Does Calipari prefer quickness or Twin Tower?
October 8th, 2009 | 
Author: By LARRY VAUGHT
As the start of basketball season gets closer, already many are speculating that Kentucky may have the best set of interior players it has had in years.
There’s Patrick Patterson, a potential Southeastern Conference Player of the Year. There is DeMarcus Cousins, a potential national freshman of the year. There’s Daniel Orton, another equally talented freshman. There’s Perry Stevenson, a two-year starter. There’s Josh Harrellson, a player who figures to be much better under John Calipari than he was under Billy Gillispie.
But what about Calipari? Would he prefer a Twin Tower look or a smaller, quicker team?
“If it is Twin Tower, someone has to be really, really skilled and someone has to be able to play out on the floor and shoot 3’s. Length is important. I would like a 6-5 point guard or a player that plays 6-5. You could be 6-0 tall and have a 6-8 wing span and jump 40 inches and I would be fine with that,” said the Kentucky coach.
“I would like 6-7 to 6-9 wings and a 6-11 big guy and a 6-9, 6-7 and a 6-5 point guard off the bench. The longer the better and if a guy is not 6-5 and is 6-2, he just plays bigger. As long as you play bigger, that’s fine.”
Why is length so important?
“The thing I like about length is that it plays into the way we play defensively also. Now you are a two-guard and you are 6-7 and can put it on the floor and you can play. All of a sudden you are long,” Calipari said. “Then if I ever do choose to play a zone — last year we played some zone that was scary because we were so big and long.
“I don’t like playing zone that often, but if maybe if I play Daniel and DeMarcus together that’s the way to go. Play a 3-2 zone and let three long wings cover all on the floor and those two stay home and cover the middle. There are all kinds of ways to play that can be intriguing.”
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17 Responses to “Does Calipari prefer quickness or Twin Tower?”
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Larry, you have just been killing it lately with all of your articles on UK basketball. You’re easily the best writer in Kentucky and are greatly appreciated by all Wildcat fans.
Thanks. Just keep spreading the word to you friends and give a click to the page sponsors when you can. They are the ones who make this all possible and the more the numbers grow, the more I can do
Larry, this is terrible. What a crushing dilemma. Should we start this NBA draft pick or one of these other ones? Should this blazing fast ballhandler play or one of the other blazing fast ones? It’s enough to make you want to just pack it in for the season.
Well, wait a minute. Maybe we should overlook all of these problems and just win another championship. What a wonderful problem to have. This is like a dream.
I think Coach Cal loves the type “problems” he has, other coaches just dream of having these type “problems”. We sure never had these problems when I played at Perryville in 61-63. Great insight Larry….keep up the good work…
I think you are right Paul. Any coach would like the problems he’s going to have. And I know you are telling the absolute truth about Perryville. Nice to hear from you. Tell your other UK friends about checking here. And thanks for the comments
Have to agree JIm. As Paul noted, what a nice problem to have
Larry, I agree with brett. Your material is always relevant and interesting.
When you look at what Calipari has done for UK since April, I can only try to imagine what he can do with his team in the next month.
They will be VERY, VERY good, “right out of the gate” IMHO.
With guys like Harris, Liggins, Miller and Dodson giving us tons of size on the wings, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see a 3-2 zone. I still believe we could have stolen 6 more wins last year with just a little zone every now and then to slow down a hot shooting team.
We are returning a group that’s played nothing but man to man for two years. Physically, that’s the most demanding defense anyone can play. Especially the Gillispie style man to man with no real switching on the screens. Needless to say, our experienced guys can play some d. We were among the leaders in the country last year in FG% defense. If the veterans actually get the chance to play a zone, it will be like a vacation to them.
Can you imagine Cousins and Orton down low, Patterson playing the 3 spot…and going with Liggins and Miller at guard? Talk about some serious length!!
Mr. Vaught,
Love your website; I read it all the time. Just wanted to say hello and hope that all is well with you and your family. Hopefully if I get to make it up to a game, I bump into you. Go CC and UK.
Thanks PoBoy and CC grad for the kind words. And I do hope to see you CC grad.
And you might be on to something Carlos. Maybe Gillispie’s one contribution will be to help make this a great defensive team like Cal wants.
I also tend to agree with you Ky Wildcat. I think UK will be a lot better a lot quicker than Cal wants everyone to believe
Mr. Vaught,
Kentucky has had length before with Sam, Mel and Sky Walker but the bigs on this team will need to be guarded more than 10 ft out. The depth on this team hasn’t been seen since 1996.
I can’t wait to read your latest post each morning. Thanks and please keep up the good work.
Go Big Blue and Larry Vaught too!!
Glad you enjoy the post. One today about the women’s clinic is pretty cool, too. Glad Sarah took the time to share a perspective we could not have got here any other way. Loved what she thought of Cousins.
And you are right about these bigs being able to go out away from the basket. It’s going to be fun
Wow I hate to be a follower Larry but you are FIRST on my favorites. Always insightful and never degrading. That last part is so important. There is a thin line between critical & degrading but you obviously have good eyes. Keep up the good work. GO BLUE OR STAY HOME!!
Thanks. I don’t mind being critical when it is necessary, but I try to remember how I felt when my son played high school and college sports and remember these are kids with families, friends and problems too
I think Coach Cal has it all this year, quickness and the twin towers. Who says you can’t play both at one time on the floor. You may need it at certain opportunities for a few minutes. Remember the past twin towers, how exciting was that to watch? I just hope all the players will be satisfied with their role and the amount of time they will play. I’m really excited about seeing Harrellson, I really liked him last year and didn’t think he was being developed like he should have been. And then there is Patterson, Hood, Wall, Cousins, and the rest…my gosh, I do believe the Basketball Gods were looking down upon Kentucky this year and said now is the time. We have a lot of paybacks due us this year, VMI, which we don’t play this year, SC, LSU, “that other school located in Louavull”, Vandy, Florida…we will rise to the occasion. GO BIG BLUE!
Great post Linda. I’ve got a feeling Cal might go big and small both, too. It’s going to be interesting about Harrellson. He sure is anxious for this season