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One day after Kentucky coach John Calipari speculated that Terrence Jones may be the nation's best player this season, the talented sophomore forward offered some early evidence he may justify the hype.
Jones shredded the defense of freshmen Anthony Davis and Kyle Wiltjer in Kentucky's intrasquad scrimmage on Wednesday night, tallying 52 points on 24 of 31 shooting and pulling down 16 rebounds. It won't count for much a month from now, but it was exactly the type of effort Calipari hoped to see from Jones when he decided to return to Kentucky for his sophomore year rather than entering the NBA draft.
"I told him when he came back, 'If you're coming back, you're going to be the best player, top three in the country, or don't come back,'" Calipari told reporters in Lexington. "Well, he's on a mission that way."
It's ludicrous to predict how Jones will fare this season based off an impressive scoring night in an October intrasquad scrimmage, but it's also understandable if Kentucky fans take this as a positive omen. At the very least, Jones provided a glimpse of what Calipari saw during practice that made him tell reporters Tuesday, "If there's a better player in the country, I gotta see him."
The downside to Jones' 52-point barrage for Kentucky was that it came at the expense of his teammates. Based on early reports from those who attended the game, it sounds as though spindly freshmen Davis and Wiltjer struggled to handle the speed and strength Jones worked hard to improve during the offseason.
Jones' freshman season was characterized by inconsistency as he flashed immense talent early in the season but drew the wrath of Calipari at times during conference play for poor shot selection and a tendency to pout on defense.
Maybe Jones is ready to put those problems behind him and maximize his talent as a sophomore. The only thing that is certain is it will take more than one terrific performance in an intrasquad scrimmage to know the answer.