Robert Morris coach Andrew Toole breaks down Kentucky basketball roster

For the first time in almost two years, there will not be capacity restrictions at Rupp Arena when Kentucky takes the floor. The Wildcats’ home-opener is against a relatively familiar non-conference opponent, Robert Morris. Colonials’ head coach Andrew Toole is trying to prevent his team from playing wide-eyed at Rupp.

“It’s one of the historic venues in college basketball, so it’ll be a great memory for them as they move on, but while the game’s being played you really gotta focus on what you’re doing on the court,” Toole said on Friday morning’s Kentucky Roll Call.

“You gotta stay connected. You gotta try to communicate the best you can. Everyone’s got to be locked into one another because as it gets loud, it’s really hard to hear what’s going on from the bench and you’re going to be out there with four other teammates and you gotta figure out how to handle the next possession or else things can get more and more difficult for you.”

Toole has firsthand experience. This will be the third time he’s coached against John Calipari’s Wildcats. The last time they visited Rupp, Robert Morris trailed 44-20 at half before falling 87-49 in November of 2013.

Challenges Kentucky Presents

There’s only one game of tape out on the Wildcats, but Toole’s coaching staff is able to look at previous film of Kentucky’s experienced players, a rarity for Calipari’s Cats.

“You see the talent, you see the effort they play with. (Sahvir) Wheeler’s ability to get into the paint and make plays for others; (Oscar) Tshiebwe’s ability to rebound presents a major problem I think for everybody. When you’re playing against guys the size of Duke and still going out and getting double digit offensive rebounds is a really impressive thing. They have a lot of length. They’re playing hard,” said Toole.

“They bring in guys like (Jacob) Toppin and (Lance) Ware off the bench who come in and provide a lot of energy and can fly around out there. They provide you with a lot of issues. (Kellan) Grady is experienced. He was a 17-point a game scorer at Davidson. To have that guy on your wing with his shooting ability presents a lot of space. He’s somebody that the defense has to constantly be worrying about because he can get going really quick. We know all the challenges.

“Then you got a guy like Keion Brooks who was All-SEC last year and he’s probably the least talked about guy during the course of a game, which is crazy. It just shows some of the improved talent that they’ve added to their roster this year. They’re getting up guarding fullcourt. They’re trying to speed you up and make you uncomfortable. We’ve gotta be able to handle all of those challenges.”

How Toole Coaches Against Tempo

Kentucky’s roster will overmatch Robert Morris. They can also overwhelm the Colonials with tempo. Against Duke, Kentucky got the ball up the floor quickly off misses and makes. If Robert Morris is not ready, the Cats can run up the score in a hurry.

“Wheeler does a really good job of getting up, guarding guys fullcourt and making it difficult before you get the ball over halfcourt. If you can’t handle that, it’s going to be really hard for you to control tempo,” said Toole.

“You gotta be poised, you gotta be able to get into your offense and you gotta be able to execute. There are some areas where I think we’re going to be able to attack them and get good shots, get good opportunities and if you can take good shots on the offensive side, that’s going to help your defense. If you’re taking shots within the context and the flow of your offense, it’s going to help with your transition defense, it’s going to allow you to get guys back so you can hopefully set your defense.”

The Basketball Gods’ Gift in 2013

Toole is .500 against Kentucky as a head coach, not something many can say. The NIT meeting in Moon went down to the wire. Kentucky had a chance to win with a three by Kyle Wiltjer that looked good when it left his hands.

“God, I was praying it didn’t and thank God it didn’t,” Toole exhaled almost ten years later. “The joy of coaching is the defense we had on to execute in that moment, and that was a big moment for us, we made an error… That’s probably the last guy we wanted to have that kind of time and space in that game, but fortunately the basketball gods were shining upon us and they let that thing kick out.”

You can hear the entire conversation with Toole by listening to Kentucky Roll Call on SoundCloud, iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts or where ever you get your podcasts.