Over the last few weeks, John Calipari has taken advantage of the two hours of summer practice time allotted to him and his new team. The newest batch of Kentucky Wildcats have gone through five practices after back-to-back sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Eric Lindsey of CoachCal.com was present for both.There’s lots of good stuff in the practice report he posted this morning, but here are a few highlights:On freshmen Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin:
Physically speaking, Poythress and Goodwin are more than ready to perform at the college level. I don’t know that I would call Goodwin ripped – he definitely needs to put on weight – but he is super athletic and extremely fast. Poythress, on the other hand, is a man child. A beast. A physical specimen. He’s already a strong guy and you can tell he has the frame to put on even more muscle. He already looks like the most athletic player on UK’s team and he’s going to be a major matchup problem for opposing teams. If Calipari uses him on the wing, he is going to absolutely overpower people. If he plays down low, he’ll blow past defenders.
On Willie Cauley-Stein:
Surely you’ve heard Coach Cal call Cauley-Stein underrated. Watch him for 10 minutes and you’ll understand why. He may be the least heralded of UK’s four-man freshman class, but the guy is really talented. Not only is he tall, he’s long (there’s a difference). He has a great vertical jump so lob dunks will still be a big part of the offense, but he’s also extremely fast. During sprints on Wednesday, Calipari noticed that Cauley-Stein gallops like a gazelle. “This becomes a problem,” Calipari said. “Willie just showed me he’s fast. If Willie’s not finishing first or second (in our sprints), we’ve got a problem. You’re making (Kyle) run faster than he ever has. That’s good. We’re helping each other.” Calipari said speed could be one of the strengths of this team.
On the practice as a whole:
At the end of practice, Calipari briefly huddled up his team and informed them he would be gone for the next week as he coaches the Dominican Republic at the 2012 FIBA Olympic World Qualifying Tournament. Calipari said he will either give them the week off or have them work out with assistant coach John Robic. Overall, though, Calipari loves what he sees so far, especially for a team that is still without a very big piece in Noel. “Today we went in and advanced. It was sloppy, but we got what we needed to get in.” He ended with “way to get better, guys.” At this very early point in the season, that’s what it’s all about.
There’s plenty more good stuff in the practice report, so make sure you check it out. I hope to have the chance to attend a practice a couple times before the fall semester starts, so keep an eye out for some similar reports from me.Link: Practice Report: Starting all over again
