John Calipari has occasionally been at odds with Kentucky fans and media alike this season regarding his starting lineup and in-game player rotations.
The Wildcats have struggled to find a steady rotation with a freshman-dominated roster, a slew of injuries, a frustratingly drawn-out eligibility case, and season-long defensive issues that made finding cohesion difficult.
That may have finally resolved itself with the arrival of March.
On his weekly radio call-in show Monday night, the UK boss sounded like he's found a rotation he likes with the Cats down to their final two regular-season games and postseason play on the doorstep.
Fielding a question from a caller who suggested big men Aaron Bradshaw and Zvonimir Ivisic may look good on the court together, Calipari responded with an answer that was string music to many fans' ears across Big Blue Nation.
"I've played those two together at Vanderbilt, and they did pretty good," Calipari said. "(But) I'm trying to go with one big and four scorers. The reason is, we really score. Now, if you defend, we end up winning by a bunch. But I kinda like it that way."
Kentucky (21-8) is coming off a three-game stretch in which it scored 117, 91, and 111 points in wins over Alabama, Mississippi State, and Arkansas. The No. 15 Wildcats had an absurd offensive explosion in each game, posting 26 points in a 7:14 span against the Crimson Tide, 24 in 4:51 to close a 91-89 road win over the Bulldogs, and 30 in 6:56 on Saturday against the Razorbacks.
UK is currently ranked No. 7 nationally in Ken Pomeroy's offensive efficiency ratings, and its 123.3 figure would have been No. 1 in four of the last five college basketball seasons.
Five different players have scored at least 25 points in a game for UK this season, and nine different players have scored at least 15. Calipari believes the Cats may have more offensive answers than anyone in the field this year.
"You gotta understand, in March, you only have to dominate for about three or four minutes as a player," he said. "Who did that against Arkansas? Robert Dillingham. And that was the game. Then you move on to the next round... The more players you have that can do that, the better your chances are."
The group fueling UK's absurd offensive numbers has been the combination of guards Antonio Reeves, Reed Sheppard, and Dillingham, the late emergence of highly touted swingman Justin Edwards, and uber-skilled big man Zvonimir Ivisic. Although three of those players come off the bench, it's been dubbed the "nuclear" lineup by fans hungry to see more of it.
Ivisic, the unusually skilled 7-foot-2 freshman from Croatia, was held out by the NCAA until Jan. 20 but has been a big factor in recent games. "Big Z" scored 18 points in the win over the Crimson Tide and 12 against the Razorbacks.
"He's coming around," Calipari said.
According to basketball analytics expert Evan Miyakawa, Kentucky's Reeves, Edwards, and Sheppard have the third-most potent three-man lineup combo in the nation. They have some other four-man combinations that don't have enough possessions together yet to qualify but have been yielding staggering results.
“That’s a really good offensive group,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said after the Cats smashed the No. 13 Crimson Tide 117-95 on Feb. 24 at Rupp Arena, the most points UK has ever scored against a ranked opponent in its illustrious history.
“I’m guessing maybe that group doesn’t play as much together because they’re a poor defensive group, but if they’re going to score every time down, it doesn’t matter. We probably helped Cal out a little bit tonight, figuring out some lineups that work.”
Defense is still lagging at No. 97 -- a figure that typically means your team is not in contention for a championship; nobody has entered the NCAA Tournament ranked worst than 37th and cut down the nets in the KenPom era -- but Calipari seems to have come to terms with the possibility that his team may just have start a new narrative.
"This is a unique group," Calipari said.
