John Calipari sets goal of 80 points per game for Kentucky offense

In 13 seasons at Kentucky, John Calipari has coached one team that averaged over 80 points per game — his 2016-17 squad led by De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk and Bam Adebayo hit 84.9 per contest.

A few others have come close, with the Wildcats averaging 79.4 points in 2021-22, 79.5 in 2015-16 and 79.3 in 2009-10.

Calipari doesn’t want to come close this time around. Going into 2022-23, the UK head coach says it’s crucial for his current squad to hit that 80-point-per-game mark this season. Coming off a 56-point performance in Kentucky’s first exhibition game vs. Missouri Western — down Oscar Tshiebwe and losing Sahvir Wheeler late, sure — he says his team has to be better.

The defense will be there, but the Wildcats have to score points.

“We scored 56 last night without Oscar. My hope with Sahvir, it’s short-term. We’ve got to be a team that scores 80 points a game,” Calipari said on Monday’s edition of The Alan Cutler Show. “We’ll defend well enough, we have enough guys who can make baskets.”

Calipari looks back to last season, a team that scored well when healthy, specifically in transition. They struggled, though, when things got physical. He’s hoping this year’s group builds off of the good while taking out the bad.

“We got 24 points a game in transition last year. We flew. That ball hit ahead, we played and we swung it,” Calipari said. “A thing that hurt us last year was the physicalness of the other team. If we didn’t negate it, it affected our play. I like the young kids, I like the veterans, they’ve all gotten better. It’s obvious we’re not as good without Oscar, but if you’re missing the Player of the Year, you’re not going to be as good. It’s a chance for the other guys to carve their own niche without him.”

A key to the team’s offensive success? Offensive rebounds, an area Kentucky thrived in last season — led by Tshiebwe, obviously. The Wildcats were missing their superstar down low vs. Missouri Western, but they still must improve as a group.

“Last year we averaged 14 rebounds per game offensively. 14 rebounds on offense is going to get you a bunch of points. We had seven last night,” Calipari said. “He wasn’t there, but so what? We play in a way where you’ve got to get offensive rebounds. Analytically, it’s one of the best ways to score baskets. We’ve got work. After what we went through, now it’s about breaking it down, you know? What’s fixable? What is it? Why didn’t we rebound? Did we go chest to the back? Did we shoot the ball, they boxed us out and we’re behind? Chest on their back?”

There were some missed opportunities and the Griffons were well-coached, mucking things up for Kentucky offensively. The Wildcats thrived on the defensive end of the floor, but it just wasn’t enough on the other end. Moving forward, 80 points is the goal.

“In transition, did we hit ahead? Did we run like we needed to, that kind of stuff? What opportunities did we have?” Calipari said. “We missed about five or six layups. Did we miss them because of those guys are us? Will (Martin) and Jon (Hood) and Perry (Stevenson), guys that have been in this program, so proud of them. That’s a good team, they’re going to do well. We played pretty well defensively, did some good stuff.

“Blocked some good balls, did what we wanted to do, but we’ve got to get to 80. That’s the number.”