Young Cats trying to stay focused with No. 1 ranking up for grabs

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UK men's basketball head coach John Calipari yells at his team in the second half of UK's win over Louisville at Rupp Arena on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010. Photo by Britney McIntosh | Staff

They’re the 15th youngest team in the country. They’re also the only undefeated team in the country.

With Texas’s defeat to Kansas State late Monday night, the No. 2-ranked Cats found themselves as the only team in the country without a loss on their record. Now, UK head coach John Calipari has the task of taming outside pressures as much as possible and keeping his team focused with the task at hand.

“There are a lot of things going on that they’re still trying to learn from,” said Calipari during the weekly Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference on Monday. “I’m trying to do everything I can to get these guys to stay humble in the success we’re having and understand we’re not as good as everybody thinks we are. Stay humble, but also stay hungry.”

Staying hungry involves making sure his players are always pushing themselves to go further, he said. Calipari is asking his players whether they are trying to learn everyday they’re on the floor. Calipari said that’s difficult for a  certain 19-year-old and a bunch of guys on his team who have been told “they poop ice cream” and are the “best thing since buttered bread.”

Leaving the ice cream and buttered bread on the table, Louisiana State head coach Trent Johnson said the way the Cats have handled themselves this season and have gelled speaks volumes to what Calipari has done in his first year in the Bluegrass.

“I’ve always thought,” Johnson said. “It’s one thing to have great talent, but to get them all to be on the same page in a short period of time and compete at a high level, that speaks volumes to coaching.”

One aspect of the youth that may be rearing its ugly head is the Cats’ inability to hold on to big leads.
UK led by 15 points in the second half against Florida before the Gators came back to tie the game with just over five minutes to play. Against Auburn, the Cats opened up a 19-point first half lead until the Tigers roared back to tie the game with 8:24 remaining.

Calipari said in the Cats’ game against Auburn on Saturday his guards took bad shots, guys were open up the floor and didn’t get the ball and UK turned it over too much.

“We’re getting people down 16 to 19 to 20 points and the next time you look up it’s a tie ball game,” Calipari said.

The Cats’ ability to put an opponent away will be tested again this weekend. On Saturday, they’ll play former UK star John Pelphrey and his Arkansas squad (8-9, 1-2 SEC) with a chance to take the No. 1 ranking on the line.

Players help with “Hoops”

On Sunday, the young Cats may have experienced a maturing and humbling experience as they helped Calipari in his “Hoops for Haiti” telethon.

Calipari partnered with WKYT and local Lexington businesses to run a telethon to help raise money for disaster relief in Haiti. Calipari got his players to talk on TV and help answer phone lines when people called in. The telethon raised over $1 million. Calipari said afterwards it felt like they had won a championship and thanked his team for giving their time during an off day.

“It was just a great experience for our players to start understanding at a young age you can use your fame and fortune for others, or you can hold on to it tightly,” Calipari said. “And I think they looked at this saying, ‘Wow, we didn’t know we had this kind of impact.’ ”