The Quotable Calipari
With the season inching ever closer, Kentucky Coach John Calipari is working hard to figure out a rotation and to solve the myriad chemistry issues that come from having a roster with 12 players who would start or merit major minutes at most D-1 schools.
He has his work cut out for him, but Coach Cal is optimistic about his chances. Here are some comments he made to reporters this week:
On the team’s depth:
“I thought in one way I like to play nine guys, eight or nine guys and maybe even a 10th guy in a game. But this may be a team where I play eight guys and then I bring in the other five guys to play about four or five minutes a half. That way you play them all. We have no bad players on the team, so I could do that.”
On the challenge this year:
“I have had teams where I have had to walk in and had to take over programs but they have never been like this. They were never a team that had a chance to really win. They were teams that you were wishing would win some games. This is a little virgin territory for me as a coach, too, I’m going to be learning. I’m going to be learning the whole way through. So it’s not set in stone, and I don’t have all the answers and some of this is going to be guessing and if I don’t guess right, I’ll change.”
On his coaching style:
“The only thing I try to do is let players play. So I think guys look at it especially from the outside they say, ‘wow.’ But I’m going to tell you early on, guys are going to be angry with me because I’m going to make them do things and feel ways they have never felt before. And they won’t know how to respond to that. The first way is to pull a tantrum. Because you don’t know what to do, I’ve never felt this way. That’s how it’s going to be, but after they get going they will say that he is making me do things I have never done and I’m feeling good about it. That’s when you have a team, but that takes time.”
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