Hello all. I'll be following along with the Coach Cal radio show tonight and sharing the main talking points for those of you who may not be able to listen to the show live. Starts at 6 ET. Stay tuned...
* Cal has been down in Charlotte, NC, where his father was having a surgical procedure. It went well. That was straight off the trip to England. Cal says he slept better than he has in a long time after knowing his dad was OK.
* Cats watched video of the Michigan game. Happy they won, but not happy with the tape of the last four minutes. Up eight. Could not put it away. Missed FTs. Should have been a 12- to 14-point win. "We got work to do." Eight-point leads have to go to 16, not back to 4, he later added.
* Cal says he's coached teams that have not been good FT shooters. You can talk about all the practice drills you want to talk about, but there's one and only one solution: recruit better FT shooters. He says he has them, but guys like Wallace and Wheeler have to step up and knock them down. Thought they were scared of losing. Wants them approaching those situations as "We have nothing to lose."
* Yale is really good, Cal says. Had Colorado (lost by 3), Butler (lost by 10) beat. Let those games slip away. Will shoot a bunch of 3s and make 9 or 10. Have outrebounded most opponents. They do a lot of movement, back-cuts, dribble-handoffs. They'll test the UK defense's ability to stay in a stance and guard. "It's a challenging game." Hopes they're not dragging from going over to England and back, not sleeping very well while they were there.
* On shooting a higher % of 3s and making more (39% tops in SEC) than most of his teams... A lot of it depends on who they're playing, but this is not surprising. They're still adjusting with Oscar being only 85% or so. Doesn't think Wheeler is 100% either.
* Pointed out to the team that Oscar took 2 shots in the 2nd half, and he was the happiest guy in the room after winning. When guys see the NPOY doing that, it has influence.
* Thinks Ugonna has to play more and they still have to "figure out Chris" Livingston, whether it's at the 2, 3, or 4. Fights like heck. He competes. He goes after balls. All the things that Cal values. Also mentions Thiero, who he says is often a lot more aggressive, better in games than he is in practice.
* Caller asks which guard combo does he prefer in late-game situations. Cal says he hasn't figured it out yet, but you need the guy who can (A) get you in your offense and (B) hit FTs if he's fouled. It's going to come down to a trust feeling from what he's seen in practice and games.
* On Cason Wallace shooting the 4th most shots... Says he wants him looking to shoot more. Wallace told him his teams in HS never ran offense, "I just go get buckets." Cal said, "Well, go get buckets."
* Caller asks about Sahvir dribbling for 30 seconds and forcing a shot at the end of games... Cal says you're definitely trying to milk some clock, but you want a good look at the basket. "The execution isn't quite there yet." But they still got FT opps, and missed. You want to massage the clock, but they become back-breakers if you miss your FTs. "We're better than that... we have REALLY good FT shooters." Cal points to his all-time record in games where they have the lead as evidence they know what they're doing. They did a drill at the end of practice today where you had to make three straight 1-and-1s. Who was the first one to do it? Wheeler. Who was the next? Wallace. "So do that crap in the games!"
* Asked why players don't follow their shots anymore, that a lot of players just stand there with their hand up like it's going in, Cal says they should if they see it's off. But you also have to consider your responsibilities on getting back on D.
* Cal has been down in Charlotte, NC, where his father was having a surgical procedure. It went well. That was straight off the trip to England. Cal says he slept better than he has in a long time after knowing his dad was OK.
* Cats watched video of the Michigan game. Happy they won, but not happy with the tape of the last four minutes. Up eight. Could not put it away. Missed FTs. Should have been a 12- to 14-point win. "We got work to do." Eight-point leads have to go to 16, not back to 4, he later added.
* Cal says he's coached teams that have not been good FT shooters. You can talk about all the practice drills you want to talk about, but there's one and only one solution: recruit better FT shooters. He says he has them, but guys like Wallace and Wheeler have to step up and knock them down. Thought they were scared of losing. Wants them approaching those situations as "We have nothing to lose."
* Yale is really good, Cal says. Had Colorado (lost by 3), Butler (lost by 10) beat. Let those games slip away. Will shoot a bunch of 3s and make 9 or 10. Have outrebounded most opponents. They do a lot of movement, back-cuts, dribble-handoffs. They'll test the UK defense's ability to stay in a stance and guard. "It's a challenging game." Hopes they're not dragging from going over to England and back, not sleeping very well while they were there.
* On shooting a higher % of 3s and making more (39% tops in SEC) than most of his teams... A lot of it depends on who they're playing, but this is not surprising. They're still adjusting with Oscar being only 85% or so. Doesn't think Wheeler is 100% either.
* Pointed out to the team that Oscar took 2 shots in the 2nd half, and he was the happiest guy in the room after winning. When guys see the NPOY doing that, it has influence.
* Thinks Ugonna has to play more and they still have to "figure out Chris" Livingston, whether it's at the 2, 3, or 4. Fights like heck. He competes. He goes after balls. All the things that Cal values. Also mentions Thiero, who he says is often a lot more aggressive, better in games than he is in practice.
* Caller asks which guard combo does he prefer in late-game situations. Cal says he hasn't figured it out yet, but you need the guy who can (A) get you in your offense and (B) hit FTs if he's fouled. It's going to come down to a trust feeling from what he's seen in practice and games.
* On Cason Wallace shooting the 4th most shots... Says he wants him looking to shoot more. Wallace told him his teams in HS never ran offense, "I just go get buckets." Cal said, "Well, go get buckets."
* Caller asks about Sahvir dribbling for 30 seconds and forcing a shot at the end of games... Cal says you're definitely trying to milk some clock, but you want a good look at the basket. "The execution isn't quite there yet." But they still got FT opps, and missed. You want to massage the clock, but they become back-breakers if you miss your FTs. "We're better than that... we have REALLY good FT shooters." Cal points to his all-time record in games where they have the lead as evidence they know what they're doing. They did a drill at the end of practice today where you had to make three straight 1-and-1s. Who was the first one to do it? Wheeler. Who was the next? Wallace. "So do that crap in the games!"
* Asked why players don't follow their shots anymore, that a lot of players just stand there with their hand up like it's going in, Cal says they should if they see it's off. But you also have to consider your responsibilities on getting back on D.
