John Calipari explains why the Kentucky Wildcats are built for March
Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari still believes in his team despite the struggles over the last few weeks.
The Wildcats looked good in the win over Ole Miss, holding the Rebels to only 63 points. Ole Miss has only scored less than this one time this season. Kentucky did a lot well on defense, which should help this team feel better as they prepare for Auburn on Saturday.
Coach Calipari has been adamant that his team is made for March, which has left many to wonder what he means by this. After the win over Ole Miss in Rupp Arena, Calipari explained what he meant.
Coach Calipari had this to say when asked why his team is built for March after the win over Ole Miss: "Well, the next two games don't. It's over this period of time. In the NCAA tournament you can't score 65, 63, 62. You can, maybe, in one game, but you'll get beat. You've got to be able to score points. We can do it. You've got to have a player that can go off in a game so you can advance. We have a couple of those. You can't be a high turnover team because the team you are going to play they are in the NCAA tournament. They are going to be a low-turnover team. We are a low-turnover team. The issue is will we be physical enough. The reason we were physical today. D.J. is physical. Tre is physical. Ugonna is physical. Adou is physical. Now you're playing four of your top eight are physical players. They are going to bang. That was one of our issues. 50-50 balls. We missed some today again. Justin didn't dive up for the ball. He tried to pick it up with one hand and threw it to them. 50-50 rebounds. Tre helped us today. We are still not where we need to be. And lastly, defensively, you got to be more connected. So, if we get those things squared away."
This win over Ole Miss was big for Kentucky and will keep them off the bubble down the stretch. Kentucky can make a run in March if they hustle and play high-intensity defense.
