John Calipari on new group of Wildcats: 'We stink' right now

The Kentucky Wildcats have a tough act to follow after last season's group went 38-1, and coach John Calipari on Wednesday provided a glimpse as to how his new group of players is coming along.

"This year's team, as we speak, we stink," Calipari said during the Wildcat Tipoff Luncheon. "I said to them two days ago: 'There's one really good thing that's happening.' They said, 'What's that, Coach?' I said, 'We're not playing tomorrow, so we're OK. I'm not going to panic yet.'"

Gone are the top seven scorers from last season's team, which had hopes of an unbeaten season derailed by Wisconsin in the Final Four. Four of those players were selected among the first 13 picks of the NBA draft.

Calipari has said that he would scrap the platoon system he used last season to give all his players enough minutes and likely will return to a more conventional rotation with sophomore point guard Tyler Ulis leading the way.

"He's really good," Calipari said of Ulis. "My other guards are underwater with that they got more turnovers than assists. But that's OK. They're learning."

Kentucky opens the season with back-to-back games Nov. 13-14 against Albany and NJIT, respectively.