NBA owners may be the ones responsible for the current lockout, but it’s Kentucky coach John Calipari who has the league’s coaches under house arrest.
“Any NBA coaches that want to see my team play, they’ve got to come early because I get them on the floor and start picking their brain about things I’ve seen their teams do,” Calipari said.
Most recently, it was Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. Next week, new Indiana coach Frank Vogel takes his turn. Calipari is spying the league’s pick and roll offense, which he might use for the first time this season.
“I’m not going to put something in where I’ve not studied it,” Calipari said. “We had Erik Spoelstra in here and I made him come early so we could talk pick and roll. You’re not just watching my team. I’m taking stuff from you and then you’re welcome here.”
Calipari’s space-friendly Dribble Drive Motion offense would seem to run counter to the pick and roll.
“I’ve never run pick and roll,” Calipari explained, “partly because I didn’t want to bring two defenders to my best player. Why would I do that? Especially, when he didn’t need somebody to get himself open. How would they have played John Wall if we played pick and roll? They would have gone under. Now, I have John Wall shooting jump shots instead of attacking the basket.
“But we’re a little different now,” Calipari said. “As we attack, we have the players that we do want to get the ball to, that we do want to create space for so we’re using the pick and roll to get into the Dribble Drive. Instead of coming down and just starting, we’re doing it off the pick and roll.
“You have to settle on something at some point of how you’re going to play,” Calipari concluded. “But what I’m finding out is that the pick and roll with this team has really been interesting.”
Kentucky’s coach also admits to a selfish reason to consider an offensive change, one that pushes him out of his comfort zone.
“You have the same lesson plan for 10 years, you kind of get bored with it,” Calipari said. “We’re doing different drills. We’re even doing different things in the Dribble Drive. And you know where I learned them? Coaching the Dominican Republic team. The way they played the corners naturally is how we’re playing and I had never done it that way. The staff said, ‘What are you doing?’ And I said, ‘Just watch it, you’ll see.’ Now, they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, this makes it so much better in the Dribble Drive.’ I learned a ton of stuff on that trip. It was well worth it.”
Who knows which offense Calipari will settle on for a run at Kentucky’s eighth national championship. But it is fascinating to watch a coach who is open to possibilities.
“I’m not here to say, ‘Watch me coach,’ or ‘This is how my team always plays,’ or ‘It’s Cal ball,’” he said. “I don’t know how we’re going to play yet. I know we’re going to play hard, be unselfish, be a great team from offense to defense and then from defense to offense, we’ll do it together and you’ll have fun watching us. Short of that, I don’t know how we’ll play.
“This is not going to be easy because we’re so young again,” Calipari said. “But I really like my team. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other teams out there who are better, but I really like my team. My peace of mind will come from preparing these guys so that we’re at our best when March rolls around. If that’s the case, then we’ll all be happy.”
