Kentucky Wildcats Basketball: To Platoon or not to Platoon

Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

I admit that even for a brief bit, I joined the platoon bashing. I was of the idea that the best players should be on the court 75% of the time and that the platoon system assumes that all players are equal. And then I realized that I don’t make $8M to coach college basketball and that John Calipari, who practices with his team every day probably knows more about them than me.

Regardless of what I think or anyone thinks, the platoon system is probably not going away. And we will see different results each game, but in the end, the players having the best game will probably see the court more.

"Tyler Ulis surpassed Andrew Harrison in playing time by four minutes, scoring 12 points and a team-high six assists, compared to the veteran’s three points and single assist. “I mean, this is how it’ll go,” Calipari said. “Next game it will be Andrew playing out of his mind and Tyler won’t play as well. That’s what happens when you have this group of players. … It’s what we’re going to be for a while.” In his postgame radio show, Coach Cal reiterated that the fans don’t need to pick apart the team and the platoon lineups. He later tweeted the message. “We’ve got one job: to keep them together,” he said. “We don’t need to be critical of any of these kids.” While the sixth-year UK coach is trying to figure out what winning combination to use, the top 10 players in the rotation are still playing plenty of minutes. Nine players Sunday logged between 18 and 26 minutes. “Every one of these kids had a chance,” Calipari said. “Now, if I had stuck with those first guys you never would’ve seen Trey (Lyles), Devin (Booker) and Tyler (Ulis) do what they did. They all three played well today. Well, they need that.” Fans and media started to draw quick conclusions in the second half that the platoon system was being scrapped when different combinations were being used, but Calipari was still subbing five-man units in and out. When the Cats were trailing at halftime and someone on his staff suggested that they go away from the platoons, Coach Cal told him to stop. “We’re playing the way we play and we’re figuring it out,” he said. As Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers said to Packers fans a few weeks ago, “R-E-L-A-X.” The platoon system is here to stay."

And in the end, I’m OK with that.  John Calipari knows more about coaching basketball than I could never hope to learn.  So I’ve decided to sit back and enjoy the ride.  If John Calipari ever ventures into selling insurance, I’m going to critique the hell out of him.  But he gets a free pass from me on coaching this team.

It’s just game number two of what we hope will be forty.  We have been waiting months for this.  Why sully what will be a very special year by second guessing and getting our blood pressure even higher on something we can not control.

Let John Calipari do his job.

Enjoy the ride.