John Calipari on how Dontaie Allen can make Kentucky's rotation

With the cupcake portion of the non-conference schedule now complete and his team approaching full strength, John Calipari is ready to tighten his rotation. After Kentucky’s 76-64 win over Southern, Calipari said he will use the next ten days to find the eight to nine guys that give the Cats the best chance to win.

“We gotta start making a decision on some guys getting more minutes and some guys getting less,” Calipari said after Tuesday’s win. “It doesn’t matter what year you are, none of that. If we have a roster of 11 I’m not gonna play 11 guys. The guys that aren’t playing, you gotta be ready to go.”

As of now, the top eight are pretty clear: Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington, Keion Brooks, Kellan Grady, Oscar Tshiebwe, Jacob Toppin, Daimion Collins, and Davion Mintz. From there, three scholarship players remain: Dontaie Allen, Bryce Hopkins, and Lance Ware. Hopkins has been bothered by a back issue and played only two minutes vs. Southern. Ware and Allen played three minutes each. That’s a considerable dropoff for Allen, who played 19 minutes in the two games prior. With Mintz finally healthy, Calipari said Allen getting fewer minutes was inevitable.

“Today, you know, I went with Davion (Mintz) because I wanted him out there to get his wheels underneath him to go. Dontaie (Allen) played some. But he’s behind Davion. It’s just what it is. Davion ended up with five rebounds again. This kid ends up rebounding the ball.”

“I told him, if you’re open, you have to shoot”

Allen had a rough night vs. Southern, air balling a three, fouling a three-point shooter, and turning the ball over once. This season, Allen has struggled from the outside, going 6-27 (22.2%) from behind the arc. With Mintz ill, Allen was able to stay in and, to his credit, found other ways to contribute, pulling down six rebounds vs. Central Michigan and seven vs. North Florida. As Calipari said, Mintz is a great rebounder, so for Allen to make his case to crack Kentucky’s rotation, he either needs to start hitting his shots or crashing the boards and defending.

“You know, again, I love the kid,” Calipari said when asked about Allen’s performance last night. “I mean, he’s — he has gotten better. But everybody’s judging him based on just made shots, so now it’s the hardest thing in the game to do. But I told him, if you’re open, you have to shoot — if you don’t shoot, you’re coming out.”

“I ask you this, what are you doing if you’re not making shots to help us win?” Calipari added. “And not just Dontaie, that’s this whole team. You’re not making shots, what do you do to help us win? Are you a defensive stopper? But what do you do? You’re not playing well. Do you have no rebounds or one rebound? Well, wait a minute, you can do that. That’s all effort.”