UK Basketball : Are We Where We Need To Be?

The caption under this picture should read, “Coach Cal Says Cats Are 3-14, not really the 14-3 that their record indicates”.

John Calipari is, if anything, the master of understating his talent level and ability of his teams.

Or was that last year? It seems this year, Coach Cal has done a lot less coachcalspeak, and a lot more trying to build his team up and get more out of them. Coaching with a short bench will do that to you, and let’s face it, this bench has been pretty short. But maybe that is changing as well. In the Saturday afternoon contest with LSU, Cal called on his bench to not lose that game. Even though the Cats scored enough points by halftime to win, Calipari decided to charge his substitute players with keeping the scoring margin from shrinking, as they worked harder than they had all year on the court during a game. Calipari coached, prodded, cajoled, and acted out every mistake they made on the sidelines and they responded in kind. Eloy Vargas made strides on the floor, Jon Hood played the most he has played in a game as a Wildcat, and every player on the team contributed on the court. And all of this action on the part of so many guys on the bench made me ask myself this question, where exactly are we as a team right now?

Asst. Coach John Robic told everyone at the press conference after the game that the coaching staff is working to get all of the guys to be more aggressive on the floor. Scoring, defense, and rebounding all showed signs of that very fact as the Cats dominated the Tigers on every front. But how are these Cats going to respond to the likes of Tennessee, or even Georgia when the Bulldogs come to Rupp for a rematch of the Cats loss in their SEC opener. The Cats 14-3 record now only has the hope of matching last year’s squad, but there are things about this team that make it a much more dangerous threat come tournament time.

This team shoots. They shoot lights out when they are on their game, and they are not off of it much. The loss to Georgia aside, they make big shots with ease, and they make other teams look bad on the defensive end, because they do not need big openings to make their shots. Darius Miller is starting to come into his own, and is starting to make teams pay when they leave him an inside seam. Terrence Jones, who some would tell you did not have a big game Saturday, is doing everything the right way. Yes, he had a few off-balance shots, but they were will timed and hard fought to get the inside position that Cal has been pushing him to do. Harrellson’s 14 rebounds made everyone forget he only scored 2 points. And Brandon Knight is getting better and better every game.

Is this team ready for what lies ahead? I believe they are. Ask Coach Cal and he will tell you they are nowhere near the team yet that he wants them to be. But I don’t think he will ever be satisfied. I saw that on Saturday when I watched him coaching like a madman while his team was 40 points up. I really believe Calipari is doing the best coaching of his career here at UK and he is making strides constantly.

So where are these Cats? Somewhere between perfection and average, leaning a lot close to the former than the latter. They play hard, they defend well, and they shoot well. And as any person that follows college basketball can tell you, those are the things that it takes for a team to be successful. Now, what we do not know, is do they have the intangibles to climb the mountain and make it over the top? These are the things the next six weeks are going to teach us. I think that the Cats are looking like they will repeat as SEC champs again. And I also think that they will climb the next rung in the ladder come NCAA time. Are we where we need to be? I think that we are.

Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans