Kentucky-Louisville Postgame Quotes
KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. LOUISVILLE
RUPP ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY.
DECEMBER 31, 2022
Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari
JOHN CALIPARI: Just one thing, I was so happy with the response when Kenny was introduced. It just shows the kind of fans that we have. It shows the respect and it was just like, I said only at Kentucky would that happen. Now, it didn’t happen before. But it happened with Kenny, and people know what he did here and the work he put in. You know how much time he spent with the kids and let me just say this, I know we won the game but his team is getting better. There’s no one that I would want running a program knowing if it were my son, I want him to play for Kenny. So just felt I needed to say that.
Questions?
- After the Missouri game, you talked about limiting the rotations to solve some of the team’s issues and only some players played double-digits minutes. Was that intentional?
JOHN CALIPARI: It’s intentional. The biggest thing, we all, not just us, me, too, for good what I’ve been through every year to get a team right. I can remember the twins; we didn’t go till March. I can remember losing two games in Las Vegas and us all panicked. I can remember us losing that game in Seton Hall and saying we’re not very good, and that was with P.J. and Keldon. It just takes time when you’ve got new teams.
I’m mad at myself because we needed to be playing more deliberate. Playing faster and quicker and doing that, that’s all good, and you’re scoring 60. We played deliberate, which is what my teams have done historically. Still play fast and shoot threes. We didn’t shoot as many today but we scored a lot of points playing deliberate. And you could say, well, it’s Louisville.
If my team plays this way, deliberate, like we’re flying. But if it’s not there, and that’s why I got upset with a couple guys when we were playing deliberate, you didn’t have something and you turned it over, or why did you do that, we’re not playing that way.
In other words, they score. We were running on makes and quickly get into stuff. Well, guess what, that was killing Antonio and it was killing Chris Livingston, because their minds were — we needed to be more deliberate.
I think, again, Sahvir, he had four turnovers today but I’ve got to look at them. The one late I was not happy with but I think it’s better for him. If we rebound it, we’re running it right up your back. And if not, and they score, you know, let’s get this thing moving. And you notice today that the ball went from one side, we moved it to each other, we passed it, they went zone, the ball moved, it zipped. Boom, boom, boom. We’ve been working on it.
We’ve got to continue to work on it and I’m going to say one more thing: I was happy Louisville came out at half and came out swinging a little bit. Because I’ve got to know, like, you guys cave in, are you fragile? And we’ve been — I’ve been spending half of my time working on guys mentally and getting them in a different frame of mind.
And so like we are going to play now, every team we’re playing from here on in is going to be hard. So it may be a closer game. So what? They make a run, we make a run. We’ve just got to play — and it takes me I’m, it’s taken me time every year I’ve been here.
You know, it’s funny, I’m sitting with Jeff Shepherd. He talked about his time here. He said, “We lost three home games. We lost to Mississippi at home.” And then we started getting it going, and then we won the conference tournament. Didn’t win the conference and then went and won the national title.
I mean, it takes time when you’ve got new teams to do this. I wish I was smarter. And would be quicker to pick stuff up. But I seem to do the same thing.
- How do you get Jacob to carry over this mentality to future games and be consistent with it? Especially the way he came out the first few minutes attacking.
JOHN CALIPARI: Well, we’ve done a lot of work, and it’s not been on the court. You had guys feeling the weight of the world, and that’s why it came — it’s not life-and-death. We got punched in the mouth, and we’re still alive. Now we’ve got the next game. We have the whole league ahead of us. We’re fine. But when these kids feel it, they are 18, 19, 20, and they are feeling the weight of the world, and I’m talking, like, free and loose and I’m wearing a suit today and I’m dancing in there and I’m wanting them it know I’m good.
But they got to get in a good frame of mind and then get hit in the mouth, and are you fragile or do you keep playing? Today he kept playing. And now he’s going to do it against better teams. You watch.
Now you want to know why I started him? I just felt that I needed to do that with all the stuff we had been doing, and I had to thank Lance, because it’s funny, I walk into practice and Lance’s mom is there, and she’s a great lady. And I said — I gave her a hug, and I said, “And you’re here, and I’m not starting your son tomorrow.” You know, I had to tell her. She was, “I’m fine.” She wasn’t fine. Parents are never fine.
Ut he accepted it; and I told him, “I’m going to play Daimion, too.” And so that’s what a great teammate is. Some of the guys that I talked about being all in that we’re going to be more deliberate and we’re going to play a certain way, one guy said, “I’m absolutely all in. I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”
So I keep coming back to: Every day I walk in practice — I love this team. I wish we were a little bit tougher. But I love the pieces. CJ being out hurts us, but he gives Adou a chance. So now Adou gets a chance to play and you’re going to get a chance to see him.
But you know, the early grind of what we went through, maybe we needed to go through it, and we’ll see going forward. But that was something they had to feel, the grind, the deliberateness of how we played, passing the ball. You ready? Just to pass it. Well, I’ve got to pass it for someone to score. No, just pass it to pass it. And they did that today.
So Cason was good. We’re still — my job is to teach them how to win basketball games. I have not done a good job of that to this point obviously. But you’ve also got to make free throws. I’m doing everything, trying everything, and about, but you noticed when they started going, it’s contagious, but how about the first three? What did you say? The first three, oh, my gosh, we may miss 15.
So again, I respect these kids, playing here, it’s really hard. Really rewarding but it’s hard. I said, there’s a tax you play to play here and coach here. There’s a tax. You’ve got to be thick skinned and tough.
But this is a good group. I can’t imagine our fans aren’t jacked that this is our team. They want to win every game. So do I. I want to win more than the fans want to win. But let’s get it right. Let’s go forward. Let’s see what we are. Let’s see with playing the way we’re playing now where we take things.
- Struggling the way Jacob was coming into the game and he makes a couple early. Do you just not say anything?
JOHN CALIPARI: No, I hugged him in one huddle. At Missouri, I had him in my room, and I hugged him and I said, “Do you know how much I love you and how much I want you to do well? But I can’t do this for you, and you’ve got to get in a different frame of mind.” And we talked about it.
But he went into that game, and what’s the word above awful? Then it became, all right, where do we go with this and how do we do this.
He did some things. He talked to some people. I watched him practice and I loved what I saw. I called him in I said, “I’m going to start you tomorrow, what do you think?”
He said, “Okay.”
I said, “No. No.”
“Yes, I want to you start me, Coach. Please! Thank you!”
I said, “Come back and see me.”
So before practice he came in, “I really want to start.”
“Great, then you’ll start.”
Again when you’re dealing with team, you have got Lance. Think about what Lance has done to hold down the fort and give us a chance when we went through this. And Daimion I thought was better today. Did some good stuff.
- When someone like CJ is out, and Antonio struggled today, did that change the way you play or did you let them try to play through it?
JOHN CALIPARI: No, we have a bunch of guys that can make threes but those two are the best two. Antonio’s issue isn’t what he was doing offensively. It’s what he was doing defensively. When I put him back in and play through, he made two baskets and three floaters that were big. Did he make two free throws or one of two? I think he made one of two. Three of four? Perfect.
Look, today I think we shot 64 percent from the line. We’ve just got to make that 72 or 73. That’s three more free throws made, three more. We get to that, you’re playing winning basketball and you’re making free throws, now we’re the team we’re trying to become.
- You were talking about Jeff Shepherd. I remember when they lost that Valentine’s Day, Ole Miss, they got together and said, we can’t do this on our own and we have to submit to coach and the will of the team? Is it similar?
JOHN CALIPARI: You have to ask the players. They came together. Look, you think — you want to do it yourself because you want to do that, and then you get overwhelmed and swamped and you look around and say, I can’t do this myself. We need to do this together.
And that’s normally when teams come together. What’s the comment I’ve made since I’ve been here? What’s the only thing that brings about change? Wow. A crisis. And here, it’s an earthquake if you lose a game or two. Earthquake; it’s a crisis.
And now, it’s overwhelming. I don’t pay attention to decompress it. I don’t know if they don’t. Sometimes I think they are reading that stuff. You just can’t. It’s a different time and age.
Jeff, I said, what if you had social media back then? He said, oh, we would have gotten killed. And then we did our thing.
But normally it will bring guys together. Bring them together. I’m just coming back to love the team, I grabbed Adou after and I said, “Adou, you’re like family. I coached your dad. You’re family to me.”
You’re now in the rotation but I can’t tell you how much you’re going to play because someone may be playing really well and you won’t. Or you go to Missouri, and someone wasn’t playing well at all and then just left you in.
It’s hard for these kids to step back so others can step forward because they want to get out and play and perform and do it.
Do you guys mind if I go out and do radio? I appreciate everybody being here. Can I tell you, happy new year, hope you have a great next year, everybody in the building. This has been a little struggle up to this point so I’m looking forward to turning the page, and let’s go. Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
UK Student-Athletes
#34, Oscar Tshiebwe, F
On how he felt the team played overall …
“We played good, we played good. Now we get to slow the game down a little bit because as coach said, we watched the film against Missouri and we were just rushing everything. Now, we get to slow down and are running plays and getting good shots. It was good.”
On if that helps him game more …
“Absolutely, we move the ball fast to each other and make the game look so easy.”
On what he has been saying to Jacob the last few games …
“Jacob, I have been telling him to do what you do. You are good at what you do. Don’t let all the noise effect your mind. Get off social media, don’t pay attention to it. Social media is just something that – I don’t know – it is just not a good time right now on social media. Take it off of your phone, like I already did and keep your mind locked in. The guy that came out today, that is the Jacob that everybody loves.”
#22, Cason Wallace, G
On Louisville going zone and it leading to Jacob Toppin being open in the middle …
“Yeah, he was wide open in the middle. We were hitting the open man and he was making plays.”
On if he was surprised to see him that open in the middle …
“Yeah, but with his athleticism we could just throw it up to him and he could still get it, even if he was covered. As you saw, when we were just throwing it up to him, he still made the right plays. Getting him the ball was important.”
On Louisville starting the second half on a run but UK answering …
“Definitely, we have to still stand our ground and keep playing our ball. Basketball is a game of runs and they went on their run, but it was our turn to go on ours.”
#0, Jacob Toppin, F
On how it feels to have a career high against Louisville …
“It feels good and besides that I had been in a rough patch I needed to get out of. I had a lot of support from my teammates and my coaching staff and it just feels good to get back to my old self mentally and physically so we just move forward and try to get better as a team from here.”
On what got him out of his slump …
“My teammates and my coaches. I had a good talk with Coach Cal the other day and had a good talk with my teammates and called a few other people to get back to where I was mentally, and it helped a lot.”
On the team’s mentality coming into the game …
“It basically just got to the point where this was the next game. We had to figure out how to get better as a team and today we got better as a team. After the Mizzou loss we came back and scrimmaged each other and we figured out what we needed to fix and we did that and got a W today so that is good.”
Louisville Head Coach Kenny Payne
Opening Statement …
“First of all, I think there were segments in the game where we did some good things. We came into the game–for the last three or four days–talking about what a rivalry is. In this profession, as coaches, you [usually] don’t want the pressure on your players. I do. I want these young men to know that this state and these two programs represent something and there is a pride in wearing that jersey. So, I didn’t avoid it. I wanted them to know that we were playing a team that is one of the best in the country. I don’t care what the critics say. I’ve watched them play, I know the coach, I know who the coach is, and I know who the players are. They are one of the best teams in the country. It may not look pretty at times, but when you are playing a team like that, the number one thing that jumps off is the physicality and toughness of the game- the fight that you have to win a game—and the rebounding. They scored 20 points off of offensive rebounds and scored 19 points off our turnovers. You can’t win when a team is as big, strong, and defensive minded as they are. You have to match their intensity and it’s the reason why Kentucky is Kentucky. It’s the top of the hill because they impose their will on you and that’s what they did today.”
On the ovation he received pregame …
“I appreciate it. I respect Kentucky and I loved it here. To have them welcome me was great, but—I’ve said this over and over again—this isn’t about me. This is about these young men. I can’t make my program about me. Coming back to Louisville was about helping these young men get what they need to get to understand the treasures of playing at a university like Louisville. ”
On Jacob Toppin’s performance …
“Jacob Toppin is a good player. He is a high-level player and he is capable of dominating a game. We knew that he had struggled a bit coming into this game, but it’s a rivalry game—you know what’s going to happen. He’s going to play his best against us and we have to match that. What I was hoping to do was go at him with Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield] and I think what Brandon found out is that [Toppin] is an elite athlete with the way he moves. He’s quick, he can handle the ball well enough to get to spots the floor, he can shoot decent enough, he is relentless and on top of his stuff, and he can get offensive rebounds. ”
On Tsheibwe getting better positions down in the post …
“Very. Very disappointed. We spend three or four days working on rebounding and fighting for position. We know he is going to get deep in the post. He is, without a doubt, the most physical player in college basketball. He is, without a doubt, the best rebounder in college basketball. He is, without a doubt, one of those kids who can impose his will on a basketball game. Against a kid like that—a player like that—you’ve better be ready for a war. He brought it to us and put us on our heels. At times, it looked like he reacted twice before we reacted once. I’m very disappointed in that and we’ll keep trying to get it and keep trying to get these kids to understand it. One of the things that I tried to do coming into this game is look at how [Tsheibwe} plays post offense. He’s never running outside the paint; he’s fighting you to get three feet from the basket. Look at how he’s relentless of offensive rebounds. Why can’t we do that? It’s not about the skill. It’s faith in his God to be able to do the things that he’s doing. He’s a unique basketball player that deserves a lot of credit.”
Louisville Student-Athletes
#3, El Ellis, G
On making improvements …
Playing with pace and playing smart. [Limiting turnovers] was one place that I’ve been trying to focus on. I felt like, today, I tried to play off of two feet more. I tried to not use so many dribbles and really just play with a purpose.
On making a run to start the second half …
“Basketball is a long game. Teams are going to go on runs. You have to be able to sustain their runs and be able to lock in and focus to go on a run of your own. When times get tough, we have to come together more and continue to fight. ”
On improving moving forward …
“I feel like guys have to own up and listen to what coach is saying. This is tough level to play at and these are really good teams. You can’t just go out there and play, you have to fight every possession like it’s your last. I feel like guys have to understand that and just lock in.”
#1, Mike James, F
On making a run to start the second half …
“I think that we’ve got to think next play and have a next play mentality. If we make a mistake, we have to get back on defense and not make that mistake again. I think if we change that, when teams go on runs, we’ll be in a lot of closer games.”
On improving moving forward …
“You have to take it personal with yourself. If [Coach Payne] is challenging you in that area, you have to look at yourself and be better. I have to give more effort—dive on the floor for loose balls, fight to box a guy out, and stuff like that. ”
