LEXINGTON - For a first showing, it was all scoring and little defense for Kentucky during its annual Blue-White scrimmage Wednesday night at Rupp Arena.
Both teams eclipsed the century-mark, with the blue team posting a 126-104 victory, while the Kentucky’s best player — Terrence Jones — scored 52 points. Seven others, including Doron Lamb with 31, tallied double digits. Kentucky indeed produced the fireworks on offense, but lacked the defensive intensity Calipari was looking for in his team’s first unofficial outing of the season.
“I bet you we would be really good (playing) against the Washington Generals right now,” Calipari said. “We’ve got to be a great defensive team — we’re not right now.”
The offensive showing featured numerous dunks, near-miss slams and an array of “high-flying dunking, flying, tipping.” The fans were impressed, but Calipari wasn’t overly satisfied with the triple-point production by both squads in a contest the Kentucky coach refered to as a “pick-up game.”
“That doesn’t win (many games),” he said. “We’ve got to play basketball, we’ve got to be a great team and we’re not right now. We’re not playing screens well, we’re not playing pick-and-roll real well right now (and) our post defense is spotty at best.
“If you saw that as a pickup game, you were really excited, because there were dunks.”
Aside from the scoring, Kentucky’s offense as a unit lags behind the team’s athleticism and playmakers, especially in the backcourt. Calipari cited freshman Marquis Teague’s decision-making skills at the point-guard slot as an area that needs immediate improvement.
“The point guard doesn’t realize the pace of the game,” Calipari said. “When to go and when to pull (back). When to fly, when to pull back, he doesn’t know yet. That’s why I was running down the (court) during the scrimmage stopping them. Can I do that during the season? I don’t think so. If I go out there and try to stop them, it’s going to be a problem.”
Calipari added that the Cats need to have a “better post offense and get into the “pace of the game.”
“When the (other team) scores on us, what are we doing?” Calipari said. “You could tell I haven’t communicated that yet, because we didn’t get it.”
Featuring a team of three returnees and a mix of freshman, Calipari liked the way both teams shared the ball. The blue squad dished out 24 assists, while the white unit had 22.
“(That shows) we’re trying to play together,” Calipari said.
More than a week into preseason workouts, Calipari and his staff are still trying to “guys playing together,” especially Jones and Anthony Davis.
“Terrence Jones has got to play with Anthony¿Davis,” Calipari said. “They need to be on the court together and they haven’t been.”
The Kentucky coach envisions the Cats becoming a “good pressing team,” because of more depth than last year’s squad. Eight players have the potential to play considerable minutes during the season.
“I like what I saw in the press tonight,” he said. “Not that we perfect, but I liked what I saw and now, we just need to build on that and give them better rules in how we’re going to play.”
Yes, Calipari’s team is “pretty athletic” and “pretty long,” but Calipari knows it takes more than athleticism to the lofty expectations once the season begins.
“I like the team, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “If anybody saw that (scrimmage) and didn’t say, ‘he better start coaching,’ then you’re truly a football player watching basketball or a volleyball player watching basketball.”
Calipari is hoping his team can catch fire quicker than last year’s unit that started clicking in February and eventually reached the Final Four.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t take us that long this year,” he said. Everybody gets excited and says we can be good, but we got a long way to go.”
