John Calipari on why Daimion Collins didn't play more in 2nd half vs. Arkansas

Daimion Collins was one of the bright spots for Kentucky in the first half. For the third straight game, the sophomore forward gave the Cats a boost off the bench, posting a season-high seven points on 3-4 shooting, 1-2 from the free-throw line. If not for a questionable foul call, he would have brought the house down with a posterizing dunk.

Yet, in the second half, Collins barely saw the floor. With Kentucky down six at the 13:38 mark, Collins subbed in. After picking up a foul, getting a rebound, and missing a layup, he checked out with 11:36 to go. He did not play the remainder of the game, even with Oscar Tshiebwe struggling on both ends of the floor and the Razorbacks running away with the game. Why Collins didn’t play more in the second half is the question on the minds of Kentucky fans tonight. After the 88-73 loss, Calipari was asked about it directly in the postgame press conference.

“You know, as a coach, you go with what got you there and I wanted to — it was a bigger picture for Oscar than just this game. It was like, let’s get him going just to get him right.”

Calipari doubled down on those comments during his one segment with Tom Leach on the radio.

“We missed some open threes but the reality of it is, we’ve got to get Oscar — someone asked me in the back, ‘Why not leave Daimion in? You know, Oscar’s — and I said because you go with who got you there and I’m trying to get him going. But you got to do it on that defensive end, not just on offense.”

For the second straight game, Oscar Tshiebwe struggled. The defending national player of the year looked lost vs. the Razorbacks, finishing with only 7 points (3-6 FG, 1-1 FT), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, and 1 block in 32 minutes. It’s only the fifth time this season Oscar has failed to reach double figures in rebounding and his lowest output on the boards since the loss to Alabama on Jan. 7. Arkansas dominated inside, with 46 points in the paint to Kentucky’s 28.

“There was one point I said, ‘We’re throwing it to him every time,'” Calipari said of Oscar. “And he, we were trying to get it into I thought he worked at times, and other times they were getting around the post, they trapped him or they just bodied him. I was doing some stuff to let him get some jump shots to just get him going and he’s got to be better for us and he will be. He will be.”

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Collins: “It’s all a process”

Collins spoke with Goose Givens on the radio after the game and said the team will learn from this loss, the second worst of the John Calipari era in Rupp Arena.

“It was a hard game. Everybody fought. They played good. We’ve just got to do better as a team. We’re gonna go back, work on our mistakes, and get better from this game.”

In the second half, Arkansas shot 72% from the floor and finished with seven blocks to Kentucky’s three. Calipari said post play was one reason he gave Collins some run in the first half.

“Our rim protection was awful,” Calipari said in his opening statement. “I can’t get guys to body up and do this stuff and they did a great job of bodying up us. The blocks were not like out of — they just jumped with two hands, they bodied up and if you throw it into their arms, it was a block. We’ve just got to do it and that’s why I went with Daimion a little bit. Thought he was good again today.”

Collins, who averages 0.6 blocks per game, said Calipari harped on rim protection throughout the game.

“We’ve got to come together the team and get more stops and the big thing tonight was just getting stops. Coach was telling us we’re gonna have consequences at the rim and we didn’t have any consequences. So we’ve just got to work on it and get better.”

Bruiser Flint, who took over postgame radio duties for John Calipari, praised Collins’ patience and said there’s still a big role for him this season.

“It really is [great to see him play well], and getting the opportunity to play. It’s hard not playing for a long time and then getting the opportunity and being able to go out there and do good things. I mean, we’ve still got some room to go in the season so it’s going to be big for us to be able to put him in a game and be able to be very productive like he’s been the last few nights.”

For his part, Collins says he will remain ready if and when his name is called.

“Just keep working. Staying ready for my opportunity,” Collins said. “It’s all a process. You’ve just got to keep faith, keep working. You know, stay ready.”