BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK (1/13): Briscoe in charge; don't sleep on Auburn
Today's Basketball Notebook has lots on Isaiah Briscoe's leadership and Auburn, the Cats' next opponent.
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Don't sleep on Auburn
The Auburn team that will take on Kentucky in Rupp Arena on Saturday may just be 1-3 in SEC play, but Calipari is cautioning that it would be unwise for anyone to sleep on the Tigers. He pointed out that Vanderbilt missed some shots that they might make on other nights, and if that had happened then the Cats could have lost in Nashville.
Auburn shoots .344 from three-point range, which isn't nearly as good as Vanderbilt but good enough that Calipari's preparing for it. The Tigers hit nine threes in their last game against Missouri and eight the game before that. They connected on eight trifectas in their season opener, and Auburn had a season-high 21 made threes in a 117-72 win over Coastal Carolina.
But there's a big difference between Vanderbilt and Auburn, Calipari said.
"You knew that Vandy was gonna come down and take 20 seconds, move the ball and try to get a shot that way," Calipari said. "I'm not sure they will. But they'll probably press us some.
"Look, they've beaten teams. They beat Oklahoma in a neutral site. They lost to Georgia. You ready? Had Georgia down 16. Had 'em down 16. They lost to Mississippi. They had them down 15 or 16 and lost. So it isn't like they're just like, 'Well, they can't win games.' That's not what's happened. They've been up big and they play aggressive and they're active. It's gonna be a hard game. We lost to 'em last year. They beat us down there. I had to watch that game again. Wanted to throw up. But, you know."
Pressing and trying to run with this Kentucky team might not seem like the best strategy for an opponent. But Calipari understands why not every coach he faces tries to slow it down.
"I think they'll do what they do on the baseline out of bounds," he said. "They switch everything. I think they'll do the press after free throws. They'll probably do a 1-2-2. They do a little bit of that on made goals. They're gonna play how they play. And I've told you before: anytime I keep switching game to game, it's not good for my team. Never has been."
Briscoe in command
If you thought Isaiah Briscoe was in complete control against Vanderbilt, even down the stretch in a tight game on the road, you're not alone.
Calipari doesn't think Briscoe is quite at the point where he can just call all the shots and run the offense on his own.
"But he’s getting closer," Calipari said. "We practiced yesterday morning and he had them so ready to practice."
Calipari noticed that at one point late in the game Briscoe was on the verge of barrelling into a one-on-five situation. Based on how Briscoe played against the Commodores, it might have worked. But Calipari made him slow down.
Briscoe's leadership is affording Calipari some flexibility with his schedule. The Cats' head coach has been flying around doing some recruiting during the season, and Briscoe has helped keep things running smoothly.
"He had them ready and we had a great practice. Which shows me a lot about this team and his leadership," he said.
Big prediction on Bam
Bam Adebayo has been a consistent producer for Kentucky as a freshman. His 14 points and seven rebounds against the 'Dores were a good example Calipari has been able to count on in most every game this year.
On Friday, Calipari praised Adebayo's ability to defend on switches, and also said his young forward is getting fouled frequently when he's catching the ball down low.
"The last game was worse than this game, this past game," Calipari said of the physical play. "But, you know, he’s keeping his cool. He never changes anything. By the end of the year he’ll be that guy. That’s my prediction.
"I asked the guys yesterday in a group, because I brought him up a couple times. I said, ‘Look, I’m not trying to throw him in your face but let me ask you a question: Who’s the hardest worker we got in the gym?’ And as a group they all pointed to Bam. I said, ‘There you go. My point is made.’ That’s why he’s just taking strides that are crazy."
Other notes
- It's a rare thing for a player to do what Hamidou Diallo just did. In basketball there isn't the mass trend of players enrolling in college at the midyear point. But John Calipari doesn't have a problem with it if the circumstances are right. "They’ve done it in football for a while. This, you know, I don’t think in most cases if a kid is 17 or 18 he’d do it, but if you’re a little older and you’re in a prep school, yeah, I don’t know why you wouldn’t. If a young man is 18 and he has a chance to go to college as an 18 year old, he should do it," Calipari said. Calipari pointed to Karl-Anthony Towns as an example of someone who was ready for college and wouldn't have benefited from more high school.
- There's been a lot of talk about Rick Pitino's guest appearance on Calipari's new podcast. Calipari was asked if he texted Pitino to ask him to be on the show. “I have numbers of coaches and they have my numbers," Calipari said. "Rick has my number, and I have his. If he needs to talk to me, he picks up a phone. If I need to talk to him, I pick up a phone. I’ve said it before: We don’t send Christmas cards to each other. We’re 90 miles from each other or 70, whatever it is, and it’s a competitive environment. I just said, ‘Hey, why don’t you do this CalCast with me, the podcast that I’m doing? We’ll have some fun with it.’ He said, ‘Sure, I’ll do it.’ Texts me right back and he said, ‘When do you want me to do it?’ I said, ‘This afternoon, let’s just get it done so it’s in the can.’
Calipari said he's not sure when he will release the episode with Pitino.
- Calipari said he's pleased with De'Aaron Fox's improved scoring efficiency on offense, noting that he's shooting 62-percent over his last three games. It's not magic, he said. "There’s something that has happened between where he was and what he’s doing now. And I believe it’s getting here early, spending more time, coming back at night. And I’m telling him to ‘get Malik with you.’ Now he and Malik do the same thing, because Malik’s gotta get more consistent.”