Hello HOB. I'll be following along with the Coach Cal radio show tonight and sharing the major points of interest here in this thread for those of you who may not be able to listen along live. Show starts at 6 ET. Stay tuned...
* Cal starts by praising the women's team on their SEC championship and uses it as an example for all teams. They scored only 3 points in the 2Q but were down only 9 at the half. "They didn't let go of the rope." Play defense, even if the ball isn't going in the hole. Cal says he loves Dre Edwards because of her attitude and fight. Notes that Rhyne Howard didn't play very well, but all of her teammates rallied around how Edwards played and picked their game up.
* Cal goes thru the entire first segment still hopped up on Mountain Dew over the women's team, his watch, how good a job Elzy did to get them turned around, how good SC is. "With Dawn Staley, they will use this as fuel." Compares SC to UK losing to Vandy in the 2012 SECT. Tom's trying to get to break. Cal: "Is this the women's basketball show?"
* Tom asks Calipari how Daimion Collins' shoulder is doing today? "I don't know... (wait for it) ... I haven't seen him." Hopes he's doing better. In fairness, this time, Cal was in Nashville yesterday, and Cats had Sunday and Monday off. Getting back to practice on Tuesday. Likes his depth, regardless.
* Caller asks Cal about his watch again. Says he got more compliments over a $19 fake Rolex he bought once. LOL But it quit working after a couple of months, as the knock-offs are prone to do.
* "We've got a team that's in a good frame of mind," Cal says.
* Cal praises state legislature for bipartisan bill on NIL that passed nearly in unanimous fashion. He thinks other states across the country are going to follow the lead on this bill. Also got a resolution on F1 (foreign) students getting assistance. That part still needs some clarification and perhaps a federal law put in place. Would help guys like Tshiebwe and Sharpe in the future.
* On what they're going to be working on Tuesday... We've got to shore up some areas, Cal says. He's trying to put himself in opponents' mindset and try to anticipate what they might be doing to attack the Cats. Staying in front of people will be one focus. Gotta be ready to defend off the bounce.
* Hardest game to play in the conference tournament sometimes is the first one because you're getting someone who has already played and you've been on a bit of a layoff. Can't get flustered over the first 5-10 minutes. Just keep playing.
* Practices should be short and sharp at this time of year, Cal says. Don't want to overload them with stuff. They do very little in advance on the other team, only some stuff the night before and at walk-thru. When you focus too much on the other team, they wind up losing, and you play someone else.
* Cal likes how he's set up with a team that has no clear way to approach them defensively. Stop Oscar, OK, they have the best 3P% in the league. And guys like Sahvir and Keion can still be the man if you focus on anyone else.
* Asked about neutral court helping the Cats from here on out... "It's not neutral with our fans," Cal replies. ".... We'll have big numbers down there. It's just what we do." Says fans seem to really love this team and thinks they'll travel well with them.
* Cal says the best teams he's had at UK are all "really connected, and this one is like that."
* Cal starts by praising the women's team on their SEC championship and uses it as an example for all teams. They scored only 3 points in the 2Q but were down only 9 at the half. "They didn't let go of the rope." Play defense, even if the ball isn't going in the hole. Cal says he loves Dre Edwards because of her attitude and fight. Notes that Rhyne Howard didn't play very well, but all of her teammates rallied around how Edwards played and picked their game up.
* Cal goes thru the entire first segment still hopped up on Mountain Dew over the women's team, his watch, how good a job Elzy did to get them turned around, how good SC is. "With Dawn Staley, they will use this as fuel." Compares SC to UK losing to Vandy in the 2012 SECT. Tom's trying to get to break. Cal: "Is this the women's basketball show?"
* Tom asks Calipari how Daimion Collins' shoulder is doing today? "I don't know... (wait for it) ... I haven't seen him." Hopes he's doing better. In fairness, this time, Cal was in Nashville yesterday, and Cats had Sunday and Monday off. Getting back to practice on Tuesday. Likes his depth, regardless.
* Caller asks Cal about his watch again. Says he got more compliments over a $19 fake Rolex he bought once. LOL But it quit working after a couple of months, as the knock-offs are prone to do.
* "We've got a team that's in a good frame of mind," Cal says.
* Cal praises state legislature for bipartisan bill on NIL that passed nearly in unanimous fashion. He thinks other states across the country are going to follow the lead on this bill. Also got a resolution on F1 (foreign) students getting assistance. That part still needs some clarification and perhaps a federal law put in place. Would help guys like Tshiebwe and Sharpe in the future.
* On what they're going to be working on Tuesday... We've got to shore up some areas, Cal says. He's trying to put himself in opponents' mindset and try to anticipate what they might be doing to attack the Cats. Staying in front of people will be one focus. Gotta be ready to defend off the bounce.
* Hardest game to play in the conference tournament sometimes is the first one because you're getting someone who has already played and you've been on a bit of a layoff. Can't get flustered over the first 5-10 minutes. Just keep playing.
* Practices should be short and sharp at this time of year, Cal says. Don't want to overload them with stuff. They do very little in advance on the other team, only some stuff the night before and at walk-thru. When you focus too much on the other team, they wind up losing, and you play someone else.
* Cal likes how he's set up with a team that has no clear way to approach them defensively. Stop Oscar, OK, they have the best 3P% in the league. And guys like Sahvir and Keion can still be the man if you focus on anyone else.
* Asked about neutral court helping the Cats from here on out... "It's not neutral with our fans," Cal replies. ".... We'll have big numbers down there. It's just what we do." Says fans seem to really love this team and thinks they'll travel well with them.
* Cal says the best teams he's had at UK are all "really connected, and this one is like that."
