Kentucky Basketball Previews Notre Dame
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS & PR
MEN’S BASKETBALL
NOTRE DAME VS. UK PREGAME MEDIA
DEC. 11, 2020
JOE CRAFT CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.
HEAD COACH JOHN CALIPARI
On how the COVID-19 safety precautions are slowing down the development of young teams …
“Change is hard, especially when you’re playing the top-tier teams. It’s hard. A lot of times the young players don’t believe you. ‘This has always worked for me.’ It doesn’t work (now). What got you here isn’t going to get you to where you’re trying to go. Developing professional habits. Playing winning basketball – not just playing basketball. Playing winning basketball and what it means. Learning to compete and fight on every possession. It’s what it is. I looked at the New England Patriots. Maybe the best coach ever in any sport, Bill Belichick. But, there is all kind of change and turnover in New England. You had players opt out. Your quarterback changed. All of a sudden, they’re not where they were. Well, the change that we’re having in college basketball with the COVID thrown together, if you’re a veteran team – I think I said this last week if anyone listens to me and most people don’t; my wife doesn’t, my dogs don’t so no one listens to me – but I said the veteran teams have a huge advantage this season. The inexperienced teams, which I think we’re one of the least experienced teams with 10 new guys that have never played together – we’re at a big disadvantage. I’m not using it as an excuse. I want this to be the most rewarding year that I’ve ever had. That’s my mindset. And I’m going to do whatever I can to help these kids. If I have to be mean, I’m going to be mean. If I have to hug them, I’ll hug them. If I have to kiss them on the forehead, I’ll kiss them on the forehead. Whatever I need to be to be their best. I want each of these players at the end of the year to say this is the best version of myself ever. The other side of it is, as I do that, we’ve gotta collectively become a better team. And it’s hard when you’re doing it, every game you turn around is another team that is more than good enough to beat you. And so, we don’t have a whole lot of room for error. My hope is that people watch this game and say, ‘All right, I see what he’s trying to do. It looks different.’ If it doesn’t look different, we’ve gotta go next week and stay in camp. I just want it to look different. If it looks different, we’ve set the stage of where we’re going.”
On where the turnovers are coming from and why they’re happening …
“There’s two things. Everybody is trying to make the hardest plays. I call them hero’s plays because it means more to them because that’s how they’ve played their whole life. Now it’s about the easiest play. The second thing, when you don’t have the ball, do you make it easier for your teammate to find you? Do you get open? Do you get open with timing? That’s all toughness. Do you play with a high motor, like a sense of urgency? That’s toughness, man. If you don’t, you have no toughness. So, those are some of the things. And we worked this week. I’ve done all kind of different things. I’m going back in the bag of tricks. The good news about coaching for 35 years is there are all kinds of things you’ve tried over your career to get things changed. Everything here is in pencil. Positions are in pencil. Look, I look at this and these kids need me more than any team I’ve coached. I’m doing things where it’s them and me personally together, whether it’s film or meetings to where it’s us. I’m trying to get them to turn the phones off and get together because we’re not talking to each other enough. I’m doing more individual meetings than I’ve ever done. Look, think about this: If I’m feeling bad or anxious or down, how do you think they’re feeling? This isn’t about me. I’ve got to keep them safe – and they’ve done a fabulous job – and I’ve got to get individual players better and I’ve got to get our team better. I’ve got a full house of what I’ve got to do, but I’m up for it. Let’s go. I’m not afraid of it. Kansas, back in the day, lost five games in a row and won the national title. Because during those five games they saw, ‘We’re getting better. We’re going to be fine. We’re getting better. We’ll break through.’ All I want is this to look different. Let me say this to everybody: We had a 3.1 grade-point average last term as a team. 3.1. These kids are doing everything right. They are good kids. Now let me say this: They’re immature. They don’t know how to respond to coaching or being subbed. They know now what’s acceptable and what’s not. If you watch us and we’re immature, then they’re not getting what we’re trying to do. So all this stuff—good kids. Eric (Lindsey) said I shouldn’t make a statement about Keion (Brooks Jr. being out) two weeks, three weeks because we’ve got to let the doctors decide. Here’s a kid who had over a 3.0 (GPA). Maybe have been a 3.3. I can’t remember, but a big-time GPA. Wants to lead. Wants to be out there. A great kid. We’re just waiting on him. But let me say this: He’s leading this team and he’s not even playing and these dudes are listening. Wait until he gets on the court. I’m bouncing around a bit, but it’s all about what does this look like. Not just how we play. Do they look like they’re maturing? Do they look like they’re accepting coaching or being subbed? What! We had none of the stuff that we had to start with here but it’s normal. These kids don’t know better. If–and I’ve said this before and I know none of you listen, my wife, dogs, no one. I’ve said this before. If I think they should know something, 100% of the time I’m wrong. They don’t know. That’s why they’re here. That’s why we’re coaching them. That’s why we’re challenging them. That’s why we’re hugging them. That’s why we’re keeping an eye on them. At the end of the day, we just got to start looking different. Look like a basketball team. Look like a sense of urgency. Compete and fight. Play tough. Get open. Make easy plays. Create good shots. Like, if you watched us practice, you would think we’re leading the nation in 3-point shooting. They get in the game and now it’s a harder shot. Why? We’re not creating good shots for each other. We’re not moving when the guys stops so you can get an easy shot. We’re not making a pass when – you ready for this – just to pass. ‘I’m not passing. I’ve got to foot fake and see what I can do first.’ How about just catch it and pass it and do that? That’s tough. That’s a toughness. I’m good with me, and then boom. I’m mentally engaged. That means I’m tough.”
On how confident he is that they’ll get through the interruptions with COVID postponements and make it to the postseason …
“Let me start, Myron (Medcalf) with this: We’re playing 80% of our games right now. Eighty percent of our games right now are being played. The safest place for all these athletes are on our campuses. Most of us have hospitals whether they’re in our town or right on our campus if something does happen and they move to the front of the line and they get care. So the best place for these athletes is here. The hard thing is—it’s like us at Thanksgiving. I had debated and went back and forth and didn’t sleep for two days. We had the parents. We had 50 people come on our campus, parents and families, for Thanksgiving. But they couldn’t be with their sons. They could walk outside at a distance. They had to have a mask on. They did not eat together at Thanksgiving. We gave everybody meals to take with them. The players ate together. It’s hard. I mean, this stuff is hard. But I think what they’re doing, I think what Danny Gavitt is doing to say right away that we’re doing to do this in one town, we’ll have six courts and then we’ll whittle it down. When you lose, you’re out. Leave the bubble. And then we get it down to where we are. I think it’s how we play it. Let me just say this one last thing: We owe it to these kids to give them a chance to play safely. We owe it to them. There’s not a coach in the country whose players would say, ‘Nah, let’s not play.’ They all want to play. My kids want to play. Look how we’re playing! And they want to play. My job is to keep them safe, keep an eye on mental health, help them individually come together, get them to talk together and get off those phones and those devices. You cannot be in a room on your computer or never speak to any other human being. You can’t do it. We are doing things together as though we’re a family, my players and me. We’re a family. Just like you would do with your family, they’re my family. We’re in a bubble here. In the lodge. They’re getting tested three days a week. They’ve been good for many, many weeks now. I’m looking at us like a family.”
On how he reduces the turnovers …
“You work at it. Here’s what I would say: In coaching in all my years, if it’s important to me, it will be important to them. And now they know this is important to me. I’ve held them accountable in practice. We’re doing some different things to let them know what’s acceptable. And I’m trying to do it in a way where they hit a certain point in practice. You get X amount of turnovers. Anywhere in practice. In a drill, you fumble, you lose it, it’s a turnover. You get to this point, we all run, every turnover after that to make them accountable to each other. That wasn’t part of this.”
On how confident he is to getting the Detroit Mercy game rescheduled and what that game would mean for getting some confidence back …
“Let me tell you, the way we have been playing—Mike (Davis) is doing a great job, by the way. Detroit for me is Brad (Calipari). Giving him a chance to come back and coach against him and being able to watch my son. And we’re hoping we can slide it in at some point. That’s what we’re hoping for. We’ll have to see. Mike and I haven’t even talked about it yet. We knew we had to postpone it. You look at this. Here’s where we are: After the 15th, we really have to be careful of who we’re playing, what the environment is. If anyone on the other team, after the 15th, becomes positive. Why is that? We have to be diligent to the point of saying, ‘Well, we can’t play that game.’ Can you tell me why that is? We can’t affect our league play. The most important thing for us is our league. So if any team we’re playing from here to the start of our league becomes positive – the staff or one player – and we’re not comfortable with the tracing or whatever, we’re just saying we can’t play it. We’ve got to be right for our league. I want to play as many games as I can, but our league is the most important thing for us.”
On Duke canceling nonconference games so the team could go home for Christmas and if he would ever consider doing something similar …
“I’m worried about my 12 guys and what we’re doing and how it’s working. All the schools and coaches have to make decisions for what they think is best for their kids in their program. Home for Christmas is a hard one this year. I’ve done this a long time. Every year that I’ve coached, as you guys know, I give my kids four to five days for Christmas. Why did I do it? I just need to know if anybody listens. Why did I do that every year? Because I’ve said it many times. I need the break with my staff and my family. I always had young families. Well, I want to be with my kids at Christmas. I want to get my family together. So, I gave them time off. Well, guess what? My wife and I are going to do Christmas by ourselves with our team. My kids aren’t coming in. We can’t. So, I don’t know. If there were a way that we could do it, I would say let’s try. But you leave our state, what happens in 10 days? What do you do? Do you quarantine for two weeks when you come back? I mean, there’s all kinds of pieces to this that makes this hard. Do I want them to go home? Dudes, I’m going 16 hours a day; I’d like to get a little break. But we also have got to make sure we’re doing the right things and being safe. This is unchartered waters. Every coach can do what they think is right. I’m not going to question any coach. They do what they think is right for their team and only they know their team. Maybe we had a team that was really struggling mentally and needed to get with family because they’re inexperienced. Then you make that decision. We have kids that, these kids here, they want to play now. I don’t know of any college player in the country. And my team’s not playing well, but they want to play. I worry about my 12, my staff.”
On if Keion Brooks Jr.’s absence during preseason and on the court has been a factor in the slow development of this team …
“Well, one of the things that he was able to do after our game when the body language, the immature part of this team came out, he was able to say that we never had any of that last year. We never had that. We never had it in a timeout. We never had it in a practice. We never had it when a guy was subbed. He’s able to say it because, let me explain, they think that’s normal because that’s how they did it when they were in AAU. I mean, they think it’s normal. And so, him being able to refer back to, ‘This is what it’s like.’ How about this? You try to tell them every game we play is someone’s Super Bowl. Did it appear that way with Georgia Tech? Georgia Tech played like it was their Super Bowl. How did my team play? Did they fight? Did they have a sense of urgency? Did they make easy plays? Did they play to win? I mean, we’re playing Notre Dame. They’re going to play great. We’re going to try to make it difficult. I just want the game to look different so that we can all look and say, ‘Shew. We’re going to be all right.’ And it doesn’t mean win or lose right now. It is, let’s play the right way and winning takes care of itself.”
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS & PR
MEN’S BASKETBALL
NOTRE DAME VS. UK PREGAME MEDIA
DEC. 11, 2020
JOE CRAFT CENTER – LEXINGTON, KY.
UK Players
#3 Brandon Boston Jr., G, Fr.
On his preparation for Notre Dame and if he feels responsible to step up …
“Most definitely after those three straight losses. It just kind of brought me back to myself, getting up early at 6 a.m. to go shoot in the mornings on the gun this whole week. It’s just making me lock in even more, changed my mindset on how I approach the game.”
On the advice Coach Calipari has given him for the remainder of the season …
“Continuing the season, it’s a long process. We’ve just got to stay the course, learn how to jell together and just play basketball the right way.”
On if he’s been surprised at the difficulty this has been …
“Definitely a surprise. It’s another level. It’s a different level than high school. But just staying the course, taking it day by day and get better every day.”
On if his confidence has been shaken and how he’s responding to the struggles …
“We’re responding to it well. Like I said, get in the gym, all day every day and just working on our game.”
On if there is a group working out early …
“I send an invite to all of my teammates. I call it the Breakfast Club. I get up like around 5:45, get in the gym by 6. I try to finish by 7:30 and meditate after I eat breakfast. So far it’s only been me and Cam Fletcher getting up that early right now.”
On the importance of reducing turnovers …
“Very important. I feel like that’s part of the reason why we’re losing so many games because we have so many turnovers. Coach has preached to us that you’ve got to make the easy plays and not try to be the guy that makes the neat play. Just slow down when you get the ball.”
On Calipari preaching making the right play from the start and why it hasn’t translated for guys yet …
“Because right now we still have 10 new guys. We’ve never played basketball with each other, so we’re still trying to jell. But I feel like it’s going to come. It’s going to come one day sooner than later.”
On how he would evaluate his game and what it is that he’d like to provide for the team going forward …
“Right now I would say I’m not really playing my best basketball. I’m just taking it day by day, staying in the gym with my confidence high. What I want people to see is that I have a high motor, I’m willing to play winning basketball, and that I go out there and compete and fight every game.”
On the advantage of other teams having more experience than Kentucky …
“Yeah, experience plays a big role. But I feel like if we just play our game, play the right way, just go out there and fight and compete then we will be good.”
#30 Olivier Sarr, F, Sr.
On the atmosphere in the locker room and the pressure the team feels to bounce back …
“The locker room these last few days at practice, great energy from everybody. We’re ready to learn from our mistakes from the last game, which I think was disappointing for all of us, and we’re ready to bounce back. We’ve got a lot of energy. We’re ready to go. We’re ready for our next game.”
On how he is handling the situation of playing basketball during the pandemic …
“Thank you for asking. I’m doing great. You know, it’s basketball. We’re here to get better each and every day. Sometimes things don’t go your way, but you still have to fight every time that you play. I think that’s something that we’ve got to take care of. Thanks for asking but we’re doing good. Thank you.”
On the turnovers …
“I think it’s something that we talk about at practice all of the time is making the easy play. Not trying to make the best play or the hero play, just taking care of the ball and making sure that we get through our offense.”
On how the team responds to Calipari saying Kansas “punked” them and Georgia Tech “manhandled them” …
“I mean, it’s something that Coach (Cal) talked about. It’s true. I just got to get better at it, just fighting on the court, you know. Just competing out there. It’s something that you can’t allow it to.”
On how he would assess his performance thus far into the season and what areas does he need to improve upon …
“Everything, you know. I’ve got to get better at everything, obviously. The last game is not representative of who I am as a player. It’s just something that I know that I’m aware of and I’m trying every day at practice to really play on my level, you know, play out the best version of myself. And the coaches are helping me do that and my teammates. And I’m trying to be the best teammate I can be for my team.”
On if he feels pressure to perform in order for this young team to have success …
“Yeah, I mean obviously, you know. I can’t have a game like I had last game. I need to bring a certain level of my game. It is something that I didn’t do last game.”
On his confidence level entering the Notre Dame game and his familiarity with the team …
“It’s another game. It’s a different team since last year, but I know the players and I kind of know their schemes and all that. So, it’s just being mindful to how we are playing the scouting report. This is going to be a personal game, not knowing your personnel it just gives an advantage (to the other team). I can have some advice for the guys.”
On what the biggest lesson the team has learned after the three losses and if Notre Dame presents a fresh start …
“The biggest lesson is just that we’re in this together and we have to compete and we have to fight each and every game and the rest will take care of itself. Obviously, it’s a new game, new opportunity. So, it’s definitely a good start for us to get started.”
On who the junkyard guys are on the team …
“We have a whole lot. I mean, whether it’s BJ (Boston), Terrence (Clarke), Cam (Fletcher), Lance (Ware), I mean, Isaiah (Jackson). Everybody. All of these guys. Everybody has the potential to do it we’ve just got to show it.”
