Calipari digs into solving Cats' shocking offensive woes

After watching the Wildcats throw up an arsenal of proverbial bricks during a rare two-game losing streak early in the season, Kentucky coach John Calipari says there is at least one easy solution to their offensive woes.

Play like you practice.

"In practice, they shoot it well," Calipari said Friday prior to his team heading to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech on Sunday in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event. "So, then you say, ‘Well, the game...’"

And there's the rub.

Through three games, Kentucky is off to its worst shooting start in its 12 seasons under Calipari. The Cats are making a cringe-worthy 19.1% (9 of 47) from 3-point range. In back to back losses to Richmond and Kansas, UK went 3-for-31 beyond the arc.

“We are in a little slump," UK redshirt freshman forward Jacob Toppin said. "It’s obvious from the numbers. In practice we’re working on our shots. We’re putting up shots and we’re making shots; we just have to find a way to translate that into the game.”

The perimeter shooting is only one of the symptoms for what is ailing UK. The Cats have also committed 52 turnovers while dishing out only 31 assists, forcing Calipari to reconsider how he is approaching this latest collection of mostly young players.

Some of those problems may be more complex than the shooting issue.

"You've got to say, 'Are the right guys getting the shots, perimeter shots?" Calipari said. "Are they getting them in rhythm? Are we playing in a way that would lead to that?'"

So what are some of the possible solutions?

"We cannot have ball-stoppers," the UK boss said. "You can't think that you're just going to dribble and you're playing one-on-one with four or five guys watching. You're not playing that way here.

"... This is a different group that needs something different. I’ve got to light a fire for them to play differently than they’ve ever played."

That seemed to be a not-so-veiled reference to the Cats' highest-rated freshmen, 5-star wings B.J. Boston and Terrence Clarke, who have displayed a tendency to revert back to old AAU habits when the Cats hit a rut offensively. They are shooting a combined 41.5% from the field, have missed all 19 of their 3-point attempts, and own an 11:16 assist-to-turnover ratio.

One of them, however, may be part of the solution with more ball-handling responsibilities.

Calipari was asked Friday if he had considered using Clarke in a similar capacity that he played Tyreke Evans during his time at Memphis. That move helped the Tigers break out of their offensive doldrums and made Evans, something of a point-forward, an even bigger star.

Could the same role fit Clarke, a 6-foot-7 wing with good ball-handling skills?

"It's there," Calipari said of Clarke's versatility, adding that the talented youngster would have to be a stronger finisher than he has shown to date.

"The thing that was—and I’ll just give you the story: When we flipped it (to Evans), I watched the tape of the game and I had the staff together and I said, ‘Guys, you want the good news or the bad news?’" Calipari recalled. "They said, ‘Well, give us the bad news.’ ‘Well, the bad news is we put him at point guard and 75% of the time Tyreke had the ball in his hands.’ And they said, ‘Well, what’s the good news?’ ‘Well, after watching that, he needs it 85% of the time.’

"And so, it’s every team, you figure it out as you go. I don’t have a lesson plan. Everything is in pencil."

No matter who is at the point, Calipari says he wants the Cats taking better care of the ball and taking advantage of its strong scoring options in the post, primarily 7-foot center Olivier Sarr, who is shooting 52% but has the third-most field goal attempts on the roster.

The staff watched film of last year's UK team to reassure the players that these struggles are not out of the ordinary.

"They watched our team last year and literally they laughed," Calipari said. "They know that when they watch that and see how we’re playing. But again, we were the same last year. We were so unsure of ourselves. I’m the one that usually forgets because the staff has to remind me. We were the same way last year. So, just know that we were the same way and the year before, and the year before, and the year before, except the year (2015) that we had all of those kids and we did the platoon.

"So, you look at that and you say, ‘All right, how do we do this?’ I’m not afraid of it. I’m not sure where it ends up going. But I know where I want it to go, know what I want us to look like."