Jacob Toppin has scored in double figures the last 11 games. (UK Athletics Photo)
Jacob Toppin had 19 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday’s win at Florida, his 11th straight game in double figures and his sixth double-double of the season.
However, Kentucky coach John Calipari was not happy with his senior at halftime after UK blew a 15-point lead and trailed by one point.
“The first half I was on Jacob. I told him, ‘That guy who plays cool and jogs around stinks. The other guy, you are one of the top guys in the country. Why go back to being cool and not wanting to shoot it so you throw a bad pass and do not mix it up,’” Calipari said on his postgame radio show.
“We have got to be ready to fight and battle and play intense. Don’t have to play great but have to battle.”
Calipari still believes Toppin is one of the “best players in the country” when he’s active, rebounding, blocking shots, running the court and hunting his chances to score in the right way.
“He played really well in the second half,” Calipari said after the game.
Toppin hit a key 3-point shot late in the win and is now 6-for-9 from 3 in his last four games and 7-for-12 in the last six games.
“He’s working at it,” Calipari said about Toppin’s 3-point shooting. “But I’m telling you the best part of him is going at the rim, those little pull-ups, the little floater. But now it becomes dangerous because if you don’t play him and we drive it and throw it to him he can make it.”
ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes also likes the way Toppin is taking fewer 3-point shots but making more.
“When you are wide open, you have to take those shots,” Dykes said.
One Response
Yep, too often tries to be cute and lackadaisical rather than focused. Energy is inconsistent.
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