John Calipari reveals injury suffered by CJ Fredrick

Kentucky had been a roll against SEC play, winning six in a row. That was until Arkansas came to Rupp Arena, with an important bubble result going against head coach John Calipari. While the poor defensive performance stood out the most, the offensive struggles of CJ Fredrick was noticeable.

Calipari revealed the reason behind Fredrick not having any points on Tuesday, saying a rib injury is bothering the forward. He admitted Fredrick “probably shouldn’t have played” but was out there playing his hardest for Kentucky.

“He had rib problems today,” Calipari said. “His ribs were bothering him… He’s another one that probably shouldn’t have played and you can see he was hurting the whole time but he was giving everything that he had.”

No timetable was provided from Calipari, especially since the ribs were just “bothering” Fredrick. He was still able to play substantial minutes against Arkansas. But if he is going to play through it moving forward, something will have to change.

Fredrick played 21 minutes but only got four shots up. He missed two from inside the arc and another two from deep. After coming off an impressive 12-point performance against Florida, the lack of contribution from Fredrick hurt the Wildcats.

John Calipari looking for CJ Fredrick to get shots up

The lack of shots was not the only thing Calipari was upset with regarding Fredrick. He said being flat footed does not have Fredrick ready to shoot the ball and instead causing shot fakes. If one of Kentucky’s best shooter is going to make some threes, Calipari wants him to move his feet.

“The other thing I keep saying is as the ball is coming to you, you got to have your feet moving so you can catch and shoot it,” Calipari said. “You’re flat footed, you have to ball fake every time. So, we need him to get some of those shots up.”

Next up on the schedule for Kentucky is a road matchup against Georgia. As the NCAA Tournament nears, Calipari will need to see his team continue to win against SEC opponents. Results such as the Arkansas one will not fly moving forward.

Pending his health, Fredrick will play a huge role. Three-point shooting directly impacts how effective the Wildcats can be on a nightly basis. If the ribs are not able to hold up, a huge shooter will temporarily be eliminated from the rotation.