When asked at Big Blue Madness how many Kentucky players were capable of being in a playing rotation this coming season, Davion Mintz would have needed all his fingers and two toes to count them.
“All 12,” he said, presumably meaning every player except Brennan Canada, Zan Payne and Kareem Watkins. “Everybody can go on this team.”
In this situation, UK Coach John Calipari will be basketball’s version of the little old lady who lived in a shoe. About finding meaningful playing time for this many players, does he know what to do?
One of the presumably deserving dozen, Sahvir Wheeler, threw up his arms when asked about how to find playing time for 12 players.
“That’s not my job,” he said, “so, I can’t answer that.”
During UK’s Media Day, assistant coach Ron “Chin” Coleman called dividing playing time among 10 or more players “a big challenge. And I think it’s something we talk about ad nauseam on a daily basis.”
During an appearance at the Lexington Rotary Club this fall, Calipari alluded to this challenge.
“How do I do this and not leave anyone behind?” he said before asking the Rotarians a rhetorical question, and then answering it. “How did I have to do it one year? I played two teams.”
That was a reference to the 2014-15 season when Kentucky promoted its use of platoons, a term that came to be verboten as rival recruiters used the possibility of less playing time against UK.
“I think it’s a problem I’d like to have,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said of a roster bursting with rotation players. “I don’t remember Kentucky being that concerned about that in 2015 when they went 38-0 with it. So, I don’t think it’s an issue.”
Tyler Ulis’ father remembered allotting playing time being a topic of conversation in that 2014-15 season. The surprise return of Aaron and Andrew Harrison as sophomores made for a crowded backcourt given the new wave of star freshmen included guards Devin Booker and Ulis.
“Even people in Chicago would ask me, ‘Man, their whole team is coming back. Now, the twins are coming back. Man, what’s that going to do to Tyler and playing time?’” James Ulis recalled. “I said, ‘Well, Cal said, ‘hey, if he does what he’s supposed to do in practice, you get on the court.’
“And I always felt Tyler’s game was perfect for Cal’s system. Him and Cal together, you know, it worked out well.”
Barry “Slice” Rohrssen, an assistant coach on UK’s 2014-15 team, said that Calipari’s desire to be fair with every deserving player led to the platoons.
“That platoon team was nine McDonald’s All-Americans,” Rohrssen said. “The guy who wasn’t was an NBA lottery pick.” That would be Willie Cauley-Stein, the sixth player chosen in the 2015 NBA Draft.
Rohrssen called it “an embarrassment of riches.”
Ten players averaged between 10.9 and 25.9 minutes per game. James Ulis recalled the 2014-15 season as smooth sailing in part because he and his son did not expect Kentucky to be a one-and-done way station.
“Honestly, it wasn’t really hard at all,” the elder Ulis said. “The team was 38-0 at one point, so what was there to complain about?
“When you’re winning and someone is complaining, you’re at the wrong place. We had a good time. We were the parents of rock stars. At Kentucky, (parents) were rock stars, too.”
Of course, Kentucky’s loss to Wisconsin in the Final Four raised a question about playing time. UK’s offense stumbled in the second half with the Harrison twins playing as Booker and Tyler Ulis sat.
“We were sitting there wondering why aren’t they in the game?” James Ulis said. “As a matter of fact, people were even texting me: Is Tyler hurt? What’s going on?”
The elder Ulis said he assumed at the time that Calipari was thinking of the national championship as a grand way for the Harrison twins to exit as college players.
“As a parent, I can look at it as I’m mad because Tyler should have been in the game,” he said. “Or I can look at it as that would have been a great way for the twins to leave Kentucky.
“It’s funny because right after the game, Tyler texted me. Like, Dad, oh my god, we should have won that game. And he obviously said some other stuff I will not share. But he also said right after the game that Cal thought Tyler should have played more.”
Fast pace important
One coach who is familiar with a system of mass substitutions is West Virginia assistant Ron Everhart. As a first-year coach for Duquesne in 2006-07, he substituted five for five (or some variation of that as a game ensued).
“I did it kind of out of necessity,” Everhart said.
Five of his players were shot at an on-campus dance during the preseason. So, Everhart patched together a substitution system for seven scholarship players and three walk-ons.
After substituting “traditionally” in early-season losses, Everhart tried mass substitution. More victories made the style popular with fans, players and what he termed a nearby “hockey community” affiliated with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“They thought it was a hockey game,” Everhart said of what looked like line shifts. “And they loved watching it that way.”
A fast pace of play is the “whole key” to making mass substitutions work, Everhart said. Although players logged fewer minutes, a fast pace meant more possessions, shots, rebounds, assists, steals and better personal statistics.
Coincidentally, Calipari has spoken of wanting Kentucky to play at a fast pace this season.
Ohio State Coach Chris Holtmann and Big Ten Network analyst Jon Crispin suggested that Kentucky will not be alone in having a deep roster of rotation-ready players. Each cited the transfer portal as making teams unusually deep.
“I think there’s going to be 10 guys drafted from one team one of these days,” Crispin said.
Holtmann, who grew up in Lexington and Nicholasville, said he was thrilled when a couple of his players chose to return to Ohio State for another season.
“But it does present some interesting situations,” he added.
Holtmann mentioned a relic from the past — redshirting — being revived. He cited Mikal Bridges, who redshirted as a freshman at Villanova and then three years later was the 10th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
“It only increased his development,” the Ohio State coach said before adding, “granted, he probably didn’t love it at the time.”
Of concerns about playing time, Holtmann said, “I think it’s the hardest thing for players to deal with. (As a coach) you’re always aware of that. You’re always checking the temperature in the room.”
The notion of a team having too many players sparked derision. “You can never be too rich or too thin,” Rohrssen quipped.
Kentucky’s depth can serve as insurance in case of injury or foul trouble, Calipari said during the Pro Day telecast. It also serves as motivation in practice for players wanting playing time.
“There will be a separation at some point,” Calipari said. “I don’t know when.”
There will be “an understanding” by the opening game against Duke on Nov. 9, Coleman said. Any rotation could be fluid. “This is something that’s going to be monitored throughout the whole year,” Coleman said.
The UK players spoke of how separation can occur.
“The biggest thing is being ready, staying ready,” Wheeler said. “And when your number is called, come in and contribute.”
When asked if less playing time would be easy for a player to accept, Mintz said, “When you have aspirations to play at the professional level, that’s how it is. This is just an introduction to that. I’m excited for it.
“If you don’t learn from it or don’t want to be part of this atmosphere, you’re not a Wildcat.”