John Calipari explains Kentucky's failed last play vs. Gonzaga

Was that lob play really what John Calipari really wanted Kentucky to run down two to Gonzaga with 13 seconds left? In his postgame press conference following the 89-85 loss to the Bulldogs, Calipari explained that if the lob to the basket wasn’t there, he wanted the ball to go to Antonio Reeves at the top of the key. With Reeves tangled up in the lane, Reed Sheppard threw it towards the basket, where Gonzaga’s Ben Gregg snatched it before Adou Thiero could.

“The plan was, Antonio, if that lob wasn’t there and obviously it wasn’t, was to go to the top of the key,” Calipari told reporters. “But that didn’t lose us the game. The 18 offensive rebounds, 50 points in the paint. We thought we could guard them one on one, we probably needed to trap more.”

During his postgame conversation with Tom Leach, Calipari said the play was one Kentucky has run in the past with some success. He also doubled down on how his team had shot itself in the foot long before the failed lob.

“It’s a play that we’ve run in the past years where the top options are the lob or the pop-out and it was Antonio. They stole the lob. They stayed back but that didn’t cost us. I’m still disappointed with how we started the game. Come on. We’re better than that.”

“I told them after, we lost the game in the first half”

That play is just one example of how poor Kentucky’s execution was today. Gonzaga came out of the gates hot, building an 11-4 lead in the first three minutes. The Bulldogs led by ten at halftime, but the Cats whittled that margin to three in the first three and a half minutes of the second half. Calipari said he was proud of his team for responding, but reiterated that poor starts continue to cost them.

“The kids kept fighting. They just kept fighting. They never stopped and so — but it’s just tough. I mean, we’ve lost three games kind of like that where we have a chance and I told them after, we lost the game in the first half. That’s where we lost the game. And then we came back and fought and made it close but the first half was what cost us.”

With under a month left in the regular season, how does Kentucky fix its slow starts?

“You know, we keep on them about their intensity to start a game and the fight you have to have, especially at home. It was just disappointing that we got beat to so many balls. Just disappointing. I think we’re better than that.”