Happy Birthday, John Calipari!
Just between you and me, he turns 63 on Thursday.
Only this year, the head basketball coach of the University of Kentucky got his gift early. Way early. If you want to put a date on it, let’s say Oct. 15, 2021, the day his current collection of talent gathered for its first official practice on UK’s road to redemption.
Last season? Don’t even mention it. That thing is gone, gone, gone. It’s a new year with important new players, who actually aren’t so new to the sport. A well-kept secret is that this team — from Kellan “Grandad” Grady to Keion Brooks to Sahvir Wheeler to Oscar Tshiebwe to Davion Mintz to Jacob Toppin — is a Calipari oddity, a team with experience. “They get my jokes,” the coach said last week.
On the court, they’re no joke. The Cats improved to 20-4 overall and 9-2 in the SEC with Tuesday night’s 86-76 win at South Carolina. The Fighting Gamecocks of Frank Martin put a brief scare into the BBN, tying the score at 43 early in the second half. It was there, however, that Kentucky found the on-switch and off it went. Six UK players finished in double figures. The winners recorded 25 assists and shot 56.7 percent from the floor. Tshiebwe produced his regular double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Same old, same old.
There were a couple of problem areas. Once bastions of the boards, Kentucky was outrebounded for the third straight game. And just as he was on his way to a monster night, Toppin injured his ankle in the first half and did not return for the second. “He was in good spirits,” Brooks reported after the game.
By Wednesday morning, Kentucky was No. 2 in Ken Pomeroy’s latest adjusted efficiency ratings behind Gonzaga. Kenpom’s numbers listed the Cats at No. 4 in offensive efficiency and No. 13 in defensive efficiency. UK was also one win closer to the top shelf of the SEC standings, what with Auburn falling 80-76 in an overtime thriller to Arkansas’ red-red-hot Razorbacks on Tuesday.
Challenges await. “By the end of the year, (our) schedule will be the hardest in the country because of who we play to finish it out,” Calipari declared during Tuesday’s postgame.
That’s debatable, considering Pomeroy ranks UK’s schedule the 43rd toughest in the nation. Sagarin has it at No. 60. Tuesday Cal was Swaggy Cal, however. At one point, he declared UK’s elite practice player, Shaedon Sharpe, the No. 1 pick in whichever draft Sharpe chooses to enter. “How do I know what a No. 1 pick looks like?” Calipari said, his voice rising. “BECAUSE I’VE HAD FOUR OF THEM!”
The birthday boy does have a point. Kentucky’s remaining schedule isn’t the express lane. Florida has its best player, Colin Castleton, back from a shoulder injury just in time for two dates with the Cats — Saturday at Rupp; March 5 in Gainesville. Next Tuesday, Kentucky travels south to Tennessee, where the Vols have had UK pinned to their bulletin board since the Cats rocked the Vols 107-79 in Lexington on Jan. 15.
Alabama (Feb. 19) and LSU (Feb. 23), both dented but dangerous, come to Rupp before the Cats get on a plane for Fayetteville to face Arkansas on Feb. 26. Did we mention that the Razorbacks took down Bruce Pearl’s No. 1 team in the nation on Tuesday? Or that Eric Musselman’s club has won nine straight? Arkansas hasn’t lost a game since Jan. 8.
By all indications, however, this Kentucky team is made for the stage.
“We’ve got (seven) games left,” Calipari said. “Next time we turn around, we’re going to be in Florida at the (SEC) tournament. And the next time we turn around, we’re going to be starting a run for something special.”
That would be the NCAA Tournament. The Big Dance. The Final Four in New Orleans. The real grand prize. It may be John Calipari’s birthday, but Big Blue Nation would love to hold its celebration come Monday, April 4.
