The Athletic says UK’s missing piece is Brad Calipari

It seems like just about everybody in the country has a strong opinion about the current state of Kentucky basketball.

Whether you are the type of person who is attempting to put a positive spin on the Cats’ struggles, or ready to give up, there is no denying that this team needs to improve if they want to make a deep run in March.

Of the many things that you could point to as the reason for Kentucky’s current two game losing streak, the most telling stat is the horrendous shooting from outside.

UK is now shooting just 27% from behind the arc on the season, which is good for 326th in the nation. Not only is their percentage low but their makes per game also rank near the bottom of the NCAA basketball world. John Calipari’s team is making only 4.5 three pointers a game which ranks 345th in the nation. Woof.

The fact that Coach Cal made comments before the season about this being one of his better shooting teams is not sitting well with fans and the experts agree that limited makes from outside are really preventing this team from achieving their potential.

Seth Davis of the Athletic wrote a piece that detailed several college basketball team’s areas of weakness and what the missing piece to their puzzle might be.

It was no surprise that his take on Kentucky was in relation to their poor shooting through the first 11 games of the season. In UK’s three losses this year the Cats shot an abysmal 11-57 from deep. With kind of numbers it will be difficult to beat any quality opponent.

It was encouraging to see Nate Sestina return and nail 5 threes against the Buckeyes but it would be foolish to think that type of production is something that can be relied upon from game to game.

Seth Davis had an interesting answer for what Kentucky’s “missing piece” is this season. He says, it’s Brad Calipari.

Welcome home, son! The former UK walk-on rode the pine for the last three years in Lexington. Now that he has flown the coop for Detroit, he has shown that he has a mighty pair of wings. Calipari is shooting 45 percent from 3-point range, and 87 percent of his attempts come from behind the arc. The Jigsaw Man believes Brad will be a great addition to the rotation as well as the locker room. He’ll also be home for dinner.

Could Brad Calipari play meaningful minutes for this Kentucky team and contribute? I personally don’t know if I’m willing to go that far, but Seth Davis puts on the hard sell.

You can read the full article in the link here. It is filled with some useful information about several college basketball teams and the struggles that they’ve faced so far in the 2019-2020 season.