John Calipari Faced With Good Problems Following Howard Drubbing

Kentucky's 95-63 win over Howard on Monday night proved that head coach John Calipari has a problem on his hands.

Without preseason All-American center Oscar Tshiebwe, preseason All-SEC point guard Sahvir Wheeler or potential breakout candidate Daimion Collins available to play in the season opener, the Wildcats still managed to cruise rather easily.

The problem is this: Kentucky, when fully healthy, has 11 players who are capable of playing meaningful minutes this season.

At point guard, true freshman Cason Wallace excelled, nearly compiling the fourth triple-double in program history with 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. If he continues to play at a high level, how do you manage his minutes along with Wheeler's when he returns from injury?

Rounding out the guard rotation, Antonio Reeves and CJ Fredrick combined for 42 points on 14-25 shooting against the Bison. Shooting could come at a premium for the Cats, but those two will be perennial snipers from behind the arc. True freshman Adou Thiero will likely lose out on minutes down the stretch of the season, presuming UK gets healthy and stays that way, but even he's shown signs of early improvement.

Chris Livingston is the only true "small forward" on the roster, but how will his minutes shake out amongst the bevy of forwards at Calipari's disposal?

Jacob Toppin and Oscar Tshiebwe are obviously playing for a majority of the game, but how will Collins get playing time alongside freak-defender Ugonna Onyenso and an improved Lance Ware?

Problems, yes, but they're good problems for Calipari and his staff to have after just one game. While 11 guys might be available, not all of them are seeing the floor consistently once the season gets rolling.

The Kentucky head coach dove into figuring out rotations and fighting for minutes after the win over Howard on Monday night:

On playing Wallace and Wheeler when both healthy, amongst other positions...

"They're all good problems, but it's, for us, that's my job to figure this out and make sure everybody's, you know, we're together. We're cheering for each other. I'm not, I mean I think part of the reason we're playing well is I'm playing eight guys. Nice little rotation. And you're getting in there and you can make a mistake and you stay. So the ideal rotation would be eight."

On how close the team is already...

"This is a unique and special group. And they're competing for minutes, but they're cheering for each other."

How Wallace ran the point, mentioning who will start and come off bench...

"CJ (Fredrick), Antonio (Reeves). I mean, I know ego, you want to start, but who cares? Antonio was unbelievable. He defended and he is trying. And I thought Chris (Livingston) was good, Adou (Thiero) was good. I mean they, Ugonna (Onyenso) showed signs. He still, we're getting screened by his man and he's not vocal enough. But he's really good. I thought Lance was better. Lance (Ware) has the minutes on the court, he's going to do stuff. I also think he and CJ play together well. They play off of one another pretty good."

What scoring 95 points without Tshiebwe and Wheeler means for the offense and minutes when everyone's fully healthy...

"We're going to have a couple guys fighting for minutes because won't believe this, you know Oscar's (Tshiebwe) playing. So that means those 28 to 30 minutes are coming from somewhere. Daimion (Collins) comes back, let's just, even if it's 20, 25 minutes, it's coming from somewhere. So guys you start -- and I'm not going to play 11 guys. So like one of the things I'm trying to do is I'm holding guys to a high standard because they're going to be fighting for minutes. Most of it will come down to, are you breaking down defensively? Are you not rebounding balls? Then I got to play someone else."

If there's one coach you want to give this many good problems to, it's Calipari. After all, it's only November, so there's plenty of time to find the right answers to those problems.

The No. 4 Wildcats will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 11, hosting the Duquesne Dukes inside Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. EST and will air on the SEC Network.

For more on the Wildcats' win over Howard, click here.

More on Cason Wallace's outstanding performance here.

Watch: Calipari, Wallace, Fredrick and Reeves Talk Post-Game

Game Notes from the win can be found here.

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