Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari is frustrated with his players' hesitancy

Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari is frustrated with his players' hesitancy

LEXINGTON, Ky. — With four minutes to play in Kentucky's 58-56 win at Vanderbilt last Saturday, Wildcats forward Patrick Patterson found himself alone in the right corner.

DeAndre Liggins whipped a pass to Patterson, who launched a three-pointer without a pause.

It swished to break a 49-49 tie and help send No.2 UK (26-1, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) on its way to a win.

“I didn't hesitate,” Patterson said after the game. “I just shot it. It looked good, felt good and it went in.”

It sounds simple.

Increasingly, though, UK coach John Calipari has noticed some of Patterson's teammates passing on similarly simple shots. He'd like them to take a lesson from Patterson's shoot-first, question-shots-later approach.

“Only three things can happen when you shoot the ball,” Calipari said during Monday's SEC coaches teleconference. “You make it, I like that. You miss it and we rebound it and make that, I like that. Or they rebound the ball; I don't like that, but that's OK.”

Calipari is convinced his Cats have able shooters.

Lately, he's noticed they don't look so willing.

UK players are passing on shots, Calipari said, and that might be more damaging to the Cats' offense than simply missing shots.

“Here's what I keep saying on turnovers: we've got guys that (pass up) shots, and they drive it and turn it over,” Calipari said. “My point is, if you shoot it, it may go in. And if it doesn't, we're one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country.”

UK's passive perimeter approach, Calipari said, stems from a fear of missing.

And the Cats have done plenty of that recently.

Kentucky is second in the SEC in three-point shooting percentage, making 36 percent of its long-range shots. But in conference games , the Cats are ranked ninth in three-point accuracy at 31.1 percent.

Over its last five games, UK is 22of92 from three-point range, 23.9 percent. In three of those games, the Cats shot below 20 percent from long distance.

The result, Calipari said, is that some of his players are scared to pull the trigger from the perimeter.
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“I understand that,” Calipari said. “Then get in the gym and spend more time in the gym. Get in there at night. Be in there at 11 o'clock at night. And it doesn't change overnight. So you work for two days and you don't shoot it any better or don't feel any different, that's right.

“It happens over a period of time — weeks, months, and then all of the sudden you're in a different frame of mind.”

Patterson can attest to that.

In addition to his key three-pointer at Vanderbilt, Patterson sank a crucial jumper last Tuesday at Mississippi State, a baseline shot from about 15 feet that helped UK rally from a seven-point deficit in the final three minutes of regulation in an 81-75 overtime win.

Patterson's outside touch is a surprise given he entered the season 0for4 in his career from three-point range, but in a preseason interview, he said he expected to make “about 30 three-pointers this season.”

He's 19for47 this season, a solid 40.4 percent. And Patterson's willingness to launch has been a boon to UK as some younger shooters have tightened up.

“It's a big plus for us,” freshman guard John Wall said. “He added that to his game this summer. When we first got here, we didn't think he could shoot that well, but he was making that (outside) shot, making threes the whole summer. We know if we get it to him in certain spots, that's his bread and butter.”

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