UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
SEC MEN’S BASKETBALL TELECONFERENCE
MARCH 18, 2019
Head Coach John Calipari
On the NCAA Tournament …
“The league schedule, the hard games that we had especially at the end of the year I think has prepared my team. The great thing that’s happened in our league right now, everybody is playing kind of different. It’s not like everybody plays the same way. Whether you get a zone team, a 1-3-1 team, 2-3 team, a team that plays man, a team that grabs and holds and plays physical, a team that shoots 3’s, a team that’s trying – I mean you face it all in our league. I think it’s going to help all of our teams going forward. I mean, so many games were decided in the last minute. There wasn’t a whole lot of separation from one to nine. I mean, literally, there wasn’t.”
On how prepared his team is for the NCAA Tournament …
“I think they’re in a great frame of mind. They’ve been that way. They’re a young team, a lot of freshmen and even the veteran players have not been in this situation. PJ (Washington) has and he was a significant player. Look, we’re as ready as we can be. I wish we were a little more empowered than we are, but they’re starting to understand. You’ve just got to play to the training and play to 40 minutes. It’s not the opponent, it’s not the tournament. How do we train and what are we trying to do and how are we trying to play? I just keep coming back to play to the training.”
On how the team could be more empowered …
“The different teams by the end of the year they would run themselves more. This team has done it at times. I’ve watched Ashton (Hagans) at times do it. I’ve watched PJ (Washington) take hold of the team. Reid (Travis) has done it at times. It’s still not enough of that and now it’s time. Look, we’re only running these two or three things. Go play. I keep convincing them that we don’t run plays. We’re running an action to get you started and then play. That becomes a little more random and a little more of an empowerment to the team.”
