Just taking a look at the boxing score, one might assume that Dontaie Allen had a second remarkable performance for Kentucky and that assumption would be correct. Finishing with 14 points on 4-10 shots, 2-5 from three and 4-4 from the line to go with five rebounds and a block in 32 minutes, there was a lot of good that came with the redhead’s game.
But not everything was positive, especially at the defensive end of the floor. And the head coach of Great Britain, John Calipari, noticed.
“Dontaie’s defensive tone failed,” Calipari said. “He made baskets and free throws when I needed him, but maybe he gave up how many baskets he scored.”
The thing is, his offense is too valuable to take off the floor.
“I said, ‘Look, if that’s the case and it’s really steven, I’m probably fine with you. “But (he) has to get to where … there were game planning things. He came under a screen, they did some things “, said Calipari. “But, I tell you, it’s worth being on that field. You know what the defense does, spread the defense. I played a song for him, I hit three. Right up, boom. You may have been out of timeout. “
Fortunately for the Wildcats, Calipari believes that Allen’s defensive mistakes can and will be remedied, providing some examples of situations in the game.
“No, no, no (they won’t be hard to fix),” Calipari said. “And he recovered the ball, he had some recoveries. I’ll give you an example. If your man was examined and did not have the ball, we are following him. He came in and his man made a three. If your man gets a dribble, we weren’t going over it, we were going under it. He got over it. If your husband was crossing the lane to the weak side, you should stop with both feet in the lane on the other side of the basket to where you left off. He went out of the box twice and wasn’t ready to go to a guy he had to change, because he wasn’t where he needed to be. I spent two days on it. But he is not the only one. Isaiah did it, Davion did it a few times. “
At this time, the total number of failures is between seven and nine. If it can reduce the number to just one hand, the UK is in good shape.
“He had some malfunctions,” Calipari said. “You know what? Like I told him after, ‘You had seven or eight failures, nine (maybe)? Let’s get to four and then keep taking pictures. Keep taking pictures, baby.’ Look, sometimes you’ll give up to something and try.He has courage.
“What he does for us, we can’t replace him. I just have to figure out how I can make him better on defense or more comfortable. “
Olivier Sarr Senior Center added that Allen “changes the game” for Kentucky at the offensive end of the floor.
“Obviously he’s a knockdown shooter, he showed him the past game and the game again,” Sarr said. “It simply came to our notice then. It explains itself. He opens the yard to everyone. It changes the game, it makes it easier for us to operate and play our game, to get to the game. Open the yard a lot. “
There are still defensive mistakes to be solved, but this team is at its best when Allen shoots the ball and beats it down.
“Dontaie wants to do what’s best for the team and what’s best for us is to shoot in threes,” Sarr said. “It simply came to our notice then. You still have to find a way to eliminate these three, because it’s as great as a shooter. ”