John Calipari defends DJ Wagner, Justin Edwards, Kentucky defense ahead of Oakland matchup

Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari defender DJ Wagner, Justin Edwards, and the entire Kentucky team’s defense ahead of their matchup against Oakland in the NCAA Tournament.

Both Wagner and Edwards came to Kentucky as recruits that many people expected to become lottery picks one day. So, Calipari was asked about how they’ve lived up to those lofty expectations ahead of the NCAA Tournament.

“I think they’ve done great,” John Calipari said. “I mean, my job is to help them walk through this. And at the end of the day, is I just want them being their best, and when I’m with them every day, I know what that looks like. But when they’re playing against other guys, they know what it looks like, too.”

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“Most of it for young guys, and again, I’ve got the youngest team in the field, I will tell you is the mental part of this. Can you be a cheerleader for yourself? What is your inner talk? They have to learn that. You have to push out anything that’s coming at you negative. Anybody’s telling you, well, if you did this and did that. Doesn’t help,” Calipari said.

“Both of them — D.J. being hurt and sitting out two and a half weeks really affected him. He’s come back. He’s better. He’s back to where he was. He was the Freshmen of the Week four times, and then he took two-and-a-half weeks off and it’s taken him time. Justin, I could not be more proud of any player I’ve ever coached. To know where he was, to know the expectations that were on his shoulders, to know all the stuff he was hearing. And I said, ‘Justin, I just want you to know, I believe in you.’ And he said, ‘Coach, I want you to know I believe in you and I’m sticking with this.’ And that’s — and then he makes it. We don’t win at Tennessee if he doesn’t play that way.”

John Calipari is referencing Kentucky’s win against Tennessee at the end of the regular season. In that game, Edwards played a key role on both ends with 37 minutes of playing time.

Admittedly, not every player is going to be great every night. Players have bad games. That’s why, as John Calipari explained, it’s important to have depth and know when to give those valuable minutes.

“Now, here’s the thing with all. Guys, they’re not machines and they’re not robots. They have bad games and they have bad nights, and it’s what they are. The good thing about this team I’m coaching is we have a deep team. For a couple years, if one or two players played poorly, I didn’t have subs. You left them in and you end up losing,” Calipari said. “And I’m not just talking the NCAA Tournament. Other games. With this group, if these two or three are not playing well, I’ll just play these five or six, and we’ll run with them. And they know it. We’ve had — I believe it’s seven guys hit 25 or more points, and nine or ten or maybe even 11 have had 13 points or more. We got that type of team. But we’re really young.”

Kentucky is now getting ready to play Oakland in the NCAA Tournament. As John Calipari knows, Oakland is a very capable team, and that Kentucky is going to need to play good defense to advance.

“And then your next question, someone from Pittsburgh, yinz don’t play very good defense. That will be your question to me. At times, yinz do play good defense, and there are other times you’re like what are you thinking? But I’m loving coaching this team. I mean, this practice today — and all I’m telling them is you make sure I’m having as much fun as you. So we’ll see. And there’s no guarantee in this tournament,” Calipari said.

“And let me say to everybody, forget about seed and all that stuff. If you win on a half court bank shot by one, you celebrate because you’re surviving and marching on. That’s what this tournament is. You don’t let everybody come at you, you gotta do this, you have to do this, if they don’t do it this way. Go ahead, have your fun. This is about survive and advance. And we’re playing a good team now in Oakland. They’re good.”

This season, Kentucky is giving up 79.7 points per game, which is 334th in scoring defense. Oakland, meanwhile, is scoring 76.4 points per game, which is 96th in scoring offense. The Golden Grizzlies are also taking 24.4 three-point shots per game, meaning the Wildcats need to find a way to defend the outside.

“What they do defensively, what they can do offensively with two kids taking 20 threes every game and having the freedom. Greg [Kampe] is a great coach, not a good coach, a great coach. And then they play funky defense. They play a defense that’s not normal. And I’m not — I’ll tell Greg, Greg, we’re not changing much,” Calipari said.

“So when you watch what we do against zone, that’s what we do. I’m not trying to be tricky. Here’s how we play. I don’t want them thinking too much. I want them playing. Let’s just be who we are. And let’s see if that’s good enough.”

Kentucky and Oakland tip-off on Thursday, March 21st, at 7:10 p.m. EST.