Kentucky Basketball Previews Utah
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
UTAH at UK PREGAME MEDIA
DEC. 14, 2018
JOE CRAFT CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.
Head Coach John Calipari
On Jemarl Baker’s availability …
“He’s got a better chance. Down to nine guys, but he should get an opportunity.”
On what Baker will bring to the team …
“He should be able to score the ball for this team, which is something that we need. He’s not just a 3-point shooter. He can make 3s, but he’s more of a scorer, and I told him – the other stuff, make really simple plays. Don’t try and create and go crazy. Just score the ball. Figure out where you can score. If you can’t, make an easy play. Let these other guys do what they do. You do what you do.”
On Quade Green’s decision to transfer …
“He felt that he was an in a situation that he didn’t see he could come back from. I met with the kid. He’s a great kid. Met with mom and dad, and mom was crying. It is disappointing for me when young people want to leave, but he’ll be treated the same way. I would tell our fans, be positive and be upbeat with him. You think about all of the kids that have left here that we’ve stayed in touch with. I told he and his family, ‘I’m going to be here for you, but this next choice is probably bigger than the last choice. You’ve got to think it through and how you want to play.’ So, it was a talk. We were in there for a little while. He hugged me and said, ‘I love you Coach,’ and I said, ‘I love you, too.’ It’s just different here. I even told him, ‘Why don’t you stay two weeks and play two games, and if you want to leave, leave. Why would you do this right now?’ He said, ‘Coach, I just feel…’ I said, ‘OK.’ I told the team, ‘This isn’t, you said what? You’re leaving?! Get out of here!’ It’s not how we do it here. This is about them, not me, and it’s not about the program that way. This is about each individual guy when it comes to a decision like that.”
On finding experience with inexperienced teams …
“We’ve had inexperience every year I’ve coached here. We had it my first year, we had it my second year and we had it my third year. I would like to have seniors. It’s hard, but we’ve got one and his name is Reid [Travis].”
On how to identify players that will stay for three and four years during recruiting …
“They’re all on a different path, and that’s the thing that’s hard. Everybody is on a different path. We’ve had guys here a year and leave. We’ve had guys two years and left. We’ve had guys three years and left. We’ve had guys stay four years and be in the NBA. Some of them graduate and then go on, and they don’t play professionally. Everybody is on their own path. What affects guys sometimes is someone else’s path and the best you can do is be your best. Be your best. Like I said, we’re about these kids. So you can look at it whatever you want. You can try to create – we’re about these kids. What is right for them? In the most cases what our jobs is to prepare them for what’s next. Some of them totally buy in and give 100 percent, spend all of their time – and others don’t quite do it that way. They think that there’s a magic wand here. There is no magic wand. You take what you want. You earn. We’re here all day. I mean, it isnt’ going to be because we won’t spend time with you. It’s not going to be because we’re not on the biggest of big stages. You’ve got – we can’t do it for you. You’ve got to go take it. Again it’s like this team I’m coaching right now, love this team. They were in my house last night. We talked about, ‘Alright, we’re making strides. Let’s talk about playing where you’re going to make mistakes. Just make them create for us more mistakes. You’re going to miss shots. Well, make them miss more shots than we miss. This isn’t my play. This is how do we make this easy for each other.’ They’re still learning. I was on the phone with Lionel Hollins and we were talking about willing passers and seeing the next pass before you catch the ball. High school players catch and, ‘Alright, who’s open?’ The elite of the elite, catch it and the coach goes, (whistle sound). ‘Where is everybody on the court?’ ‘Alright, I’ve got my three man here, I’ve got my four and the five man there and my two man’s over there.’ Perfect. That’s – we’re at that level trying to get them a better feel for that. But, they’re getting better. We’ve had two good days, lively days. They’ve had fun. We’re (doing) more scrimmaging. They’re competing. It’s good stuff.”
On some players being affected by what other players’ paths are and if you can evaluate players and tell them they’re four-year players …
“I haven’t met that guy yet. I haven’t met him. And that’s the greatest way if you want to say, ‘I think you’re a four-year guy …’ [Reporter: To insult them and lose them.] What is your path?”
On the desire to recruit some players who will be here more than two years …
“I recruit the best players we can recruit and try to help those kids. And if that includes two- or three- or four-year guys, that’s fine. Would I rather do this like I did back in UMass? Yeah, I’d rather be coaching guys (for three and four years). It’s not what the environment is. So, now you lose a game and all of the sudden this is the – what? We’ve been to more Final Fours, won more league – how many league tournaments have we won with all young guys? [Reporter: Six.] What’s it? I mean, come on now. I’m not panicked. It sounds like some people are panicking. I am not. I love this. If they don’t play well then it’s my job to get them to play well. And if they play well some of you in this room will say, ‘There he goes again. This guy gets it. He gets them going.’ Probably not, but you have a chance to say that. It is what it is. I mean, we’re – I’m working every day, working harder, spending more time because my job is them. It’s not you. It’s not having people pleased about what I do. It is them and that is all I’m concerned with. How do I get each individual player playing better? How do I get each individual player understanding that you must do this together? That you must be willing passers. That you must defend together. That you must sustain effort. You have to play harder than the other team. You have to enjoy the competition. We’re not going to have any blowout games. They’re done. We didn’t blow out people that you thought we should so every game we play is going to be a war. Well, love it. You only learn from that kind of competition. I told you before, you don’t learn from Popcorn State, beating them by 40. You don’t learn. But you do learn when every game is like this. Every game will be a war. Every game will come down to three possessions. Alright, now we know playing winning basketball is going to matter. But it’s – some of you guys have short memories, but it’s, we go through this every year. You can create what you want to create. This is every single year. Last year, probably about the same as this year. Are we behind or ahead? I don’t know. We had one kid (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) who really just (took off).”
On how UK compares at this point this year to the same point last year …
“I don’t know. I thought we had a chance to be a Final Four team. Every year I look at my team, I’m like OK, how do we have to be at the end of the year to be one of those teams? We’ve got stuff we have to do. We have to shoot the ball better. Have to shoot the ball better, and they’re good looks. And that’s, again, individual players thinking every shot has got to go in. You don’t have to make every shot. Are you ready for this? You just can’t miss them all. You don’t have to make everyone, but you’ve got to make a couple. And so we’ll get there. This team, like I said, we’ve got great kids. Really outstanding, and they’re trying to figure themselves out. I’m trying to figure them out. We’ve done some things – I’ve tweaked two or three things that I think will make us better. I’m trying some different stuff in lineups and so it gives me a chance to mess around and come up with something that they feel confident about.”
On him telling the team to act like they won the last game …
“Look, we were up three with the ball with a minute and 25 seconds (remaining). Why did you throw that pass that led to a charge and then they make a 3 and then. Why? How about we pull that out and we’re up five or six with 50-something seconds to go. Wait a minute, why did you do that? Because he’s not ever been in that situation. It was a high school game, and just go down and try to score again. So in the end if we had done what we needed to do to finish the game, we’d have won the game and everything would’ve been different. I wouldn’t be getting the same questions I’m getting now. ‘You need four-year players, you need five-year players. Matter of fact, keep them two, put them on a mission, let’s keep them for six years.’ OK. So you wouldn’t be coming at me that way. And I’m saying to you guys, I’m looking like we won the game. So we’re not that far off. We got better. That game, we improved. Didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but we improved. Now let’s get better this game. What does it mean? I don’t know. We don’t know Utah, but we play another game, then we play another game. We play league games. Every game is going to be a war. You’re just not going to have 25-point wins.”
On if Utah presents a certain challenge UK hasn’t seen …
“They’re big. They’re really big. They run good stuff. They space the court. They play kind of a matchup zone that’s interesting. Sometimes they’ll stay in it, sometimes they’ll go man. So they’ll do some stuff that you’ll have with teams you’ve got to look at and say, ‘OK, let’s make sure we cover this.’ Because again, I tried to send some guys on that mission and have those six-year guys but I don’t. I’ve got young guys so you must cover some of that stuff with them, which we didn’t have.”
On wanting to play in transition more …
“We do, but it’s where the ball was being outletted. It’s was that we weren’t in a dead sprint. And we showed them we rebounded. These were all misses. You ready? We were defending our butts off and we got two breakout baskets. How is that? So then when you go back over the tape, you’ve got to show them. So it’s no big change. It’s you’ve got to catch it higher, and it’s – you ready for this? – you’ve got to run faster. Now let me explain: really young guys can run faster than older guys. So get out and run.”
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
UTAH at UK PREGAME MEDIA
DEC. 14, 2018
JOE CRAFT CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Players
#25, PJ Washington, So., F
On hearing the news about Quade Green …
“We’re obviously sad that we lost him. We’re happy for him and he made the best decision for him and we can’t be mad at that. We’re just going to support him the rest of the way.”
On what the team will do without Green …
“Guys have to step up and just play better, play better on both ends of the floor. We got Jemarl (Baker) back, so we’re just hoping he brings where Quade left off. Happy for him and happy for Jemarl as well.”
On what the locker room is like without Green …
“A little less crazy. Quade is definitely a funny guy. We’re going to miss him. But we just have to go forward and go on with our season.”
On the attitude in practice this week coming off a loss …
“We just left that in the past. Looked at the film, got better from it. We’re just looking at it as if we won the game. We’re just coming into this next game trying to get a W.”
On what Jemarl Baker Jr. brings to the team …
“He’s a shooter. He can play both offense and defense. He’s very versatile. He can get to the rack as well. I feel like he’s going to have a great season ahead of him. He just has to stay healthy.”
On what the team has done with so much time between games …
“Just being on the court, more time on the court. Since finals is over for us, we’ve just been in the gym. Early mornings, in the evenings, even after that. Just a lot more bonding time. We’ve been going out to eat together and stuff like that. Just spending a lot more time with the guys.”
On what he knows about Utah …
“Utah is a really great team. They run a lot of plays. I actually played with a guy (Donnie Tillman) that goes to Utah in high school. I know him pretty well and I know he’s going to go out and try to play his game. I’m going to be happy to see him and just go out there and try to get a W for us.”
On if it’s good to return home after a loss …
“It’s good to come in and play in Rupp in front of our home crowd and get some cheers behind us. We always know the Big Blue Nation is behind us, but to see them in person at Rupp is unbelievable.”
On what the next few weeks will be for the team …
“Just what they have been this week, more basketball than school. We’re not really in school, so there’s a lot more down time. Just a lot more time to get in the gym and work on our games.”
On if there will be a Camp Cal this year …
“Yeah, it’s already started. We started a couple of days ago. We’re trying to get better every day.”
On if the young guys are enjoying Camp Cal …
“They’re enjoying it. They’re just happy they’re not in school right now. Anything is good for them. You’ve just got to come in and try to get better and stay focused.”
On the takeaway for the team after watching the Seton Hall tape …
“The biggest takeaway for us, Coach was saying we didn’t get out in transition and score. We usually do that with some of the best teams in the country. I think we only scored like two points in transition that whole game. That was the biggest emphasis for us. And then, guarding the ball on defensive end in the second half. We had a lot of letdowns and we’re trying to capitalize on that in practice this week.”
#13, Jemarl Baker Jr., R-Fr., G
On how he feels …
“I feel good. I feel really good. Going through treatment, rehab and all those things, I feel good. I feel back to 100 percent. I’m just glad to be with the team.”
On what was keeping him out …
“Just minor stuff like swelling and just minor stuff. I guess things that were going on that I couldn’t play, but once we treated that I’ve been feeling good lately.”
On how much longer this process has taken than he expected …
“A lot longer, but I’m back now so I’m excited. I’m excited.”
On how much he can play …
“As much as (Coach Cal) wants me to play. I’ve been feeling really good. I’ve been practicing full time these last couple weeks and I’ve been feeling good, so just do whatever it takes to win.”
On what it was like to play …
“It felt good, but honestly it felt normal. I’ve been wanting to play the whole time, so once I got out there I was mentally ready and it felt like a normal game.”
On whether he feels added responsibility after Quade Green’s departure …
“I don’t feel any pressure or anything like that. We wanted him here, but he had to do what was best for him and now I’m just going to step in and work hard and play my game.”
On whether he senses opportunity …
“I felt opportunity before when he was here. Now I’m just going to work hard. I’ve been working with the team. We’ve been working to get better and I’m just going to get out there and do whatever it takes to win.”
On his assessment of UK’s perimeter shooting …
“Well, in my opinion we can shoot it really well and we will shoot it really well. We haven’t been shooting it to our best lately, but we will. As we keep getting comfortable and keep getting comfortable with each other, how we want to play, it’ll all start to come together.”
