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Kentucky coach John Calipari says that sophomore Willie Cauley-Stein is one player who “owns” his mistakes or ineffective play.
Cauley-Stein had plenty to “own” last week, too. He played just 18 minutes in the overtime loss at Arkansas with two points, six rebounds and one block. He was 1-for-2 from the field. He followed that with just 19 minutes against Tennessee in which he was 0-for-5 from the field and had no points, three rebounds and one block.
The two previous games? He combined for 27 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. The game before that against Louisville, he has just two points, but pulled off 10 rebounds and blocked three shots.
After UK was outrebounded 39-24 by Tennessee, Calipari noted that the game was too “rough” for some of his players. I asked him if Cauley-Stein was one of them.
“Well, but he's owning his performance. See, there's a difference, and what we try to teach our players here, sometimes we do it nicely, other times we don't do it nicely, but they have to own their performance,” Calipari said. “I'm talking clutter. The clutter around them enables them. In other words, it wasn't your fault; he likes the other guy more; if you had as many shots as so and so.
“You can't ... look, own your performance. Own it. You did it, you own it. Own your practice performance. Don't make an excuse. Don't alibi. Own it, and then change it if you want to change it.
So I think that's why our guys leave here knowing we don't have excuse makers. If you didn't play well, you didn't play well. Willie didn't play well. James (Young), it was a rough game. He didn't play well. That's just how it is. He did okay, but he was a non-factor in the game. So now own it and change it.”
The rough game, though, did suit freshman Dakari Johnson. He was not pushed around by Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes like Cauley-Stein was. He’s not as athletic or experienced as Cauley-Stein, but he has more bulk and is not shy about the physical play.
“He’s a banger. He’s a dude that you can put in games and be really physical and he’ll bang with you inside. It’s been the same thing since the summer. I mean, y’all (the media) said the same thing,” Cauley-Stein said.
He’s also seen Johnson, who had four rebounds to lead UK Saturday, gradually mature. So has Calipari.
“It takes longer for some guys to get the hang of the college game. I think he’s just starting to figure it out, how to be able to play at this level, do the things that he’s gotta do but learn how to do them,” the UK coach said. “He’s running the court. He’s defending better. He’s moving his feet.”
Johnson said his resurgence started when he played well against Louisville, another physical team.
“I got accustomed then to intense games and making my mark in games like that,” Johnson said. “It’s been tough. I’m so used to playing all the time, but it’s been humbling. Just listening to Coach during practice, just getting better each and every day, that’s the main thing.”
Like Cauley-Stein, Johnson is not afraid to “own” his weaknesses and understands when he is most valuable.
“When they (other teams) have another big guy, I feel like I can play good defense on him and just take advantage in the paint,” Johnson said. “A lot of teams are going to be putting me in pick-and-rolls. (Coach) said I’ve been doing a better job on that, so that’s the main thing I’m focusing on.”
And if Cauley-Stein continues to be a non-factor starting with Tuesday night’s game against Texas A&M, then Johnson is likely going to play more and more or maybe just the threat of that happening is what Cauley-Stein needs to do more than “own” his play and start being a productive player again.
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