More Tre Mitchell was John Calipari's halftime "tweak" against New Mexico State

We’re only one game into the Kentucky men’s basketball season, but it’s never too early for John Calipari to do some fine-tuning. Or to make a “tweak”, as he likes to call it, a term the Big Blue Nation has become all too familiar with during Calipari’s head coaching tenure in Lexington.

During the Wildcats’ 40-point season-opening win over New Mexico State on Monday, Kentucky led by just eight points at the halftime break. UK struggled to put the ball in the basket efficiently, shooting a poor 38.7 percent from the field while dishing out a mere five assists. But something changed during that short intermission. It was a “tweak”, one that Calipari wouldn’t spill the beans about in the postgame press conference. It sure did work though. Kentucky went on to outscore the Aggies 49-17 in the second half, recording 12 assists on a 58.8 percent shooting clip.

“Were you watching the game? Did you know what adjustment I made at halftime?” Calipari asked after Monday’s win. “I love this because you guys have no idea, yet you will tell me how to coach and what I should be doing and all of that stuff. So what adjustment did I make in the second half? I love this. I am not going to tell you. It was a tweak.”

Immediately, the fanbase began to speculate what this “tweak” might have been. The question that prompted Calipari to mention the tweak was in reference to freshman guard Reed Sheppard, who played well in his official debut and even filled in at point guard for stints. But most pointed to more involvement from fifth-year forward Tre Mitchell, who went from zero first-half assists to five by the end of the game.

Mitchell confirmed during Thursday’s media session that the tweak was the latter line of thinking.

“(Calipari) definitely made the adjustment,” Mitchell said. “He was just like ‘Let’s go through Tre a little bit. Let him make the decision and pull that big guy out and let him make multiple decisions in a possession and see how it goes from there.’ Obviously, it worked out pretty well.”

Tre Mitchell confirmed that playing through him on offense was Calipari's halftime "tweak" against New Mexico State.

Mitchell went from 0 first-half assists to 5 in the second (tying a career-high). UK outscored NMSU 49-17 in the second half and shot over 58%. pic.twitter.com/b4tDX3v6dv

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) November 9, 2023

Mitchell’s five assists tied a career-high, a career that had seen him already play 102 college basketball games before coming to UK. He’s never averaged from than 2.2 assists per game during his previous four college seasons, but Calipari is making the 6-foot-9 Mitchell a focal point while the team continues to play without their trio of seven-footers. So far, so good. Along with his five dimes against NMSU, Mitchell also added nine points and nine rebounds without recording a single turnover.

You don’t have to watch Mitchell in action long to notice his playmaking capabilities either. He’s always going to be one of the smartest players out there. He thinks one or two plays ahead of the opposition, which helps make up for any athletic deficiencies he might have. Now in his fifth season of college ball, Mitchell can download defenses and break them down in real time.

“I think I see the floor very well and I feel like I make a good decision with the ball most of the time,” Mitchell said. “Everything I do on the court is like a processing type of moment. You have to play off the defense, and then make the defense play off you, if that makes sense. You have to make that first decision and make them make an adjustment. When they make that adjustment, you make a decision off of that. That’s how I see the game — read and react type of thing.”

Without those extra 21 feet of size lurking in the paint, Calipari is having to play smaller on both sides of the floor. On offense, while it requires rebounding to be a team effort, it has created pockets of space that were typically clogged over the last few seasons. There is more room to operate inside and outside — which led to Kentucky’s guard living in the paint against New Mexico State while also allowing the team to fire up 29 three-point attempts.

Of the Wildcats’ 86 points against the Aggies, 27 came from long-range, 46 from inside the paint, and 13 from the free-throw line. For those counting at home, that equals all 86 points. Kentucky attempted just three shots all night that would be considered “mid-range” looks. Calipari is calling it random basketball, but it’s easier to just call it modern. Mitchell is the catalyst behind it all.

“Someone like Tre, that’s a good passer, good shooter, and he can dribble. It just opens up the floor a lot, bring the big man out,” Reeves said Thursday. “The guards can facilitate, get in the paint, and make plays.”

When Mitchell was the hub of Kentucky’s offense, good things happened. It was only a half-game sample size, but the early returns are certainly positive. Will that be Calipari’s approach moving forward? We’ll find out on Friday night when the Wildcats host Texas A&M-Commerce at 7:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network+.

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