Hello HOB. Good Monday evening to y'all. I'll be following along with Coach Cal's weekly radio show again tonight and sharing the major talking points here with you guys in this thread. Show starts at 6 ET. Stay tuned...
* Calipari raves about the crowd at Saturday's game vs. Alabama, especially during that run at the end of the first half. "And we're going to need that same crowd (Wednesday against LSU)... because this is going to be a really, really hard game."
* Davion Mintz had a defensive performance that Calipari says he hasn't seen in a while... and did it without getting a break.
* Kentucky starting guards Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington did not practice today, Calipari said. They're considered "day to day." ... Later says "I think we're going to be shorthanded."
* LSU's going to press and trap and scramble... Gotta have the same type of play from the guards in this matchup that they had against Alabama, only against a much, much better defensive team. (No. 3 in KenPom dEff)
* Cal says defense was really good in the first LSU matchup, but Cats couldn't buy a 3 in the first half and missed a bunch of free throws.
* Caller asks if they will try to get some more shots for Grady after what he did in the Alabama game... Cal kinda shoots that notion down, suggesting that the way UK plays, the ball finds Grady plenty. He's just got to keep working to get open and shoot when he's got a look.
* Calipari asked about the dust-up at the end of the Wisconsin/Michigan game... Says he hasn't thought about it too much, but it's on every coach to "be the adults in the room." Notes there are times when he gets "a little nutty," but it's from fighting for his kids. Cal says he started doing what he's doing, "The deuces, peace out," due to Covid, but maybe everyone should just do that.
* Caller asks Cal to set more plays for Grady. Cal says opposing coaches can come up with strategies to stop plays, but it's a lot harder to stop players. They've trained Grady to be a player.
* Caller gets on air with Calipari, his dog barking, so Cal turns the conversation to the pup. Asks his name. "Peyton Manning." Cal gets a kick out of that. Caller says dog gets excited when he hears Cal's voice.
* Caller asks about all the ankle issues the Cats have had and suggests they go back to the old Converse Chuck Taylor high-tops. Cal says, "Whew." Not a fan. Goes on to tell caller how bad the arch support was in those. And some with better support were really heavy.
* On Karl Anthony Towns winning the NBA All-Star Weekend 3-point Shootout... "Yeah, he's probably mad at me I didn't let him shoot more."
* Asked about Oscar Tshiebwe's new NIL prospects... Everyone is so happy for each other. The family was really patient waiting for this opportunity. Oscar isn't able to do as much as the other players from the US, but it's still something, and he's doing it all for his mother. 20,000 foreign kids playing sports in the US are not able to take full advantage of this. UK has people working on changing that, Cal said. "Think about what Oscar has done for us."
* NIL is going to change the process of kids deciding whether to turn pro or return for more development in college. In the past, some kids felt like they had no choice, even though they really needed to return. That's no longer the case. Those guys can come back and do it right.
* Calipari raves about the crowd at Saturday's game vs. Alabama, especially during that run at the end of the first half. "And we're going to need that same crowd (Wednesday against LSU)... because this is going to be a really, really hard game."
* Davion Mintz had a defensive performance that Calipari says he hasn't seen in a while... and did it without getting a break.
* Kentucky starting guards Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington did not practice today, Calipari said. They're considered "day to day." ... Later says "I think we're going to be shorthanded."
* LSU's going to press and trap and scramble... Gotta have the same type of play from the guards in this matchup that they had against Alabama, only against a much, much better defensive team. (No. 3 in KenPom dEff)
* Cal says defense was really good in the first LSU matchup, but Cats couldn't buy a 3 in the first half and missed a bunch of free throws.
* Caller asks if they will try to get some more shots for Grady after what he did in the Alabama game... Cal kinda shoots that notion down, suggesting that the way UK plays, the ball finds Grady plenty. He's just got to keep working to get open and shoot when he's got a look.
* Calipari asked about the dust-up at the end of the Wisconsin/Michigan game... Says he hasn't thought about it too much, but it's on every coach to "be the adults in the room." Notes there are times when he gets "a little nutty," but it's from fighting for his kids. Cal says he started doing what he's doing, "The deuces, peace out," due to Covid, but maybe everyone should just do that.
* Caller asks Cal to set more plays for Grady. Cal says opposing coaches can come up with strategies to stop plays, but it's a lot harder to stop players. They've trained Grady to be a player.
* Caller gets on air with Calipari, his dog barking, so Cal turns the conversation to the pup. Asks his name. "Peyton Manning." Cal gets a kick out of that. Caller says dog gets excited when he hears Cal's voice.
* Caller asks about all the ankle issues the Cats have had and suggests they go back to the old Converse Chuck Taylor high-tops. Cal says, "Whew." Not a fan. Goes on to tell caller how bad the arch support was in those. And some with better support were really heavy.
* On Karl Anthony Towns winning the NBA All-Star Weekend 3-point Shootout... "Yeah, he's probably mad at me I didn't let him shoot more."
* Asked about Oscar Tshiebwe's new NIL prospects... Everyone is so happy for each other. The family was really patient waiting for this opportunity. Oscar isn't able to do as much as the other players from the US, but it's still something, and he's doing it all for his mother. 20,000 foreign kids playing sports in the US are not able to take full advantage of this. UK has people working on changing that, Cal said. "Think about what Oscar has done for us."
* NIL is going to change the process of kids deciding whether to turn pro or return for more development in college. In the past, some kids felt like they had no choice, even though they really needed to return. That's no longer the case. Those guys can come back and do it right.
