Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
UK Head Coach John Calipari
On the game against Sam Houston State…“We had no sense of urgency defensively. There was absolutely no communication on the court, which makes it hard. We stopped playing as much as any team I’ve ever coached. We just stopped. But, I’ve never coached a team where we play five freshmen, two sophomores and a junior. I’ve never coached a team this young. Our offense didn’t take any bad shots. John Wall missed some layups, but they were good shots. I took a look at (on film) John and Eric (Bledsoe) and we looked at 12 turnovers. We saw there was no need for nine of them because they tried to make a hard play, instead of an easy play. Offensively, we’re getting better.”
On the transition defense…
“Do you know where transition defense starts? When you take a bad shot and turn it over. Then you have trouble. We took good shots, but we had 23 turnovers, so it all starts right there. It’s hard to get back when you’re giving them balls for no reason.”
On guarding the three…
“When you live and die with the three, mostly you die. You mostly die. When (an opposing) team takes the majority of their shots as threes, normally, you can win that game. Unless, they are making ridiculous shots, which sometimes they do. Rider could come out and shoot 20 threes, because they could shoot enough to get 20 makes in. They are going to shoot it. If they do make 20, we just lost the game. That is how it is. What we are trying to do is guard and make those shots as tough as we can. The other part of it is rebounding.”
On testing the young players…
“If you understand what I’ve done with the early scheduling, I put veteran backcourts against our backcourt. I put veteran point guards against our point guards, because, I really wanted to see these guys and what I needed to work with them on. Now they understand that everyone wants to make their name at John’s (Wall) and Eric’s (Bledsoe) expense. Now, we go against another veteran team.”
On Rider…
“I just got done watching their game against Virginia. On offense, Virginia was grinding it out and made them (Rider) play defense. (Rider) didn’t get those breakout threes, or open ones that get you going. We are giving those up right now. This team has got to come together and say, ‘We are going to be a great defensive team. We are going to listen, work on the defensive end, start talking, rebound, get tougher and go after 50-50 balls.’”
On Ramon Harris…
“The guy who has done the best job right now is Ramon (Harris). Ramon talked and rebounded. In his time, he had five rebounds. He got what we needed. I’ll be honest, if he made a shot or two, he’d be playing 20 minutes a game.”
On making improvements…
“I’m concerned about us getting better. It’s not just winning. We’re trying to win games, obviously. But, it’s more than winning. Offensively, we got better. The only thing we don’t get is how to play with three or four minutes to go. They are playing how they played AAU ball six months ago. It doesn’t matter what the score is, they get numbers in the last three minutes. They say, ‘I’m getting mine, this game is over. I’m getting a few more baskets.’ You can’t do that now. You have to work clock and play to win. I just saw the Virginia game and that is all they did. With 10 minutes to go they got up 22 and they were working the clock. They said, ‘We are going to be disciplined here, work our offense and pass it.’ Obviously, we don’t play like Virginia and I may get that at the four, five or six minute mark against a really good team. But, we need time to work on that.”
#4 Jon Hood, Fr., G
On seeing his first action of the season…
“It did feel pretty good to get in there and get my feet wet. We have to start coming together as a team a little better. We have to work on our confidence and come together as team mates. But we will do that.”
On what they know about Rider…
“I know they beat Mississippi State by fourteen, and should have beaten them by twenty; plus they can shoot.”
On whether a trip like the Cancun trip helps build team unity…
“I know it helps bring people together. We did it in high school AAU ball, and it brought us together quite a bit. I know it works, so we will just have to go down there and see how it goes.”
#21 Perry Stevenson, Sr., F
On his playing time as a senior…
“You just have to be a team player. If it works, which it is for us, then I don’t mind it at all.”
On how much time they’ll spend on defense…
“A lot, especially defending the three pointer. The last two teams came in and, I don’t know how, but they shot lights out. I’m sure they broke records for Rupp, but we will make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
On what a trip to Cancun can do for the team…
“It can bring us closer, or tear us apart. We are already close before we go over there, but spending that much time with each other will definitely help.”
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Bill Keightley Report : Never to be forgotten.
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November 20th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
first
November 20th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
1) Thank you! I told my friend we still had a ton of geeks in Ky. Coach Cal did not get rid of all of you did he. lol!
November 20th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
2) and a major geek i am…..gotta love it
November 20th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Congrats!
November 20th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
2) Let him be. He is home on a Friday night posting first. Don’t that say it all? LMAO!
November 20th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
apparently the next post will be @ 9pm
November 20th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I’m loving this UNC game, they look horrible.
November 20th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
7) Like us, they have a lot of talented youth and inexperience, but unlike us, they suck.
Here’s hoping they lose this game. I normally don’t hold anything against them (and root for them against Duke), but right now we’re in a race, and I wouldn’t mind if UNC loses their next 20 games.
November 20th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
UNC’s bigs look really timid, their guards look a step slow from what you would expect out of a UNC team.
November 20th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
hahaha
“It’s hard to get back when you’re giving them balls for no reason.”
November 20th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
thank you Cuse for your help in the race to 2000. now time for our guys to take care of Rider…go Cats!
November 20th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
wow carolina just got waxed
November 20th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
carolina is just as immature and rough as we are
November 20th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
I said over a week ago that I was not worried about North Carolina. They have tall guys, but they are scrawny as heck. There is no way they can match up against Cousins/Patterson/Orton…we saw them get annihilated on the interior tonight. Not to mention our guard play is much better.
November 20th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
14) Yeah, fact is that they lost key parts of their team from last year, and while we’re starting a number of different people this year, too, we have a definite upgrade in overall talent and depth, no offense meant to the members of last year’s squad.
For instance, the turnovers we had at the point last year were most often due to being overmatched, trouble bringing the ball up, etc. This year, most of our turnovers have been from trying to get too fancy and driving the lane at the wrong time, both things that will get better as the season progresses, I’m sure.
November 20th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
i wouldnt say we shouldnt worry about UNC. not like we’re clicking on all cylinders. I mean if we’re worried about Rider, we shouldnt take UNC lightly right?
November 20th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
#16 RIGHT…hate to say this, but, ol’ Roy is a pretty damn good coach…IF we play like we have been - we’ve some serious problems w/NC (my #3 hate behind Duke & Brucie’s boys).
November 20th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
unc will beat us if we dont play smart d….. offensively i am not worried we have many play makers and they will make the plays as long as they hold on to the ball
November 20th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Winbush and Hayes 1 for 5 on threes in a Miami loss to Louisiana Tech!
November 20th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
What is the lesson of this season: Typical hype and over zealous expectations for this team. This team has the talent to go to a final 4 but they are not mature enough, and we are seeing that with the defenses lapses..etc. If Wall and Cousins, Patterson returned then next year I would bet on a final 4 run. But it will take some time for Calipari to bring Orton, Bledsoe, Hood, Miller,Dodson,(Maybe Liggins), Poole along. Those are the kids that will form the nucleus of a well oiled BB machine in the next few years. Wall, Cousins and Patterson will be multi millionares next summer.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
i knew after madness we were ranked too high. but also, im not giving up on us yet. i think we can be where we need to be come march. but these youngsters need to get out of the aau mindset and realize what it takes to succeed at this level. i am really in awe that they don’t know that. the fact that there is such a huge disconnect between success at the high school level and the college level is shocking to me. i don’t think there is as big a disconnect in any other sport when dealing with going from one level to the next.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Great point #21…guess we’ll find out in the next 120 days how good a coach we’ve annointed.