How John Calipari's gut may have finally found Kentucky's winning on-court rotation
Andy Staples was joined by On3’s Bracketologist James Fletcher III on the latest episode of Andy Staples On3, where they discussed the improvement of the Kentucky Wildcats.
The team is currently 20-8 on the season, and entering March looking like a solid contender in the SEC. Fletcher III believes a lot of that has to do with John Calipari becoming more and more comfortable with his team over the last couple of weeks, especially with star Justin Edwards.
“I think that John Calipari is getting comfortable with this group,” Fletcher III said. “I think you’ve seen, as Justin Edwards has turned the corner, that has been a huge relief for Calipari. Not only because he’s a freshman, who you probably needed to get playing time just because of who he is and the stars next to his name, but also because, you see, he offers something that not many people on that roster offer, from a length standpoint. From a creation standpoint, a versatility standpoint. He needed Justin Edwards to be better than what he was for a large portion of this year.
“He’s turned the corner now, and he is a valuable piece of that rotation. That has helped him as much as anything. But yeah, I think he’s starting to get comfortable with this group.”
Additionally, Fletcher III believes Calipari has developed a certain trust with his team, and that’s leading to him having more confidence in allowing his Wildcats to make the plays needed to make a run in March.
“You hear him talking a little bit more after games about, you know, his gut feeling of who should have been in the game. Now. I don’t think that John Calipari’s gut just wasn’t working in the first half of the year. I think he just didn’t quite know whether he could trust his options, and so his gut wasn’t sure what to go with,” Fletcher III added. “Now, he knows who he can trust, so his gut is sure of who he should put in the game at the end of it.”
The good times are rolling for John Calipari and Kentucky. We’ll see if they’ll continue to rack up the victories this weekend, as they’ll face the Arkansas Razorbacks as the regular season continues to wane down over the next couple of weeks.