Well, I guess now we see if Cal can earn all that money. Actually that’s not really a fair statement. John Calipari is earning his salary more than ten times over in my book. But the critics are going to start coming out of the woodwork now, claiming that there is trouble in paradise, or that these Cats can’t get it done on the road. And to be honest, there is a little fuel for the road fire. The Cats have performed mediocre at best on the road this year, with all of their losses coming from that part of the schedule. Now smart money tells us that there was no way the Cats got through the SEC unscathed, but two losses in the first two games was not the start everyone was looking for, especially John Calipari.
The Alabama game was a sight to see though, and much like the Georgia game, showed that the Cats are never out of it. And if not for some less than stellar officiating (which you are going to get in the SEC I am afraid, so you just have to deal with it), the Cats may very well have pulled off a major comeback in that second half. But there are some lessons here, and they are some pretty stark and glaring ones to see.
First off, this team has got to learn how to handle teams that are going to try and outmuscle them. A tougher and better responding Eloy Vargas would be a big help, but he is not the only man to suffer from a less than top notch performance here. I think Coach and Terrence Jones are going to have to have a sit down and sort out their wants for his play. I believe that Terrence really does want to please his coach, but he is being put into some unfamiliar territory. He cannot get into a rhythm of the game when he is having to be all things to all people. Not that he does not have the ability mind you, because he does, But as he is a freshman, he is not yet skilled in the art of being Magic Johnson. Playing the post one second and running the break the next are not the normal actions of a college freshman, and TJ is having a hard time adjusting to that. And when you add to it that Cal is not happy when he settles for threes, it create some difficult adjustments for the young man. He will get it, but it is not going to happen overnight.
Second, everyone including Coach Cal, is going to have to stop worrying about this team jacking threes. This team shoots the three as well or better than any team I have seen at Kentucky. Let them shoot them. Until someone proves that this team cannot hit their threes, they need to be shooting them every chance they get. You cannot play a power game with only 1 1/2 power players. Harrellson has come a long way, but DeMarcus Cousins he is not yet. Jones can handle the paint, but only if Harrellson gets in there and learns to get his feet in front of his brain every time down the floor, not just some of the time. Alabama had a good inside presence, and it seemed to throw Josh off his game. He has to learn to stick to his guns and play that inside out game that he has gotten so good at. Controlling the paint is necessary, don’t get me wrong, but this team feeds off it’s threes. Shoot first and force the ball down low later when the crowd is a little less ambitious from having to work the perimeter guarding those outside shots.
Third, lackadaisical defense only gets you grief. The problem is that the bench is not deep enough for Cal to run Miller out every time he gets lazy. So start using more switches. DeAndre Liggins can only be so many places at once, but he is mature enough to handle switching on defense every other time down the floor if necessary. But the other guys have to step up and play the defense just as hard as DeAndre does, and so far that is not happening as well as it should. Knight, Lamb, Jones and Harrellson all went to sleep on their men at Bama as well, which is why they started shooting lights out from the three.
The underlying issue here is maturity and teamwork. Cal talked about being “selfish” earlier this year, and the issue is still right there for all to see. I am going to push the envelope here a little bit. This is not blame being assessed here, just an idea that either Brandon Knight or Terrence Jones need to step up and take the reigns of this team. Conventional wisdom says make it Knight, but Brandon has not yet seemed willing to be the vocal leader this team needs when crunch time hits. He can hit a big time shot no problem, but he seems to still be hesitant to call out a teammate when it needs doing.
Jones is immature on the court, and that leads to problems, but maybe the mantle of leadership could change that. Either way, this team needs a leader. That lesson has already been learned the hard way.
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