Aaron Bradshaw with Jack Givens. (UK Radio Network Photo)
Kentucky coach John Calipari might be ready for another “tweak” or two as UK gets ready to open NCAA Tournament play Thursday night in Pittsburgh against Oakland.
He’s been known to make subtle changes at times he’s later explained led to UK wins, especially in postseason play. He also played a “hunch” earlier this season when he gave Zvonimir extended minutes and he responded with his best game of the season.
Texas A&M’s guards exposed UK’s defense for the second time in a 97-87 win over Kentucky in the SEC Tournament. Three guards combined for 72 points and got inside to score but also got plenty of open outside shots.
“I got some things I think I’m gonna have to try to do,” Calipari said on his weekly radio show. “So I got a couple of tweaks in mind if a team has guards that just break us down. What else can we do? How about if I put both seven-footers in?
“It may take away a little offense but now you got two seven-footers, a little harder to score at the rim. So there are some different things we can do.”
Put both 7-footers in? Okay, maybe it cannot hurt UK’s defense but it is hard to see playing Ugonna Onyenso and Aaron Bradshaw together as the answer for UK’s defensive woes (Ivisic cannot be the defensive answer if he has to leave the paint and cannot just block shots).
Calipari predicted on his radio show Monday night that Bradshaw would have “one or two big games” during NCAA play.
“I don’t know when it will be, but you guys will look at me and say, Why wasn’t Cal playing this kid? The same thing with Z,” Calipari said.
Bradshaw is averaging 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
14 Responses
Putting in Goose?
That would be a good tweak Dirks
Oakland head coach Greg Kampe gave Kentucky all the bulletin-board material they need heading into the round-of-64 matchup.
“For me, this was the best matchup I think we could get as we were trying to figure it all out,” Kampe said to a local radio station.
Is this what our program has devolved into? A nobody school thinking we were the best matchup they could get? That statement alone should get Calipari fired. We should beat this team like a bunch of rugs, but I have been Caliparied one too many times to get too optimistic.
The other thing that he said was "we feel a good matchup for us because they can’t or don’t score in the paint". How true but that should be humiliating and embarrassing for the team and staff. You know every other coach out there feels the same way and that UK has been exposed. I am disappointed in all of trees but Z may be biggest disappointment because of all the talent but no Dog. Ony had his OND and Bradshaw is still a difficult read.
LMAO!!!! U and me both, Barry!!! Too many times, right!!! St Peters, Part II???
Cal has had a lot of games to have tried this in and never did. Is he saying he just now thought of it???
If the other team is hitting from 3, how will this help? There is not a 7 footer on this team that guard someone more than 10 feet from the basket. Should have given Hart and Burkes more time during the season to see what they can do on defense. Not saying they are better than what we have, but at this time of the year, everyone should know whether or not it is possible.
This team needs to learn how to run shooters off the line. Make them beat you with tough 2 point shots.
Yes… Burks AND Hart of given even 1/2 the minutes given to Wagner & Edward’s all year long and given “the never yanked out of the game” for any mistake, then these 2 would be contributing to the TEAM effort with multiple good stats & not part of a yet another 10-loss season.
Here’s a tweak.. play defense
He’s clueless – about any zone and even knows less about full court pressure.
The fraud needs to watch the “shark feeding frenzy” 1996 National Champs & see the 90’ press Pitino developed & molded with fast, long-armed, energized players who respected wearing UK jerseys! Need KY born players in key roles to help others fully know about the legendary UK WildCats!
Hugh Durham named the full court press, which I saw in person when UK devoured UGA with a FULL 40 MINUTES of relentless defense.
The ULTIMATE TWEAK…
Let Jeff Sheppard step down a few rows & take the seat the fraud leaves open while parading like a zombie on the sideline and ask security to send the fraud home.
Jeff can call in Mark Pope, Travis Ford, Jamal Mashburn, John Pelphrey & others to join him in developing players during the game & get more done than the fraud has in many months!
With u all day on that, LB!!! I would take any of those guys u just named to step onto the UK sideline–just because of who they are, what they did here, and the way we know they all feel Abt KY. I mean, they can probly go at least 9-16 right? As I said earlier today, if we r gonna go 9-16, I would rather go 9-16 with any guys like that, or anybody who I knew gave ONE DAMN ABOUT COACHING FOR UK, JUST BECAUSE I WOULD KNOW THEY CARE!!!!
Love the "shark-feeding frenzy" u described too earlier about the ’96 team, and all of Pitino’s teams in the 90s, because that’s exactly what those dudes were–they would not only beat u down but they would take your manhood while doing so and let u know about it afterward. But they played like grown men–not overentitled spoiled ass angry children. That’s the difference between college bball today and back then. Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson, Anthony Epps, Wayne Turner, Mark Pope, Jeff Sheppard, Allen Edwards, Nazr Mohammed–those guys were the stuff dreams were made of, man. I never had more fun in my life with UK bball than during the run from ’92 to ’98, and i was at the perfect age for that run too: 12 to 18! From the time I was in the 6th grade to the spring that i graduated high school, UK f’n dominated. It was the best stretch of bball ever for any college team other than the Rupp era in the 40s and 50s and UCLA’s run with Wooden. Won’t ever be topped. It started with the run the ’92 team made in the SEC and NCAA tournament–ppl forget they destroyed a top 20 Alabama team with Latrell Sprewell and Robert Horry in the SEC championship by 30 pts, after BAMA had just upset a top 5 ARK team the day before, and that game ended Wimp Sandersons coaching career. And after the game he told Pitino to go F himself when Pitino went to shake his hand. Then in the NCAA tournament the DUKE game became so legendary that’s really what put us back on the map and set the stage for what was to come the next 5 yrs. And don’t forget, we took down the Devil himself the game before DUKE too! Damn I miss that sh**. That Pitino bball was damn near like a drug all those years watching it–it was like u just couldn’t get enough of it and it would just get u so high. U couldn’t wait for the next game to start. I also still remember 86 pts in the first half on a cold super Tues Jan night down in Baton Rouge also! Most dominating half of bball I have ever seen in my life. And isn’t it funny! Guess what actually made Pitino’s teams the machines that they were? DEFENSE!!! guess what Cal–youre right–your guys are not machines or robots–but Pitinos guys back in the 90s were!!! And it’s because they were COACHED to be a machine! Ol CALLIE BOY knows all about it because he was on the receiving end of a few of those machinery ass-kickings!!!!
This guy is a fraud. The "tweaks" are nothing burgers.
One day the UK administration will look at their flagship program and ponder what happened to it, but by then it will be too late.
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