Cason Wallace did not score until the final minute of Saturday's game. (Vicky Graff Photo)
What happened to freshman guard Cason Wallace?
The player who seemed like the best overall player on Kentucky’s team simply disappeared at Georgia Saturday in a 75-68 loss.
He did have six assists and three rebounds but in a game where Kentucky did not have injured guards CJ Fredrick and Sahvir Wheeler, Wallace did not do what UK needed.
He got two fouls in 3 1/2 minutes and played only eight minutes the first half when UK was lucky to be behind only 42-32 at halftime to a team that had lost six of its last seven games, was ranked 129th in the NET and was only 4-7 in SEC play.
Wallace played the entire second half and scored five points — all in the final minute after the game was already decided. He did not take a shot for almost 14 minutes in the second half, something a projected NBA draft lottery pick just cannot do. Either he lost all confidence after going 0-for-3 in the first half or just didn’t want to work hard enough to get shots he could take and make.
“Cason was not very good. Reminded me of Alabama,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said.
Kentucky lost 78-52 at Alabama when Wallace played only 22 minutes because of early foul trouble. However, he was not shot-shy as he went 1-for-13 from the field, including 0-for-6 from 3.
With Fredrick and Wheeler out, Kentucky needed him to play big on offense, especially coming off two straight 20-point games. Instead, he was a non-factor on offense.
“He didn’t play well. They are not machines. They are not robots,” Calipari said
Unlike a machine, Wallace kept breaking down not only on offense but also on defense.
“Just too easy. Cason Wallace got taken to school on that drive,” ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes said during the game. “He’s got to be better than that.”
Late in the game Kentucky came out of a timeout and took a shot clock violation. That’s on the point guard even if he is just a freshman. That just can’t happen.
Wallace’s foul trouble forced Calipari to play freshman Adou Thiero, who had been a big key when UK won at Tennessee but had played just six minutes in the last six games. He was aggressive but had two turnovers and got beat once on defense for a 3-pointer.
“I was having to play Adou who had not played 30 minutes all year,” Calipari said.
6 Responses
I’m so sick of Cal’s same lame excuses.
They aren’t robots guys..
Question for Calipari. If they are not robots, why practice, yell at practice , yell at games call timeouts to yell at them, yell at them in game ?
Calipari can’t coach X and O’s. He puts all of the pressure on the kids to win despite that. The yelling is not working. This team has checked out mentally. It’s time for a change.
When Sharpe showed the whole world that Calipari does not require a player to even play a single second, and the NBA followed suit by rewarding it with a high draft selection, why would any Calipari player ever be concerned about the effort given during his stay in NBA Purgatory between high school graduation and the NBA draft night one year removed?
That is what Calipari’s players’ first approach is about, and always has been about. Calipari does not care at all about the UK basketball program, and it is clear for anyone with a clear head to recognize given the steady decline this program has sustained on his watch. This guy takes $9 mil per year from the hard-working people of Kentucky that call themselves Big Blue Fans and members of the Big Blue Nation. He patronizes us, and he has destroyed that which we have always held dear.
The longer he remains in that chair, the greater the damage he inflicts on our program, and the longer it will take to rebuild it.
I find it hard to believe that there are still those among us who want to defend this man or his record.
Cal says Thero only had a few minutes of playing time. OMG why is that Cal your the one who kept him on the bench so he doesn’t have much experience/ or maybe like the most potetial athelete he has doesn’t either. Collins,, 7 foot could be most Blocker in UK history Owansy. he can even make FT’s. shots.. reboounds. has played a total less then 5 mnutes. WHY CAL WHY
WHY does Oscar not know how to stop messing up pick n rolls. why does he do it over n over switching l.etting his biggiie score on dunk or force a smaller team mate trying to stop his biggie from an easy score WHY
WHY did he finally play Collins a few minutes and had him hanging out on 3 point line instead of dunk spot and helping Oscar rebound WHY
Why keep forcing ball into Oscar with a swarm of bees all over him for anohter turnover
WHY???????