Kentucky put four players in double figures, shot 56 percent from the field and had a bevy of players show off their length and athleticism while rolling to an 81-45 season-opening victory over Morehead State Wednesday night. What the win had to do was make UK fans even more excited about John Calipari’s team because this was the first time most fans have seen any of these players play … and there was a lot to like.
— BJ Boston had 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal. He missed all four 3-pointers he tried but never let that disrupt his offensive flow.
— Terrence Clarke had 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting along with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
— Devin Askew had 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting — he was 2-for-3 from 3-point range and also four assists and three rebounds. He did negate some of that with four turnovers.
But guess what impressed Calipari most? His team looked like a team just three days after he said he was in “panic mode” after Sunday’s practice.
“What I was encouraged about was we looked like an organized basketball team,” Calipari, who has 10 players who had never played in a game for him, said.
He was not thrilled with his rebounding or defensive play at times. He thought some players reverted to some bad habits. But the Cats never had a long scoring drought — a problem last year’s team had all season.
When Morehead went to a zone defense, his team stayed organized most of the time.
“The reality is we looked like an organized basketball team,” the UK coach said.
So was he exaggerating a bit about how bad Sunday’s practice was? He said no and even offered to share the scrimmage tape with media members before changing his mind because he was afraid someone might share it with a future UK opponent.
But he did warn fans not to get upset at what might happen the next few games. Kentucky will host Richmond Sunday, play Kansas Tuesday and then take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta Dec. 6. Calipari said he did his team a “disservice” with that schedule but he thought sophomore forward Keion Brooks — who is out with an injury and was UK’s only returning experienced play — would be playing.
“Without Keion it makes this schedule a different deal and is not fair to these guys. Nobody is doing what we are doing (schedule-wise),” Calipari said. “Young guys are fragile. I am going to have to be as positive and patient as I have ever been.
“We have nine (non-conference) games and seven of them are ridiculous. It is going to be a tough road. I would tell the fans don’t be mad at the kids. Be mad at me. Instead of being tested for corona (virus), I should have been tested for drugs or something.”
Is all that true? Absolutely not.
This Kentucky team is young and talented. It has to show it can handle a tougher, more physical defense. It has to show it can rotate better defensively.
But few teams are going to have the overall athleticism and length of Kentucky. That’s why ESPN/SEC Network analyst Jimmy Dykes said no team in the country had a bigger upside than UK and based on what I saw Wednesday night I agree.
