Kentucky coach John Calipari is used to the youth movement and the revolving door that’s been in place for the past eight seasons.
Some of those teams developed the right chemistry early, such as the 2012 squad that went 38-2 and gave the Kentucky coach his first national title. Other squads, like the 2014 team that got it together late and finished national runner-up.
Calipari’s current squad has the right tools in place to make a serious run at a national championship, although the Kentucky coach remains cautiously optimistic considering the Wildcats haven’t finished the first month of the season.
“We (are) just a November team,” Calipari said after the Wildcats dismantled Cleveland State 101-70 Wednesday. “I told them after the game, we’re a November team. I don’t want my team in November to look like it’s January or February. Because the only thing that team can do is come back. And I’ve done this 30 years, and I’ve seen teams come out of the gate so good that I laugh and say, they will not be there at the finish line. They’re so good right now, they can’t get better. All you can do is get rattled.
“We’re not as good, we didn’t make as many shots, man, earlier in the year we were. We’re not that. We’re ways away from where we need to be.”
BOXSCORE LINK: UK 101, Cleveland State 70
But still, even this early in the season, Kentucky is a very good team and could end up be one of the best squads Calipari has ever assembled by the time it’s all said and done.
A team comprised of veterans and newcomers, the Wildcats have beaten their first five opponents by double-digits, marking the first time Kentucky has won its first five games by more than 21 points since the 1948-49 season.
The Wildcats rolled past the Vikings without veteran Isaiah Briscoe who was nursing a sore back. Kentucky’s four freshmen — De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Wenyen Gabriel and Bam Adebayo — filled the void and combined for 63 points in the blowout.
A question mark before the season even began, Fox and Monk have proved they can not only survive, but thrive in the same backcourt.
“It’s crazy, we just play basketball,” said Monk, who led the Wildcats with 23 points against the Vikings. “(We’re) just making the right basketball play. It’s crazy. We never really played that much together. We just know where everyone’s going to be so that’s what makes the team so close.”
Gabriel hasn’t been surprised by the team’s unselfish play during the first month of the season. Through the first five games, Fox has recorded two double-doubles and has led the team in assists in each of the first five games, Fox produced a double-double with 16 points and 11 assists in the easy win over Cleveland State.
“Every time we score we are congratulating each other,” Gabriel said. “A lot of times we are comfortable passing the ball which wasn’t usual, though because a lot of us come from different high schools where we had to shoot more and when we got here, we started having to pass the ball more which was very enjoyable for all of us.”
Fox said the team chemistry “makes it extremely better on the court.”
“Malik knows what I’m going to do, so – like I said – if I want to go to the basket and know that someone on the wing is not going to help, then I will pick his side just because how he hasn’t been missing,” he said. “I think today he missed like two or three shots, so it’s just knowing what each other are going to do.”
Fox knew exactly what to expect when was on the receiving end of Monk’s nifty lob off the backboard in the first half Wednesday and punctuated the assist with a rim-rattling two-handed dunk.
Unlike Calipari, Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said the Wildcats are already in mid-season form and compared the Wildcats to Michigan’s Fab Five squad that made back-to-back national championship game appearances from 1991-92.
“They have the equivalency to be able to go out there and play like that,” Waters said. “They’re literally a better defensive team. They don’t have the guard size that Michigan had, but they do have the quickness and the defensive ability that team had.”
And remember, it’s only November.
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter