Blue-White scrimmage serves as showcase for UK

Big Blue Madness is about the hype.

The Blue-White scrimmage is about the basketball.

It’s a chance to see UK in a formal scrimmage situation. Head coach John Calipari said it’s straight business. No manufactured event.

With the presence of the crowd, though, Calipari may blow the whistle a little less, giving the players more freedom to keep playing.

“I remember him stopping it a couple times last year,” Terrence Jones said. “It just depends on how comfortable with how he’s feeling.”

Based on Calipari’s recent comments, he’s been really comfortable with how his team is shaping up 13 practices into the season.

Calipari is quick to applaud his team’s innate competitiveness, and that should be evident in the scrimmage.

“You should see the wars between Darius (Miller) and Michael (Kidd-Gilchrist),” Calipari said. “Wow. Vicious. And after they’re done they hit each other on the butt. They like what they’re doing for each other.”

With a starting spot possibly at stake — one of the trio of Miller, Kidd-Gilchrist and Doron Lamb will most likely have to be the sixth man — it naturally amplifies the intensity of a practice.

Which is just fine for Calipari. He has a good team, and he knows it. Normally one to say, “I like my team,” Calipari says, “I really like my team.” It’s a subtle difference, but it’s meaningful and intentional. He’s not shy about how good his players are, and how much better they are when competing against the best.

Which often can be the guy they’re guarding.

“What I’ve liked is that Terrence Jones – if there’s a better player in the country, I gotta see him,” Calipari said.

Jones has, according to Calipari, achieved less of an improvement and more of an overhaul.

Last season, Jones could only go left. Now, Calipari said, “he goes wherever he wants.”

Last season, Jones was a streaky shooter. Now, Calipari said, he’s “pretty consistent.”

Last season, Jones was defensively challenged. Now, Calipari said, “you’re not just running by him.”

And perhaps the most drastic, and important, change was in his work ethic.

“Last year, he and Doron (Lamb) fought to be the last guy to walk into the gym every day,” Calipari said. “And it was 30 seconds before the bell went off. And I think they were in the hallway arguing who should go first and who should be following.”

Now, Jones is first in sprints. It was a change precipitated in part by losing last year without a championship — he had won three straight championships in high school — and by simply being a sophomore instead of a freshman.

“Just maturity, I’d say,” Jones said, trying to explain the changes. “Just growing up.”

At the scrimmage, we get to see just how much of a finished product Terrence Jones 2.0 is, and plenty more.

From a basketball perspective — which is what makes the scrimmage matter — I want to see what type of system Calipari has instilled so far. He said he’s tinkered with a full court press, didn’t like it, and instituted a new one. He’s shifted how they run the fast break to where everyone runs wide instead of sending a player or two at the basket.

His time at the Dominican Republic led to him dropping plenty of hints about running way more pick-and-roll than ever before. His old train of thought: why get two defenders around your best player, such as John Wall, when he could just beat them by himself? His new train of thought? He has the players to make it work.

Plus, “When you have the same lesson plan for 10 years, you kind of get bored with it,” Calipari said.

He had compliments for nearly every player on his team. Eloy Vargas has stepped up his conditioning. Miller is better than ever before. Kyle Wiltjer is scoring points more often than expected. Marquis Teague is leading the offense.

“And Anthony (Davis) is,” Calipari said, taking a pause to see just how high he could go with his praise. “Very good.”

There’s no hype in that.