An inside look at a John Calipari-coached practice at Kentucky

We’re just minutes away from Kentucky basketball’s first exhibition game in the Bahamas, a head-to-head battle against the Dominican Republic National Select Team. To prepare, the Wildcats participated in an open practice for fans on Tuesday, a two-hour session that focused on defense and 3-point shooting.

KSR ran off the plane, scrambled through customs and immigration, caught a cab and sped through Nassau to get to practice on time. Somehow, despite the flight landing less than an hour prior to the event, we made it.

It was worth the rush, as John Calipari conducted a real practice with no tricks or gimmicks. It wasn’t a loose walkthrough or a simple show for fans, it was an official pregame practice preparing to play against a team of professionals.

How did things go? Let’s go through a play-by-play, shall we?

• Lay-up drill to warm up
• Press (2-2-1)
• Drawing charges
• Discussed transition defense responsibilities
• Baseline and sideline out-of-bounds, inbounding and defending
• Breakdown defensive segment guarding against specific actions, attacking lob and skip passes across the floor
• Working on trapping the post, guards digging to bother ball down low
• Shell drill for defense against specific offensive called actions
• Defending specific screens (pin-down screens), screening the screener
• Breakdown of pick-and-roll and dribble hand-off defense
• 5-minute shooting drill, first with bigs, then with guards
• Individual shooting workouts

As you can see, a heavy emphasis on defense leading up to the team’s four-game stretch in the Bahamas, along with some shooting to close out the day.

How did the shooting go? CJ Fredrick led the guards with 63 makes from three, followed by Antonio Reeves with 58, Cason Wallace with 54, Chris Livingston with 52 and Sahvir Wheeler with 46. Among bigs, Oscar Tshiebwe knocked down 61 long 2-pointers from the top of the key, with Jacob Toppin hitting 56 threes and Daimion Collins knocking down 50, respectively.

Back to the defense. Calipari raved about the team’s length throughout the practice, stressing that the Wildcats didn’t have to go body-to-body on close-outs because the team can be disruptive from a distance. It allows for a greater margin of error defensively if players are late on rotations and close-outs. More risks can be taken, as well.

Among biggest standouts, Fredrick and Toppin separated themselves from the pack, specifically in shooting drills. At one point, the former knocked down 15 consecutive looks from deep, while the latter showed off a brand new quick-trigger release that fell at a high rate. Cason Wallace was also a defensive standout, engaged and active in the various drills.

It’s hard to make too many long-term assessments of the team on a day focused on teaching individual and team defense. Still, though, the Wildcats looked the part, as their length, athleticism and effort were clear indicators of the team’s potential on that end of the floor.

Now, time for the games.