10 things we learned from this week’s John Calipari Show

Kentucky is finally turning the corner, a four-game winning streak for the Wildcats following a wildly disappointing 10-6 start to the season. The rotation is tightening up and shots are starting to fall, leading to real optimism regarding the long-term growth of this team. Certainly not a finished product and progress to be made, but the vision is there — a night-and-day change from the overall mindset just two weeks ago.

What does John Calipari think of the recent turnaround and the trajectory of his team? How was progress made behind the scenes? The Kentucky head coach gave listeners an inside look during his call-in radio show on Wednesday. Miss it? KSR has some of the top takeaways.

Defining and embracing individual roles

As made clear during Kentucky’s winning streak, Calipari is cutting down the rotation and singling out individual roles for his players. It’s on them to embrace those roles, no matter if it means starting, coming off the bench, or not playing at all. Whatever your job is, be an all-star with it.

“The process begins with individual players trying to develop, and not only develop themselves, but trying to establish themselves and who they are. And that supersedes everything for a while. When the roles start shaking out, when you have a crisis, when they gotta come together to help each other because it’s not gonna work (if not). … We’ve gone through this. We’ve gone through the ups and downs, but I’ll tell you what: I’m loving this team. I’ve not stopped loving them.”

Playing time may be harder to come by to close out the season, but not impossible. Everybody must be ready for their moment. Until then, though, it’s about embracing what they need to bring to the team now.

“They’re accepting role,” Calipari said. “We’ve started shortening the rotation, some guys aren’t playing as much as they have been playing. Some guys aren’t playing at all for the time being. My thing is to get you ready because you don’t know how this is going to play out. And we have terrific people.”

Becoming more player-led

On that note, Calipari said his players are starting to speak up and bring this team along on their own, something that wasn’t happening early in the year. His best groups are player-led, and that’s what this one is starting to become.

“They now trust each other, they’re being all-stars in their roles — and all the roles have changed. … If we’re going to be any good, the team has to be empowered,” he said. “They’re now telling me, ‘Run this, Coach.’ At halftime, I’m asking about the offense. What are we seeing? What’s out there? What do we need to do with this? I told them prior to Tennessee, we’re breaking through at some point. If I’ve got to drag you, we’re breaking through.

“Now it’s getting to the point where they’re dragging me. And that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Accepting roles is a big part of it.”

Sahvir Wheeler sets the tone

Calipari has stressed the importance of getting the ball up the floor quicker and initiating the offense as of late, putting a greater emphasis on ball movement. He didn’t like the way Cason Wallace walked the ball up the court at Vanderbilt, so he leaned on Sahvir Wheeler to set the tone.

“The ball started whizzing up the floor, across the floor, around the floor. I looked at Cason and said, ‘See what I’m talking about now?’ So when he went back in, he did the same thing, and all of a sudden, we were really (good). … All of a sudden, our guys are driving and creating opportunities. We are creating good shots, good shots for our shooters.”

If Kentucky keeps playing that way, he expects an offensive explosion to hit sooner rather than later.

“I just can’t wait for that game where a bunch of them drop,” he said.

Kansas remains a serious threat

Kansas may be coming in on a three-game losing streak, but that doesn’t mean the Jayhawks should be taken lightly. It’s still a team with elite wings and versatile scorers at all five positions. Maybe not the traditional Bill Self team you’re used to seeing, but certainly one capable of coming to Rupp Arena and leaving with a victory.

Calipari is preparing his team for a battle.

“Really good. They’ve lost a couple games, but they’re still what they are — they’re Kansas,” he said. “Reigning national title, championship. Bill (Self) is a heck of a coach, you know what he is. They play fast, play five-out or four-out. They don’t have the (David) McCormack kid, which means they aren’t as traditional — they play with what’s there.

“When you’re playing basketball and you’re playing another team that’s really competitive, you take what they give you and roll with it.”

Chris Livingston learning to play the four

Speaking of players embracing certain roles, Calipari said he was going to continue working in Chris Livingston at the four, something we’ve seen in spurts during Kentucky’s recent winning streak.

“Chris is playing both three and four now. … He just hasn’t played (the four) enough. We practiced it and he played some of it in this game (at Vanderbilt),” he said. “We’re going to keep practicing it more where he’s more comfortable.”

It’s more about how he’s used and the impact he can make on the floor than the specific position he’s playing on the floor. Positionless basketball is the future — and the now, really — so maximizing versatility is the key. Livingston is a prime example of that.

“This game is positionless, so if you get caught up in four, three, two, one — you’re talking ego now,” Calipari said. “The game is positionless anyway, you’ve got a lot of guys on the perimeter. The question is, can you guard that position? Can you rebound that position? Can their guy guard you at that position? It’s nice to keep trying, putting guys in different spots and just seeing how they do.

“Chris is a terrific player, one of those seven or eight we’re playing right now. And he’s starting.”

Basketball Benny lineup with Sahvir Wheeler

Calipari sees the value of having multiple shooters and scorers in the lineup alongside Cason Wallace at point guard. It also worked in spurts with Sahvir Wheeler at Vanderbilt, something he’ll continue to use moving forward.

And with Livingston sliding down to the four at times, the possibilities for a true four-out dribble drive are there. In short, he likes what he sees.

“Well, they did in that game (look good with Wheeler, Reeves and Fredrick),” Calipari said. “You know, you’re playing seven or eight guys now. That’s about what we’re doing right now. We will play them together. Cason, Antonio and CJ have looked good together. Chris is playing both three and four now, so we can go small. You saw he got a rebound and a dunk when he was at the four position.

“So yeah, again, you may not be playing as much as you want, but we do have a couple guys not playing at all, waiting for an opportunity to step in and having to be ready. That is the hardest thing in this game to do, not knowing if you’re playing game to game, but being ready if you are.”

Honoring Mike Pratt for Coaches vs. Cancer

The late Mike Pratt, a Kentucky basketball legend on and off the floor, will have his jersey retired at Rupp Arena when the Florida Gators come to town on Feb. 4. Before then, though, Calipari honored the former player, coach and analyst during the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suites and Sneakers Week.

To celebrate the partnership between the American Cancer Society and the NABC, coaches spend the week of Jan. 23-29 sporting their best sneakers during games to raise awareness and bring attention to the cause. Calipari’s choice? A pair of Nike Dunks dedicated to the life and memory of Mike Pratt.

“I got a pair of shoes that has a picture of Mike Pratt and the uniform he wore, No. 22,” Calipari said. “It’s got his date of birth and his death, and it’s on a great pair of shoes, Nike shoes. My guess is we’ll probably auction them off, I’ll sign them and we can do something where you come to the office and pick them up. The money will either go to Mike’s charity or Coaches vs. Cancer, whatever it’s for. When I saw the shoes, I said, ‘This is unbelievable.'”

Blocking out the clutter

The Kentucky coaching staff has made it a gameday tradition to take players’ phones away the night before a matchup and leading up to the opening tip in hopes of clearing their mind and blocking out the clutter.

Calipari joked that they’re having to check under beds and in closets to confiscate the technology, but knows they’re still finding ways to hear the outside noise. He’s proud of their efforts, though, to ignore it as much as possible and focus on getting this team rolling to close out the season.

“I respect all of these guys, how they’ve dealt with all this,” Calipari said. “We’ve tried to take stuff away from their plate, but at the end of the day — you say don’t look at social media, they say they’re not, but you know they are. But we’ve got a great group of kids and they represent this state and this university in such a positive way. I’m just proud of them.”

‘96, ’97 and ’98 squads returning to Lexington

UK AD Mitch Barnhart joined the program to announce that members of the 1996, 1997 and 1998 Kentucky teams would return to Lexington the weekend of the Wildcats’ game vs. Tennessee on Feb. 18.

The school announced the reunion will include players from the team, coaches, and managers beginning on Friday, Feb. 17, and continuing into Saturday afternoon’s showdown between UK and UT at 1:00 p.m. EST on CBS. All three teams will be recognized during the game.

“They are so familiar to the incredible tradition of Kentucky basketball,” Barnhart said. “Those teams always enjoy being around each other and celebrating, and we certainly enjoy having them return to campus to celebrate them. … This was a great time to have those 25th-anniversary kinds of celebrations and let those guys be around each other again.

“It was a different era where the players, many of those guys stayed three and four years, so it’s an incredible opportunity to shake their hands again and let them wave to our fans and have an opportunity for them to fellowship and tell stories they love to tell. That is such an important part of Kentucky history.”

No Rick Pitino (but Tubby Smith will be there)

Cameron Mills, a member of all three teams, jumped on the show immediately after and explained that Rick Pitino received an invite to return to Rupp Arena to celebrate with his former players. He will not be able to make it, though, as Iona plays both Friday and Sunday that weekend.

“(UK) took the time to call everybody individually and said, ‘We really want you to come back,’ including a guy by the name of Rick Pitino. They called Coach P — and wouldn’t that be a moment if he came back, one way or another for fans — but he got the invite. Unfortunately, it’s a Saturday and he has a game Friday and Sunday. Knowing the way I know him, he’ll be prepping for Sunday, but I just love that they called our coach from ’96-97.”

Someone who has accepted the invite?

“Tubby (Smith) will be there,” Mills added. “He’s already committed.”

It’ll be complicated with just 21 players suiting up for the Wildcats in that three-year stretch, many of whom are coaching at the collegiate level now. The goal, though, is to incorporate everybody — whether that’s in person or virtually.

“We’re trying to make sure everybody is there even if they’re not there,” he said.