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Nerlens Noel, center, smiled after scoring 19 points and grabbing 14 rebounds as he left the court with teammates Kyle Wiltjer, left, and Willie Cauley-Stein after Saturday¿s win at Texas A&M. tonight UK hosts South Carolina and coach Frank Martin calls Noel a ¿human eraser¿ because of his shot blocking. (Victoria Graff / February 5, 2013) |
Auburn coach Tony Barbee said Monday that Kentucky “was as hot as anyone in the league,” a statement Kentucky coach John Calipari obviously would not agree with.
Kentucky is on a three-game win streak after wins at Mississippi and Texas A&M last week going into tonight’s home game with South Carolina. However, Calipari says UK remains in a “state of flux” in early February.
The UK coach noted that sophomore point guard Ryan Harrow missed games for personal reasons early in the season. Freshman center Willie Cauley-Stein has been out after needing knee surgery in mid-January but did play four minutes at Texas A&M in his first game back.
“We have been in flux the whole year,” said Calipari on the Southeastern Conference coaches’ teleconference. “We have not settled into who we are. We are playing harder, executing better. Individuals are playing better. But we are still in flux.
“We’re getting better but we’ve been in flux the whole season. We have not been able to say, OK, here’s who we are and let’s just get better and it’s put us in positions where we’re not as confident in each other. Guys don’t believe in each other the way they should, we just haven’t been together like that.”
Calipari again indicated that one major problem has been a lack of physical play. He said UK had “guys that don’t want that type of (physical) game” like UK survived in overtime at Texas A&M.
“Until you relish that, you look passive and soft,” Calipari said. “You have to want that.”
Calipari used Florida guard Scottie Wilbekin as a player who “relishes that kind of game” and how Florida’s success starts with him.
“You have to want to drive that man into the screen. You want that action,” the UK coach said. “If you don’t want that action, the physicalness has a big impact.”
Kentucky has the nation’s premier shot blocker, Nerlens Noel, after having Anthony Davis fill the same role last year. But Calipari said Miami (Fla.) have guards that make tough plays as does Alabama, a team that beat Kentucky.
“They want a rough game. If you are trying to avoid contact, you are at a big disadvantage. If the game is called loosely, you have no chance to win,” Calipari said. “It wears you down and by the end of the game you are turning it over, missing shots, missing free throws.”
Calipari said his first UK¿team featuring Patrick Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe welcomed physical play. The Final Four team two years ago had trouble with it and went 2-6 in SEC road games. He said even last year’s national championship team was not overly tough early in the season,
South Carolina coach Frank Martin is more impressed with the Wildcats’ guard play than what Calipari indicated he was.
“I think Cal has done an unbelievable job. You are talking two guys, one (Julius) Mays is a transfer and one (Harrow) sat out last year (as a transfer). I think Cal has done a tremendous job getting those kids to grow. Being a guard is hard. It’s not like they have upperclassmen around them to make the transition easier. For Mays, this is also his first year around Cal. I am sure he learns every single day something that he did not know before.”
Martin said having freshmen like Alex Poythress, Noel, Cauley-Stein and Archie Goodwin with no proven older player to lead them is difficult. However, Martin believes UK’s overall defense is better than some believe and is more than just Noel blocking shots.
“It starts up top with their ball pressure. It is hard to break them down and when you do it, it is not a big crack,” Martin said. “Then the human eraser (Noel) is back there to protect the rim. I think defensively they are very good. I don’t like speaking off the top of my head, but watching on film the times they have not had the success they want has not been because of their defense. They have missed shots or not executed the way Cal wants on the offensive end. But it definitely was not because of their defense.”
Noel leads the nation with 97 blocked shots and Martin, as other SEC coaches have stressed, knows how he will impact tonight’s game.
“You don’t have time for shot fakes. You don’t have time to hold the ball. When you see a crack, you better have your eyes on that target and let it go, and know that he’s coming, because he comes every time,” Martin said. “But if you hesitate on your move, you better pass that ball, because blocked shots are turnovers. They’re one and the same.
“There’s not a lot of Nerlens Noels out there that block shots at his rate. But blocked shots are turnovers and that’s what (Noel) brings to their team. He’s a special player and the thing is they just don’t have one. They’ve got two of them, because Willie Cauley blocks shots with the best of them, too.
“That’s the advantage of having those shot blockers back there. You can get out and guard people and really harass them, and if you get them playing a little too fast, then you create what everyone thinks is a negative play because someone gets beat off the dribble. Well, now it’s a guy that gets beat off the dribble because the guy on offense is playing too fast, breaking away from the offense because the defense is disrupting, and you’re taking them right where you want them, to that shot blocker, which is the equivalent of stealing the ball on the wing.”
Kentucky is on a three-game win streak after wins at Mississippi and Texas A&M last week going into tonight’s home game with South Carolina. However, Calipari says UK remains in a “state of flux” in early February.
The UK coach noted that sophomore point guard Ryan Harrow missed games for personal reasons early in the season. Freshman center Willie Cauley-Stein has been out after needing knee surgery in mid-January but did play four minutes at Texas A&M in his first game back.
“We have been in flux the whole year,” said Calipari on the Southeastern Conference coaches’ teleconference. “We have not settled into who we are. We are playing harder, executing better. Individuals are playing better. But we are still in flux.
“We’re getting better but we’ve been in flux the whole season. We have not been able to say, OK, here’s who we are and let’s just get better and it’s put us in positions where we’re not as confident in each other. Guys don’t believe in each other the way they should, we just haven’t been together like that.”
Calipari again indicated that one major problem has been a lack of physical play. He said UK had “guys that don’t want that type of (physical) game” like UK survived in overtime at Texas A&M.
“Until you relish that, you look passive and soft,” Calipari said. “You have to want that.”
Calipari used Florida guard Scottie Wilbekin as a player who “relishes that kind of game” and how Florida’s success starts with him.
“You have to want to drive that man into the screen. You want that action,” the UK coach said. “If you don’t want that action, the physicalness has a big impact.”
Kentucky has the nation’s premier shot blocker, Nerlens Noel, after having Anthony Davis fill the same role last year. But Calipari said Miami (Fla.) have guards that make tough plays as does Alabama, a team that beat Kentucky.
“They want a rough game. If you are trying to avoid contact, you are at a big disadvantage. If the game is called loosely, you have no chance to win,” Calipari said. “It wears you down and by the end of the game you are turning it over, missing shots, missing free throws.”
Calipari said his first UK¿team featuring Patrick Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe welcomed physical play. The Final Four team two years ago had trouble with it and went 2-6 in SEC road games. He said even last year’s national championship team was not overly tough early in the season,
South Carolina coach Frank Martin is more impressed with the Wildcats’ guard play than what Calipari indicated he was.
“I think Cal has done an unbelievable job. You are talking two guys, one (Julius) Mays is a transfer and one (Harrow) sat out last year (as a transfer). I think Cal has done a tremendous job getting those kids to grow. Being a guard is hard. It’s not like they have upperclassmen around them to make the transition easier. For Mays, this is also his first year around Cal. I am sure he learns every single day something that he did not know before.”
Martin said having freshmen like Alex Poythress, Noel, Cauley-Stein and Archie Goodwin with no proven older player to lead them is difficult. However, Martin believes UK’s overall defense is better than some believe and is more than just Noel blocking shots.
“It starts up top with their ball pressure. It is hard to break them down and when you do it, it is not a big crack,” Martin said. “Then the human eraser (Noel) is back there to protect the rim. I think defensively they are very good. I don’t like speaking off the top of my head, but watching on film the times they have not had the success they want has not been because of their defense. They have missed shots or not executed the way Cal wants on the offensive end. But it definitely was not because of their defense.”
Noel leads the nation with 97 blocked shots and Martin, as other SEC coaches have stressed, knows how he will impact tonight’s game.
“You don’t have time for shot fakes. You don’t have time to hold the ball. When you see a crack, you better have your eyes on that target and let it go, and know that he’s coming, because he comes every time,” Martin said. “But if you hesitate on your move, you better pass that ball, because blocked shots are turnovers. They’re one and the same.
“There’s not a lot of Nerlens Noels out there that block shots at his rate. But blocked shots are turnovers and that’s what (Noel) brings to their team. He’s a special player and the thing is they just don’t have one. They’ve got two of them, because Willie Cauley blocks shots with the best of them, too.
“That’s the advantage of having those shot blockers back there. You can get out and guard people and really harass them, and if you get them playing a little too fast, then you create what everyone thinks is a negative play because someone gets beat off the dribble. Well, now it’s a guy that gets beat off the dribble because the guy on offense is playing too fast, breaking away from the offense because the defense is disrupting, and you’re taking them right where you want them, to that shot blocker, which is the equivalent of stealing the ball on the wing.”
