Sports

Kentucky’s Platoon System Gives Way to Traditional Rotation

Published

10 years ago

April 1, 2015

Kentucky players celebrate after a 68-66 win over Notre Dame in a college basketball game in the NCAA men’s tournament regional finals, Saturday, March 28, 2015, in Cleveland. The 38-0 Wildcats advanced to the Final Four. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

GARY B. GRAVES, AP Sports Writer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — John Calipari’s platoon system has given way to a nine-man rotation that gives the Kentucky coach plenty of combinations.

Who plays and how long hasn’t mattered to the top-ranked Wildcats.

Platooning has been replaced by the immediate challenge of winning the school’s ninth championship and remaining undefeated along the way.

The egos that were checked early have remained on the shelf during the NCAA Tournament as Calipari has let the flow of the game dictate his substitution strategy.

“That’s what makes him such a good coach,” reserve 7-footer Dakari Johnson said Tuesday of Calipari. “He knows what’s best for us. He’s going to do everything for the team to win. He’s going to put the guys in there that are going to battle and just compete.”

The challenge for Wisconsin at this weekend’s Final Four in Indianapolis is figuring out which combination they’ll face from Kentucky, which can play small, in half-court sets or up-tempo.

The Wildcats and Badgers met in last year’s Final Four with Kentucky advancing behind an exciting 74-73 victory. This Kentucky squad is even deeper.

Calipari began the season able to go 10-deep with his roster, so platooning gave him a way to give everyone enough minutes to be happy and win games. Rotating players in and out has just given him more options — and helped the Wildcats stay unbeaten at 38-0.

“We coach every player on this team like they’re a starter,” Calipari said. “There’s no one coached — we don’t have subs. I’ve said that statement before. We have reinforcements. We’ve got them and you look up and there’s about 12 tanks coming over the hill. … That’s what we’ve been doing.”

Kentucky played the season’s first few weeks with Calipari replacing his entire starting lineup after about five minutes into the game, sooner if he wasn’t getting the results or energy he wanted. Calipari has also platooned against weaker schools, beginning both halves with the approach.

A season-ending knee injury to junior forward Alex Poythress in December thrust 6-foot-10 Trey Lyles into the starting lineup, changing substitutions to whatever the matchup or situation demanded.

And in the NCAA Tournament, the combinations have worked for Kentucky.

There have been times where the Wildcats have featured a three-guard lineup with 6-6 twins Andrew and Aaron Harrison and 5-9 Tyler Ulis together in the backcourt, or some two-guard combination of those three along with shooter Devin Booker. Kentucky has also gone to their big-man lineup, pairing Johnson and fellow 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein for short stints, and blended them with 6-11 Karl-Anthony Towns, 6-9 Marcus Lee and Lyles in two- or three-man sets.

“He doesn’t get enough credit for his coaching,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “For all the pluses of knowing that maybe you got better talent than most teams, you also got other issues. I don’t know many guys that could have juggled that at Kentucky like he has.”

Calipari’s mixing hasn’t hurt overall playing time for the Wildcats’ nine regulars, who average 11.1 to 25.8 minutes per game. But players such as Cauley-Stein and Ulis have each logged 30-plus minutes at least once while Lee and Johnson have seen their time decrease.

Johnson isn’t concerned because the Wildcats are still winning, which is all that matters.

“When you come here, he’s going to put you into position to succeed,” he said. “You’ve just got to embrace it and buy into the team culture.”

The Wildcats certainly had to buy into teamwork during Saturday night’s tense 68-66 Midwest region-clinching victory over Notre Dame, a game that Calipari admittedly tried “every combination I could” to stay in a contest they trailed by six points with just over six minutes remaining.

The coach continually shuffled players in and out down the stretch and got results on both ends as Kentucky made its last nine shots along with several crucial defensive stops to remain unbeaten. Nobody talked about minutes afterward, just that every hand on deck participated.

It’s been that way all season, in any combination.

“Being on a team like this where we’re winning, making history and sharing, there’s nothing like this,” Booker said. “I’m enjoying the moment.”

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Bay Area

Love Life Organization Shows Love

As part of Love Life Week, the Love Life Foundation was honored to produce the 1974-75 World Champion Golden State Warrior Day. It’s a shame that our first Bay Area World Championship team’s unique accolades had been lost in the pre social media era and the cultural revolution of the 1970s.

Published

5 days ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

Members of the 1975 NBA championship team, Charles Dudley (left) and Clifford Ray (right) embrace Love Life Foundation leader Donald Lacy for his antiviolence mission. Courtesy photo.

City of Oakland Celebrates 1975 NBA World Championship Team

By Donald Lacy

Special to The Post

As part of Love Life Week, the Love Life Foundation was honored to produce the 1974-75 World Champion Golden State Warrior Day.

It’s a shame that our first Bay Area World Championship team’s unique accolades had been lost in the pre social media era and the cultural revolution of the 1970s.

The 1975 NBA World Championship team were invited back to the City of Oakland last Friday, to be properly celebrated for their ground-breaking performance in 1975.

The heartwarming ceremony highlighted the recent passing of the legendary coach of that team, Al Attlles, and his former players Clifford Ray and Charles Dudley were on hand to represent the “Cardiac Kids” as they were called back then for their ability to make great comeback victories during their run for the title.

Warriors great Chris Mullin and former spiritual advisor Gary Reeves gave heartfelt testimonies of their experiences under Attles’ leadership and their relationship with the inspiration they received from the NBA 1975 World Champion Golden State Warriors.

The City of Oakland provided proclamations to all parties with speeches made by city leadership including Mayor Sheng Thao and Deputy Mayor Dr. Kimberly Mayfield and activity host Love Life non-profit founder and Executive Director Donald E. Lacy Jr..

There will be a celebration of life event Nov. 9 honoring Attles’ legacy at Alameda College.

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California Black Media

Several Black Californians Are Playing Key Roles in LA 28 Olympics Planning

From politicians and businesspeople to athletes and community leaders, a number of Black Californians are contributing to the thought leadership that is shaping the planning of LA28, the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. At the forefront is Los Angeles’ first Black woman mayor, Karen Bass, who has, in many ways, become the face of the Games in the City of Angels.

Published

2 weeks ago

October 22, 2024

Oakland Post

From left to right: IOC Member Hong Zhang, IOC Vice President Nicole Hoevertsz, Rex Richardson, Mayor of Long Beach, LA28 President Casey Wasserman, James T. Butts, Mayor of Inglewood, IOC President Thomas Bach, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the President of the Los Angeles City Council (IOC/Greg Martin)

By Lila Brown, California Black Media

At the forefront is Los Angeles’ first Black woman mayor, Karen Bass, who has, in many ways, become the face of the Games in the City of Angels.

“The 2028 Games present an incredible opportunity to unite our city and lift up every corner of Los Angeles,” said Bass during a historic event at Los Angeles City Hall on Sept. 13, when the Olympic and Paralympic flags were unveiled and installed.

The event marked the return of the Olympic flag to L.A. since 1984, when the city hosted the Olympics for the second time. It was the first time the Paralympic flag was raised in California’s largest city.

“From creating jobs to supporting small businesses, we are committed to ensuring that these Games benefit all Angelenos — not just for the summer of 2028, but for decades to come,” Bass added.

Nearly two months after the Olympic flag handover from Paris to Los Angeles, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach visited Los Angeles.

Bach toured several of the city’s newest world-class sporting venues, including the SoFi Stadium and the recently opened Intuit Dome, both located in Inglewood. At the stadiums, he was joined by two other Los Angeles County Black mayors, whose cities will be key to hosting LA28 events: Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson.

SoFi Stadium, known as the home of NFL teams the LA Rams and LA Chargers, will host swimming competitions during the LA28 Games, with a temporary pool set to make it the largest swimming venue in Olympic history, boasting 38,000 seats. Intuit Dome, Inglewood’s newest state-of-the-art venue and home to the LA Clippers, will host the Olympic basketball tournament in the 18,000-seat arena.

In an interview with California Black Media ( CBM), Butts highlighted Inglewood’s central role in the upcoming Games, stating, “Inglewood will host the Opening and Closing ceremonies, basketball, and swimming competitions of the 2028 Olympic Games. This will be our second hosting of Olympic Basketball, the first in 1984.”

Marqueece Harris-Dawson, President of the Los Angeles City Council, also attended the tour.

Harris-Dawson is one of the leading backers of PlayLA, a parks development program that promises to provide sports programming to “young Angelenos of all abilities.” The initiative is funded by a $160 million investment from the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the International Olympic Committee.

Black Californians serving on the LA28 Board include Businesswoman Mellody Hobson; decorated Paralympian Lex Gillette; former Netflix Executive Dana Smith; President of the LA County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO Yvonne Wheeler; and television host, retired sprinter and four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson.

Rosalyn Brant Clark, a 1976 Olympic silver medalist and mother of three-time Paralympian Breanna Clark, said while the “Games for All” theme is promising, she is looking for more concrete action that impacts the lives of ordinary people, including Black Californians.

“They are going to need to show me more on that one before it gets my stamp of approval,” she added, challenging organizers to ensure genuine inclusivity.

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Bay Area

Ohemaa Nyanin Named GM of Valkyries WNBA Team

The Bay Area is filled with excitement, and much of the conversation is about the Bay Area’s newest WNBA team — the VALKYRIES! The Golden State Warriors were awarded the 13th team in the WNBA last October, and just four months ago, the team’s General Manager was announced — Ohemaa Nyanin.

Published

2 weeks ago

October 22, 2024

Oakland Post

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By Y’Anad Burrell

Nyanin’s parents are from Ghana, and she was born in Maryland. Nyanin’s experience in this industry precedes her both as a former college player and on the business side. Nyanin is an American University alumna who played on the Eagles’ women’s basketball team. In 2019, Nyanain joined the WNBA team, The New York Liberty, initially serving as the director of basketball operations before she became assistant general manager.

“No excuses,” Nyanin said. “We are here, first and foremost, as humans, and secondly to win basketball games. So how do we do that, and how do we do that in the most inclusive way?”

From viewing interviews that Nyanin has done since her arrival in the Bay Area, a constant theme in her conversations is talking about taking a “people first” approach. Nyanin talks about how she will be focused on the players, staff, and fans as she navigates and executes her role as general manager. Health, both mentally and physically, is important to Nyanin, as I’ve seen in her many interviews.

Just days ago, The Golden State Warriors announced the head coach for the Valkyries — Natalie Nakase.

Nakase has been the assistant coach for the Las Vegas Aces for the past three seasons, where she was a part of the Aces’ back-to-back championship run in 2022 and 2023. Before joining the Aces’ coaching staff, Nakase spent ten seasons with her hometown team, the Los Angeles Clippers, and their G League.

The Valkyries will practice at downtown Oakland’s Golden State Warrior space and play games at Chase Center in San Francisco. This is an excellent opportunity to experience both sides of the water.

The Valkyries WNBA season opens May 2025 at Chase Center in San Francisco, and the Valkyries website shows over 18,000 season-ticket deposits. For clarity, if someone is ‘interested’ in purchasing season tickets, a $25 deposit is required. The Chase Center’s capacity is a little over 18,000, so you can imagine how electrifying the stadium will be during all home games.

Ohemaa, welcome to the Bay and The Town!