John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats are young, streaky and loaded with talent

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Shortly after No. 5 Kentucky used 11 threes to beat Virginia Tech 93-86 at Rupp Arena on Saturday, despite the fact that it was the Hokies who came in averaging 10 treys a game and 46.8% from the arc (second in the nation) Hamidou Diallo looked very much like he wanted to roll his eyes when reporters asked if he personally was caught off guard by the Wildcats’ precision from long-distance. 

“No. We’ve got a bunch of players who can get going,” he said. “We’ve got so many good guys.” 

A lot of us tend to forget that when we talk about how young this team is. It’s easy to look at the Wildcats youth and pick out their shortcomings. Coach John Calipari said afterward that he knows the expectation in Lexington: You win every game by 20, because if you win by 13, people are going to ask what’s wrong with the Cats?  

Then you watch them play in person, and you remember that when they finally put the pieces together, they might be able to beat everyone by 40. 

This group might be young — the youngest in the country, in fact, and the youngest roster that master of one-and-done coaching Calipari has ever led — but it arguably is the most talented, too, and so nothing should be a surprise: Not the big-play ability, not the defensive lapses, not even the fact that the All-American point guard played in sunglasses because of an eye injury and still managed to churn out a terrific stat line. And yes, Quade Green (17 points on 6-for-12 shooting with five assists and just one turnover) said he will be wearing his shades the rest of the season. 

“I was going to wear sunglasses today, too, I told him if he has to do it I’d do it with him,” joked Calipari. “The only reason I didn’t do it is cause it would have been a national story.” 

Calipari probably is right, but eventually he would have been overshadowed by talk about his team, and just how good it will be in March. 

The Wildcats (9-1) have issues, for sure. Virginia Tech (9-2) did pretty much whatever it wanted off pick-and-rolls, taking advantage of Kentucky’s lack of defensive rotation. It got so bad that an exasperated Calipari said afterward that at one point he told his team, “Just switch, just play zone,” because “they’re freshmen, they don’t listen … they’re more concerned about their man than coming over and helping.” 

UPSET:Trae Young, No. 24 Oklahoma shoot down No. 3 Wichita State

MORE:Michigan State survives scare from Kendrick Nunn, Oakland, 86-73

MORE:Three reasons Indiana rallied to beat Notre Dame 80-77

They can go cold offensively and allow opponents to get hot quickly. Leading 37-32 with 5:07 to go in the first half, Kentucky waltzed into a timeout with swagger. Then they limped into the locker room after Virginia Tech rattled off a 15-2 run to end the first period, as the Hokies led 47-41 at the break.

But they have stretches of brilliance, too. Like when they hit three-pointers in three consecutive possessions spanning 1:27 to go up five in the first half. (Keep in mind they came into the game making just 4.5 threes a game on average.) Or when P.J. Washington followed a missed Kevin Knox layup with a monster offensive board and dunk, giving the Cats an 80-73 lead, sparking an eruption in Rupp and a visible deflating of Virginia Tech. Or when Diallo, who had was 6-for-19 from three this season, nailed his fourth of the game, a dagger that gave UK a lead with 88-83 with 50 seconds to go. 

“We’re still learning each other,” Calipari said. “But it’s a bunch of good kids, trying to please me and the staff … And they’re smart. They pretty much only need to be told once. The only thing that happens is they get fatigued. They get fatigued and then they revert back to their old selves, and their old selves — he pinched his nose and waved his hand in front of his face — stink.  

On Saturday, seven Wildcats scored at least nine points, led by Knox (21 points, five rebounds, four assists). They turned Virginia Tech over 19 times, which led to 36 points. They grabbed 14 offensive boards, which led to 18 second chance points. They came in averaging 4.5 made threes per game, and drained 11. 

Like Diallo said, they’ve got a lot of guys who can get going. So even if it takes them awhile to get there, don’t be shocked when they get going at the same time.