Calipari: Cats played without energy Friday

By: LARRY VAUGHT

LEXINGTON — Even though he expected a letdown after his team’s 32-point win over Kansas Tuesday, Kentucky coach John Calipari was upset with his team’s first-half play against Boston Friday night.

“We didn't fight in the first half. We should have been able to throw it and post the ball like we did in the second half, and guys were stepping off the block, wouldn't fight back, would jump in the air and get pushed out. He's pushing me. What? Push back. And we just did not fight for position,” said Calipari after Friday’s 89-65 win even though the Cats were up just nine points with a little over eight minutes to play.

“We didn't drive it enough. We didn't get in gaps, but it's hard when they're really backing up like they were. But again, we shoot 58 percent and 38 from the 3. I would take that every game.”

Aaron Harrison had 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting after Calipari had insisted he wanted Harrison to have more than the eight shots he got against Kansas.

“Well, he played 25 minutes so he played three more minutes (than he did against Kansas), so if you look at playing three or four more minutes, it's probably like he took 12 or 13 shots, but the biggest thing is he had four assists and no turnovers. I mean, that's huge,” Calipari said.

Freshman Devin Booker had his best game with 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range, seven assists and four rebounds, all career highs.

“He had seven assists. A bunch of them were in the zone where we were throwing that lob, but he shot the ball pretty well. It's nice to see when he makes shots, we become a little bit different,” Calipari said.

Willie Cauley-Stein added 12 points, two rebounds, one steal, one block and one assist before fouling out. Dakari Johnson had 11 points, six rebounds and one block. But he was 3-for-8 from the foul line.

“I thought Dakari played pretty well, but 3-for-8 from the line is not getting it done, and he is so much better, but you can't you've got to make free throws or I can't have you in at the end,” Calipari said. “Karl-Anthony Towns (four points, four rebounds, five blocks) struggled, so he's played well one game, struggled one game, played well one game, struggled one game. That's about where he's going right now. But I think he'll be fine.”

Calipari said immediately after UK beat Kansas that the Cats were not as good as the 32-point win indicated. Yet for all the faults he found Friday, he noted UK did win by 24 points.

“We only out rebounded them by five. But again, here's the good stuff: You shoot 58 percent, you have 24 assists and 13 turnovers, you win by 24 and we're all upset. So it probably means we're not bad,” Calipari said.

“But you didn't see the energy you saw the last game. You didn't see the fight and the energy. Well, let me just explain to you, these guys are not computers, they're not machines, they're human beings, and I expected a letdown. I was just hoping it wouldn't be too bad. That was a high energy game what you just came off of, and then you're playing a team that shoots the 3e well, and they did, 37 percent, made their free throws, 90 percent, and got beat by 24.”

Calipari said his players needed to learn that just as Buffalo did when it had a five-point halftime lead over UK that every team would come to play UK with a certain fervor it might not have for other foes.

“Every guy that comes in here, we all know they're excited about playing in this building. They're excited about playing Kentucky. That team was giddy before the game and they played that way,” Calipari said. “They never stopped. They weren't afraid, they battled, they weren't backing down. If we pushed, they pushed back. The first half they pushed and we didn't push back.

“We were like, why are you pushing, don't you know who I am? It's like, guys, every team we play is going to come in and it's going to be a dogfight. You either want to play or you don't I'm not playing you. I'll let the other group play. But we will see.”

The coach said it was hard to come off a “pretty big stage” like the one for the UK-Kansas game and not have a letdown.

“We expect these kids to do things beyond the norm, but that's why you come here. You're not afraid of that challenge,” Calipari said. “You're also not afraid that every team is going to come in like Buffalo did, like Boston did, like these next games. Wait until you see the Providence team. Wait until you see Texas. They're coming in this building with one thought: We're winning. And you've got to be ready to fight and battle.”

Just a few weeks ago Calipari said he wanted adversity for his team. He also said he would worry if his team was playing too well in November.

“We weren't very good today and what we looked like was a November team. The Kansas game on defense, we looked like a January team. On offense, we looked like a November team. Today we looked like November. And it's what you have,” Calipari said.

“But again, you've got to give Boston U credit because of how they played. They were the aggressor. They controlled tempo. They played exactly... I told my staff they called Buffalo. You don't think he called Buffalo? Spread him out, beat him on the bounce, control the tempo, sag back. I mean, you've got to make 3’s anyway. If you make them, you may beat them. If you don't make them, it doesn't matter, you weren't winning anyway. That's how people are going to play us, and we've just got to be prepared for it.”