John Calipari on Kentucky's minutes, rotation in LSU win

As he said he would earlier in the week, John Calipari went to a shortened rotation in Kentucky‘s SEC home opener against LSU. Both Oscar Tshiebwe and Cason Wallace played the entire game with a full 40 minutes apiece at their respective positions, while Sahvir Wheeler sat for a total of three minutes from his starting point guard responsibilities.

Beside them, Jacob Toppin took up most of the time at forward with his second 30+ minute game in a row (31), which worked out very well as he led Kentucky with 21 points. Daimion Collins spelled Toppin for Toppin’s nine minutes of rest, while Chris Livingston and Antonio Reeves split all of the minutes on the wing, led by Livingston’s 29 minutes played from a starting assignment, his seventh time in the first five this season.

To recap, those are the seven Wildcats who saw the floor in the 74-71 win.

PLAYER	MINUTES
Cason Wallace	40
Oscar Tshiebwe	40
Sahvir Wheeler	37
Jacob Toppin	31
Chris Livingston	29
Antonio Reeves	14
Daimion Collins	9

After the game, Calipari explained why he cut back on substitutions and bodies against the Tigers. He said, “You have to understand, I’ve had teams where I played five guys, and six and seven played nine minutes. I had guards that played 38 minutes a game at UMass. I did it — I’ve done it that way, and here is what happens. You start seeing chemistry and them growing together because they are on the court a lot. And I thought that’s what this team needed.”

Though it worked against LSU, trimming the roster down to seven players isn’t the plan moving forward because right after Calipari said the team needed it, he said he told Adou Thiero and Ugonna Oyenso to stay ready for their next chances off the bench.

“Adou and Ugonna did not get an opportunity,” said Calipari. “I grabbed them after. I just said, ‘You’ve got to be ready.’

“Antonio didn’t get a whole lot of minutes,” he added. “Well, Chris was mixing it up and doing some good stuff. So I left him in there. But we need Antonio. We need CJ. We need one more guy that can go and stretch a game for us.”

Has he found his five?

With two great starts in a row with the same five on the floor, Calipari was asked in his postgame press conference if he has found his five moving forward–those five being Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Toppin, and Tshiebwe.

“We’ll see going forward,” he replied. “What if there’s foul trouble? You want to play a lot of minutes, you’d better not foul. You get two fouls in the first half, I’m sitting you out, especially if you’re one of those guys.

“But you’re noticing, we’re flowing more in sync. You could just see it. So it’s all the stuff we’ve been talking and working, and they have responded.”

Lance Ware was unavailable

Making it easier on Calipari to lighten the rotation, Lance Ware did not dress Tuesday night against LSU. The team’s Twitter account broke the news moments before tipoff by tweeting, “CJ Fredrick (right hand) and Lance Ware (left shoulder) are out tonight. Both are considered day-to-day.”

CJ Fredrick (right hand) and Lance Ware (left shoulder) are out tonight. Both are considered day-to-day.

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 4, 2023

Fredrick has been out since the first half of the Missouri game and is expected to miss at least a few more weeks.

With those two out, Calipari is still trying to figure out his rotation as Kentucky moves on to a huge road challenge at Alabama.

Until then, be patient, Calipari asked.

“We’re still learning about this team… I am. Just be patient. Again, I’m telling everybody, be patient with them, because they are trying.”