There was a great philosopher/marketer/coach who once said that if your team does not have a post presence, then it is a fraud.
That coach was none other than John Calipari.
And as his Kentucky Wildcats carry a two-game losing streak into Saturday's annual showdown with in-state rival Louisville at Rupp Arena, surely a big part of UK's problem has to do with its two tallest players and their lack of presence in the post.
In Saturday's 71-65 loss to No. 5 Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic, Nick Richards played all of 12 minutes, scoring two points and failing to grab a rebound. Foul trouble limited the 6-foot-11 junior's participation. Meanwhile, EJ Montgomery, a 6-10 sophomore, scored four points and grabbed five rebounds in 27 minutes.
This wasn't some kind of one-off, either, for a team sputtering on offense. In the Cats' two games in Las Vegas, which included the 69-66 loss to Utah, Richards scored all of seven points and managed a mere four rebounds. Since scoring a career-high 25 points against Fairleigh Dickinson on Feb. 7, Montgomery has scored 12 points in three games.
"Nick's got to come back," Calipari said after Saturday's game. "I told him, 'You've got to get back in the gym. You put yourself in this position by how you practice and how you approach this. It's not acceptable, let's go.'"
As for Montgomery, Calipari said, "Well, one of the things is you can offensive rebound and go get shots. So now you don't have to worry about someone passing you the ball. Just say, 'I'm going to rebound offensively.'"
Alas, another sore spot. Thus far, this Kentucky basketball team has proven to be a horrid three-point shooting team. Even with Nate Sestina going 5-for-8 against the Buckeyes, the Cats made just seven of 23 three-pointers for 30.4 percent. That raised the season percentage to 27.8, which ranks 323rd out of the 353 teams playing Division I basketball.
And as CBS Sports' Gary Parrish points out, no team that shot less than 28% from three-point range has made the last nine NCAA Tournaments.
When Calipari's past teams missed shots, they crashed the glass for offensive rebounds. Not so with this team. It ranks 93rd in offensive rebound percentage at 30.9. Saturday, Ohio State won the boards 33-25. Kentucky's leading rebounder was 6-3 guard Tyrese Maxey with six.
Sestina provided a much-needed spark Saturday. No doubt about that. After the Cats clanged 15 of 17 threes in the loss to Utah, Sestina was 3-of-6 from three all by himself in the first half against Ohio State. After Buckeyes Coach Chris Holtmann made a halftime adjustment, Sestina could work himself free for just two three-pointers in the second half, and none the final 14 minutes of the game.
In other words, he needs some help. Over UK's last three games, Maxey has made just one of 16 three-point attempts. Immanuel Quickley has made three of 15. Kahlil Whitney has made one of four. Johnny Juzang has taken one three-pointer, a miss.
Part of the problem outside is what's not going on inside. While Richards and Montgomery struggled, Ohio State star Kaleb Wesson scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Teammate Kyle Young had 10 points with six boards. Freshman E.J. Liddell came off the bench to score nine points and grab five rebounds in 17 minutes. Wesson even fouled out with 3:30 left, but the Cats failed to take advantage.
"If this is who we are," Calipari said, "we'll be fine."
The philosopher/marketer/coach wants to keep a positive track heading into Christmas break. We get it. And Ohio State is a really good team. Utah is not, however. The Utes lost by 28 points to No. 20 San Diego State on Saturday. The Cats may have shown the fight Cal was looking for in Las Vegas, but they also showed serious shortcomings in need of addressing.
One: Developing a consistent post presence.
