Kentucky men’s basketball’s Sunday afternoon scrimmage was the “worst scrimmage since I’ve been the coach here,” according to John Calipari. As a result, he’s anxious as the season opener against Morehead State approaches.

“[I have] both feet and hands on the panic button,” he said. “We have a ways to go… [we’re] not playing hard enough, not enough team defense… everybody’s still locked into their own thing.”

With 10 new players and the only returning player (Keion Brooks Jr.) out due to injury, it hasn’t been the easiest task to get everyone on the same page. Everyone is having to do something a little different than they’re accustomed to, which makes it even more difficult.

“We’re asking guys to do stuff they’ve never done before, which means they’re going to be a little uncomfortable,” Calipari said, “asking them to create habits they’ve never had before.”

The “first team” in the scrimmage, which consisted of Devin Askew, B.J. Boston, Terrence Clarke, Isaiah Jackson and Olivier Sarr, got knocked around by the second unit because of a lack of juice.

“We didn’t bring the energy from the jump,” Sarr said. “The second team really punched us in the mouth from the get-go and it took us time to react.”

Coach Cal wants his players to demonstrate leadership through body language, keeping calm under pressure and being locked in. That isn’t what he saw from his team on Sunday. And if they continue not showing these things, he said they may get smacked around as they go through the team-building process.

“They’ve got to understand how they’re all tied together. Your jobs are to pick each other up… make it easier for each other,” he said. “If you’re out here doing your own thing… all of the stuff you think is going to happen, isn’t happening… if that becomes who we are, it’ll be rough.”

Heading into the date with the Eagles, Calipari wants his team to fight every day. He said his 2010 team, featuring John Wall and Demarcus Cousins, was the worst team in terms of execution that he’s had at Kentucky. But they won a lot of games anyway because they fought so hard.

Without that trait, trouble could come earlier than expected. Because of the hectic start to the year, he doesn’t have time to slow things down and get that point across.

“If we’re not fighting, if we’re not playing full possessions,” he said.  “We’ve got to keep it on… it’s all stuff I think they’re going to have to learn as we go.”

Fans may be wondering how Cal expects to compete with Kansas just a week from now with so much out of sway. His message though is one that has become familiar in a season’s opening stretches: “Just be patient.”

We’ll see if he, his players and BBN are able to do so regardless of the team’s performance in the Bluegrass Showcase.