UK coach urges patience for Horn
John Calipari knows a good basketball team when he sees one. Saturday, his Wildcats passed the eye test.
“It didn’t matter who we played, someone was getting beat by 30 today,” Calipari said. “It wasn’t South Carolina; it was us.”
The first half in particular felt like more of a dunking and shot blocking clinic than a real SEC contest. UK freshman Anthony Davis finished with seven dunks and eight blocks, while sophomore Terrence Jones had three dunks of his own.
“Let me just say this — whoever we played today, what did I say?” Calipari asked, turning to Terrence Jones, who smiled and said, “That would have happened to them.”
For the multitude of talent that the Wildcats posses, Calipari was pleased with how they shared the ball, which he felt was crucial to the team’s dominance. He commented that point guard Marquis Teague, who didn’t have as statistically impressive a game as some of the other Kentucky starters, set the pace of the game and did his job, which is what the Wildcats need out of him.
“Being unselfish is one thing, but then the guy you’re being unselfish with can really score, that does different things,” Calipari said. “It doesn’t matter who we put in the game, they score ... They’re sacrificing for their teammates, which makes it even more powerful.”
Having already lost to Kentucky by 15 points in Lexington on Jan. 7, South Carolina was hoping to see some improvement. However, it was in fact the Wildcats who had made the greater strides.
It’s no secret that under Calipari’s guidance, Kentucky has brought in some of the nation’s most talented and coveted high school recruits. USC coach Darrin Horn, on the other hand, saw a team that had significantly grown as a unit.
When asked about specifically where Kentucky has improved, Horn said, “I think just basketball. I know that sounds really simple, but they seem to have a much better understanding of what they’re trying to do — who can do what. They move the basketball extremely well. Their execution is better. They’re just a better basketball team. Obviously they’re young as well, but they’re extremely talented. It was a much better basketball team that we played earlier.”
Calipari noted that many successful coaches, including Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, had limited success in their first few years, and urged South Carolina to be patient, despite the frustrations with Horn after the 9-13 start to the season.
“If you want to make a change every three years, you can, if that’s what you choose,” Calipari said. “I wouldn’t. I’d say, take seven, eight years and say we’re going to build something.
He also spoke to the difficulties of running an SEC program, and added that he didn’t think South Carolina’s performance was any indication of where the program is headed.
“This is a hard job,” Calipari said. “Nobody’s going to question [Horn’s] ability to coach, his ability to get kids and all that. He’s going to do fine here. They’ve just got to say, ‘Look, we’re riding the course here. We’re going to make this happen.’ You’ve got great facilities, you’ve got a great campus, you’ve got a state that’s got good players. It’s an unforgiving league. What happened today makes it look bad.”
Horn has maintained that youth is no longer an excuse for his team, as the season is far enough along for his players to have the necessary experience. Saturday night, though, the Gamecocks’ youth was clearly evident.
“We looked like freshmen and sophomores tonight, and we hadn’t done that for several weeks.” Horn said.
Calipari mentioned that South Carolina’s young players are reason enough to be optimistic about the future, though he knows better than anyone else that it helps when such youth has NBA potential.
While it did indeed look bad for much of the night, Gamecock fans can take solace with one fact — Kentucky doesn’t seem to think that anybody could’ve beaten them.