Rick Barnes believes John Calipari will "have his team ready" vs. Tennessee

by:Nick Roush•01/11/23•

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john calipari rick barnes — Chet White | UK Athletics

While the Big Blue Nation mourns a second straight embarrassing loss, a third may be on the horizon. This Saturday Kentucky travels to the unfriendly confines of Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tn. to take on the Tennessee Volunteers. KenPom currently projects a 72-59 Volunteer victory and gives the Cats just an 11% chance to win.

Tennessee has the best defense in all of college basketball. The Vols rank first in defensive efficiency, second in scoring defense (53.4 ppg.) and second in shooting defense (33.5%). The Wildcats have no time to mope around or they’ll get mopped by the border rival.

“In practice, I gotta hold them accountable. I gotta make this hard,” Calipari said in his postgame radio remarks. “And we’re gonna play a physical team Saturday. When they screen you, they try to take you off the floor. Like, lift you. And if you’re not ready to fight and screen them the same way, you’ve got no chance. So, you know we got work to do.”

This weekend Tennessee held South Carolina to 42 points. The Gamecocks had 42 at halftime against the Wildcats. Kentucky has some serious work to do on the defensive end, but Rick Barnes believes John Calipari will ultimately find a solution to their problems.

“I’ll say the same about John Calipari’s teams,” Barnes said after a 77-68 victory over Vanderbilt, “they’re going to get better. They’re going to keep getting better.”

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We’ve seen Calipari’s teams drastically improve over the second half of the season in the past, but it feels different in 2023. Nevertheless, Barnes believe his old buddy will get it figured out.

“I didn’t see the (South Carolina) game,” Barnes said. “I don’t know what happened there and I know (Kentucky has) dealt with some injuries too. Someone did tell me that Cason Wallace did get hurt tonight. Which I don’t know, somebody said that to me.

“The fact is, I have so much respect for John. I’ve known him for a lifetime in this business, he’ll have this team ready. I think our guys certainly know that.”