Calipari's Cats in Canada: 'I hope we look bad'

Calipari's Cats in Canada: 'I hope we look bad'

Coach says team needs exhibition

By Brett Dawson • bdawson@courier-journal.com • August 5, 2010


MAYSVILLE, Ky. — It's a small team with big strides to make, but University of Kentucky coach John Calipari is fine with fans seeing his basketball squad as a work in progress during a three-game trip to Canada later this month.

“I hope we look bad, to take away everything from people thinking we win 35 games a year, because it just doesn't happen,” Calipari said.

Kentucky was 35-3 in Calipari's first season and fell just one win short of the Final Four, but five players — John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton — left school early to enter the NBA draft.

Speaking during a camp at Mason County High School, Calipari said his new team will be fine, despite having just four holdovers, only two of whom played significant minutes: guards Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins.

But the coach said the Cats might not look like much when they take the court for games Aug.15 and 17 against the University of Windsor and Aug.16 against Western Ontario.

UK will have a roster short on numbers, and potentially on height.

The school still is awaiting word from the NCAA on the eligibility of 6-foot-10 center Enes Kanter, whose amateur status remains under review. Kanter played for a professional team in his native Turkey before moving to the United States.

Another big body, 6-9 transfer Eloy Vargas, is finishing up junior-college coursework and won't travel with the team, Calipari said. And forward Terrence Jones is recovering from an ankle injury and might not play.

Calipari said he isn't opposed to playing five guards at once, and he'll have plenty to choose from. Besides Miller and Liggins, there are freshmen Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb, two of college basketball's top backcourt prospects.

But Knight and Lamb, like fellow freshmen Kanter, Jones and Stacey Poole Jr., are still learning Calipari's dribble-drive motion offense.

The coach said the purpose of a trip like this one is to gauge how far the Cats have to go.

“If we did this last year in August, DeMarcus could not have run up and down the court,” Calipari said. “He would have crossed half-court every fourth time down. John would have had 12 turnovers, and the balls would have been flying. We wouldn't have looked that good, and it would have not been a bad thing.”

All three of UK's games in Canada will be televised on the Big Blue Sports Network, including on Fox Sports South and WMYO-58. The games also will be on the radio network, including WHAS-840 in Louisville.

The Aug.15 game is sold out. As of Thursday, a limited number of tickets remained for the other two games. All three are in Windsor. General admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children. To order, call (519) 253-3000, ext. 2447.

Maui Invitational: UK will play Oklahoma in the first round at 5:30 p.m. EST on Nov.22 at the Lahaina Civic Center. The game will air on ESPN2. The winner of that game will face the winner of Virginia-Washington on Nov.23 at 9:30 p.m.

Brett Dawson can be reached at (859) 523-0706.