The reboot worked for 32 minutes. As it turns out, John Calipari may have to hit the reset button more than once before he’s convinced Kentucky has gotten out of late-season rut that has the Wildcats coach scratching his head for answers, a rarity for Calipari this late in the season.
Minutes after Kentucky recovered from a 22-points loss at Florida with a 92-85 harder-than-expected victory over LSU Tuesday night, Calipari was ready to put his team through a grueling three-hour practice session, a move the Kentucky coach knows is prohibited under NCAA rules. Although a postgame workout was out of the question, Calipari said a three-hour practice session is planned for Wednesday.
“I told them, If anybody says they can’t go, you won’t make the trip to Alabama (Saturday),” Calipari said. “So don’t go, or you’ll go.”
It wasn’t Kentucky’s first 32 minutes that angered Calipari. In fact, Calipari was happy watching his team, build off Monday’s practice session, which he called “one of our best of the season.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Photos by Tammie Brown
Although the Wildcats (19-5, 9-2 Southeastern Conference) struggled somewhat in the first half, Kentucky produced positive results and showed signs of getting back into rhythm following two weeks of sub-par performances, a stretch that included three losses in four games.
Sparked by Wenyen Gabriel’s 16-point outing and Malik Monk’s 14 points, Kentucky wasted no time building a double-digit lead over the struggling Tigers in the first half and even pushed the margin to 25 with 8:47 remaining, a pleasing sight in Calipari’s eyes.
“The ball moved,” Calipari said. “It was crisp. It went to the extra pass. Guys found each other. It’s fun to watch and it’s fun to play that way.”
Unfortunately, the Wildcats failed to keep up the pace during the final stretch and allowed LSU to do what it wanted as the Tigers trimmed a double-digit lead down to single figures.
“It’s frustrating that we let that happen, but we’re trying to get to the point where we can play 40 minutes like that in a good way,” said Gabriel, who finished with a career-high 23 points. “To see those last eight minutes go out like that, I mean, I’d say it’s a step – it’s a little different from what happened the last few games. We’re trying to make it so we can play 40 minutes the right way.”
Although the Tigers weren’t a serious threat throughout, Kentucky’s defense during the final eight minutes was alarming and disappointing for the players and coaches.
“The last eight minutes, we kind of reverted,” Calipari said.
The team’s breakdowns extended into other phases of the game, adding more stress to Calipari and his coaching staff.
“We have so many breakdowns, we don’t stay connected on out-of-bounds plays,” he said. “(We) just stay connected and chase the inbound. We’ll help you. I get hung up on the screen, the guy gets a shot in the corner. Wait a minute, we work on that every day. Is that focus? Is that effort? Is that I’m just not very tough? I don’t know. But we have those kind of errors.”
In order to get back to its full potential, Calipari wants his players too build their own confidence, but more importantly become a better team on the defensive end of the floor.
“They have to accept that what they’re doing is good for them individually and good for our team,” he said. “Not sure we’re quite there yet. Then they take great pride in defense, because they know that’s how you’re going to win and that’s how we can get out and run. They haven’t done that yet.”
The team’s issues on the court are obvious, but Calipari added some of those woes are team-oriented and is holding each player accountable.
“They either got to step on the gas or they got to step back,” he said. “Not being mean, I’m just being real. It’s that time. Either you step on the gas and get this right or you got to step back. … we’re at that time of the season.”
Despite the late letdown against the Tigers and based on two-thirds of his team’s performance, Calipari thinks the Wildcats are beginning to turn the proverbial corner.
“I know now and I feel comfortable we’re on the right path,” the Kentucky coach said. “Now we got to continue on that path and shore up the problems we’re having defensively.”
Like Calipari, Gabriel said the performance, especially in the first half, was a step in the right direction.
“We started the reboot,” Gabriel said. “It’s only been one practice since Cal’s been doing this reboot. I think we have some time, some more practices before this is over.”
Look for Calipari to hit the reset button even more to get his team’s attention starting with Wednesday’s marathon workout.
Gametracker: Kentucky at Alabama, 1 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: CBS (Channel 27), 98.1 FM WBUL.
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