Don't ask a player to do things he can't do. Put him in position in the games to take advantage of the things he can do.
This reminds me of what happened with Skal. He scored in double digits in 4 of his 6 first games (all wins, from 11/13/15 - 11/27/15 — we were ranked #1 by 11/27) and was getting rebounds and blocks in each game, stats here: http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Players/Labissiere_Skalgbg.html
On 11/14/15, he scored 26 points vs NJIT, making 10 of 12 shots, all 6 free throws, 2 blocks and 5 rebounds. Glowing article here:
https://amp.kentucky.com/sports/college/mens-basketball/article45092322.html
Yet Cal’s reaction didn’t sit well with me.
Here’s some quotes, “UK Coach John Calipari said he's still trying to settle on what kind of player Labissiere can be. ‘I've got to figure him out,’ Calipari said. ‘I haven't done a really good job.’
Labissiere is different from former UK big man stars of recent vintage. Not Karl-Anthony Towns. Not Anthony Davis. ‘You want to play him like Shaq,’ Calipari said, meaning a low-post anchor like Shaquille O'Neal. ‘He's not Shaq. He's never going to be Shaq.’”
On 11/25/15, Skal scored 16 points vs Boston, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. Again, Cal’s post-game comments could have been more encouraging. A quote, “Skal did some good stuff," Calipari said. "He is coming but he still has things he has to do."
Skal scored 17 the next game on 11/27. But after those first two weeks of the season, Skal slumped and only scored in double digits 6 more times over the remaining 30 games.
I always thought his confidence was affected after playing well during those first 6 games. I recall how the coach’s post-game comments left fans puzzled.