Vicky Graff Photo
Some Kentucky fans might be in panic mode — or at least very concerned mode — after UK’s 79-62 loss at South Carolina Tuesday but coach John Calipari is not feeling the same way.
“I wouldn’t want to be coaching any other team. I love this team,” he said on his weekly radio show Wednesday night. “We’re a little young, not fragile, but just not mooses. But so what? Our length, the way we shoot it, pass it … I believe in this team. I believe in every individual. Let’s go.”
South Carolina shot 46 percent from 3-point range and had 20 assists against UK to drop the Cats adjusted defensive efficiency to 98th in the country. Kentucky has allowed at least 77 points in all six SEC games.
“Some of it is, (opponents) are going after a couple of our defenders,” Calipari said. “And those guys are going to have to hold their ground and dig in. Or, you’ve got to play other people.”
Calipari hopes the lopsided loss will be more than just a wake-up call for his team.
“A crisis brings about change, brings you back together,” the UK coach said on the radio show. “Gets you to rely on each other and count on each other, know things aren’t going to work this way.”
Could the change be UK playing some zone defense? SEC Network announcer Tom Hart said during Tuesday’s loss that Kentucky coaches have told him they are spending some time each practice on zone defense.
“Been working on some zone, we may throw some zone in and out, especially with Z. And you guys look at me and say, ‘He’ll never play zone.’ Well, if Z can’t guard the way he needs to and we want to play him, you put him in the middle of a zone. Just say, ‘You won’t believe this, kid. Just be real big. Be 7-2,’” Calipari said. “And so I just like to hold guys accountable.”
Zvonimir Ivisic was a non-factor against South Carolina after a spectacular debut the game before against Georgia. Calipari said the Gamecocks “got physical” with a bigger, stronger player going against him.
“He’s a little behind defensively, positioning and where he needs to be, all those things. … I’ll probably sit down with Z and just say, ‘Look, I’m gonna give you a few shots to play, but I need you to catch up on this defensive stuff,’” Calipari said.
“Again, we’re a couple stops, a couple of plays — guy turned and dunked on him, just being able to hold your ground. But he was good.”
Kentucky will play at Arkansas on Saturday. The Razorbacks lost at home to South Carolina by 13 and lost at Ole Miss Wednesday. Auburn beat Arkansas 83-51, Georgia won 76-66 and Florida beat Arkansas 90-68. However, Calipari warned on his radio show that Arkansas will test UK’s defense and could force him to go zone — which I will have to see to believe.
“Let me tell you, the game is going to be 50 percent one-on-one. So if you can’t guard — boom, boom, boom — he’s trying to go by you and score,” Calipari said. “Shoot a 3, stepback, layups — that’s how they play. And in that building, they make shots. In that building, they’re good,” Calipari said.
“They get a lot of room to play. They’re good. They’re well-coached, just like the team we played last night. We have to come out with unbelievable energy on the road and put everybody on their heels.”
8 Responses
I’ll be shocked if he plays zone!
I doubt that he will, or if they do, how well it will work since they never play zone. He should have done that at the begging of the season so they would be accustomed to it for SEC play. Truth be told, I am not sure Calipari knows how coach zone play.
With the wing span we got, the zone could be beneficial.
He will use it one possession and they will hit a 3 then it’s back to man. Then we will give up 10 3’s in man and never go back to zone:
At least zone can cut out all the lay ups, dunks, and in bounds scores under the basket.
If he just mixes it up SOME it will be beneficial – slick Rick used to do that !!
Some say he can’t coach the zone defense! Hello!! His man defense coaching sure hasn’t been a thing of beauty over the past 5-6 yrs at least! This guy has been fortunate to be able to recruit good players that cover up some of his coaching deficiencies. If I had a guy that shoots over 70% in practice, I believe he would get more than 1-3 shots!
I believe if you had that player, you would start him too.
He always says this and never does it. How would it hurt to run it for 5 minutes and see if the defense improves? Also Play Burks over Edward’s I don’t care what anybody says Burks is way more of a spark than Edward’s is forget the high school accolades.