Mid-game benching (and back-and-forth with Coach Cal) led to Aaron Bradshaw's breakthrough finish

It was a tale of two halves for Aaron Bradshaw in Kentucky‘s matchup at Florida. You could probably section it into four quarters, really. For 31 minutes, the 7-1 forward was — well, not good. Zero points on 0-4 shooting with just two rebounds.

And to make matters worse, John Calipari said Bradshaw pushed back on the Kentucky coach’s decision to put him on the bench when things weren’t going well. Coach Cal’s response? This isn’t AAU basketball anymore. You don’t do that here, not at the University of Kentucky.

“How about Aaron in the first half? We had to take him out, like, are you kidding me? Can you even play in this game?” Calipari said. “I took him out once and he kind of, ‘Why am I coming out?’ Are you (serious)? I don’t go for that. You don’t — I’m not an AAU coach. You’re not, no. That’s why I went to him on the bench, ‘We don’t do that here.'”

He told the story twice during his call-in radio show Monday evening to drive that point home. His messaging is clear.

“When he came out of the game, he was like, ‘Why are you taking me out?’ Oh no. No. This isn’t AAU, you’re not in Augusta, Georgia (at Peach Jam). That ain’t how this works. And if you want me to tell you exactly why I took you out, let me tell you. And that’s what I did. Then I couldn’t help myself, I went back and told him again. I may have gone back three times to let him know.”

And then came the final nine minutes of the game. Bradshaw reentered the game and went for 10 points on 3-3 shooting with five rebounds down the stretch, highlighted by the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:27 to go. He had a clutch block to get the ball back right before that, then hit a free throw with 35 seconds to put the Cats up five. Unplayable through three quarters of the matchup, the 7-1 forward ultimately won the game.

“But guess what? He went back in the game, not only did he rebound, what was the big play? A blocked shot, then makes those (shots) and gets a steal. And what is he named? Freshman of the Week, after an awful first half! That just tells you,” Calipari said. “… I believe in him, so what did I do when I stuck him back in? I ran an out-of-bounds play where he made it. What about the last play where he steps back for (the three)?”

The Kentucky head coach is proud of Bradshaw’s response to make plays down the stretch and finish strong. That’s what the team needed from him, and it resulted in a big-time road win to open SEC play.

But don’t get it twisted: that initial pushback on the bench won’t cut it.

“I believe in him, but I can’t do it for you. And if you’re not going to fight, you’re not going to be a pitbull dog, you’re getting pushed around and can’t grab a ball? ‘It’s going through my feet, I tried.’ Well, someone else will try harder,” Calipari said. “That’s just how it is. We’ve got a good group of kids. And I’ll say this again, there is no pressure on one player. Like, ‘I have to play well or we lose.’ No there isn’t. If you don’t play well, I just won’t play you as much. If you want to stay at my house, I’ll make you breakfast. You’re just not playing today.”

A learning lesson Bradshaw managed to make the most of in real-time.