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From the day he arrived at Kentucky in 2009, coach John Calipari has made it clear he prefers talent over experience. His theory has always been that if he has the most talented team, he’ll win.
He deviated from his plan a bit the last two years when he hit the transfer portal but this season the Cats have a young, talented team with tremendous versatility based on the first two games at the GLOBAL Jam in Toronto.
However, after the impressive 23-point win over Canada Thursday in what was expected to be a close game, the Kentucky coach said something that should have made many, many Kentucky fans really happy.
“The thing that we have: We have really good basketball players. They’re basketball players. And so you’ve got five guys at all times on the floor that can pass and shoot and drive and make decisions,” Calipari said.
What about that? Players who can pass, shoot, drive and make decisions with the basketball. Isn’t that the way basketball should be played?
“It’s my old way of playing. Which is getting in space, space the court and you fly — which is probably most of my career, 90 percent of my career coaching that way,” Calipari said. “But you gotta have a bunch of guys that can play basketball.”
He seems to have that this year. Kentucky is moving the ball to find open shooters. Players are not taking bad shots and sometimes even passing up open shots to get a teammate an even better shot.
Veteran sportswriter Dick Weiss, a Hall of Fame member, certainly has been impressed with what he has seen in wins over Germany and Canada.
“I don’t want to get too excited, but I feel confident in saying this Kentucky team will be a joy to watch. Depth, talented, unselfish with a willingness to make the extra pass and knock down 3’s,” Weiss posted on Twitter after the win over Canada.
Senior Antonio Reeves has 47 points in two games to justify why his return to UK after he took his name out of the NBA Draft was so important.
The fifth-year player is a scorer but also a needed leader for a freshman-dominated team. He’s enjoying both roles.
“It’s been fun so far, I can tell you that right now,” Reeves said after his 23-point performance against Canada. “Those guys are playful, I enjoy being around them.
“They play a lot sometimes but it’s what I’m here for, you know, to be big bro. Definitely been fun just being with them all the time and just being able to vibe with them.”
One Response
No doubt about this, and Kentucky’s backbone is strengthened by experienced players who can play. Reeves, Mitchell, and Thiero could be as common a phrase in a few months as Casey, Issel and Pratt was over 50 years ago. Add Reed Sheppard to that combo, and a stronger, long UGONNA, and UK’s starting 5 should be as strong as any in the country.
This allows the other freshmen to come along at their own pace, contributing as that occurs and permits, and this team has all the ingredients to be special.
However, we have seen promises of greatness from teams during the summer in recent years only to see that great teamwork and skill dissipate before our eyes once fall practices begin.
So, I will wait and see what happens in November.