Calipari Said “hobbled” Edwards Still Did Some Good Stuff at Arkansas

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It’s not always easy to know exactly what John Calipari means when he’s talking about injuries.

Freshman Justin Edwards has not been as productive as expected this season and did not start against Arkansas and was replaced in the starting lineup by Adou Thiero, who had been out with a back injury and had not played in a SEC game.

However, Calipari explained after the game that he had a scrimmage the day before the game — something he normally does not go — and Edwards “got hit and went down.” The coach said he was a “little hobbled” by the blow. But while he was too hobbled to start, he was not too hobbled to come off the bench and play nine unproductive minutes with one shot, no points, one rebound, one assist and one turnover.

Calipari once again said that Edwards had to “get himself jump-started” and build his confidence through “demonstrated performance” in games.

“Part of it is to make really easy plays. Don’t try to do crazy stuff. Don’t do stuff that’s going to lead to turnovers or missed layups or bad shots,” Calipari said. “Defend, rebound, dive on the floor, get a breakout, dunk it. Make an open 3, bang. All of a sudden, I got this.”

Maybe. Maybe not.

Edwards has had plenty of chances for “demonstrated performance” but the issue is his performances have not been that great in any way. He’s not been awful but he’s not been anywhere near as good as he was expected to be.

‘Now, let me say this: There is no one on my team, well, you’ve got three guys that have elevated their work. It’s Jordan (Burks), and I just want him to get a chance to play. Antonio (Reeves), and Justin. Justin was in the gym the other night at 11 o’clock, getting up shots,” Calipari said after the Arkansas game.

“He’s trying to build (confidence), now he’s got to carry over what he’s doing, demonstrated performance in a game. Not for me, for himself. He did some stuff today that was good. He’s not there yet, but that’s all right. I told him I believe in him. I know how good he is.”

Calipari didn’t offer any insights on what Edwards did “that was good” but it’s easy to see that other players did a lot more “good” and that will make it interesting to see just how much Edwards plays Wednesday night when UK hosts Florida.