A lack of energy has never been a problem for John Calipari.Even coping with the unique demands of coaching at Kentucky, Calipari is always ready and raring to go for the next practice, the next recruiting visit, the next event. But with the start of the 2014-15 season approaching, something has Coach Cal even more fired up than usual. This two-platoon thing you’ve heard so much about? It’s really happening.”I’m doing things I’ve never done as a coach,” Calipari said. “And I’ll be honest with you, can you tell I’m excited about it? Like, this has got me stirred.”Calipari’s excitement was plain to see and hear on Monday as he spoke at the annual Wildcat Tipoff Luncheon hosted by the Greater Louisville UK Alumni Club, where he was joined by UK President Eli Capilouto, Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart and UK Hoops head coach Matthew Mitchell. Coach Cal didn’t speak at length about how the two-platoon system will work – there will be plenty of time for that when games begin – but he did reveal his reasoning for it. In short, it’s the next step in the evolution of his players-first philosophy.”If it’s not about those guys, we’re playing eight of these guys and those other two or three, you’re out,” Calipari said. “But if we’re about them and all of them, this is the only way you can do it. Well, it’s never been done before. Well, it’s going to be done now.”Breaking new ground, however, will bring growing pains. Coach Cal is ready for them and he did his best to prepare the more than 1,000 in attendance on Monday.”We have a chance of being really good, but we’re doing it a different way,” Calipari said. “What we do early may be at the expense of winning some games making sure we’re figuring this out. And if that happens, I’m telling you, I’ll be fine with it. You won’t, but I will be fine with it.”Ultimately, the people who matter most to the success of the two-platoon system are the players, not the fans or even Calipari. Fortunately, Coach Cal has some recent past experience to call on in guiding them through the challenge, different as this one may be.”How in the world do you get McDonald’s All-Americans to sacrifice and play for each other?” Calipari said. “And how do you get them to do that as freshmen? Would you say you’d like to know? Because I’m asking it everywhere. They trust we have their back and their best interest so they will share and they will sacrifice for each other because we have their back, we have their best interest.”Calipari confirmed UK will start the season using the platoon system in the same way as on the Big Blue Bahamas tour, but he knows he’ll need to be ready to change on the fly.”What happens at the end of the season if it’s not quite happening the way that we want?” Calipari said. “We can make adjustments. Doc Rivers told me, ‘What if one of the guys needs a few more minutes a half? You’re going to have to give it to them, Cal.’ I said, ‘I know that.’ So if two guys are playing a little bit better, we’ll give them a little bit more minutes.”Calipari spoke first on Monday, a departure from tradition in past years at the event. With a recruit in town, he had to get back to Lexington in short order, a fact Mitchell used to playfully jab his good friend.”Cal stole one of my oldest tricks in the book, about recruiting,” Mitchell said. “The recruiting trick. Gotta leave, gotta leave. Got a big recruit coming.”Once Mitchell moved on from making the sellout crowd laugh, he expressed similar optimism about his own team.”This season, I think we have a great opportunity to have a good team,” Mitchell said. “… I think we can land in a really, really great spot and I’m excited to see what comes of this team and this 2014-15 edition.”

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