Kentucky Basketball Previews Tennessee
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS & PR
MEN’S BASKETBALL
UK at TENNESSEE PREGAME MEDIA
FEB. 19, 2021
HEAD COACH JOHN CALIPARI
On if the road trip in Tennessee has been good for team bonding …
“I talked about that to the team when we left. I told them about the NBA Bubble. Miami was in fifth place, and when I talk to anyone in the bubble, they said there were two teams that bonded unbelievably well. And the leadership on the team brought the team together. From coffee to wine rooms and that was Miami and that was LA (Lakers). Look who was in the finals. So, I said, ‘Use this time to be together.’ But it’s hard because being in rooms together and all that, you know, so you try to have spaces where they can go together. But yeah, we talked about it. The team is coming together and the reason they’re coming together is because they’re playing for each other. Like you could say, ‘Well, why doesn’t he shoot more?’ Or he does if he’s making shots, or if he’s open. Or if you’re not open, guess what? You can’t shoot it. And they’re playing for each other. ‘Let me do my thing. I’ve gotta get mine.’ We all saw where that led us. And so now, it’s taken time, but they’re becoming a team. But like the Super Bowl – I asked, ‘How many of you came together and watched the Super Bowl?’ I mean all of that stuff; these kids have missed out on. It’s affected us, but I’m happy with the climb right now. I’ve been happy for three weeks, we just needed to break through and win a game. But they’re coming together as a team, they’re figuring each other out, we’re figuring them out. So, we’ll see from here. Tough game today though, or tomorrow, this team is very physical. A lot of fouls called early (in the previous matchup) because they came in with a physical presence. They were going to come in and knock us to the cheerleaders and the officials called fouls. So, if it’s that kind of a game, my hope is it’s the same way. You know? Fouls are fouls whether it’s in Lex or Knoxville.”
On Isaiah Jackson and what challenges Tennessee presents to him …
“Well, they’ll get into his body. But what he’s doing is he’s making plays, again I always say, ‘Fall back on your training. You know? Here are the shots you should be taking. Fall back on your training.’ There are times you have seen him drive and just throw the ball. And you’re like, ‘Why would you do that?’ Well, that’s not something we’re teaching. There were charges where he’d lower his shoulder and run people over. We’re not teaching that. We’re not trying, you can’t do that, you don’t have that kind of strength. So, it takes time. But, you know, what he can do athletically, with his length. You see that he shoots it better than everybody thinks he does. Part of that is, if you’re open shoot the ball. If you’re 0-for-10, that is on me because I left you in. Shoot the ball if you’re open. And so now you’re seeing him take open shots that’s he’s comfortable that he can make. Even like I’ve said before, if they take a bad shot, I’m not really saying much because I don’t want them to have any excuse. ‘Well I thought that may be a bad shot.’ ‘You were wide open. It wasn’t.’ Nope. No. If you’re not making shots, get in that gym. Get in that gym and build your confidence.”
On how much of shot-blocking is natural talent and how much of it is a teachable thing …
“It’s more of a knack. It’s a twitch. That, again, you are not blocking it in his hand. So, it takes a skill. A twitch, that you let him release it and then you go get the ball. I’ve had some of the best and I’ll tell you, he’s (Jackson) doing some good stuff.”
On how much direction he’s received from the SEC on rescheduling games …
“We could. We could reschedule. I don’t think – we only have one league game to make up, and I don’t know. I’d imagine it would probably be, you know, what I might do is if they’re saying we’re not making up that game based on seeding like they’ll make it – South Carolina has missed a lot of games. So, they can’t play five games, four games in a week. So which games are the most important that they make up for the seeding? Whatever that is and if we’re not one of them, we have a week. Yes, I’d try to schedule a couple of games. Matter of fact I’ve had a couple of athletic director friends of mine who are at mid-majors that have said, ‘Hey if you want to play us, let us know.’ So that’s a possibility.”
On defending Tennessee …
“Well, all they did when they got down 10 was spread the court and went on the bounce. So, it’s a combination. The guy who is guarding the ball, you can’t let him straight-line drive because we can’t help you. We have to stay in front. You can’t get bullied. The other guys are hopefully playing better team defense than we did at that point. But they’re good. They scored 50 points. Two players. Fifty. The one thing of all of the tape that I’m watching now, they’re making 3s too. So, you can’t just say collapse in the lane. Because if they make a ton of 3s, they’re really hard to beat. But if two players are getting 50, they’re hard to beat. They’re a good team. That’s why they’re a highly-ranked team. That’s why there are predictions for them to advance. Rick’s (Barnes) done a great job with this team. Very physical play. The biggest thing is we’ve got to be ready for the fight. You’ve got to play low to the floor. You can’t just get pushed around, and if you’re standing straight up and down you will. Guards, you’re going to get pushed off of ball screens or off of screens. You’ve got to be prepared for it. You’ve got to be ready and it’s a man’s game. Look, I’m so proud of these guys. Their attitude. We came here yesterday and practiced and had a good practice. There was no gnawing of the teeth. They were excited to be in the gym again. So, this team has withstood. Again, I say this, the hard thing here, the whole experience here is creating habits in the summer, successful habits. In the fall competitive, coming together team building. Our fans, this is a fans, raving fans program. They haven’t gotten to witness any of the good. Any of the good. And some of the social media stuff, that’s hasn’t been good. But our record hasn’t been good. People have the right to say what they want to say and have their opinions. So that, they’ve got none of the good. How many games in the last minute? You would think that this team – nah, and nor the staff, nor me. I’m having a ball because I’m adding stuff every game and this is a smart team. There were some things we did against Vandy that helped us win the game that were added two days before, both defensively and offensively. So, every game I’m walking in looking at tweaking this knowing the other guy is watching tape. I’m having fun with it. But at the end of the day you need daggers. Daggers from the free-throw line, daggers from the floor and then you need somebody to do something like we tried to advance a loose ball. Then we fouled. Our other guard didn’t go in on a ball that bounced his way. We don’t go get it. We turn it over versus the press. I mean because guys aren’t coming back. That’s a dagger play. Come back and get it and get fouled and go make two. That’s a dagger play. So, we’re still learning that, but it looks like we’re getting different guys now that accept what I’m saying. Here’s what a dagger is. ‘I’m not afraid to miss this shot, and if I miss it get me another one. I’m going to make the next one.’ That’s a dagger. ‘If I miss this, then we’re going …’ ‘You ain’t making that one.’ Or you just run and you jump into a crack and hope no one looks at you. ‘Don’t throw it to me.’ You can’t be that dagger. It looks as we have, you know BJ (Boston Jr.) made free throws, Olivier (Sarr) made free throws, obviously Davion (Mintz) and Devin (Askew) made free throws. And again, we’ve had a couple of games now, if we made free throws down the stretch, those are daggers too. I showed them the made free throws (against Vanderbilt). And said, ‘Dagger, dagger, dagger.’ Yeah, they can be from the free-throw line. How about you miss the front end of a one-and-one, and they come down and make a 3? Well, you stabbed us in the neck. That’s the dagger. So, they’re getting better at recognizing and knowing when they’re in that moment. There’s a moment and trying to teach them, ‘Don’t be afraid of it. Go for it.’ “
On if being a good shot-blocking team has allowed him to build around that …
“You’re saying, Kyle (Tucker), one part of defense. You’re saying one part which is shot blocking. What does shot blocking make them do? If they know there’s somebody in there, they’re shooting mid-range shots which is a lower percentage. You look at our field-goal percentage defense. It’s been pretty good. For a team with this kind of record, our defensive numbers are like, ‘That’s ridiculous. How do they have that kind of record?’ Well, if you watched the last two minutes of some of our games you’d say, ‘Ok. I see.’ So, shot blocking is a part of it. Olivier (Sarr) and Keion (Brooks Jr.) are also blocking shots. I mean those two are getting shots that are being blocked. But again, this thing and I’ve said it from day one, the fight you have – we have a couple of guys on our team, could you imagine if they had more fight to go get balls, to go on layups and make and-ones instead of flips? Fight for that – I’m not trying – could you imagine a couple of these guys if we get them to fight? And now, you not only have Isaiah fighting and other guys fighting, but you have everybody fighting. That’s what this becomes. But shot blocking is part of our defense.”
On if successful defense starts with the threat of shot blockers …
“We say they hear Casper. They hear ghosts. They know, you drive in there you don’t know where the hell it’s coming from, but Casper is in there. Look, let me just come back to this has been unchartered waters for me, us, them and they’re fighting and doing everything they can for our program, for the state, for our fans. They haven’t backed up one bit. To the fans that have been great to us, and to me personally, and I’ll say it again, they’ve been great. I understand that when your record is struggling, there will be people coming out and having their opinions or haven’t had a chance to really say anything for 11 years. I’m fine with all of that. It doesn’t bother me. But I’ll say this, our fans is what this program is about and how they’ve been to me through this and how they’ve been to this team through this, unbelievable. Like none of us are used to this. None of us are used to this pandemic either. None of us are used to all that’s gone on late where we’re still teaching, still learning and that’s this experience. But, like I said, tough game tomorrow afternoon. Whew. But you know what? Let’s go. Let’s see where we are. Let’s keep learning about each other. Let’s see what we have to do to keep this climb going because that’s what it is. It’s about this climb.”
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS & PR
MEN’S BASKETBALL
UK at TENNESSEE PREGAME MEDIA
FEB. 19, 2021
#23 Isaiah Jackson, F, Fr.
On his production the past few games …
“Me, personally, I think just getting used to just playing to be honest. I’ve started to get like a feel for the game, the college game. I’m just going out there and just hooping.”
On adjusting to playing against older, bigger players …
“It’s a big adjustment. Not many people thought that I could do it. I just come out every night and show that I can.”
On his foul situation and the confusion against Vanderbilt …
“I forgot how many minutes it was. I think they said I had four, Coach took me out. People were telling me I had three and it was going back and forth, and I didn’t know how many I had personally. I hate getting in foul trouble but we still got the win, so that’s all that matters.”
On Tennessee’s guards getting to the basket in the first game and how he will adjust …
“Yeah, with my ability to block shots, I feel that I can do more this game, blocking shots and adjusting their shots, them coming in the paint. I feel like I play a big role in this game, me and Olivier (Sarr) with trying to deflect shots and keep them out of the paint.”
On if he’s feeling more comfortable with his defense and shot blocking …
“Yeah, of course. It’s just something natural. I’m just starting to get a better feel every day. It’s just getting more comfortable.”
On if he’s surprised how easy it has been for him to block shots …
“Yeah. When I was in high school, I didn’t really think I was going to be able to do the stuff that I’m doing. It’s crazy how I just came in, impacting the game, especially on defense.”
On his offensive game …
“Just letting the game come to me. Don’t force, try not to force anything. If you have an easy basket, take it. The thing I like doing is playing defense so I’m going to always do that. I just let the offensive game come to me.”
On how important it is for him to stay out of foul trouble and be on the floor …
“I think it’s really just foul trouble. Last game, I wasn’t low enough on defense, so I just kept getting fouls. So, I feel like if I lock in on defense and play good defense, I feel like I’ll be able to play way more.”
