There's work to do, but John Calipari likes his team

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: John Calipari likes his team. No. 17 Kentucky lost to No. 1 Kansas 89-84 in the Champions Classic tonight, but the Cats led by 7 at halftime and 14 early in the second half. Blowing a lead like that is frustrating, especially when Kentucky looked so good at times; however, considering the Cats’ youth and the fact that they were severely shorthanded vs. an experienced Jayhawks squad, there is plenty to build on.

“We’re learning,” Calipari said in his postgame press conference. “None of us are happy that we lost the game. And I’m not happy. I’ve got work to do to help them finish games off, figure out who needs to be in at the end of those games.

“But to come in this environment, with everything that goes with this, the bells and whistles and they perform like they did? You couldn’t ask for much more other than to make some free throws and a shot down the stretch and win.”

Kentucky’s best strategy without its three seven-footers was pushing the tempo and burning Kansas in transition; for most of the first half, that worked; however, the Jayhawks were quick to pounce on mistakes and slowly turned it back into a halfcourt game. Calipari went through the list of things he and his team need to work on even when the bigs return: end-of-game execution, silly fouls, free throws, subbing yourself when you’re tired — and, yes, substitution patterns.

“Part of it is, who should be in when you’re finishing? I’ve got to figure that out. Like, if you’re going to miss five straight shots at the end of the game, you can’t be in Somebody else has got to be in.”

If you’re wondering who Calipari is referencing there, Antonio Reeves — who led Kentucky in scoring with 24 points — missed five shots in the final 2:39. His weren’t the only mistakes tonight, but proof there is room for improvement from a team that seems to have a very high ceiling, which is exactly what you want to hear three games into a season.

“At the end of the game, missing free throws, missed some shots, broke down a little bit,” Cal said. “We’re gotta get better at finishing, but a young team learns that. But what I was proud of was that they fought.”

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Calipari: “We got dogs”

That fight is what encourages Calipari the most. In recent years, he has used the transfer portal to restock his rosters with experienced players. That worked in some cases, but the Cats lacked the playmakers they needed for postseason success.

Now, Calipari has gone back to his old ways, building a team centered around elite freshmen. Kentucky is the seventh-youngest team in the country, with an average age of 20.0 years. What happens in March remains to be seen, but this young group was not scared of the top-ranked Jayhawks tonight. Calipari himself seemed to be having more fun, grinning in huddles and winking and hopping after big plays.

“We’ve got a good group,” Cal said. “I enjoy going to the gym every day, trying to figure out how we can help each other. They want to win. We got dogs.

“You can’t be young like we are. My guess is, we’re the youngest team in the country. That would be my guess because Tre [Mitchell] and Antonio [Reeves]. Everyone else is 18, 19. They’re all young. And you can’t win with a group like that unless they are dogs. Like, they’ll battle. They’ll bite. They’ll go in and they’re not going to just give up and let you do what you want.”

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