Kentucky Basketball Previews Tennessee
UK MEDIA RELATIONS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
TENNESSEE-UK PREGAME MEDIA
FEB. 5, 2018
JOE CRAFT CENTER | LEXINGTON, KY.
John Calipari
Opening statement …
I heard from Eric (Lindsey) that our distinguished guest is retiring – Alan Cutler – from chasing coaches and sliding across the floor. Congratulations. Happy I outlasted you, let me say that.
On how important it should be in the team’s mind to be able to get back home and play in front of the home crowd …
“I hope important, but we just gotta play a little bit more competitive, a little bit more physical, locked in collectively. We’re not. It’s one or two guys breaking down, and when you show it on tape it’s really kind of like, ‘Ouch, are you watching yourself here?’ And so, you have to get five guys together doing it, and they’re still learning. Then the other thing is offensively, when I watched – and we went through this last year. Last year at this time we lost to Tennessee by 20 (in Knoxville), lose to Kansas at home, Georgia should’ve beat us – we won by one – should’ve lost that game, no question. Go to Florida and get beat by 25, 20, whatever it was. It then gives you a chance to evaluate: What are we doing, what can we do a little different, what do they have to do and what are they learning? The biggest thing is, as a coach, you cannot enable them to create excuses for their performance. The way you are playing is no one else’s responsibility but yours. You can’t put it on teammates, coaches, fans, nothing. You have to own your performance. Hard for young guys. That’s a hard one. The only way is you just keep watching tape and learning and hope at some point it clocks on how we play. As a coaching staff, like I said, we came back and spent a lot of time and just looking at it and meeting with the staff, going over things, and talking about ideas. You know, we’ve had to do this before. We had to do it last year, and then last year we played a little different. There were things that we said, ‘OK, here’s what we’re going to narrow into.’ Then I’ll say this: It didn’t change after that. I mean, we were up 20 on LSU and they almost came back and beat us. I mean there was – it took us time and it took more time than – like, it’s hard for me because I don’t like to look back. I don’t like to. I’m going to look back at some point. Alan and I are going to have our toes up on a beach talking about the run, those years together, or talk about Pittsburgh when he was wearing tennis shoes and stuff. But right now is just not the time, but sometimes year to year there are lessons learned and you can look back. This one kind of is the case.”
On his tweets about wanting the fans to be into the game tomorrow night …
“I just want them to be really into the game for these kids. Be really into the game. I’m not listening to our fans, the loudness, but I know what that building (Rupp Arena) is and what it stands for when our fans are really into the game. Students: the same. Don’t care what goes on around the country. I know every game we play (opposing arenas) are sold out and people are losing their minds trying to beat us, and I have to explain to these guys that again too. We’re getting everybody’s best shot, which is if you can sustain it, learn from it, grow from it and you can get your act together, then you’ll be ready for the end of the year because you’ll know every game is a war. That stuff and now we come home, having the fans activated, I’ve done this a few times in my time here and I think it’s time for them to say, ‘Hey, you need our help here. We’re going to be here for you.’ “
On what Hamidou Diallo gives him that others may not …
“Again, he’s a freshman like all these kids and every one of them are breaking down one way or another. He gives us a size at that guard spot and some athleticism in that guard spot. Again, how the team has to kind of help each other – we’re not doing. So now, every guy suffers, including him. How we’re playing offensively also puts him in some situations so, you know. Going forward, like I said, guys are responsible for their performance. If guys are not performing, they can’t be in (the game). Most of it, I’ll be honest with you with Hami, is defense. It’s not what people are seeing offensively. You have to be responsible for your man and our team. You have to be where you’re supposed to be when we’re trapping because we’re no longer man-to-man, we’re in zone. All those things are new and it’s new to all of these guys. When they play man-to-man defense, all they’re worried about is their man. Now we’re trying to say, ‘OK, we have to do this collectively as a glove – five guys together.’ Our fans will say, ‘So-and-so is not playing well.’ They’re thinking about made shots, turnovers and all – that’s a part of it. Now let me say this, when you’re doing that – turnovers, missed shots, bad shots – and you throw in the defense, now it becomes an issue. Then it becomes, OK, how are we going to do this?”
On how Tennessee plays …
“They are playing efficient on both ends of the court, offensively and defensively. They go small at times. I mean, they go with three smaller guards in, two smaller big guys, so they are interchangeable. They still with (Grant) Williams have someone to throw it to in the post whenever they choose. But they are good. They shoot the 3. They’re a team – their guards come down and if you crowd the court with those bigs, they are going to shoot 3s and score points. But they are scoring because they are being efficient. They’re not scoring just coming down and jacking balls. The other thing I like that they are doing is, their assists to made baskets, that number is probably one of the top in the country. They’ll have 25 assists on 30 made goals. That’s great. That’s team basketball. That’s creating for each other. That is making the game easy for each other. That’s what they do. But again, it’s a team that has been together for a couple years.”
On if he gets frustrated of repeating the same message …
“Not frustrated. You get tired. I’ve been to bed early. But I have a responsibility. My responsibility is to each individual player and then collectively to get them to understand that I’m going to try to have us play in a way that everyone benefits and you help each other. So the tinkering never stops. Lik,e it just continues all year until you figure it out. That wears you down as a coach. Frustration isn’t the right word but I do get tired. You get tired.”
On which player plays like Grant Williams on this team …
“PJ (Washington). I think Nick (Richards) can do it. I even think Sacha (Killeya-Jones) can do it. I think Wenyen (Gabriel) can do it. I think we can do it in different ways. So, you know, like I said, we started the season OK, it looked like this was going to be us. We went to this is going to be us. We are not this may be us. And what I would tell you is that we are surviving with a really hard schedule. And now we have maybe as tough a part of our schedule coming up as we’ve played and we are still tinkering a little bit. But it’s OK, yesterday was kind of refreshing, exciting for me because I said, ‘Alright, stop, this is what I’m seeing.’ What we emphasized and what they were trying to do, it kind of makes you look different. Not within in one day,. I’m telling you, we lost three or four. It wasn’t in one day last year. We did some things and made us play a little different. Made them think about things. And it took the next two weeks for us to start saying, OK now, and then we took off. So I’m not saying this happens overnight, but I kind of like where we are. And you know, young kids. No one is trying to do this. And if they were trying to do this, I’d say, ‘Why are you trying to do this? Are you crazy? You’re nuts. You’re going to wear yourself out. Look at you, you have grey hair. You didn’t have grey hair when you went there. You’re slim, why are you slim? Is it diet or you can’t just eat? How many hours can you sleep?’ “
On if this is a “tweak”…
“An adjustment. not ready to say tweak yet, but it’s an adjustment. Again, you know most of it. Truthfully with these guys, as I said it today on the conference call, to get them to think the right way is really a struggle. Because the first thing if you are not playing well, ‘I am not taking responsibility. That is not because of me, it’s because of you, it’s because of him, it’s because of them, it’s because of something. It’s the weather or if it was the food. It is not me. I don’t care what you saw, that wasn’t me.’ That’s hard for young guys to come in and look I got to own this. And get them to think different about how they are playing. Example: You’re a high school player and you’re just going crazy and getting into the lane. Yeah but everybody was 6-2. They are not 6-2 anymore so you cannot play that way. But away from the ball you can play that way when it gets to you. There are things like that to get them. You are playing the way you’re playing because of you. Nothing else, and that’s the beginning of changing and accepting. I’m not afraid of it, I’ve seen it before and it’s a process that young kids go through. I’ve just haven’t had a team this young.”
On what the message is he’s sending to the team about offense to try to get them sparked …
“I’m as concerned defensively, to be honest with you. If you defend and we get out and run, you’re going to be fine. But if they’re scoring and they’re being the aggressor on defense, you really have issues so I’m as concerned defensively. The other side of it is, let’s play to our strengths, let’s do what we do, let’s do some things that make us look different that give us the advantages we have. I said it in the past, I’ve had three point guards on the floor almost exclusively for three years. Three point guards. Well, we’re not playing that way now. How much could we really post our four (man)? There were things that we could not do that we can do now but (former teams) did stuff that maybe we were trying to do that’s difficult for this team. Hopefully getting them to think a little bit different is going to be good for us.”
Kentucky Players
#1, Sacha Killeya-Jones, So., F
On if the season has been more frustrating than he thought it would be …
“I wouldn’t say that. I think that we knew it was going to be a process being a young team and everything. I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating. It’s a growing process and it’s just part of it.”
On if he individually has been frustrated …
“No. Like I said, it’s a process that I expected. You knew it was going to take a while, but the season – it’s early February. We’ve got a long way to go. We have a lot of time to get there. We’re in the middle of conference play right now. We’re just growing. We’re playing games and we’re getting on the road. Every game is a learning experience. Everything is a step forward.”
On if the team is close to reaching a turning point …
“Definitely. I think, like I said, every game if we’re not winning we’re learning. I think every game we have definitely taken steps forward. We’ve taken steps back, too. It’s small things that we need to really seal up on and make sure we’re getting those things taken care of because otherwise we can’t win games. A couple of days ago at Missouri, our defense has really taken that step that we need to get to. We held a team to 28 points in the first half and it really should have been less than that. But, our offense isn’t where it needs to be right now. That’s something we’re going to work on. But, the fact that our defense is starting to get to that level is a sign of improvement.”
On the difficult schedule ahead and how they can improve offensively …
“I guess the people in the practice today will know.”
On what factors caused the poor shooting performance against Missouri …
“That’s a tough shooting night when you go 2 for 23 from 3-point range. There’s not a whole lot you can say. We’ve gotta make shots. We’ve got to get to a point in our offense where we are getting each other easier shots. That’s something we’re working on. That’s something that’s going to come. We’re still trying to figure each other out. We’re still learning how to play together. That’s just going to come with working on our offense and trying to improve on where we’re at.”
On wearing his granfather’s name on his sneakers and what it means to honor him in that way …
“My grandfather was really big for me growing up. He was always there for me and he was one of my biggest fans. I learned a lot from him. He was a really important person in my life and he passed a couple of nights ago. It was big for me to try and do something to honor him and bring him on the court with me. It’s just to honor him.”
On what it means to his family …
“They appreciate it and everything. My grandma definitely appreciated it and my father as well. Like I said, that’s just something for my family and it’s just me trying to honor my grandfather. He was a great person and everything and I want him on the court.”
#25, PJ Washington, Fr., F
On whether he can remember a game where shots wouldn’t fall as much as against Missouri …
“Honestly I don’t remember. I feel like there’s a couple of them, but I don’t remember right now.”
On what contributed to poor shooting …
“I feel like we were just taking a lot of one-pass and quick shots. We could have gotten some easier shots, but we didn’t and I feel like we played great defense but we just needed to get better ball movement and stuff like that.”
On what they need to improve on offense facing quality defenses in the next four games …
“It’s just making better reads. I feel like if we make better reads, we’ll find easier ways to score. We’ve been working on that the past couple weeks in practice, but I feel like we’re going to be all right at it.”
On whether they see in film that they need to share the ball more …
“Yeah, of course we see it. That’s a big part of us right now. I feel like if we start to pass the ball a little bit more, it’s going to be hard for teams to guard us.”
On why they struggle to make that adjustment in games …
“I feel like it’s just harder for us to make that adjustment in games because we’ve been so used to getting easy layups versus different teams throughout the year. We just gotta adjust and get better the next time out.”
On whether the season has been more frustrating than he expected …
“We’re honestly just learning from each loss we take and just trying to focus on the next game and trying to get a win. We knew we weren’t going to be perfect. We’re just trying to win every game from now on.”
On whether it gets frustrating at times …
“That’s basketball. You can’t really win them all, unless—I don’t think any team has done that ever. We’re just trying right now to be focused, just keep doing what we’re doing and just try to win every game, like I said.”
On what they need to do against Tennessee …
“Just be more aggressive on the defensive end and just look for better reads on the offensive end and I feel like we’ll be in great shape to win the game.”
On whether his knee is healthy …
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
On whether defense can spark offense …
“We just look for energy on the defensive end. If we get that out of a steal or a quick rebound, we try to get out in transition and make easy plays for each other.”
On what he remembers about the first game vs. Tennessee …
“We lost. We got out-toughed in the second half and I feel like we just gotta bring it to them and play the whole 40 minutes and come out with a W.”
On how nice it is to be back home …
“It’s great to get back in front of our home crowd after Saturday. We just have to come out and try to get a win in front of them.”
