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With Aaron Bradshaw already back and now coach John Calipari saying that Ugonna Onyenso might be ready to play against North Carolina Saturday will Kentucky be more apt to use a lineup with two bigs rather than a smaller, quicker lineup that has excited UK fans since July.
And throw in the possible clearance by the NCAA for Zvonimir Ivisic to start playing game and Calipari could soon have three 7-footers ready and available to play.
However, Calipari seemed to indicate on his radio show this week that he’s not going to abandon at least a three-guard lineup with the talented backcourt players he has this year.
“My best teams, that’s how we play, with three point guards,” Calipari said. “There are some discipline things offensively, we still are trying to make the hardest play. They’re leading to turnovers for no reason.
“It’s not just one guy, but it’s two or three and I’ve got to get that under wraps. Just make easy plays. We did it against UNCW, why are we making the hardest play? The guy is open, just throw it to them.
“Everybody on this team can play, so you’re throwing it to a guy who can play. Just give it to him, and then he’ll do the same to you.”
Four of Kentucky’s top five scorers are guards led by Antonio Reeves at 18 points per game followed by Rob Dillingham (14.1), Reed Sheppard (13.0) and D.J. Wagner (12.6). Tre Mitchell is third on the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game.
Reeves (25) and Sheppard (23) have combined to hit 48 3-pointers with Reeves shooting 43.1 percent and Sheppard 59 percent. Dillingham has 19 treys and is hitting .514 percent from long range.
The Cats are also averaging almost 20 assists per game led by Dillingham with 44, Mitchell 35, Sheppard 34 and Wagner 30.
Calipari said on his weekly radio show that he was going to “try figuring stuff out” in practice but would probably need to see how his bigs perform in games to totally figure out his rotation.
“What’s the best way of playing with two bigs? Do we space the corner with elbows? But, see, our bigs can shoot 3’s, so you don’t have to do high-low and jam up the lane. It’s just different,” the Kentucky coach said.
“How do we play against a switching defense? Do we then go to post-ups, which we have guys that can do that? So there are different things we can do.”
Calipari considers Mitchell a big and he’s shown he can hit 3’s but also pass. Bradshaw hit a 3-pointer against Penn last week. Ivisic is a European big who prefers playing outside.
“I liked some different things to finish with Tre, different things to finish with Aaron. I liked Aaron in the pick-and-roll, running him right down the middle of the court. It opens the rest of us up. There was good stuff,” Calipari said about the win over Penn.
“Aaron made a 3. I mean, Tre can make 3’s. He just missed a couple of shots, but Tre played good. He gets nine rebounds because Aaron takes some of the heat away from him.”
“What I’d like is for us to keep playing the way we are. Let’s get better defensively. Let’s get some shot-blocking on the court. Let’s get a guy that can just rebound because he’s bigger than everybody. But let’s continue to play (the same way).”
7 Responses
There is no reason why we can’t be a fast break team off of a rebound, but bigs will slow down the pace of a halfcourt game. There will be fewer shots but more second chance shots. We will need to learn how to play with the bigs and the bigs will need to learn how to play with the shooters. There will be more fouls on both ends so the flow of the game will be slower. It will be harder for substitutes to get into the flow of the game as Calipari will take them back out after 3 or 4 minutes unless its a foul trouble substitution. It will be hard to find quality minutes and shots for 8 kids, much less 10. In 2015, platooning was the answer, but it hurt recruiting for the next 3 years. It could look like this:
Wagner, Bradshaw, and Reeves average 26 minutes each
Mitchell, Sheppard, and Dillingham average 23 minutes each
Thiero, Onyenso, and Edwards average 15 minutes each
Burks averages 6 minutes and the rest of the team splits 2 minutes
That accounts for 200 minutes. That’s assuming the Z never plays, but if he does, who gives up minutes for his PT? If more minutes are taken away from the top 6, the high school kids will say that’s platooning and will go elsewhere next year.
Edwards, and Onyenso are not going to be happy with those limited minutes and will be portal bound next year, but who will be willing to give up their own for them to have more? Thiero won’t like it, but he will be the team player who accepts it knowing there will be more for him next year. Burks won’t grumble and will be hoping for more PT next season. Z will be in the NBA then. Of the top 6, Sheppard is the only one I see coming back next year. Unless Calipari can talk Edwards and Onyenso into staying, it will be another makeover next year. This mix still could produce a Final 4, if not more, this season if everyone is willing to sacrifice for the team. Let’s hope egos and NBA aspirations don’t undo that.
Some good points. Calipari, how he coaches and substitutes will be the biggest key to victory. If he can get them to play to their potential, I’m confident they Will best NC.
I don’t like having set minutes for any player. Play 10 players in the first half and see who is playing the best against the competition and able to do what is needed. Play the best 7 most of the minutes in the second half. This allows for each player to earn their minutes and it allows for changes based on how someone is playing against that particular team and it will most likely change every game.
Some players just can’t get going against certain teams but against someone else, they can’t be stopped. Each game is different and should be played as such.
I agree, but Calipari is too set in his ways to do that.
This is Cal’s best coaching
year except his year with Davis. Play the bigs that can
run and pass and win the
the championship. This is not
Rocket science and I’m tired
of losing my retirement.
We really have good players but they are to inexperienced to complete with veteran teams! Most of these players are going to have to come back for there sophomore year if we ever are going to win the Sec conference or tournament again, but we all know that isn’t going to happen! We are going to have to get good players to come back,and let the NBA wait for another year so we finally can have continuity!
Afraid in today’s world that does not happen James