No experienced point guard, big problem for UK Wildcats
By Ralph Dickerson
I am a University of Louisville fan, and I am enjoying both the win over the University of Kentucky Saturday, and the doom-and-gloom coming from Big Blue Nation. Big Blue Nation is trying to figure out what is wrong with this year’s edition of the kitty kats.
One factor is definitely coach Cal’s recruiting strategy. An old saying goes, “you live by the sword, you die by the sword!” A paraphrase of this saying applies to UK this year: you live by the one-and-done, you die by the one-and-done.
Calipari has lived, and excelled, by recruiting one-and-done players to Kentucky. For the most part, he has succeeded in molding these kids into a cohesive unit that plays above its experience level. So, why isn’t this year’s team following the path of his previous 11 squads? Why is this year’s team struggling?
Many pundits point to COVID-19 as the reason. Sure, it has impacted Kentucky this year, but UK is not the only team impacted by the pandemic. Every team in college basketball has been adversely affected this year.
Others point to the injuries suffered by UK this year as a reason Kentucky fell to Louisville. While the injury bug has hit the Cats this year, Louisville has also been hit by the bug, and still has two players waiting to suit up for the Cards this year. On this front, UK and UL are even.
So, what is different this year? As I pondered this question, I started to think about UK teams of the past. As I thought about this question, I realized, for the most part, Calipari had a point guard with at least one year of experience in his system each year.
The list of returning point guards at Kentucky include Andrew Harrison, Tyler Ulis, Ashton Hagans to name a few. In addition, there were a few other players that returned for their sophomore season each year for the Cats. This year, only Keion Brooks is the only UK player to return that played minutes for Kentucky last year.
More importantly, there is not a returning point guard for Kentucky this year, and this is the problem. There is no experienced player except Brooks on the team that knows how Calipari wants his charges to play; no one to tell them how to slip a screen, how to properly space to open up driving lanes on offense, how to defend in the post and where to pass the ball.
Yes, it is Calipari’s job to teach these things to his players, but the lessons take much easier and quicker when experienced teammates reinforce this message.
As I watched a video of this past Saturday’s game I noticed Malik Williams of Louisville rush to his fellow post players when they came out of the game and talk to them. Williams is a great defensive player for Louisville, and calls out what the team needs to do on defense when he is in the game. Right now he is out with injury, but he is involved in the game. He is telling his fellow post players how to defend in the post, how to slip a screen and where to position themselves to be in the best possible position. Having a team mate that has been on the floor and played the game give pointers on how to play helps tremendously; It helps young players learn quicker, and it helps them believe and trust in the system.
This is what Kentucky lacks this year.
Calipari has about two or three more games left to turn this season around before he loses the young players’ ears. Once the players lose faith in Calipari and his system, it will become impossible for the team to turn around this year. They may manage to pull out a winning record, but it will be an up-and-down team incapable of reaching its full potential.
