John Calipari
On PJ Washington’s game against Monmouth …
“He was good. Look, I come back to this and I’ve always tried to be this guy: Individual players have got to improve before your team can get better. So, PJ lost that weight and then all of a sudden he doesn’t even look like the same guy. I wasn’t sure if it would be this game, but he had practiced this way.
“Hami (Diallo), being a more willing passer, doing less looks way better. Doing less. Then you have Wenyen (Gabriel) who played like Derek Willis, except he rebounds and does some things that Derek could do but probably not as well as Wenyen would do.
“So, now we still have a couple of the pieces – Kevin Knox struggled today. It wasn’t one of his better games, but that’s fine. It’s good for the soul to go 1 for 9. Now, what you would learn, if you go 1 for 5 would you shoot jumpers or just keep going to the basket until they foul you and get baskets? Or you end up going 1 for 9, which is what he did. It’s a great lesson for him.
“There were some good things from the game. We still had 19 turnovers, and my guess is 10 or 12 of them were unforced. They’re not even forced turnovers. It’s not like they put us in a bad position, they were just we gave them the ball and we gotta stop it.
“But we’re better. There were things that we worked on, the press and some other things, that were better, how we were trying to play. But we’re still not capable of going 40 minutes.
“And Monmouth, I’ll tell ya – and I told King (Rice) prior too – they’ve lost games like I cannot believe how they’ve lost. Four overtimes, a buzzer beater, a tip out versus a free throw miss? They have played, and again, the first half there were spells where they struggled, but then you see them at the end how they played. They’re going to be good in their league, and I said to him, ‘I watched the games and the tapes,’ and he says, ‘Oh my. We could have won this one, won that one.’ That’s how this stuff goes though.”
On if Diallo played the best “homecoming” performance he’s seen …
“Yeah, yeah. Nick (Richards) struggled, fouled, there was some foul stuff going on, but I thought Nick at the end is learning and getting better. The zone, our zone, was big. Hami played well. Hami, again, less is more for him but that is so hard. Just do less and don’t try to do as much. Do these things.
“Today, I told the guys prior to, I’m a little disappointed that the kids aren’t getting the respect, I think, they deserve, as players. Again, I’ve done this 30-some years, I know one player from another, and I don’t know if it’s people’s opinion or their hope that this guy’s not that good and this guy’s not – I mean, what? And we’re just getting going. I mean, this team is just – there were some things we did in the first half that you would think, ‘Wow, we’ve cracked through.’ Well, we really haven’t, but we’re getting in that direction. We’re trending the right way.”
On how encouraging it was to see Diallo knock down some jumpers …
“Yeah, again, he’s working at it, but the biggest thing is three days ago. Again, the shot and then going like that (moves his hand down) because it looks good. ‘Yeah!’ It looks good, you just can’t make shots doing that. So, I forced him to hold his follow through. There’s nothing wrong with his shot. It’s sometimes shot selection, but you have to get in a habit of every shot I take I hold my follow through. Then it becomes the same shot every day. Then it becomes more consistent. You’re not making every shot, but you’ll be consistent.
“I’m not trying to break any habits, I’m helping them create new habits. They get fatigued, they go back to their old habits. If they’re fresh, they’re good. The habits we’ve created now are getting there. But the minute they slip it’s back to that and some of the other things.
“But he’s played, he’s trying to do what we’re asking him to do. He’s getting better defensively. But this is hard.
“Every player, you come to Kentucky to get better. That’s why you come here. If you don’t think you need to get better, you don’t come here. If you think you need to shoot 30 shots a game, you don’t come to Kentucky. You come here like, ‘I want to be challenged. I want to be in a practice where everybody can play. That’s what I’m trying to do. Hami did it for that reason and he’s getting better.”
On Washington playing multiple spots in UK’s zone defense …
“That’s who he is, but plus 15 pounds you can’t be that. And I even said, maybe lose seven, eight more. Huh. Maybe you can even get better. Now, as Kenny (Payne) was working him out pre-practice and basically—the kid wasn’t happy now. He was whining, complaining and then all of a sudden it starts kicking in. There’s only one way if you’re chasing greatness to convince yourself that you’re good enough and that’s through work, spending more time than anybody, being more committed than anybody and that’s what I’m trying to do with each of these guys. Nick (Richards) has come out early to every practice. We got some other guys that are kind of slipping in a little bit later. It wasn’t—in the case of PJ, it was a demand. It wasn’t an ask. But this is good stuff. I was happy for him.”
On his relationship with Monmouth head coach King Rice …
“He and I have been friends for a long time and he’s somebody that I’ve always respected because not only is he a basketball guy, he is one of the great people in our profession. He’s good to kids, he’s good to coaches and we’ve been friends. When we talked about this, the thing with Kentucky, if we have an opportunity to help someone like that by playing a game, we do it. And he’s one of those guys and a heck of a coach, aside from being one of the great people in our profession.”
On New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman being there …
“Yeah, I talked to him after. We talked trades and some different things we were going over. The guy (Shohei Otani) went to the Angels, I said, ‘Hey, we’re fine. You’re going to be fine.”
On whether they talked about Giancarlo Stanton …
“Yeah, we talked about Stanton. We’re going to get that one done. We’re getting that one done.”
On Tai Wynyard …
“I thought he did good. Yeah. See, one guy’s misery is another guy’s opportunity. There was a guy in this city, what was his name – Wally Pipp – who decided he was hurt for a doubleheader and Lou Gehrig played the next 6,000 straight games and we don’t know who Wally Pipp is. One guy’s misery is another guy’s opportunity. And Tai was ready for his chance. You understand I am a Yankee fan? Pirate fan too because I grew up in Pittsburgh.”
On committing 19 turnovers and being outscored in the second half …
“We started the second half – you ready? – no pass, shot; no pass, shot; one pass, shot; no pass, shot. And they had visions of being back in Vegas in the AAU. ‘It’s my turn. We’re up 23 and I’m just going to start shooting balls.’ I subbed everybody. ‘You’re out. You’re not playing that way.’ I worry because we’re going to get into league play and every game’s going to be up or down five. It’s not going to be 20. They’re all going to be wars and I’m not sure we’re ready to play a 40-minute game. The games we have coming up with Virginia Tech, with UCLA, with Louisville. We got tough games coming up.”
On Quade Green …
“We’re checking, but (Green) got poked pretty good in the eye. His eye, it’s shut right now.”
On Sacha Killeya-Jones …
“He had an ankle. He didn’t practice two days and he was out, so the doc said he wasn’t comfortable going. I said, ‘Fine, next man up.’ “
Hamidou Diallo
On coming home …
“It’s just great, coming out here playing in front of a crowd that I haven’t played in front of for a long time and just seeing my family again. So it’s just been great, and we got a W, so that was the big part about it.”
On the last time he played a game in New York City …
“Probably like three years. A real, organized game, like three years.”
On what it was like being back …
“I was young. So when I played three years ago, I was young. I was a no one. Not a lot of hype around me, but just coming back today, like I said earlier, it was just great. I got a lot of friends and family out there and they just wanted to see me play. They haven’t seen me play live in a long time.”
On his jump shot …
“It’s definitely been a main focus, because that’s what everybody critiques about my game. So like every basketball player, of course they’re going to get in the gym and work on it. I’ve just been working on my whole game. Just not try to focus on one part. Just try to get better as a total basketball player and just be what this team needs me to be and just be a complete version of that.”
On whether talk about his jump shot motivates him …
“Yeah, of course it motivates me. I don’t listen to it as much, because at the end of the day I’m the one putting in the work. I’m the one playing. But it’s definitely motivation and just fuel. That’s just fuel to my fire but, like I said, we got a good W. I hit a couple shots and back in the gym tomorrow.”
On how their game changes when outside shots are falling …
“I would just say it’s just better for us, because once shots are falling we’re just more confident and we’re just more loose playing offensively. If shots are falling, I feel like we’re just the best team that we can be and that’s just what we need to keep on doing. In practice, we gotta make shots and we gotta get in the gym and perfect our craft.”
On having family in the crowd …
“It’s just a blessing. This is my first time playing in the Garden. I never got to play in the Garden, so coming from New York City, that’s every kid’s dream. He wants to play in the Garden. You grow up watching it, going to games. For me playing in there, having a good game is just a blessing and just gotta do a couple more things, but it’s just a blessing.
PJ Washington
On what got him going early …
“What got me going, whichever my first basket was, I felt like my shots were going in. I just tried to stay aggressive and that’s what I did. I tried to continue in the second half and I’m glad we came out with the win.”
On playing multiple positions in the defensive zone …
“That was my first time playing at the top and playing in the middle. We were in a lot of foul trouble and we had to switch up a couple lineups, but it was great. I’m just glad I got to do everything to help the team win.”
On how he’s lost weight …
“Running. Just running every day. Before practice, after practice, everything.”
On what impact that’s had on his game …
“It’s just a confidence booster. I feel like I’m more in shape and my shots are falling now and I’m just playing better.”
