Continued Improvement the Goal for UK vs. Harvard
Kentucky turned in its best performance of the young season against UIC on Sunday. That means the Wildcats are about to face their first test of how they handle success.
PJ Washington was asked about exactly that on Thursday. He couldn’t help but smile.
“Not concerned at all, because Coach is not letting it get to our head,” Washington said. “He’s pushing us every day in practice and just trying to stay focused.”
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| Kentucky vs. Harvard | ||
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Sat., Dec. 2 – 3:30 p.m. ET |
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| Coverage | ||
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TV: ESPN |
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| UK | 2017-18 Team Stats | HU |
| 6-1 | Record | 3-5 |
| 0-0 | Conference Record | 0-0 |
| 78.3 | PPG | 68.9 |
| 65.7 | Opp PPG | 73.0 |
| .507 | FG% | .422 |
| .384 | Opp FG% | .460 |
| 41.0 | RPG | 32.6 |
| .376 | 3PT FG% | .276 |
| .277 | Opp 3PT FG% | .370 |
| .636 | FT% | .741 |
| 16.4 | APG | 12.8 |
| 6.0 | SPG | 5.5 |
| 6.0 | BPG | 3.6 |
Practice for No. 7/7 UK has been a bit different this week ahead of a matchup with Harvard (3-5) at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
With that 107-73 win over UIC, the Cats completed a grueling stretch of seven games in 17 days to open to the 2017-18. They made it through with a 6-1 record.
“It’s exhausting because games are one after the other,” Brad Calipari said. “It makes practices a little bit lighter, but going back and forth and having to scout the other team is a lot of information at one time. The past six or seven games we’ve been able to do well with it. It’s good having it this early in the season.”
It’s also good now having six days between games. After days off on Monday and Tuesday, UK returned to the practice floor not in frenzied preparation for the next opponent, but rather with three days of practice before another game in Rupp Arena.
“We’re probably experimenting a little bit more than just preparing for the next game,” John Calipari said. “We’re trying different things, both on defensive and offensively.”
In spite of the fact that UK has already played 280 minutes of regular-season basketball, Coach Cal still doesn’t know exactly what the Cats’ style will end up being. This time – with a week between each of UK’s next four games – is essential to figuring that out.
“You want to make sure as a group what’s the best way for us to play and then try to individually look at guys and say, ‘Where do we put them? What spots? How do we put them in situations where they can be their best?’ ” Coach Cal said.
Of course, some of that is about offense, but Calipari’s focus hasn’t strayed from the defensive end. Even after a game in which UK scored 107 points and shot 66.7 percent from the field, defense is where he believes the Cats need to hang their hat.
“If you look at any other young teams in the country that are trying to win at a high level, they’re just trying to outscore people because they’re not great defensive teams,” Calipari said. “They’re just not. We’re trying to do it the other way. Let’s be a great defensive team. Let’s be a great rebounding team.”
UK’s next chance to do that comes against the Crimson. Calipari doesn’t expect Harvard, an annual contender for the Ivy League championship, to make it easy.
“One, they have great post play,” Calipari said. “Again, just like Vermont – the other teams that we’ve had that have had good post play. They really explore it. They’ll play fast. Their point guard has a green light to go and he can get in the lane. They deny wings. They make catches on the elbows hard.
“Tommy (Amaker) – he’s as good as they get. He has a great way about how he coaches and how he gets his teams to play well.”
Calipari has a reputation for the same thing. In fact, as he works to develop his youngest team to date, it’s really all he cares about.
“We’ve gotten better as a team and they’ve gotten better as individual players,” Calipari said. “Which is how you get better as a team, individuals start playing better and they’re doing that. You just can’t – you’re not skipping steps; you’re not forcing it more than it is. We are where we are right now. Now it’s OK, how do we continue to get better?”
Another Milestone Reached for Coach Cal: 700 Victories
With Kentucky’s win over UIC on Nov. 26, 2017, John Calipari became just the 39th coach to reach 700 on-court wins, regardless of classifica- tion. Only 27 coaches have done it with at least 10 seasons at the Division I level.
Calipari became the fourth-fastest coach to 700 on-court wins ever. Only Adolph Rupp (836 games), Jerry Tarkanian (876 games) and Roy Williams (879 games) did it faster.
Knox Leads Six in Double Figures in Rout of UIC
Kentucky coach John Calipari reached a milestone when the Wildcats played their best game of the season. Kevin Knox scored a career-high 25 points to lead No. 8 Kentucky to a 107-73 victory over UIC on Sunday night to conclude play in the Adolph Rupp Classic.
The win gave Calipari his 700th career on-court victory, three years after he notched his 600th. He is the 39th coach to reach the milestone regardless of classification and the fourth-fastest coach to 700. This squad, his ninth at Kentucky (6-1), starts an all-freshman cast and struggled in wins over Utah Valley and Vermont before finally putting together a complete effort against the Flames.
Knox led six Kentucky players in double figures in one of the team’s best offensive showings of the season. Hamidou Diallo had a career-best 19 points, PJ Washington added 17 and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 14. Knox got most of his scoring in the post and missed just four attempts, all from long range.
The Wildcats scored 52 points in the first half paced by Knox’s 15. Diallo added 11, including a thunderous one-handed slam dunk. Gilgeous-Al- exander came off the bench for 10 points. Knox, Gilgeous-Alexander and Diallo combined for 14 of Kentucky’s 20 field goals in the first half.
Kentucky shot 66.7 percent for the game, the second-highest shooting performance of the Calipari era, trailing only 67.7 percent vs. LIU-Brook- lyn on Nov. 23, 2012. It’s also the first time UK has shot 60 percent or better in consecutive games since turning the trick against High Point and North Carolina in 2002.
• Ahead 10-7, Kentucky created cushion with a 10-0 run and the Wildcats led by double digits the rest of the game
• Kentucky scored a season-high 107 points. It was UK’s first 100-point game since Jan. 3, 2017 against Texas A&M and the fifth-highest point total of the Calipari era. It was the Wildcats’ most points since pouring in 115 vs. Arizona State on Nov. 28, 2016
• UK had its highest victory margin of the season at 34 points
• Kentucky won the rebounding 37-33, the sixth consecutive game that the Wildcats won or tied the boardwork
• Six players scored in double figures for the first time this season. The last time that happened was Nov. 28, 2016, vs. Arizona State
• Kevin Knox (25), Hamidou Diallo (19), PJ Washington (17) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (14) all had career-high points
• UK had a season-best 22 assists
• Gilgeous-Alexander not only scored a career-high 14 points, he also tied his career bests for assists (six) and rebounds (five)
Fast and Furious, Now Slow and Steady
Kentucky certainly didn’t ease into its 2017-18 schedule.
The Wildcats opened the season with three games in five days, including a matchup vs. Kansas in Chicago for the State Farm Champions Classic. UK played three more over a six-day stretch and six total games in 13 days. All told, the Wildcats played seven games in 17 days to start the season.
Now that that busy stretch is complete, Kentucky will have considerable more time between games — an important development for a team that hasn’t been able to get on the practice court all that much this early in the season to fix any problems and improve.
After seven games in 17 days, UK will now have just five games over the next 33 days, concluding with Louisville on Dec. 29 (it should be noted that those games include opponents such as UCLA, Louisville and Virginia Tech). Part of that period will take place while classes are out of session, allowing for John Calipari to institute what he calls “Camp Cal.”
During that time period when there are no restrictions on practice hours and the Wildcats are free of any academic responsibilities, the Wild- cats often practice two times a day and sometimes even three if one includes a workout session with strength and conditioning coach Rob Harris. The team will basically eat, sleep and drink basketball during that time of the season, and it’s often when Calipari’s teams improve the most.
Suffice it to say, after the busy stretch the Wildcats just had, Calipari is looking to get on the
practice court with his team. “We basically have… to where we can try to get better and I can try to focus on some areas that I know we gotta get better at,” he said after the UIC game to end.
