4-Point Play: Time to start building a resume

Well, here comes the start of another long week. Last one stunk out loud, especially coming off a disappointing loss. At least we’ve got a win to talk about this time as we wait for another neutral-site matchup for Kentucky — a big one vs. North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic.

Until then, we talk about the win over Penn and how things unfolded in Philadelphia. Some good, some bad there. Then, we look ahead to Atlanta and what comes next for the Cats as they look to take down the Tar Heels under the bright lights.

Let’s jump right in, shall we? It’s another edition of KSR’s 4-Point Play.

A long way to go, but ‘holy cow’ potential

John Calipari was fairly pleased with Kentucky’s play in Philly after watching film. He obviously wanted the first half to end a little better and there are certain things that need to get cleaned up, but against a well-rounded team with shooting and experience, you take the result.

“I was really, really proud, playing a team that shoots 30 threes and has four guys that can shoot them. A veteran team that really plays together. They had one young player, but he was pretty good, (Tyler) Perkins. It was one of those games where you were going to have to be really disciplined defensively,” Coach Cal said Monday evening. “… My thought was, ‘Man, we’ve got a long way to go.’ Then my second thought was, ‘If we can get there, holy cow.’ But we’ve got a long way to go.”

His team’s ability to close out the win stuck out most on film. The Cats executed late and that paved the path for a double-digit victory essentially on the opponent’s home floor.

“I was happy and to win by 15, it could’ve been a little bit more. You know what happens? It gets into a grind-it-out game,” he added. “You’re watching games where a team just keeps playing and shooting and dragging, then all of a sudden you give the other team a chance to beat you. How we finished the game, we’re starting to get there.”

Some defensive tweaks are coming

Kentucky holds firm as a top-15 offense in college basketball with the No. 8 effective field-goal percentage, No. 3 three-point percentage and No. 3 in turnover rate. The Cats have cleared the 81-point mark in eight of nine games. Defense, however, remains an issue. It’s ranked outside the top 50 overall, highlighted by the No. 144 effective field-goal percentage allowed along with the No. 167 3-point percentage and No. 88 turnover rate.

Something’s got to give somewhere. Wall sits and lane slides won’t cut it forever. That’s why Calipari is going back to the drawing board this week in hopes of getting things right.

“A lot of it is team defense and team defense starts on the ball. You’ve got to be able to keep the guy in front of you that you’re guarding,” he said. “We’re going to do some things this week that changes us up defensively a little bit. I just haven’t had time. When you have a brand-new team, you can’t worry about 100 things. You’ve got to worry about us playing well together so we can win. Team defense, rebounding, blocking out, then you start expanding from there. That’s what we’re gonna do this week a little bit, do a couple of different things and make us a little bit different at times.”

A crucial opportunity for Kentucky’s first Quad 1 win

The Cats came up just short against Kansas in Chicago. They rank No. 14 in the NET through nine games. The Miami (FL) win is dropping in seeding importance by the game as the Hurricanes have fallen to No. 54 in the NET, right in the middle of Quad 2 territory. Next up? North Carolina, who sits three spots ahead of Kentucky at No. 36 overall, setting up a Quad 1 neutral-site opportunity in the CBS Sports Classic this weekend.

We’re not in must-win territory quite yet, but it’s fair to note the importance of this matchup. Lose this one, and you enter January without a single Quad 1 victory for a second consecutive season. Last year’s group got its first on Jan. 14 at Tennessee and finished the season with just six total. And it needed a run of three straight in February and didn’t pick up the sixth until the regular-season finale at Arkansas to build the ho-hum resume it did.

Now, this year’s roster ain’t like the one before, obviously. And by my loose count, there are still ten Quad 1 games on the board for the Cats, 11 if Gonzaga (No. 30) jumps five spots into the top 30 by Selection Sunday:

10. Tennessee — Feb. 3 (home), Mar. 9 (road)
11. Alabama — Feb. 24 (home)
23. Texas A&M — Jan. 13 (road)
24. Auburn — Feb. 17 (road)
28. South Carolina — Jan. 23 (road)
30. Mississippi State — Jan. 17 (home), Feb. 27 (road)
36. North Carolina — Dec. 16 (neutral)
43. Florida — Jan. 6 (road)

There is plenty of runway to take off with 22 regular season games. And at the end of the day, the schedule is what it is. If you win, it doesn’t matter. But of those wins, you’d like them to be of the resume-building variety if it means jumping a seedline or two in March. You’ve got to start somewhere, might as well make it now.

Florida goes Orange with the Cats in town

Speaking of those early January Quad 1 games, the first true road battle will be yet another Super Bowl for the home squad. Bruce Pearl already said he was setting up t-shirt night at Auburn when Kentucky comes to town on Feb. 17. Now the Florida Gators are rolling out something special with the Cats making the trip to Gainesville on Jan. 6.

It’ll be the debut of brand-new orange uniforms with Gators across the chest in script font, the same used on the team’s football helmets.

Florida has rocked orange basketball uniforms in the past, but never with the Gators look — only Florida across the chest. It’s a good look for the home team. And it’ll look even better on post-victory highlights when the Cats leave Gainesville with a win.

Florida is 6-3 on the year with losses to Virginia (73-70), No. 13 Baylor (95-91) and at Wake Forest (82-71). Let’s see what happens on Jan. 6.