7 Things John Calipari Said Before Leaving For Las Vegas

Before hopping on the jet and heading to Las Vegas, John Calipari met with reporters to preview Kentucky’s games vs. Utah and Ohio State. I already brought you his comments on Kahlil Whitney, which dominated the presser, but there are a few more notes to share. Let’s go with seven since it’s a lucky number, and you know, Vegas.

1. He’s not worried about his players adjusting to the late tip time

Tomorrow night’s game tips off at 11 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. Vegas time. Calipari said the staff will try to keep the players awake on the plane today to help them adjust to the time change, but he’s not overly worried.

“The only good news I know is that it will be 11 o’clock my players’ time and they will be happy-go-lucky. It’s 11 o’clock, they’re just getting up, ready to go. If you’re a coach at that time, it’s a little bit harder. We’ll get out there tonight. We’re going to practice, try to get them to sleep tonight, hopefully keep them up on the plane.”

For the rest of us, caffeine, caffeine, caffeine.

2. Playing Nick Richards helped Keion Brooks break through

In the last two games, Keion Brooks has averaged 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds and made 55.6% of his shots, including all four free throws. Calipari used Brooks as an example of a player who heeded his call to “fight and finish.”

“Keion (Brooks Jr.) has kind of broken through a little bit. Why? Because I had him playing against Nick (Richards) and he had to fight Nick or surrender. He surrendered early and we kind of let him know. Not sarcastic or anything. I just let him know that you’re getting killed. He started fighting. All of a sudden, you see an aggressive player who’s not worried about how cute it is. You’ve got to fight.”

Cal hopes the same thing happens for EJ Montgomery and Tyrese Maxey.

“Yesterday I put EJ (Montgomery) up against Nick (Richards). I’ve gotta get EJ fighting. Nick and EJ went at each other and let those two go. I put Tyrese (Maxey) against Ashton (Hagans). Let him scramble his mind a little bit. Like, ‘Go, Ashton. Go at him.’”

3. He doesn’t believe Kentucky is one of the top teams in the country right now

Calipari said that just because Kentucky is the No. 6 team in the AP and Coaches Polls doesn’t mean they’re actually one of the nation’s best squads.

“We are what we are. I don’t care where we’re rated. We may be one of 30 teams, maybe. Maybe 35. If they’re saying we’re the best in the country, there are a lot of bad teams. There might be, and we’re one of them.”

4. Ohio State, however…

Kentucky may only be a top 35 team in Cal’s mind right now, but he couldn’t stop raving about Ohio State. The Buckeyes dropped to No. 5 in the AP Poll after losing to Minnesota, which Calipari admitted surprised him a little bit.

“I was, but you know what? You go on the road—look, my teams historically are marked teams, so we’re used to doing it. A lot of teams are not. Like, you’re just the next game on that team’s schedule. We’re marked. So, our kids get used to having an unbelievable effort and you’re not surprised by shots going in. You’re not surprised by players getting 40 points and the next game they get eight. They get 40 on you because they’re playing out of their minds. They’re jumping higher. We’re used to that. Maybe other teams aren’t, I don’t know. But I do know this: If Ohio State isn’t the best team in the country right now, they’re the second-best team. They’re physical. They’ve got size. Their guard play, they’re so well coached. They defend. They fight. They’ve got some veterans. They’re legit.”

5. Rick Majerus was the KFC of college basketball

It wouldn’t be a game vs. Utah without a mention of the late, great Rick Majerus, who coached the Utes from 1989-2004. Calipari got to know Majerus when the Nets drafted Utah star Keith Van Horn and said he was wowed by his heart of gold and mind for the game of basketball.

“I know for a fact when guys got fired in our profession, if he knew you, he’d send you a check. Like, ‘You probably need this right now.’ Like, $5,000. I’m not talking about 100 bucks. Like, if he knew, no one else knew. The only reason I know it is because two of the guys told me.”

“I’ll say it again: a basketball genius. It’s all he did was basketball. I’m a little bit like, I like watching the Alaska shows and I don’t sleep in my office. This guy was basketball. He was like Kentucky Fried Chicken. We do chicken. There are no hamburgers here. Nothing. We do chicken. That’s kind of what he was.”

6. Yesterday’s practice was “an absolute fist fight”

Calipari said this on last night’s radio show, but he pushed his players to their limit in yesterday’s practice, forcing them to do weighted wall-sits and lane slides. He had so much fun at the practice he brought it up again today.

“It was an absolute fist fight. I told them, ‘I had more fun yesterday.’ We’re practicing earlier. Like, I’ll go workout and lift and do my thing and then I go in there and work. I feel better.”

7. Oh, Jerry

Calipari is opening tonight’s practice in Vegas to reporters who are already out there (including our own Jack Pilgrim). That plan may have backfired when he noticed that Jerry Tipton wasn’t at today’s presser, meaning he’s probably already in Sin City and therefore able to attend.

“Hold on, is Jerry already out in Vegas? Is he? Oh, then I may close down that practice. I was hoping I’d see him here and say you can come. Ah jeez. Can I take that back? He won’t know what’s going on anyways.”

“Hey, if you forget to tell Jerry that we’re practicing, I’m okay guys,” Cal quipped on his way out.

Sadly, the practice is not open to fans, but Jack will have a recap for you later on.