By Alex Forkner | Sports columnist

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When it comes to mixing lineups this season, John Calipari won’t have to play alchemist. He doesn’t have to make an elite team from nothing, gold out of lead. He’s starting with gold.

The only question: How brightly can that gold glitter?

In UK’s 76-42 victory over Transylvania University, Calipari was confronted with an energy crisis that overshadowed any possible positives to be gleaned.

“Energy and effort trumps talent. Always has and always will,” he said. “Our talent isn’t playing with enough energy and effort… That doesn’t look like the No. 1 team to me.”

He watched lackadaisical defense turn to uninspired offense, cycling through multiple groups of guys on the floor and not seeing much deviation from that standard of standing around.

“One of his pet peeves is not playing hard,” freshman forward Julius Randle said. “We were just not out there playing hard enough on defense or offense running the floor. We’re young and we don’t really get it right now.”

Even Randle, who finished as the only Cat in double figures, notching a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, wasn’t exempt from Calipari’s ire. The coach thought his star freshman could have been more of a go-getter from the start.

“Throw it off the backboard, go get it,” Calipari said. “You could do that, but you’re going to get clubbed a little bit because when you shot it, three guys were clubbing you to keep you away from the goal. You had to fight to go back in.”

Calipari toyed with multiple lineups and substitution patterns, even going five-for-five a couple times in the second half, all in an effort to light a spark under his team.

“If we get that kind of effort, that’s exactly what will happen: They’ll all come out,” he said. “Then the guys will be saying, please don’t play me with him and him because you’re going to take us all out. Then all of a sudden peer pressure takes over. Then I don’t have to coach the guy to play hard, they will.”

One of the few embers on the floor was Marcus Lee, who didn’t see action in the first half before logging an active nine minutes in the second. Lee was all over the place — defending, going after balls, clapping his hands like Orson Wells in “Citizen Kane.” But his performance was an exception.

The torpor even spread to the sideline. Jon Hood cramming a lob pass for a dunk wasn’t enough to get some guys on the bench excited, prompting Calipari to insinuate that some guys should get used to cheering from the pine if they don’t start competing harder.

Of course, UK is — once again — young, younger than ever before, really. Six true freshman played double-digit minutes, with Lee accumulating nine minutes. And a seventh freshman, Andrew Harrison, spent the night on the bench nursing his bruised knee.

This Harrison’s return to the point guard spot, where he’ll know how to push the pace and keep the ball moving, will likely go a long way in curing these early ills Calipari has diagnosed his team with.

Transylvania head coach Brian Lane, who has a whopping 13 freshman on his roster, thinks the Cats will overcome their underachieving.

“There is so much learning that has to take place with freshman and I don’t care how good they are, and how talented and how big — it is just going to take a little time,” Lane said, before adding that UK would be much more motivated in its next outing.

“When is the next exhibition game? I feel sorry for that team.”

It’s not like Calipari has to lock himself in a lab somewhere, cautiously experimenting with different lineup mixtures. And there is really no fear of having one blow up in his face, leaving his hair standing on end, safety goggles askew and face black with soot.

His job is distillation, to refine what he has and bring out the best qualities in a team that’s full of fine attributes.

The gold may have some scuffs here and there; it’s up to Calipari to make it perfectly polished.