Kentucky roster shake-up allows John Calipari to get creative

The Kentucky offense sputtered at times a year ago, passing struggles and one-dimensional play really limiting the group’s potential on that end of the floor. Things were fine when Oscar Tshiebwe was rolling, but if he was, well, human and outside shots weren’t falling — oof. The scoring droughts weren’t pretty.

What happens, though, when eight new faces join the program while eight depart — seven being freshmen? John Calipari is forced to get creative, especially when one of the blue-chip newcomers undergoes foot surgery with a TBD timeline for return. And though the latter situation is unfortunate, the former is a reality the Kentucky head coach is embracing.

Through one month of summer practices, Calipari likes what he sees.

“We’ve got a bunch of young guys going through the anxiety of, ‘Am I good enough? What is this?’ Then watching them play, they get along so well. It’s a good group,” he said. “I wish Aaron (Bradshaw) was healthy, because then they’d be talking about, ‘They’ve got two 7-footers, they have this, they have these guards, a top-50 team’ and all the other stuff. It’d be good with him, but without him, we get to see some other guys.”

Bradshaw missing Kentucky’s trip to Toronto for the 2023 GLOBL JAM sucks, no other way to put it. The longer he’s out, the less time the Wildcats get to build chemistry with the skilled 7-footer in the lineup. And if he misses the preseason and early exhibitions — Calipari stressed Bradshaw will not be rushed back to game action — there’s a chance he’s thrown into the fire without a transition period. Sink or swim.

Then again, an opportunity for Calipari to experiment with lineups and playing styles is now on the table. How does Justin Edwards look at the four or Tre Mitchell at the five? Can Adou Thiero slide down and play the three or four? Where does Jordan Burks fit in — he was forced to play some small-ball five prior to Mitchell’s arrival this past weekend? Will Kentucky maximize guard talent on the floor and roll with DJ Wagner, Rob Dillingham and Antonio Reeves playing together? Does Reed Sheppard see his role expanded with players shifting up and down the lineup?

That’s where the intrigue lies for Calipari. Does he have the answers now? Not yet, but the opportunity to find them is now officially on the table.

“What if we have to put him at the four? Or What if we have to put him at the five? What if we want to go smaller? What if we want to go bigger? How we play comes down to who we’re playing,” Calipari said. “Teams are going to have to do what I’ve done here — you don’t really know your team, so you can’t say we’re going to play a certain way. You just don’t know who your team is, how can you know how you’re going to play?”

There’s not a one-size-fits-all answer to what makes an offense elite. All of his recent teams clicked at various points — well, not that one — some among the best in college basketball. And this group has the potential to do the same.

How will they get there? Calipari is looking ahead to the GLOBL JAM next week to see how things go against live competition. This is obviously a different collection of pieces, Kentucky going young when everyone else is going old. But it’s a collection that can work.

“I just know when we had (Tyrese) Maxey and those guys, we had a top-20 offense. When we had Kellan (Grady) and that group, it was a top-five offense, it was a top-20 offense last year. And we played different all three years. We had to,” Calipari said. “The teams were so different — they told me last year, ‘You can only play one way with that team if you want to win.’ Or if you’re worried about what it looks like. Here, as you probably know, does matter. So you’re playing in a way that (asks), ‘How do I do this (win)?”

Bradshaw’s absence changes things, just like his return will do the same this fall. It helps to have two 7-footers capable of making an impact on both ends, an opportunity he’s excited to have down the road.

“How we play depends on the personnel, that changes some. How we defend changes some,” he said. “We’re a little different now that we’ve got a couple of seven-footers. You’re a little different now that you’ve got 7-footers — my best teams have blocked shots and my worst teams have not blocked shots. Best teams have blocked shots, worst teams have not blocked shots. Block shots.”

Until then, Calipari has to work with what he’s got. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.