During a practice last Thursday, junior Kentucky Wildcats starting forward Alex Poythress was en route to making a breakaway layup in a scrimmage, streaking towards the basket untouched, when he suddenly collapsed to the floor, briefly screaming out in pain.
“It was honestly like somebody in your family died,” said teammate Willie Cauley-Stein. “Everybody was quiet. Nobody was talking. Nobody was anything. We were just in there with him. It was just real sad.”
The injury didn’t actually seem all that bad at first. Poythress was able to get up, walk it off, and head off for an MRI while his teammates resumed practice.
Later in the evening Wildcats head coach John Calipari sent the team a text message instructing them to to gather for a last-minute team meeting. There, the team was given the bad news: Poythress did in fact tear his ACL and would miss the rest of this season.
The injury was demoralizing to head coach Jim Calipari and his team.
“Our team was devastated for Alex when I told them,” Calipari said. “There were tears throughout the room because this hurt them to the core. How they will respond I really don’t know, but I will do my best to be there for each of these kids.
“Things like this can bring people together or it could break people apart,” he said. “It’s a hard deal. I mean, it’s hard for all of us. Our practice yesterday just went ‘poof.’ Next man up and all that, it’s all great coach speak. The reality of it is the fear and the anxiety and all the other stuff that Alex has and we have for him, it just zaps you. It zapped me.”
Although Poythress’ stats may not stand out all that much (5.5 points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game, and 1.5 blocks per game on 20.3 minutes per game), he was very much an important piece for the No.1 Wildcats. Poythress was considered the team’s best defender, and a reliable veteran player who could always be counted on to provide energy and clutch plays. He was also third on the team in blocked shots.
But perhaps most importantly, Poythress was part of the Wildcats’ “Blue” platoon. For those unfamiliar with the system employed by Kentucky this season, there are basically two units on the team that Calipari refers to as “platoons.” The Blue platoon starts the game, and then the White platoon, consisting of five entirely different teammates, enters after four to five minutes of play. The back and forth substituting of entire units usually continues on until the final seven-to-eight minutes of the game, when Calipari instead subs in players based on matchups and any player that might have a hot hand at the time. As unconventional as it seems, it has yielded great results for the nation’s top ranked team, providing playing time for a loaded team whose top 10 players could start at any school in the country.
Losing a player such as Poythress meant throwing a wrench into the cogs of a well-oiled machine that has seen this Wildcats team dominate nearly every team they’ve faced, including resounding victories over No.5 Kansas and No.4 Texas.
Cauley-Stein seemed skeptical of continuing the system in the absence of Poythress.
“It just kind of ruins our platoon,” he said. “Nobody can make the plays that he makes. He’s a freak athlete, does special things that you can’t really replace. So now we’ve just got to figure out how to play differently.”
The Wildcats’ first test of their depleted unit came this past Saturday against the No.21 North Carolina Tar Heels. Freshman forward Trey Lyles, a member of the White platoon, made the start in place of Poythress, scoring nine points and three rebounds in 23 game minutes as the Wildcats won easily by a score of 84-70.
Calipari still opted to employ the system, and utilized the White platoon as a four man unit, with Cauley-Stein often sticking around to fill the fifth spot after substitutions. The Tar Heels elected to employ a zone defense against the Wildcats for most of the game, daring them to shoot, which was most likely due to the fact that Kentucky game into the game shooting 27 percent from three-point range on the year.
The Wildcats responded by going 7-15 from behind the arc for a season-best 46 percent.
“They came out and I don’t think they hit the rim from (three-point range) to start,” Tar Heels guard Marcus Paige said. “We were going under ball screens and play zone, but they started making three’s. That’s a tough team to beat if they start making outside shots.”
Although they had an incredibly efficient offensive performance while forcing the Tar Heels to commit 19 turnovers, one area of concern for Kentucky was the fact that North Carolina still managed to score 70 points. The Wildcats currently allow just 48.0 points per game, good for 2nd nationally. The absence of Poythress was certainly a factor in that, but expect the team to make adjustments as the season goes on as other players attempt to make up for his lost presence. Trey Lyles will have to step it up the most if he continues to maintain his spot in the starting lineup.
There is still plenty of season left for Calipari and his team to reconfigure things in the wake of Poythress’ absence. His defensive prowess will be missed, but it may have opened the floor up more for a a better perimeter attack and offensive game flow. If the Wildcats can continue to move the ball and hit outside shots like they did against the Tar Heels, an undefeated regular season does not seem out of the realm of possibilities.
Cauley-Stein’s expectations certainly reflect that sentiment.
“If we can play this way against top teams in the country,” he said, “we should be playing like this all the time.”
Upcoming tests against UCLA and No.4 Louisville to close out the month will reveal much as to how well Kentucky can continue to adapt.
