Dontaie Allen had eight first-half points at Auburn but played only eight minutes the second half. (SEC Photo)
I’ve got to think if John Calipari could have a do-over he might want to take back — or at least rephrase — at least one statement he made after Saturday’s loss at Auburn. Dontaie Allen and Jacob Toppin came off the bench the first half and both scored eight needed points considering Kentucky only had 25 points the first half.
But when the second half started both were back on the bench and stayed there about seven minutes. Kentucky fans were clamoring on social media to know why Calipari didn’t let his best two scorers the first half back in the game a lot sooner.
Louisville radio show host Michael Bennett asked Calipari why Allen and Toppin didn’t start the second half?
“I want to win every game I coach, but the other side of it is, I’m not trying to take anybody’s heart away, so you can sub them when three, four minutes and go,” Calipari said.
So does that mean rather than going with the players playing the best that Calipari would not stick with a player not playing well but might have a NBA future rather than hurt his feelings?
Toppin had eight points and five rebounds in 11 minutes the first half. Allen had eight points and one rebound in 15 minutes. They were a combined 5-for-10 from the field. In the second half, Toppin ended up playing 10 minutes but had just two points and one rebound. Allen played only eight minutes, did not score and grabbed one more rebound.
If you look at the +/- game analytics, UK was plus 11 with Allen in the game and minus 1 with Toppin. The only other player with a plus rating was Lance Ware at plus 5. Some of the other numbers were Olivier Sarr (-17), Davion Mintz (-14) and BJ Boston (-13). Sarr played 15 minutes, Boston 27 and Mintz 23.
ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes made it clear early in the game he thought Allen had to be on the court because he could make shots, something many of his teammates have not shown they can do.
“Kentucky is just an entirely different offensive team when Allen is on the court compared to when he is not,” Dykes said. “It would be hard for me to take him off the floor because at least this guy can put the ball in the basket.”
In the second half Dykes said Auburn could “just back off” the perimeter defensively without Allen in the game.
“Kentucky’s best offense would be to put Allen in the corner and drive the ball to his side and make Auburn decide what to do (about helping at the basket or still covering Allen),” Dykes said.
Allen did pass up a shot in the second half. He did miss the front end of the bonus. He even missed a heavily contested 3-pointer from the corner on UK’s last shot with the game still on the line.
It’s not like substituting a quarterback; he played a bad quarter so I’m going to play a different one. You don’t coach that way. What you do is sub them in,” Calipari said.
“Dontaie got great looks in the second half. He got fouled, but they were going at him defensively. We had a lot of breakdowns and could have changed lineups. At the end of the day, we got out-toughed.”
Kentucky did get out-toughed. But that has happened before this season and will again.
However, the issue is Kentucky cannot score. The Cats have not gone over 65 points in any of their losses. Last season Kentucky failed to score more than 65 points in just two games. Kentucky scored 70 points or more in 21 of 31 games.
“We aren’t good enough to go run by people. If we create space and assists, we should be averaging at least 18 assists on our baskets, maybe more. Everyone was trying to score instead of creating shots for each other,” Calipari said.
“We are one of those teams that are trying to figure it out. You can’t just ride one or two guys. And I’ll be honest with you, it may be game to game. Who’s getting more looks and shots.”
Again, notice the contradiction. He talks about it might be “game to game” on which one or two players to ride. This game going into the second half that should have been Toppin and Allen based on what they did the first half. No ifs, ands and buts about that.
Calipari had to know that after this game got away. Just like he has to think back on that 1-6 start and wonder what would have happened if he had played Allen and he hit one or two shots a game.
Kentucky is out of time. It’s desperation mode. Kentucky has 14 games left if the already postponed South Carolina game can be rescheduled and COVID does not cancel any other games. Then there will be the SEC Tournament unless that is cancelled for safety protocols to protect the NCAA Tournament from COVID interruptions.
If UK goes 10-4 in those 14 games, it would be 14-12 overall. If the Cats got 8-6, it would be 12-14. Today going 8-6 seems maybe a bit optimistic considering the Cats have two games with Tennessee, another game with Alabama and a non-conference game with Texas left.
“We are here. We still have our chances. Not giving up on anybody. Trying to figure it out,” Calipari said.
Problem is Kentucky is out of time to figure it out and it is time to break a few hearts to try and save a season.
