The Kentucky Wildcats averaged 106.5 points per contest in the Bahamas last summer, winning each exhibition matchup by an average of 50 points per game. It was a chance to run the competition — that’s being generous — off the floor while soaking up the sun in paradise. Team building was priority number one, the assumption being that chemistry and confidence could help mask most flaws by the time the season came around.
This time around, things are a bit different heading into the Wildcats’ next summer tour. It’s a group with seven incoming freshmen, two returning sophomores and two fifth-year seniors — one returnee, one grad transfer. Eight new faces following eight departures.
And the competition in the 2023 GLOBL JAM won’t be sunburnt and hungover middle-aged men ready to get back to the beach or craps table. It’ll be an event with teams capable of handing Kentucky a few losses.
Calipari welcomes that possibility with open arms if it means the freshmen-heavy group is ready when the games actually count.
“These are 23-year-old teams, which in Europe, that means they’re professionals,” the Kentucky head coach said. “Canada, Germany and Team Africa, they’re all 23, and they’re all teams that have been together. Last year, Baylor went 1-4. There’s a chance we go 0-4. Did we learn? Did we get better? Or did we all walk away and say, ‘I’m loving this, we’re going to be fine.’ Because we’re playing against those older teams.”
He’s not wrong. Baylor, a 23-win team that earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament this past season, was winless in round-robin play and finished the event 1-4 overall. The GLOBL JAM is a world-class international basketball showcase designed to help all participating teams get better, not just the group representing the United States — Kentucky being the latest example.
Take Canada for example. It’s a group that doesn’t have the high-major talent it did a year ago — Marcus Carr (Texas), Charles Bediako (Alabama), Ryan Nembhard (Gonzaga) and Leonard Miller (G League Ignite) were on last year’s roster — but still one that has played together, all college standouts across various levels. Its GLOBL JAM team started with a tryout, followed by an 18-man training camp roster that will ultimately be cut down to 12. And it will be coached by Milwaukee Bucks assistant Nathaniel Mitchell.
If anything, the United States will be bringing the put-together-at-the-last-minute roster to Toronto in Kentucky. The Wildcats have only been practicing for a month, some barely a week or two (namely Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell). There’s obviously an absurd amount of raw talent, but they’re almost all new to college basketball.
Hell, Calipari has barely begun installing plays and defensive schemes. The basics come first.
“How much would you put in?” Calipari said. “Let’s do a little pick-and-roll, let’s space the court. What would you do defensively? Play zone — ‘We can’t guard anybody.'”
Then again, five-star talent is five-star talent. No one else in the world has what Kentucky has, and Calipari knows that. Factor in growth from Ugonna Onyenso and Adou Thiero and there’s plenty to be excited about.
“We’re trying to make it so that they can play, play off one another. I’m loving the guards, the way they’re playing and creating for each other,” Calipari said. “Ugo has gotten way better, Adou. But this isn’t me taking a team to the Bahamas, putting the other teams together knowing we’re winning by 30 and we’re focused on team building. This is different. Plus we’ve got ‘USA’ on our backs.”
Kentucky will tip off against Germany at 1:30 p.m. ET on July 12, followed by Canada at 8 p.m. on July 13, then Team Africa at 1:30 p.m. ET on July 15. And then to close out the event, the Wildcats will participate in either the bronze-medal game at 1:30 p.m. ET or the gold-medal game at 8 p.m. ET on July 16.
The 2023 GLOBL JAM in Toronto will be huge for Kentucky’s long-term development, especially the young talent. Could that include a few losses along the way? If Baylor’s run last summer proved anything, it’s certainly on the table.
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July 04, 2023 at 07:00AM
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Win or lose, Kentucky using GLOBL JAM to learn and improve - KSR
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