John Calipari was asked after today’s game why Dontaie Allen and Jacob Toppin, two Kentucky bright spots in the first half, didn’t start the second half.
Calipari claimed he took Allen out the first time because he “wouldn’t shoot the ball.”
He went on to explain that Allen and Toppin didn’t start the second half because he’s “not trying to take anyone’s heart away.”
On why Dontaie Allen didn’t play more and the decision to go big …
“At the end of the day, we were running plays for Dontaie and he wouldn’t shoot the ball. That’s why I
took him out the first time. One time we ran two things for him with shots and he wouldn’t take them.
Dontaie wasn’t the issue. When you defend like we are defending, you have to figure out how to space
the count, play offensively. How do we make them place extra passes and low turnovers? I tried to go
zone and then I had a guy break down during the zone. You can see I’m frustrated. We are here. We still
have our chances. Not giving up on anybody. Trying to figure it out. The toughness this team needs to
play with. First half they had 10 or 12 offensive rebounds. What?! We should be a better offensive team.
It got rough and we should be able to battle back.”
Claim one free share of stock from Robinhood
On why Dontaie Allen and Jacob Toppin didn’t start the second half after leading the team in scoring in
the first half …
“One of the things we talked about – with Lance (Ware) too – I want to win every game I coach, but on
the other side, I’m not trying to take anyone’s heart away. You can sub them three minutes in and go.
We didn’t start the half that bad. That wasn’t the case. It’s not like substituting a quarterback; he played
a bad quarter so I’m going to play a different one. You don’t coach that way. What you do is sub them in.
Dontaie got great looks in the second half. He got fouled, but they were going at him defensively. We
had a lot of breakdowns and could have changed lineups. At the end of the day, we got out-toughed.”
