Kentucky coach John Calipari hopes to never use platoon system again
Kentucky coach John Calipari says the platoon system is one and done.
“If you ask me if I’m ever going to platoon again, my answer is NO,” Calipari said on his website. “Last season was an absolute outlier. It’s just not the way I like to coach. I would rather play seven or eight guys because I believe that gives us the best chance to win. I think we wrote the book on platooning this year, but I hope we stick it on the shelf and never have to use it again."
Spreading out playing time and having guys sub in and out in groups worked for Coach Cal last season, as talent-rich UK won 38 straight games before losing to Wisconsin 71-64 in the Final Four. Four Wildcats players are predicted to go in the top 20 of the upcoming NBA Draft, according to DraftExpress.com.
In 2014-15, eight Wildcats players averaged more than 20 minutes per game (that included junior forward Alex Poythress, who averaged 20.3 mpg over eight contests before a season-ending ACL injury in December). Kentucky's leader in minutes per game was junior Willie Cauley-Stein, who averaged 25.9.
Of the remaining top 10 teams in USA Today’s final postseason poll, every team had at least one player who averaged at least 30 minutes. In addition, four of those programs had six players who averaged 20 minutes or more per game, three had five players, while Gonzaga had seven and Louisville four.
“I’m also excited about who we have coming back and who we have joining us next season,” Calipari said. “I think how you will see us playing going forward will be closer to how we have always played. That won’t be platooning.”
