Kentucky Basketball Previews Tennessee
UK MEDIA RELATIONS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
PRE-TENNESSEE MEDIA OPPORTUNITY
JAN. 5, 2018
JOE CRAFT CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.
John Calipari
On the situation with the flu going around the team …
“I’m good. No flu. I don’t ever take flu shots because I don’t like needles so there’s nobody giving me a flu shot unless you held me down, knocked me out and then stuck it in my arm. But they have pills now. They have flu pills, and I said, ‘I’ll take a flu pill.’ So I’ve taken flu pills, but we’ll see. We still, one guy will not practice today. So he’s still out, but we’ll see. One guy.”
On playing at Tennessee …
“Yeah, this will be hard. You know Rick (Barnes), what a job he’s done. Villanova, they had them down 15, 16. North Carolina they had down 10 and were leading most of the game. Auburn they had down 16, 15 I believe. Arkansas they led the whole game, matter of fact they were up nine with three minutes to go. What I just told you is they could easily be 13-0. The second thing is they got no students on campus. So they opened up the dorms so they could get in tomorrow by 3 p.m. to be able to be in the dorms and be at the game and the game is sold out. So it’s going to be a war. It’ll be good for these guys to feel this. Playing on the road last game was good, and now you go here and it’s always a difficult game for us. Great environment, but it’s going to be hard.”
On what he learned after the LSU game …
“The second half that we played with some fight. That we posted the ball. That we would get up and then we started shooting jumpers again. And you’ve got to understand that by posting the ball doesn’t mean you’re trying to score next to the basket all the time, but you’re making them do something that you can play of off – the other team. It was great seeing Kevin (Knox) get 11 rebounds and get a double-double. Kevin is no longer working with our guards. He works with the big guys, so that’s where he will be the rest of the way. You get over there with those big guys and we’ll worry about guard play later, but I was happy for him. And then we just made the plays down the stretch and made the free throws. Still a lot of breakdowns. Just a lot of young player moves, but it was a great finish to a game just hanging around and then having a chance to win.”
On why Knox is working with the big men …
“Just to be more aggressive, go to the goal more, rebound more, play like you’re a forward who can really shoot. Play like you’re a big man who can really shoot and score. So I’m just trying to get his mentality – most cases it’s trying to get guys to think different. You’re trying to help them create new habits. You’re not trying to break old habits – you just won’t. You’re trying to create new habits when they’re in situations this is how they’ll react. You have to put them in those environments daily to get them to react the way you want them to react.”
On getting the players to create new habits …
“Well, it’s hard. It’s easier to just – ‘We’re gonna create new habits. Forget about those, those will pop up once in a while, but here’s the habits we want you to have.’ It’s just how I’ve done it over the years.”
On the team developing a will to win the last few games …
“They’ve had a will to win. They’ve had a couple of guys out there, and again it’s not playing. It’s not Hollywood. It is I am playing to win. I’m either getting fouled or I’m making plays that I can make. I’m doing it for my team, and they’re learning all that. I love what I’m seeing out of PJ (Washington), and I told him and Kevin, ‘You’re not stepping back now. This is what you build on.’ It wasn’t long ago that PJ was in that hole. Now all of a sudden he’s a different player and he’s just getting better. Now we’ve gotta get Nick (Richards) playing better. Sacha (Killeya-Jones) is playing out of his mind right now. It’s kind of like we get a couple guys playing – these two, and then you shuffle the deck a little bit. I like what I’m seeing from them. I just told them, ‘Hey guys, this is your fourth game in eight days.’ Two of them on the road. One of them was just another game. We played Louisville after a day and a half for Christmas where I gave them three days, which means we had a day and a half to prepare. This is what’s it’s about. It’s going to be sold out, they’re desperate, they gotta have it, we gotta have it. Let’s see what happens. Well, you fight. The thing these kids have to learn is it’s not what it looks like. It’s not like, ‘I gotta go do this to show …’ No, it’s will you battle and fight? Our teams historically will do that. Anytime you do that you’re losing because the other team is going to play. They’re playing you. They’re playing you. They’re going to show up and it’s going to mean something and they’re going to have a little extra. But, you know, we had some film this morning. We’re going to practice a little bit before we travel up there. Have a meal and get ready for our midnight game. [Laughter.] What? What happened? What? Oh, 9? Midnight, 9, it’s all the same.”
On what he thinks of his post defense and if opponents are looking to do some work there …
“Well, they haven’t hurt us with that, but they did in this game. And the kid (Duop Reath) just battled. The baskets he made were just toughness kind of baskets. He played great. I mean, he’s a kid that’s averaging eight points and four or five rebounds and he comes up with whatever he did and had a big-time game against us.”
On what’s his advice to Kenny Payne or any assistant coach looking for a head coaching job …
“Well, let me just say it: When you’re looking for a job or you’re chasing jobs, you’re not getting them. You’ve gotta have people that want you, and in Kenny’s case there are people that want him and now it’s just, what is a good job for him? The greatest thing for Kenny is this university has made it so that he doesn’t have to leave unless it’s a really good job. He’s done a great thing for us here and me personally. Aside from coaching, in this profession you’ve got to be like brothers. Like, I got you, you got me, because it’s just too hard. And then what he does to challenge these kids. Look, they can’t hear my voice (all the time). I mean, I don’t go to many of the film sessions. I let the staff do that. I’m not at the pregame meals. They can’t hear me (all the time). And then I can’t always be the tough guy. You’ve gotta have people that are willing to be hard on them, yet let them know that you care about them. Whatever happens for him, you know, he’s going to be in good shape. The only thing is, I’m kind of disappointed because I think David (Padgett) is doing a great job (at Louisville), and it’s not fair to have all this stuff. Let him coach his team. David may be the guy for the job. Well, let the season play out. Why would you throw any – and who would be out there throwing landmines in front of this guy? I don’t know, but it’s certainly not us and me and my staff. But let him do his job. He had our game. OK. How about if he wins the rest and wins the national title? ‘But he lost to Kentucky.’ Stop it. I try to tell our fans, it’s one game. I’m glad it’s over, but it’s one game. And you know, I think, again, watching the tape and what he’s done and how he’s done it, I think he’s doing great work; and this season, you know, he was thrown into a tough situation. I mean, think about it. And then there’s always, he has to answer questions and they just continue. The same questions. And his players are answering, I mean, and this guy is still doing the job. What’s their record? Anybody know? [Reporter: They have three losses.] And other than our game, they should have won the other two. So, that’s disappointing to me. But, in the case of Kenny, I’m going to support and help like all of my guys. Tony (Barbee) is ready to be a head coach, and that’s, again, if he chooses to do that. There are going to be opportunities for him. You know, so, let those guys – it’s like anything else we’d figure out what’s next.”
On if playing Rick Barnes every year gets easier since they’re friends …
“The only thing that is easier is if you do get dinged I can walk up and seriously say, ‘I’m happy for you.’ And I am happy for him and he knows it. There are other games that I just say, ‘Good job,’ and I’m not happy for you without saying it. At all. ‘You jagoff.’ That’s my Pittsburgh coming out. But, you know I hate playing friends. I hate it. But, there are certain games – like Bob Huggins and I are on the phone hating that we have to go down there. But, he’s doing a function for his mother’s charity. So, we were talking about it today and you go down and you play the game and you want to win. You coach to win. You’re not looking down the sideline at him. You’re not worried about it. It’s just – let me just say when you talk Rick and friends of mine, we’ve all survived, which is amazing. We’re still like coaching after all these years, like 30. And still, I’m still enjoying it. I know they are. They’ll do this a lot longer than I will. But, you know, being able to go to Tennessee – I just keep telling myself, because this becomes a grind, that I just need to be grateful that I’m having an opportunity to coach here and coach in these kinds of games. How many people would want to coach in that game? ‘Wel,l we may lose.’ And I told the team the same thing. You only know if you’re going to win or lose when you win or lose. So why worry about it? Go prepare your team and get ready. You’re not going to change the outcome by worrying more. You only know if you’re going to win or lose when you win or lose. So, as I get into the season what happens for me is I forget how hard this is. I mean, this is really hard doing what I’m doing with these young kids and then having – I’m not going to say the whole world’s against us. I’d say most of it though. Like you don’t have anybody like cheering you on. It’s like every game I’d imagine most people watching on TV are not saying, ‘Go Kentucky.’ Unless you live in Kentucky. Unless you’re a part of the Big Blue Nation, the blue dust that’s out there. And it’s hard. But, for all of us and those players included, just grateful that I have the opportunity to coach here and coach this team and – I’ve got great kids. Every day I walk in and I see them and I know how good they are and how they want to please me, but the other side is it’s not easy. It’s tough.”
Kentucky Players
#32, Wenyen Gabriel, So., F
On mixing it up inside against LSU …
“It’s just a mentality of fighting. That’s what I’m trying to get passed on to the rest of my teammates. I know they’re freshmen, but that’s the type of attitude we need in order to win game, is confidence. We gotta keep up with that attitude. If we play like that with our talent together, I don’t think there’s a lot of teams that can beat us.”
On whether LSU felt like the first true road game …
“It definitely did. The crowd was there. Even though it’s winter break, they had a pretty good crowd there and they definitely put up a good fight during the game. It look a lot out of us to pull through and win that game. It kind of forced us to come together and I think we learned from that game going on to more conference games we’re going to learn how to play and fight together.”
On the challenge of playing at Tennessee …
“I just know they have a good crowd, the atmosphere is strong, but they also have a really good team. You’re battling against a good team there and you gotta be able to compete and fight. Every single rebound, loose ball is going to matter. Every free throw, everything’s going to matter in this game.”
On post defense …
“I think it could definitely use some improvement, but we need some improvement all around. We just gotta be more aggressive in that aspect in the post defense. I think we have the ability to and in a matter of time these tough games coming up’s going to kind of force us to do that.”
On Tennessee’s Grant Williams …
“He’s definitely—he’s a good talent. He’s definitely a good talent. I know he can jump over and shoot that ball. We’re going to have to really be on our toes playing against him, be really aggressive playing against him.”
On Kevin Knox getting out of a slump …
“I think it was big for him. I think that was big for us as a team too. Coming through here, you’re going to have your ups and downs as you play through here. You’re not always going to play great the entire time. So I think it was good for him to know that even when he wasn’t playing good, the confidence in his teammates to step up and really pull through with a couple big wins while he was in sort of a slump. It’s good to have him back now and we just gotta keep playing for each other.”
On what he expects at Tennessee …
“I’m expecting a dogfight, as usual. I think they’re really looking forward—they think they can beat us every game. They’re going to come out really aggressive. I know they shoot the ball really well and have a good inside post presence. We gotta prepare for that and we gotta go out there and play our game.”
On not starting games strong and whether he wishes they could start strong …
“That would always be great. It would be great to start off like that and jump the gun on a team. Then again, you don’t really know what to expect all the time. We’re still a young team and we’re early in conference play and you’re going to see what we are when the game starts.”
On being more confident in making the big play …
“I think it’s just being here longer and competing in a lot of these games. I don’t go in there with any type of nervousness. I’m just going out there and trying to compete. I’m just trying to win, trying to show my leadership on the floor.”
On freshmen going through what he went through last year …
“You start to see that. A lot of guys are maturing quicker than others, but just because you’re not maturing as fast doesn’t mean you’re not a talented player. You see a couple people going through the slump a little bit, but it’s good to see them fighting through it. I try to talk them through and you start seeing improvement and that’s also good for the team.”
#5, Kevin Knox, Fr., G
On bouncing back after two subpar performances …
“It was good. I mean, I know I went through a rough two games, but that’s what my teammates are for. We fought through it as a team. They helped me get through it. Coach Cal, Coach KP (Kenny Payne), all the coaches walked me through it, talked me through it and just made sure I kept playing hard and just focused on winning and focus on the team. I had a great game last game and hopefully I can keep that going.”
On how much pressure it takes off him knowing others can step up for him off the bench …
“I know it’s good that we can win by 30 when I’m not playing well. Me and Nick (Richards) haven’t been playing well and we’ve been winning and doing really well as a team. So, it’s good to know when a couple players aren’t playing well the rest of the team can step up and we can win games and other guys can have big games.”
On what he’s doing differently to get him out of this funk …
“I’m just focusing on the team, focusing on winning. I think I was thinking too much when I was going through my two(-game) stretch. Last game, I came out and focused on defense and rebounding. I think I had eight rebounds in the first half, so if I can just focus more on defense and the team, and not focus so much on offense I think that’ll help the team out.”
On not focusing on offense …
“Yeah, I talked to Coach Cal. He said, just let the offense come. Focus on defense, rebounding, getting other teammates involved and the offense will come. So, that’s what I did against LSU. I rebounded the ball really well and the offense just came. I was hitting shots that I wasn’t hitting before. It’s good to see the ball go through the hoop and hopefully I keep going.”
On if teams are defending him differently now …
“Yeah, I watch a lot of film with KP – we always do. Teams are knowing I like to drive, I like to shoot, so they’re kind of forcing me to do other things, forcing me to pass the ball. I just have to be a willing passer. I have to trust my teammates and know that they can knock the shot down, know that they can get to the basket and score. I just trust my teammates and my offense will come just by defense.”
On nobody being able to stop Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s drives …
“Yeah, Shai is doing a really good job. The last three, four games he’s been doing a really good job of getting to the basket. A lot of teams can’t stop him. He’s just really gifted at getting to the basket and finishing layups. He finishes almost everything around the basket. So, if he can keep that going that’d help a lot. I know a lot of teams, like Cal said, are probably going to start collapsing on him so he’s been working on being able to get in the lane and find other players to kick to. I mean, he’s doing a really good job. Hopefully he can keep driving and we can keep this up.”
On winning in a hostile environment like LSU …
“It was good. It was my first true road game so it was loud, a lot of yellow pom-poms. It was good that we could win out there as freshmen. We were down at half, we fought back and got a great win on the road.”
On PJ Washington talking to the team …
“Last game, there was a stretch where we weren’t really driving the basketball. PJ went to the huddle and was like, ‘Yo, we need to drive the ball. They can’t stop us getting to the basket.’ So, the next couple possessions PJ got the ball and went straight to the basket and got fouled or got a basket. Whenever we’re struggling or going through a rough stretch that we need to figure out something, he’s always there to speak up to us, tell us to keep going, tell us to keep fighting because we can win the game. We know we can, and PJ didn’t want to lose the game – we all didn’t. So, he was definitely communicating that to us.”
On if he made a conscious effort to hit the boards at LSU …
“Cal challenged me not to focus on offense so much and focus on defense and rebounding. I took the challenge. In the first half I had 10 points and eight rebounds, almost had a double-double. I think that’s what I’m going to start doing from now on. Focus more on defense, focus more on rebounding, get my other teammates involved and, like I said, the offense will come and that’s what happened at LSU.”
On playing in his first true road game …
“We were driving around the campus two days before and we didn’t see one person on campus. Then, we get there on game day and it’s sold out. That’s how Cal says it’s going to be in Tennessee. It’ll probably be crazier, to be honest. I love road games, I love when we play against other teams, I love the crowd and all that yelling. That’s what I like to see. It’ll be another good test for us and hopefully we can get there, fight through it and win as a team.”
On what he likes about road environments …
“I just like the environment. I like the screaming. I like seeing different colors other than blue. It’ll be a great game, a great environment. Knoxville, I heard, is one of the craziest places to play. It’ll definitely be a good test for us.”
On if UK is expecting a “desperate” Tennessee team after the Vols’ 0-2 start in conference play …
“Oh yeah, we expect them to give us 100 percent. They lost their last two and of course they’re playing Kentucky, so they’re going to go out there and give it their all. I know it’s going to be a great game. I know every player is going to play their best because one, they’re 0-2, and two, they’re playing Kentucky and everyone plays their best against us.”
