1.00 pppe.
Tyty is making 38% of his 3 point attempts and Grady 40%, the rest of the team 23.5%. No one on this team should be permitted to take a 3 pointer other than Tyty and Grady.
Defensive break downs are commonplace with this group.
Oscar and Collins have 30 blocked shots, the rest of the team 22.
Oscar, Wheeler and Grady have 35 steals, the rest of the team 25.
Either these players are ignoring the coaching, or there is no coaching taking place. Which is worse?
Pick your poison.