Last week left a lot to be questioned. Are the Kentucky Wildcats truly the best team in the nation, what happened to the electric team who beat Kansas by 32? Luckily for me, I was able to attend the game this Tuesday that hushed the Kentucky Wildcat stalkers. John Calipari and his Cats came out with a purpose this week and looked the part of the number one team in the nation. With the 49 point win under their belt they look forward to a tough task today in Tuscaloosa. John Calipari previews the match up.
"“I don’t know what you mean by what’s happening in the top 10. What’s happening in the top 10? I mean, you won’t believe this, but when’s the last time there has been teams not losing? When two teams play, one has to lose. What is funny is that our overtime wins are (viewed as) L’s. You win a tough game and you need tough games. I told the guys. They know. I told them right after the game, ‘I don’t expect you to play like it’s March,’ and we’re not. Offensively we’re still not. We still have guys not playing the way they need to play for us to really be special. They’re not. I tell them, ‘You can come out and defend and play with energy. When you don’t, it just looks bad for you. That’s what looks bad. It’s not your decision making.’ It’s, ‘Why isn’t he playing like the other guys?’ They’re able to do that and it’s just hard. They’re not machines and they just have to buy into, ‘I have one thing I have to do and that is that I’m going to go out here and compete like crazy.’ Can’t dictate how the other team is going to play. This team is shooting 22 3s a game playing faster than they played, so you’re not just going to hold someone to 50 points in this kind of game. You have to play good offensively too.”"
One player who has really stepped it up these past two games is Sophomore Center Dakari Johnson. Johnson played a huge role on Kentucky’s team last season filling in for Willie Cauley-Stein in the tournament run. So far this season it seemed as if Dakari had gotten lost in the mix even though he had shed a lot of pounds this off season.
The big man has put together two quality games in a row and will be needed down low against Alabama. Maybe his play can motivate more consistent play out of teammate Aaron Harrison. The two preview the game against the Crimson Tide.
"On Dakari Johnson’s recent play … “Shooting it with the wrong hand, shooting it like that instead of shooting it like that (gestures). Not jumping, not shooting it quick. It’s hard to play the right way. You try to go back to see if I can do it that other way. It’s much easier, and then what happens is your confidence gets down. And it’s not just him; we had a lot of guys. You go through that. What we’re asking them to do is really hard. (Players are like), ‘I got to be able to do this an easier way. There’s got to be an easier way than this.’ And they try now. They try and they try and it doesn’t work and their eyes get really big. And then they figure out you know what, I’ve got to do this this way.”"