Head Coach John Calipari
On what Kentucky needs to do different to make sure Auburn doesn’t “manhandle” them again …
“Well, when you watch it, you better play lower than them and they get down. You better know that they’ll wedge you under the goal or they’ll, on block outs, they’re not afraid to bump and do stuff. Their guard play, they run downhill, we run downhill. We’re playing kind of similar in that. (Austin) Wiley’s been playing great. He’s rebounding offensively. Had seven against us last time. I think he has as many offensive rebounds as he has defensive. So, he’s playing great. (Samir) Doughty’s hurt us every time we’ve played him and (Isaac) Okoro’s back, so they’re full strength and they’re a good team.”
On the difference Isaac Okoro makes for Auburn …
“He gives them one more guy. He’s a downhill runner and he’s an active rebounder. He can go left or right. It’s not like he’s just driving right. He’s a talented length guy and he’s a good defender, too.”
On the team’s good chemistry and if it’s different than teams before …
“I don’t know if its chemistry. What you have is a bunch of guys that, all the clutter that’s around each of them – the anxiety, whatever you want to call it that’s there – they’re able to push it aside and really be happy for each other. That’s a little bit unusual. Whether it’s EJ (Montgomery) or whoever, Johnny (Juzang) or Keion (Brooks Jr.) or whoever plays well, the other guys are ecstatic for them. Even in practice when a guy’s playing well they’ll tell him, ‘That’s who you are, man. Go do that.’ So, the one thing for a while when we were still figuring this out, they weren’t holding each other accountable. They wanted it all to be what I do, and I said, ‘It can’t be that way. You guys have to do some of this.’ When you have that kind of relationship, now you can talk to each other on the other side. They know they care about one another and they know they want each other to play well, so if they say something it has a different impact.”
On Ashton Hagans potentially being rested or not …
“I don’t know, I don’t think so, but I told him, like he’s turning it over. His decision making, there’s a risk. I need him to be aggressive, I need him to attack, but if there’s an 80-20, 70-30%chance of success, do it; 50-50, 60-40, don’t do it. That tells me maybe he’s a little mentally tired, and so my thing is that. How do we get this to where you’re back to one or two turnovers a game and still getting your seven assists, six assists? How do we do it? Is it step you off the court for a game and let you have a couple days of practice off and a game off and then come back fresh? I don’t know. That’s an option, which I’ve talked to him about.”
On what winning the league would mean in the big picture …
“It means you won the league, I guess. Our whole thing is, how do we get the best seed we can get? If that means win games, just keep winning so you have a good seed. That’s the whole thing here. It’s not– conference tournament, I know people get mad and our fans go there. It’s almost an obligation because so many of them go to the tournament, but the whole point for me is, that tournament you’re playing three games back-to-back-to-back. I mean, what does it really do? Well, if you’ve got to win the games to get a good seed, win the games. But, the reality of it is, our season is about building toward March, being prepared for every kind of team that we can play. Building every player on your team because you don’t know who’s going to step up in a game. We now have the five guys that have scored 25. Can we get a sixth? It would be nice to have one more just so you knowbecause you don’t know what’s going to happen in this thing. And that’s the whole idea is how do we advance? How do we give ourselves a chance?”
On his reaction to Malik Monk’s suspension in the NBA …
“I haven’t talked to him, so I don’t know all the details. A little bit surprised and feel bad for him, but a lot of times things happen for a reason and it makes you square yourself away and makes yourself evaluate. And again, as I say this, I don’t know any of the particulars, and I have not talked to him. I let his family know we’re here for him if he needs us or if they need us in any way. They know that we’re here for him.”