John Calipari: 'We Got Good Players, But Some Guys Aren't Playing Great'

Following its 89-75 loss to Mizzou, Kentucky is still searching for answers heading into 2023.

John Calipari has carried the same mindset to the podium after every Kentucky basketball loss this season. 

Wednesday night made No. 4 of the 2022-23 campaign, following an 89-75 thrashing at the hands of Missouri. The loss leaves Kentucky still without a Quadrant 1 victory, and just a pair of wins against teams currently rated inside the top-115 in KenPom. 

The Wildcats have lost a third of their games, with a gauntlet of opponents waiting in the wings in the coming weeks. Calipari has never had more than cautious optimism about his team since the season began, but if performances like UK's latest attempt at basketball continue into the meat of SEC play, the optimism will quickly shift towards the loaded 2023 class that's set to arrive in Lexington next season.

But surprise, Calipari hasn't lost confidence in his group. When speaking to reporters after the loss to the Tigers, he chuckled while talking about his players missing wide-open shots. Believe it or not, he actually liked the matchup for his team against the run-and-gun Mizzou squad. 

"I like the fact that they were going to spread the court on us, cause I thought we could run downhill and get threes," he said. "And we did. And we missed them all. I thought this was the game we wanted to play."

The Wildcats went 8-23 from deep, with five of the makes coming from freshman guard Cason Wallace. Missouri countered with 10 connections from behind the arc. The only difference was every time the Tigers landed a trey, it mattered. It catapulted a run, it shifted momentum, it ignited the sold-out crowd in Columbia. Every time UK hit a 3-pointer, it ended a run, cutting a deficit from 15 to 12, unable to even mount hope for a comeback attempt. 

Calipari isn't a fool, he knows that the product that took the court on Wednesday was not the "gold standard" that Kentucky has set for itself, though it's still yet to reach that standard one time this campaign.

"We got it to eight or nine, then we turnover, three, turnover, it's an 8-0 (Mizzou) run...what?," he said befuddled. "Those aren't my teams, so I got to go back and really figure out — you know, some of it is personnel. I think we got good players, but some guys aren't playing great." 

Threes aren't the only stat that weren't fully captured by the boxscore. Mizzou entered the game forcing nearly 20 turnovers a game, but the Cats committed just 14 in 40 minutes. While that seems like a win for UK, it quickly turns sour when you see the moments that the turnovers occur. 

"I look, and some of the stuff wasn't bad, but 14 turnovers, some of them — all of them — at like critical times," Calipari said squinting at the stat-sheet held in his hand, perhaps looking for any good statistic his team managed in the loss.  

Poor free-throw shooting made its usual appearance, as if it signed a television deal for a quick cameo or two every game. Oscar Tshiebwe shot a whopping 17 freebies, making 11. Those six misses, along with three others, still wouldn't have made up the entire deficit, but sure could've compiled some energy towards a comeback. 

It remains an issue, as nearly 300 Division 1 teams are better from the charity stripe than the Cats. Calipari is trying to switch things up in practice, but nothing is sticking:

"We missed free throws again, and i'm trying everything. From mental, to shoot 100 ... i'm trying to do a lot of stuff, but I don't want to make it that big of an issue, but it is when you get the game to where it was, if we had made some free throws, now it's maybe four or five and it's a little different feel." 

Essentially, Calipari is beating the same drum that's starting to sound all-too familiar in Lexington. He isn't panicked, but he won't hesitate to make sure Big Blue Nation knows he's been proclaiming patience since before the first game of the year on Nov. 7. 

"Like I said, we're a work in progress. I said it a while ago, it's gonna take some time ... there's things we gotta do that we're not doing," he said. "Losing stinks. Can't stand it, but we gotta step up to the plate." 

If they ever do step up to the plate, the Cats will already be in an 0-2 count, and a curveball — in the form of a rigorous SEC slate — is on the way. 

More on Kentucky's loss to Mizzou here.

Game notes from the loss can be found here.

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