Hello HOB. Tonight should be the final episode of the John Calipari weekly radio call-in show. Might be an interesting one. I'll be sharing the main news and notes from the show here for those of you who may not be able to listen to it live. Show has just begun at 6 ET...
* Cal is on the road watching signee Justin Edwards play tonight, joining the program by phone.
* Cats did some good things, defensively, in the first half and rebounded well the whole game. The play for him that stands out is when they scored to extend the lead, but let them throw it out quickly for an easy layup. "I said, c'mon guys." And then the late daggers by KSU. We needed to throw a couple of daggers back at them, and we couldn't do it.
* Disappointing, but thought the team played as hard as they could. Chris Livingston "fought like crazy" on both ends, Cal said. Really proud of him.
* The team came off the mat several times this season. Kept bouncing back. If you can get past the disappointment of this loss and look back at the things they accomplished, they can feel good about the effort. "We were experimenting throughout the year." Fans were really resilient, too. Never gave up on them. Had a ton of people in the arena yesterday. Thanked BBN for that.
* Cal continues to say Sahvir Wheeler was going to play if he could make it past this weekend.
* He’ll meet with the guys next week and talk to them individually about their future plans. Says he wants to let them all take some time off and talk to their families about their decisions.
* Calipari says he got a call about the Cats playing an event on July which should be publicized soon.
* Cal says he wishes now he had switched up defense on Kansas State’s Nowell in the second half, try to force it out of his hands more, but the way they approached it in the first half had worked, so he was torn on it.
* Says his whole mission was to have the Cats in a mindset of fun this weekend, but it didn’t look that way on Sunday. “This stings, and it’s going to sting for a while.” Cal noted he truly believed they were going to go on a run.
* Guard play is vital in March, Cal says, and he thinks he’s got a good group coming in who could complement some veterans coming back and give them a good backcourt for next year.
* oh man. Cal says he can play two 7-footers together next year. /ducks. Very high on Ugonna
* The way Calipari spoke of a text exchange with Oscar Tshiebwe, it kinda sounded like past tense. But Cal added he would stick with Oscar “until the wheels fell off.”
* Cal leaves to go watch Justin Edwards play. Chin Coleman will do the last 20 minutes tonight.
* Tom Leach says he believes UK will play either Duke or UNC next season in the new ACC-SEC Challenge.
* Chin Coleman says he just felt terrible for Antonio Reeves on Sunday, but it's part of the game, and it happens sometimes. "There are days when it just won't go in." Just the worst possible time for that kid.
* Three SEC teams moving on to the Sweet 16 (only the Big East had as many) shows how strong the league was this year, Chin says. Thinks the "Kentucky Effect" has elevated other teams in the league.
* Nothing like BBN, Chin says. He was blown away by the turnout in Greensboro. "They're the best fans in the world. Second to none."
* Adou Thiero can be "a force" if he dedicates himself to living in the gym this offseason, Chin says.
* Chin says they'll be playing against "grown men" in the summer exhibition games this July. Will be important to the team's development. My feed cut out for a moment, but I thought he may have said "Toronto." Need to check that.
* Cal is on the road watching signee Justin Edwards play tonight, joining the program by phone.
* Cats did some good things, defensively, in the first half and rebounded well the whole game. The play for him that stands out is when they scored to extend the lead, but let them throw it out quickly for an easy layup. "I said, c'mon guys." And then the late daggers by KSU. We needed to throw a couple of daggers back at them, and we couldn't do it.
* Disappointing, but thought the team played as hard as they could. Chris Livingston "fought like crazy" on both ends, Cal said. Really proud of him.
* The team came off the mat several times this season. Kept bouncing back. If you can get past the disappointment of this loss and look back at the things they accomplished, they can feel good about the effort. "We were experimenting throughout the year." Fans were really resilient, too. Never gave up on them. Had a ton of people in the arena yesterday. Thanked BBN for that.
* Cal continues to say Sahvir Wheeler was going to play if he could make it past this weekend.
* He’ll meet with the guys next week and talk to them individually about their future plans. Says he wants to let them all take some time off and talk to their families about their decisions.
* Calipari says he got a call about the Cats playing an event on July which should be publicized soon.
* Cal says he wishes now he had switched up defense on Kansas State’s Nowell in the second half, try to force it out of his hands more, but the way they approached it in the first half had worked, so he was torn on it.
* Says his whole mission was to have the Cats in a mindset of fun this weekend, but it didn’t look that way on Sunday. “This stings, and it’s going to sting for a while.” Cal noted he truly believed they were going to go on a run.
* Guard play is vital in March, Cal says, and he thinks he’s got a good group coming in who could complement some veterans coming back and give them a good backcourt for next year.
* oh man. Cal says he can play two 7-footers together next year. /ducks. Very high on Ugonna
* The way Calipari spoke of a text exchange with Oscar Tshiebwe, it kinda sounded like past tense. But Cal added he would stick with Oscar “until the wheels fell off.”
* Cal leaves to go watch Justin Edwards play. Chin Coleman will do the last 20 minutes tonight.
* Tom Leach says he believes UK will play either Duke or UNC next season in the new ACC-SEC Challenge.
* Chin Coleman says he just felt terrible for Antonio Reeves on Sunday, but it's part of the game, and it happens sometimes. "There are days when it just won't go in." Just the worst possible time for that kid.
* Three SEC teams moving on to the Sweet 16 (only the Big East had as many) shows how strong the league was this year, Chin says. Thinks the "Kentucky Effect" has elevated other teams in the league.
* Nothing like BBN, Chin says. He was blown away by the turnout in Greensboro. "They're the best fans in the world. Second to none."
* Adou Thiero can be "a force" if he dedicates himself to living in the gym this offseason, Chin says.
* Chin says they'll be playing against "grown men" in the summer exhibition games this July. Will be important to the team's development. My feed cut out for a moment, but I thought he may have said "Toronto." Need to check that.
