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Kentucky basketball: John Calipari has awful excuse for not playing Dontaie Allen

By Brad Berreman

LEXINGTON, KY - DECEMBER 12: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats is seen during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Rupp Arena on December 12, 2020 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY - DECEMBER 12: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats is seen during the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Rupp Arena on December 12, 2020 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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After seeming to refuse to play Dontaie Allen Saturday, Kentucky coach John Calipari can’t possibly buy his own excuse for it.

The Kentucky Wildcats dropped to 4-8 this season with a 66-59 loss to Auburn on Saturday. The game was not a display of good basketball on either side, it’s just that John Calipari‘s team was a little bit worse virtually across the board. On the heels of an 85-65 undressing by Alabama last Tuesday night, the Wildcats are trending the wrong way again in a bad season.

Davion Mintz led Kentucky in scoring with 11 points on Saturday, on 5 of 12 shooting. Redshirt freshman guard Dontaie Allen had eight points, all in the first half. But he found himself on the bench in the second half, as Kentucky searched for offense in a game they probably could have won.

When asked about his lineup decisions, most notably perhaps favoring BJ Boston (five points, 2-for-9 from the floor with five turnovers on Saturday) over Allen, Calipari offered a lame response.

John Calipari has some explaining to do

Via A Sea of Blue:

“At the end of the day, we were running stuff for Dontaie and he wouldn’t shoot the ball. That’s why I took him out one time…You’re in there to make shots. That’s one thing. Dontaie wasn’t the issue.” Calipari told reporters.

“I want to win every game I coach, but the other side of it is, I’m not trying to take anybody’s heart away,” he said.

Jeff Goodman of Stadium wasn’t buying it, and spoke for everyone who didn’t buy it.

Allen is a local kid, from Falmouth, Kentucky. And to Goodman’s point, 247 Sports ranked him the No. 111 player in the 2019 class, while Boston was No. 5 in the 2020 class.

Over a four-game stretch before the Auburn game, Allen went 13-for-24 from 3-point range to give Kentucky something it needs offensively. he played 32 minutes in games against Mississippi State (23 points; 7-for-11 from beyond the arc) and Vanderbilt (14 points; 2-for-5 from beyond the arc), before playing just 22 and 24 minutes against Florida and Alabama.

Recruiting rankings and maintaining an NBA pipeline aside, Calipari is openly ignoring who his best players really are. It almost feels like he’s punting on this season, with COVID-19 as a reasonable yet convenient excuse.

Related Story. 10 candidates to replace John Calipari. light

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