UK COACH JOHN CALIPARI Q&A:
* Cal says he didn't really know to what extent Joe B. Hall wanted to beat Tennessee. He never pushed that narrative too much. But Cal learned recently that Hall considered them his big rival. What he did here under the circumstances of succeeding Rupp was "remarkable," Cal says. A guy who loved the program, loved the fans.
* Cal praised the Cats' offensive efficiency against the Vols, being able to do so many things well on that end of the court, to play that fast, and take care of the ball against that type of defensive team. Kind of reminded him of the UCLA game from 2015 when everything went well for the Cats in a blowout.
* Talking about this team's high efficiency, Cal pointed to that 2016-17 bunch that put Fox, Monk, Briscoe on the floor together and also had Hawkins playing good minutes. When you have skilled guys like that, things tend to look good. "We have multiple point guards."
* Bryce Hopkins is starting to practice at a higher level, and that should allow him to play better, Cal says. When practice becomes harder than the games, you're ahead of the action.
* It's Sahvir Wheeler's birthday. The Cats' PG got his brownies from Ellen Calipari today, Cal said.
* On the schedule coming up: "It's ridiculous." I can't go game to game, life or death, Cal adds. All he can focus on is individual players getting better and staying the course. Guys like Hopkins, Collins, and Ware have to stay engaged and be ready. Likes what he saw from Ware, defensively, on Saturday. Guarded three different guys. Did a nice job. Cal admits he yanked Daimion Collins out of the game Saturday thinking he lost a rebound but had to apologize to him because the film showed Jacob Toppin grabbed for it with one hand and deflected it away.
* A&M leads the league in 3-point shooting, Cal says. They're a downhill driving team that gets to the foul line a lot. They mix it up defensively. Will trap and press a bit. "They're a really good team, and they're really good at home." They'll play small. Cats have to take advantage of that. Sidenote: A&M is on an 8-game win streak and has beaten Notre Dame.
* Oscar's PER numbers are "off the charts," Cal said. "Nuts." Now he's trying to find a way for Oscar to keep pushing it further. Thinks he can perform even better if he knows how/when to sub himself earlier than getting gassed. TyTy and Sahvir have done a good job of learning how to do that.
* Caller wants us to nickname the team "The Record-Breakers." 😛
* On the transfer portal working out so well, will he revisit it again in the future... Cal says you just never know, depends on who he has coming in. Thinks maybe they have set themselves up well for guys who may be looking for a new home.
* Shaedon Sharpe is doing well in practice, "getting better," Cal said. He's helping the other guys get better just being in practice, kinda like Enes Kanter or Hamidou Diallo did. Says Sharpe can play either 2 or 3 because he's about 6-6 now. "He's big."
* Caller asks how he keeps the team focused on A&M with Auburn coming up next... They know if it's important to me, it's important to them. Smart team.
* Calipari talking about anxiety and players losing sleep over things that may not even happen. Good advice for anyone. Reminds me of a line from a favorite Tom Petty tune:
"I'm so tired of being tired
Sure as night will follow day
Most things I worry about
Never happen anyway"
* Cal says he's enjoyed watching tape of Texas A&M. Fun team. "I'm surprised they're not ranked (at 15-2, 4-0 SEC)."
