JOHN CALIPARI
On if he thought about altering Senior Day to honor potential early NBA entrants:
Nah, they all told me they're staying, so. (Smiling)
On what he means by wanting the players to take more risks:
There are things that these kids have worked on in practice, a lot of it individually, to make their game -- stretch out their game -- that you gotta go try it in the game. You're going to make some mistakes, you're going to turn it over some. We went back over our stats and in our lowest-turnover games, our points per possession were our lowest, and as our turnovers went up a little bit -- now they can't be 25, but when they're in that range that I'm talking about: 11, 12, maybe 13, 14 -- we had our highest points per possession. That's just how it is. I don't want my team to (only) have seven turnovers. That means that we're not being aggressive enough, we're not trying, you're not -- go play. I'm not holding back. I don't want you to -- now, I don't want you to leave your feet, one-handed catches, look-away passes, crazy stuff. But I'm saying, 'Be aggressive, make plays.'
On if he's ever had to ask a team to turn it over more:
Sure. Sure. I tell them the numbers that we want: This is what my teams historically have looked like, the numbers, and it's usually around 11 (turnovers) a game. I don't have to be the 'We never turn it over!' Yeah, you shoot it every 30 seconds, you don't play, you're holding the ball. We don't play that way. We're playing fast.
On if being a game away from an undefeated regular season holds some significance:
No. I mean, it's Senior Night. It's our last game. The season has flown by. I can still remember me using the Bahamas, having a bunch of wide-eyed freshmen not knowing what in the world to expect that played well down there and started feeling good about themselves. Every game seems to be an event. This will be another event. Florida could have and maybe should have beaten us last time. Missed free throws down the stretch that gave us a chance to win the game. They could beat us this time. You know, they're good. I would predict that their guard, Frazier, will play. Smith is not playing. So they'll have a full complement of players. It's going to be a hard game for us.
On if he's been more impressed with the team's maturity or its level of buy-in:
I'm not reflecting back right now, I'm looking forward. But I will tell you for them to stay the course is a challenge in itself here. To stay into each other, to not listen and let the clutter affect who you are and how you play, it's amazing. I mean, you got guys that aren't worried about Player of the Year, yet if they were playing 35 minutes a game and getting the ball every time, they'd be Player of the Year. They're not worried about it. They're just playing basketball. They're just trying to play for each other. You got kids that they're saying are top-five picks playing 23 minutes taking nine or 10 shots. Not worried about it. They just want to win. I love Bill Walton saying the Player of the Year is Kentucky -- the way they share, the way they're playing, everybody should be rooting for it. Don't think everybody is, but .
On how well-timed the Bahamas trip was for this team:
You can only do it every four years. I think that all of us should be have two trips if you want in four years, and I think everybody should be able to practice 10 days in the summer for their kids. This was good for our kids. Not, 'Program, program,' -- it was good for these kids. If you don't choose to take a trip, practice 10 days at home. If you don't want to make a trip, maybe a foreign team will come and play you a couple games on your campus. And then college basketball owns August.
Our games out-rated USA Basketball. What? Yeah. They were on ESPN and they out-rated USA Basketball. That means college basketball -- if you want to get a jump start, you want to start changing -- we need to stop. The 30-second clock is great, but just call fouls. We'll score more because we'll shoot more free throws. Just call fouls so there's more freedom of motion and less banging and bumping. Take over August. There's all kind of things. But I like the fact that we're able to prepare young people for what lies ahead by spending some time with them and team-building.
On the timing of the trip to mesh veterans and newcomers:
We needed it. It wasn't that. We needed to do this to see if the platoon system would work. And not only would it work, would they buy into it and would they allow it to work? And we got all answers were yes on that. And that's where we knew we could do this.
On how it should be remembered if they finish undefeated in the regular season:
I don't know. We haven't won the game yet. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but we could lose the game. Then how should we be remembered? How do you think? Successful? Not successful?
On if it's special that it will be the last time this group plays at Rupp:
Yeah. I told them, you know, we have limited time together. I told my staff, every minute you can spend with these guys you better spend with them. I mean, when you get to the lodge, we'll go to meals -- let's just do everything together because this thing's going to wind down. It's a unique group. The strength is in the pack more than any team I've ever coached, and everyone's stepped up at different points -- and I'll be honest with you, everybody's also stepped back at different points. And when they stepped back, someone else stepped up. Sometimes they stepped back so someone else could step up. It's been a unique thing with this team.
On the dynamic of team consistency versus individual ups and downs:
Well that's why it's nice having nine or 10 guys and just always say, you know, I only need five of you, so whoever wants to play today, let me know. We'll go with you five. If we have nine of you, all nine of you get out there and go do it. I mean, Marcus Lee and Dakari basically won the last game for us because of how they played. And Andrew and Aaron have just stepped up their game like they did a year ago.
On the challenge Florida poses with a healthy Michael Frazier:
Well, he spreads the court, and what they're doing in their pick and rolls is just keeping everybody away from the basket, trying to get rim baskets or threes or moving the ball from there into driving. Billy's done a great job with his team.
On if he feels like seasons fly by more and more the longer he coaches:
No, this is -- I told these guys we were in the Bahamas the next time you turn around it's going to be Christmas, then the next time you turn around we'll be starting conference tournament, and the next time you turn around we'll be hugging each other and saying it's done, this was a great year, duh-duh-duh-duh-duh. You don't understand it until you get in it. And the players that have been through this all nodded their head. 'He's right. It flies.'
On if he personally feels seasons fly by faster:
Yeah. They fly. The only issue is that every game I'm in a locker room and it's an event. Like, there's never, like, let's just go play a nice basketball game. You walk in, it's a shirt night, bat night, cup night. You know, it's just like, geez, I can't just -- this is like -- you'd like to coach a meaningless game at times. Just one time. Let me just go and do it. I could've done it in the Bahamas and I let the assistants coach 'em, but.
On how they avoided making the season feel like a drag after the early start in the Bahamas:
Platooned. We platooned, so no one was playing 38 minutes a game. Guys were playing 23 minutes. No one ever got wore out. It's what happened.
On Willie Cauley-Stein saying the Bahamas was when he first thought this could be a historically good team and Calipari noting at the time Kentucky didn't even have two of its better players:
It was a good trip, and it served its purpose. Like I said, I think if teams choose to do that twice every four years what's the problem? And if you're not making that trip why not practice for 10 days? Why not bring a foreign team on your campus and play? I mean, play four games on campus. Who cares? It's August. So I just think it's not taking away from academics. It's like this as the selection committee puts this together, this tournament together, whether you play out west or east you're not missing class. 'Well we want them close.' You're missing the same class whether you're going to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, wherever you're going. You're missing the same class. It's the same with that stuff. You know, you're talking about -- they always want to refer it back to class stuff. That's -- I just don't think that's true.
On if he sees a scenario where the three seniors play Saturday:
Yeah. I hope so.
On Willie Cauley-Stein playing multiple sports in high school:
I'll tell you what he was: he was a great badminton player. I saw him play that. I tell you what he was really good (at): I watched him play kickball. You would not believe. And I saw him play football. I never saw him play basketball in high school. I saw him in an AAU game get like three points, and I thought, 'Oh my gosh.' Then again, I saw Karl (-Anthony Towns) and said, 'He's got to better than this.' So, he was really -- ask him. Kickball, he would spin them. Like he'd kick and spin. The ball would pssssh (makes arcing motion with his hand).
On if there is a benefit to guys playing multiple sports at that age:
It's probably why he moves so quickly. His feet, he could move them side to side and stuff.
On having his jersey retired at UMass:
It's neat. I mean -- what they're doing is they're honoring that grouping of players in the 90s. Getting a bunch of calls from those guys. It was -- you know, if you've ever started a company and it's your first company, it's your baby. It was all of us coming together and staff of guys coming together. It's more about that than me specifically, but I do appreciate it. I'm honored. My daughters went to school there. It's where we raised our children. That was -- that's our home. We still consider it that. My son went to prep school that was 10 minutes from there. He wasn't even born up there, but he still wants to be UMass and and Derek Kellogg. So, it's a neat thing.
On if he thought about altering Senior Day to honor potential early NBA entrants:
Nah, they all told me they're staying, so. (Smiling)
On what he means by wanting the players to take more risks:
There are things that these kids have worked on in practice, a lot of it individually, to make their game -- stretch out their game -- that you gotta go try it in the game. You're going to make some mistakes, you're going to turn it over some. We went back over our stats and in our lowest-turnover games, our points per possession were our lowest, and as our turnovers went up a little bit -- now they can't be 25, but when they're in that range that I'm talking about: 11, 12, maybe 13, 14 -- we had our highest points per possession. That's just how it is. I don't want my team to (only) have seven turnovers. That means that we're not being aggressive enough, we're not trying, you're not -- go play. I'm not holding back. I don't want you to -- now, I don't want you to leave your feet, one-handed catches, look-away passes, crazy stuff. But I'm saying, 'Be aggressive, make plays.'
On if he's ever had to ask a team to turn it over more:
Sure. Sure. I tell them the numbers that we want: This is what my teams historically have looked like, the numbers, and it's usually around 11 (turnovers) a game. I don't have to be the 'We never turn it over!' Yeah, you shoot it every 30 seconds, you don't play, you're holding the ball. We don't play that way. We're playing fast.
On if being a game away from an undefeated regular season holds some significance:
No. I mean, it's Senior Night. It's our last game. The season has flown by. I can still remember me using the Bahamas, having a bunch of wide-eyed freshmen not knowing what in the world to expect that played well down there and started feeling good about themselves. Every game seems to be an event. This will be another event. Florida could have and maybe should have beaten us last time. Missed free throws down the stretch that gave us a chance to win the game. They could beat us this time. You know, they're good. I would predict that their guard, Frazier, will play. Smith is not playing. So they'll have a full complement of players. It's going to be a hard game for us.
On if he's been more impressed with the team's maturity or its level of buy-in:
I'm not reflecting back right now, I'm looking forward. But I will tell you for them to stay the course is a challenge in itself here. To stay into each other, to not listen and let the clutter affect who you are and how you play, it's amazing. I mean, you got guys that aren't worried about Player of the Year, yet if they were playing 35 minutes a game and getting the ball every time, they'd be Player of the Year. They're not worried about it. They're just playing basketball. They're just trying to play for each other. You got kids that they're saying are top-five picks playing 23 minutes taking nine or 10 shots. Not worried about it. They just want to win. I love Bill Walton saying the Player of the Year is Kentucky -- the way they share, the way they're playing, everybody should be rooting for it. Don't think everybody is, but .
On how well-timed the Bahamas trip was for this team:
You can only do it every four years. I think that all of us should be have two trips if you want in four years, and I think everybody should be able to practice 10 days in the summer for their kids. This was good for our kids. Not, 'Program, program,' -- it was good for these kids. If you don't choose to take a trip, practice 10 days at home. If you don't want to make a trip, maybe a foreign team will come and play you a couple games on your campus. And then college basketball owns August.
Our games out-rated USA Basketball. What? Yeah. They were on ESPN and they out-rated USA Basketball. That means college basketball -- if you want to get a jump start, you want to start changing -- we need to stop. The 30-second clock is great, but just call fouls. We'll score more because we'll shoot more free throws. Just call fouls so there's more freedom of motion and less banging and bumping. Take over August. There's all kind of things. But I like the fact that we're able to prepare young people for what lies ahead by spending some time with them and team-building.
On the timing of the trip to mesh veterans and newcomers:
We needed it. It wasn't that. We needed to do this to see if the platoon system would work. And not only would it work, would they buy into it and would they allow it to work? And we got all answers were yes on that. And that's where we knew we could do this.
On how it should be remembered if they finish undefeated in the regular season:
I don't know. We haven't won the game yet. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but we could lose the game. Then how should we be remembered? How do you think? Successful? Not successful?
On if it's special that it will be the last time this group plays at Rupp:
Yeah. I told them, you know, we have limited time together. I told my staff, every minute you can spend with these guys you better spend with them. I mean, when you get to the lodge, we'll go to meals -- let's just do everything together because this thing's going to wind down. It's a unique group. The strength is in the pack more than any team I've ever coached, and everyone's stepped up at different points -- and I'll be honest with you, everybody's also stepped back at different points. And when they stepped back, someone else stepped up. Sometimes they stepped back so someone else could step up. It's been a unique thing with this team.
On the dynamic of team consistency versus individual ups and downs:
Well that's why it's nice having nine or 10 guys and just always say, you know, I only need five of you, so whoever wants to play today, let me know. We'll go with you five. If we have nine of you, all nine of you get out there and go do it. I mean, Marcus Lee and Dakari basically won the last game for us because of how they played. And Andrew and Aaron have just stepped up their game like they did a year ago.
On the challenge Florida poses with a healthy Michael Frazier:
Well, he spreads the court, and what they're doing in their pick and rolls is just keeping everybody away from the basket, trying to get rim baskets or threes or moving the ball from there into driving. Billy's done a great job with his team.
On if he feels like seasons fly by more and more the longer he coaches:
No, this is -- I told these guys we were in the Bahamas the next time you turn around it's going to be Christmas, then the next time you turn around we'll be starting conference tournament, and the next time you turn around we'll be hugging each other and saying it's done, this was a great year, duh-duh-duh-duh-duh. You don't understand it until you get in it. And the players that have been through this all nodded their head. 'He's right. It flies.'
On if he personally feels seasons fly by faster:
Yeah. They fly. The only issue is that every game I'm in a locker room and it's an event. Like, there's never, like, let's just go play a nice basketball game. You walk in, it's a shirt night, bat night, cup night. You know, it's just like, geez, I can't just -- this is like -- you'd like to coach a meaningless game at times. Just one time. Let me just go and do it. I could've done it in the Bahamas and I let the assistants coach 'em, but.
On how they avoided making the season feel like a drag after the early start in the Bahamas:
Platooned. We platooned, so no one was playing 38 minutes a game. Guys were playing 23 minutes. No one ever got wore out. It's what happened.
On Willie Cauley-Stein saying the Bahamas was when he first thought this could be a historically good team and Calipari noting at the time Kentucky didn't even have two of its better players:
It was a good trip, and it served its purpose. Like I said, I think if teams choose to do that twice every four years what's the problem? And if you're not making that trip why not practice for 10 days? Why not bring a foreign team on your campus and play? I mean, play four games on campus. Who cares? It's August. So I just think it's not taking away from academics. It's like this as the selection committee puts this together, this tournament together, whether you play out west or east you're not missing class. 'Well we want them close.' You're missing the same class whether you're going to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, wherever you're going. You're missing the same class. It's the same with that stuff. You know, you're talking about -- they always want to refer it back to class stuff. That's -- I just don't think that's true.
On if he sees a scenario where the three seniors play Saturday:
Yeah. I hope so.
On Willie Cauley-Stein playing multiple sports in high school:
I'll tell you what he was: he was a great badminton player. I saw him play that. I tell you what he was really good (at): I watched him play kickball. You would not believe. And I saw him play football. I never saw him play basketball in high school. I saw him in an AAU game get like three points, and I thought, 'Oh my gosh.' Then again, I saw Karl (-Anthony Towns) and said, 'He's got to better than this.' So, he was really -- ask him. Kickball, he would spin them. Like he'd kick and spin. The ball would pssssh (makes arcing motion with his hand).
On if there is a benefit to guys playing multiple sports at that age:
It's probably why he moves so quickly. His feet, he could move them side to side and stuff.
On having his jersey retired at UMass:
It's neat. I mean -- what they're doing is they're honoring that grouping of players in the 90s. Getting a bunch of calls from those guys. It was -- you know, if you've ever started a company and it's your first company, it's your baby. It was all of us coming together and staff of guys coming together. It's more about that than me specifically, but I do appreciate it. I'm honored. My daughters went to school there. It's where we raised our children. That was -- that's our home. We still consider it that. My son went to prep school that was 10 minutes from there. He wasn't even born up there, but he still wants to be UMass and and Derek Kellogg. So, it's a neat thing.
