Calipari on CJ Fredrick's Shooting Struggles: 'I Haven't Lost Any Confidence in Him'

Kentucky's head coach remains well aware of what Fredrick brings to the table when he's hitting shots. He just hasn't seen it as of late.

CJ Fredrick's first season on the court for the Kentucky Wildcats began in quick and emphatic fashion. 

After missing the entirety of last season due to injury, the sharpshooter opened the 2022-23 campaign with a bang, scoring a combined 34 points in his first two games. 

He would go on to shoot 50 percent through the first four games of the season, making 18 field goals, 10 of which came from 3-point range. 

Thought to be an essential piece of the Cats' offense, Fredrick was lights-out to start. That light has since faded rather quickly. 

In UK's last five games, Fredrick has made multiple field goals just once. The issues began in Spokane, as the Covington Catholic graduate went 1-9 from the floor as the Bulldogs ran away with an 88-72 victory. 

Some steam was picked up last Tuesday in Kentucky's win over Bellarmine, as he managed 11 points on a trio of 3-pointers, but it quickly subsided over the guard's last two outings, capped off on Saturday as he failed to score for the first time this season in a career-low nine minutes against Yale. 

Head coach John Calipari was asked about Fredrick's struggles over the past couple of weeks, as well as what it's going to take to get him going once again:

"I haven't lost any confidence in him."

Plenty of chatter has surrounded getting him and fellow shooter Antonio Reeves on the court at the same time, but Calipari has normally elected for one or the other as of late. 

Lately, that player has been Reeves. The Illinois State transfer had a somewhat sharp day, scoring 10 points on 3-7 shooting, though his defense wasn't always up to snuff. The issue was, neither wad Fredrick's play.

"You look at it, and one of the things I said at halftime is I want to put him and Antonio together because I kind of like those two playing together," Calipari said. "Then Antonio broke down three straight times on defense, put CJ in for him. Game played out different than I wanted it to."

Call it a slump, but maybe call it an uptick in defensive pressure? Both Fredrick and Reeves led UK in scoring across the first few games of the season. Reeves has continued on a positive trajectory, but Fredrick has fallen victim to not being able to adjust to what opposing defenses are doing to deny him easy looks from the perimeter. 

Early in the season, sure, but an issue nonetheless. 

"He started off the year so crazy. I think teams are just starting to emphasize him," point guard Sahvir Wheeler said post-game. "Give it a game or so, he'll be back to where he was." 

Calipari also mentioned that he's felt a bit of hesitance from the sniper, a negative sign for someone who's job is to take shots the second they become available:

"If someone's playing better, then they're going to play more. When I put (Fredrick) in the second time, I said, ‘Look, kid, just shoot the ball. If you're free, let it go.’"

Fredrick finding his rhythm and getting back to tickling the twine is important to Kentucky maintaining balance on offense. Reeves won't be able to carry the workload from behind the arc all season, meaning the Cincinnati native needs to get his mojo going in a hurry. 

For more on the win over the Bulldogs, click here.

More on Oscar Tshiebwe's performance here.

Watch John Calipari post-game here.

Game notes for the victory can be found here. 

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