John Calipari is ready to hit the panic button as his Kentucky team prepares to open the college basketball season this week in the three-day, four-team Bluegrass Showcase at Rupp Arena.
Ordinarily, Big Blue fans may dismiss that as "typiCal." There may be more to his warnings this year, however, as the UK boss revealed Monday that the Wildcats will likely be without its lone returning player from last season, sophomore forward Keion Brooks Jr., when they play Morehead State, Detroit Mercy, and Richmond.
"Keion, first, I do not believe he will be here the first week," Calipari said. "It's day to day kind of stuff, but he hasn't done live stuff yet. So we've got to get him doing live stuff, even though he's conditioning and doing all the other stuff. Until he's in there, I don't feel comfortable."
The 6-foot-7, 205-pound Brooks has been recovering from an off-season calf injury that has been slow to respond. His likely absence means an already young UK squad will be leaning on its newcomers even more in the first three games of the season.
"This is going to be hard for my team, just so you know," Calipari said. "We scrimmaged yesterday, and I came home smiling and I told my wife, and she said, 'Wow. Was it good?' I said it was our worst scrimmage since I've been the coach here. I've got both feet and hands on the panic button right now."
Calipari, who is entering his 12th season at Kentucky, wondered aloud that his team may just be tired of working against each other during a Covid-impacted preseason that eliminated the typical public scrimmages and exhibition games.
"I hope that's the case. If not, I'm going to have to be the most patient soul on the Earth when we start the season like 0-6," the UK boss quipped.
What's alarming him? The Cats aren't very physical, he lamented. They aren't playing hard enough. The team defense is not up to speed. Players are locked into doing their own thing instead of making easy plays, leading to turnovers.
He has even questioned his own approach to this season, stating he may have spent too much time on Xs and Os and situational plays rather than the basics of fighting and competing at this level.
"We have a ways to go," Calipari said. "And, again, we've got 10 new guys. I know you say 'You do it every year,' but we've got 10 new players. We're not very good right now, but in time, I think we should be OK."
