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UK coach John Calipari makes a point to freshman Archie Goodwin during the Cats' loss to Baylor Saturday. (Clay Jackson / December 1, 2012) |
Archie Goodwin has a message for those who aren’t patient enough to watch Kentucky experience some growing pains this season.
“They basically have no choice,” Goodwin said following Kentucky’s 64-55 loss to Baylor Saturday at Rupp¿Arena. “They can be as impatient as they want to but, at the same time, if they’re really for us, they’ll understand, they’ll work with us through this process.”
The loss to the Bears was the second in a row for the eighth-ranked Wildcats, who dropped a 64-50 setback to Notre Dame last Thursday in South Bend. The nine-point defeat to unranked Baylor ended the school’s 55-game home winning streak and the first home loss of the John Calipari era at Rupp¿Arena.
Goodwin doesn’t like losing, but put the contest into perspective.
“It’s not OK to lose at any point and time,” Goodwin said. “I’m not saying this loss doesn’t affect me, because it does, but at the same time, it’s still a learning stage for us. If we keep string them (losses) back to back, then that’s going to become a problem for us. That’s when it’s really going to get to where it’s going to be anger that’s going to come out. As far as right now, we’re still learning and we’re trying to get better.”
Goodwin fared much better against the Bears than he did against the Irish. Goodwin, who scored just three points in the loss to Notre Dame, scored a team-high 17 points, dished out five assists and collected a pair of steals. Goodwin, who is still trying to transition into a point guard, had five turnovers. Goodwin made just five shots from the field, but the rest of the team also struggled to make shots. Kentucky shot just 29.6 percent from the field against the Bears. Goodwin simply said the outing was just the end result of a bad day.
“Some shots fall, some don’t, and you just have your days,” he said.
Kentucky coach John¿Calipari liked the way Goodwin played against the Bears, compared to his previous outing, but added that Goodwin, like the rest of his squad, has plenty of room to grow. Calipari said his inconsistent play down the stretch was because of the inexperience factor.
“Archie has a will to win,” the Kentucky coach said. “He just doesn't know how to finish a game off. And it's not his fault. He's 18 years old. But, he has the will to win, but, you know, he made critical errors down the stretch of the game with two, three minutes to go. We took some just horrendous shots.”
Part of the reason was because of Baylor’s defensive scheme. Goodwin and the Wildcats also were caught off-guard by the Bears’ 3-2 zone defense. Baylor coach Scott Drew made the switch to a zone-oriented attack after his man-to-man scheme “didn’t work out to well” against the Wildcats last year in the East Regional finals at the Georgia Dome. Instead, he “tried something different,” a defensive presence that smothered the Goodwin and the Cats.
Goodwin said the lack of breaking down the Bears’ attack came down to a lack of execution.
“It was just a matter of us not executing like we can,” Goodwin said. “We just didn’t knock down shots that we usually make.”
In order to avoid a repeat performance, Goodwin said the Wildcats need to work harder behind the scenes.
“We’re still in the learning stages of this thing,” Goodwin said. “It’s just something that’s going to have to happen over time, keep competing with each other in practice and hopefully it will translate on the court.”
“They basically have no choice,” Goodwin said following Kentucky’s 64-55 loss to Baylor Saturday at Rupp¿Arena. “They can be as impatient as they want to but, at the same time, if they’re really for us, they’ll understand, they’ll work with us through this process.”
The loss to the Bears was the second in a row for the eighth-ranked Wildcats, who dropped a 64-50 setback to Notre Dame last Thursday in South Bend. The nine-point defeat to unranked Baylor ended the school’s 55-game home winning streak and the first home loss of the John Calipari era at Rupp¿Arena.
Goodwin doesn’t like losing, but put the contest into perspective.
“It’s not OK to lose at any point and time,” Goodwin said. “I’m not saying this loss doesn’t affect me, because it does, but at the same time, it’s still a learning stage for us. If we keep string them (losses) back to back, then that’s going to become a problem for us. That’s when it’s really going to get to where it’s going to be anger that’s going to come out. As far as right now, we’re still learning and we’re trying to get better.”
Goodwin fared much better against the Bears than he did against the Irish. Goodwin, who scored just three points in the loss to Notre Dame, scored a team-high 17 points, dished out five assists and collected a pair of steals. Goodwin, who is still trying to transition into a point guard, had five turnovers. Goodwin made just five shots from the field, but the rest of the team also struggled to make shots. Kentucky shot just 29.6 percent from the field against the Bears. Goodwin simply said the outing was just the end result of a bad day.
“Some shots fall, some don’t, and you just have your days,” he said.
Kentucky coach John¿Calipari liked the way Goodwin played against the Bears, compared to his previous outing, but added that Goodwin, like the rest of his squad, has plenty of room to grow. Calipari said his inconsistent play down the stretch was because of the inexperience factor.
“Archie has a will to win,” the Kentucky coach said. “He just doesn't know how to finish a game off. And it's not his fault. He's 18 years old. But, he has the will to win, but, you know, he made critical errors down the stretch of the game with two, three minutes to go. We took some just horrendous shots.”
Part of the reason was because of Baylor’s defensive scheme. Goodwin and the Wildcats also were caught off-guard by the Bears’ 3-2 zone defense. Baylor coach Scott Drew made the switch to a zone-oriented attack after his man-to-man scheme “didn’t work out to well” against the Wildcats last year in the East Regional finals at the Georgia Dome. Instead, he “tried something different,” a defensive presence that smothered the Goodwin and the Cats.
Goodwin said the lack of breaking down the Bears’ attack came down to a lack of execution.
“It was just a matter of us not executing like we can,” Goodwin said. “We just didn’t knock down shots that we usually make.”
In order to avoid a repeat performance, Goodwin said the Wildcats need to work harder behind the scenes.
“We’re still in the learning stages of this thing,” Goodwin said. “It’s just something that’s going to have to happen over time, keep competing with each other in practice and hopefully it will translate on the court.”
