With two weeks left in the regular season, there was plenty of ground to cover on Monday’s Southeastern Conference Coaches’ Teleconference. John Calipari joined and spent time talking about UK’s matchups with Arkansas and South Carolina this week, his team’s progress and Alex Poythess’s work to break out of a recent slump.Here’s a complete transcript, as well as relevant quotes from two other SEC coaches.Coach CalOn UK’s upcoming matchups this week …“I hope we’re not playing Georgia. They’re playing so well right now. I know we’re playing Arkansas. For some reason I don’t think it’s Georgia, but it may be. (Moderator who said Georgia earlier: “It’s at South Carolina, sorry.”) “OK. Are we hosting them or are we on the road?” (Moderator: “On the road.”) “Let’s see if we can flip that around and host them. I will tell you that Arkansas is one of those teams, they beat us already. They play extremely hard, got good players, they shoot the ball. And Arkansas, Frank and I have talked, he’s getting those guys to compete and do things that is beyond the group, which is what coaching is about. So two hard games for us.”On how he would compare Arkansas and his team from the last time they played …“I would guess that both teams have gotten better. I’ve watched a couple tapes of them. A lot of the scrambling and stuff they’re doing, they’re even taking it to another level. I think they’ve got their breakdown guys, really have the ability to get to the basket. In our case, I hope we’re better. I think we’re better. Our numbers–today was funny, BPI has us four and said we’re the fourth No. 1 seed. Now I’m not sure we’re quite there but you’ve got other teams that have the same record as us in other places being that high, so I’m not sure we’re to that point, but we are getting better.”On what he thought of Michael Qualls’ game-winning play in the first meeting and if they will be more aware of him now …“What he does athletically is he can stand out, he can do things, and make plays that are broken down and he still goes in and makes a play. The rebound he got was off a missed shot and he just attacked the basket and won the game. We obviously know how good he is, but knowing how good he is and trying to slow a guy down are two different things.”On Qualls expanding his game …“Yeah, and again, let’s hope he goes back to 2 for 20 (from 3) in our game, but he has the confidence to be able do that. Really tells a lot about the young man.”On how Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley-Stein are playing …“Well, (Poythress) hasn’t played as well he has been playing. We, again, you’d like to say it about Willie and I’d say it about Alex: If we’re going to be that special team — I mean, I think the RPI has us top 10, the BPI has us fourth — if we’re going to be that kind of team — strength of schedule is fourth — if we’re going to be that kind of team, he’s (Poythress) gotta perform. He’s gotta give us double-digit scoring and at least six, seven rebounds. But he’s capable of doing that. He is–last couple games, he’s been in a little bit of a funk but it happens. These kids aren’t machines. Willie went through it. Andrew (Harrison) went through it. Aaron (Harrison) went through it. James (Young) went through it. They all go through it. They’re not machines. They’re not computers. This isn’t a computer game. So hopefully he cracks out of it. He was in the gym last night on an off day. Today is a lift and a film day with some individuals and he’ll be in there again on his own with the coaches. But yesterday, like I said, he came in the gym on his own and said, ‘Let’s get some work.’ “On how encouraging it is that Poythress did that for him …“Did what for me? (Came in and got some work on his own.) Well, he didn’t do it for me; he’s doing it for himself. It’s good when I walk in my office on a Sunday and I’m driving to the office and lights are on in the building and I look out my window and he’s out there in a full-blown sweat. Dominique (Hawkins), I was there earlier in the day after church I came in and Dominique was in. I came back later and Alex was in there. It’s great to see, and they’re in there by themselves. This cannot be coach-driven, if we’re going to be special. It cannot be. It’s gotta be player-driven. And it means you gotta be responsible for you gotta be into your team and add energy, add to your team, add to your teammates. I like what Andrew did last game. Couldn’t make a shot. Could not make a shot. Made two big free throws, made a driving layup, but he got six rebounds, four assists and two blocks. What do you do when you can’t make a shot? That’s when you start talking about team play. That’s when you start talking about player-driven. But we’re still not quite there.”On the challenges of facing LSU …“Well, you, first of all, have a very, very talented team. And as a coach, you gotta make a choice: What are we going to do with Johnny O’Bryant? Well, we decided down there, ‘Let’s see how he is one on one,’ and he showed us. He got like 40 (points) and 20 (rebounds) and fade-away jumpers, step-backs, dunks. It was a really great coaching move and decision. Here, we said, ‘I don’t care who’s near him. Run at him and trap him. Make him pass.’ The problem is, you got (Anthony) Hickey who got 30 and you (Andre) Stringer who can get 30, you got (Jarell) Martin who can get 30 and their leading scorer was Jordan Mickey for the last five games. So you’re talking about a team that can beat you in different ways and you gotta make a choice on O’Bryant first. What are you going to do? You know, they’re a team that made 3s against us and that’s why we were–we were 1 for 9 from the 3. We were lucky to get out alive.”South Carolina head coach Frank MartinOn his observations about Kentucky …“I think they’re real good, and I don’t think Cal gets the credit he deserves for the job he does. To rely on so many freshmen, to not have those foundation guys–I guess (Alex) Poythress and I can’t remember the young man’s name, (Jarrod) Polson, that they’ve been with them for at least a year, they provide that consistency that he’s looking for. But every year, I don’t care if Cal is coaching seniors or freshmen, you don’t want to play them at the end of the year because his teams play their best basketball at the end of the year, and that’s obvious with this team that that’s happening.”LSU head coach Johnny JonesOn what has impressed him about Julius Randle …“Well, the thing that impressed me the most is he really doesn’t force anything. We’ve tried to make sure that we’ve tried to defend him the right way and he’s one of those guys that don’t mind passing. He’s a very unselfish basketball player and even with that he doesn’t get frustrated as a freshman. He continues to play, as much to being able to make that last play in the game on Saturday. That’s what impresses me the most with him because of his size and strength and awareness out there on the floor. Just a very heady basketball player.”