Head Coach John Calipari
On Ashton Hagans’ injury status …
“Neither he nor Nick (Richards) practiced yesterday. That’s why I went in (to the locker room first). I wanted to see (them). We’ll see. They’re day-to-day, both of them.”
On the team dealing with a lot of adversity this year and if there is a comfort knowing that if Hagans and Richards cannot play …
“How about if both of them can’t play? We’ve got Ben (Jordan). We have Ben who can go out there and throw strikes [media laughs].”
On playing Florida twice down the stretch and how the schedule has worked out …
“Watching tape of them too, they’re good. There was a couple games that they lost that I watched that they had and they kind of let go. They’ve got some size, their guard play. They’ve got some veterans. They’re good. They’re good. I think the league puts us together with certain games at the end of the season that come into play late. Florida and us and the other games we play. Our schedule down the stretch is ridiculous, but it is what it is. And we’re beat up. The biggest thing I’m hearing is there are people out there that feel sorry for us [said sarcastically]. They’re having parties in other parts of the league right now. It’s just how it is.”
On if this would be easier if he just recruited “machines and robots” …
“Yeah. I need a couple machines. I’ll tell you what, we had one of our best practices with six guys yesterday. We went like a full practice, which is our Thursday. The day before I’m thinking,maybe I should back up a little bit. Not because of the injuries;because I didn’t know whether they’d practice or not. Just that it’s this late. We went two hours and something yesterday, and we went.”
On why it was one of the best practices of the season …
“Because they competed, got better, they had great body language. We went from one thing to the other. We got better yesterday. And you’re just trying to tell them, ‘Let’s not waste any time.’ Today is going to be the short version. It’s the day before a game. We got next Thursday and we’ve got the next Thursday. We’ve got two practices like that and then the season’s over, which is crazy. But that’s what it is”
On usually cutting back on practice this time of year …
“Only one day a week that we can go and that’s Thursday because we don’t play till Saturday and we got done on Tuesday.”
On if he waits to see how practice goes or has an idea in his mind about practice time …
“We still have guys that are getting better. I mean, I need EJ (Montgomery) in those competitive, conditioning. We just need him to keep growing. We need Keion (Brooks Jr.). We need Johnny (Juzang) in those. So I’ve got a lot of young guys, and there have been times where I’ve back up in the last two or three weeks and we go an hour and 15. There was a time in 2014 we went three hours because that team needed it. We had five freshmen starting and I had started backing up and we got worse. I said, ‘That’s it,’ and we went to three-hour practices, which are hard for me to get through. This is play it by ear, next man up. Like yesterday, I walked out feeling good. But again, we’re playing a really good team and we could be undermanned. I don’t know yet, but these guys are day-to-day.”
On who would play point guard if Hagans can’t …
“Probably Tyrese and Immanuel. Both of them.”
On what he will look for if Richards practices today …
“Just watch him practice. He may walk off and say, ‘You know what I can’t go. Then you know what? Probably can’t go. If he feels good, he’ll let me know. These kids, the one thing they doand I trust is that they know their bodies. Their body says no,they’ll say no. Don’t want anybody playing hurt, playing 70% You might as well not play.”
On Maxey and Quickley have learned the last two games when Hagans being out at end of the last two games when Hagans was out …
“It shows us they have a long way to go. Shows us both defensively and decision making. You know, we have a ways to go. Now, what happened at the end of the LSU game where we went up 15 without him, then they pressed and I had the wrong kind of guys in there and it affected both Immanuel and Tyrese.We went to the three guards. We ended up playing pretty good down the stretch, but some of this is me feeling like playing guys in positions I haven’t played. I mean, who do you start if Ashton doesn’t start, Ashton doesn’t play?
On the news of the one-time transfer rule and if he would be comfortable taking mid-major transfers …
“I’m not comfortable with that because of what it does to mid-major schools. I could be convinced like I was with Nate (Sestina) based on, ‘We have no graduate program. He can’t come back here.’ A coach saying to me, ‘I want this for him.’ I stated my case about the transfer. Transfers not sitting out – just go where you (want) – it’s an advantage for us. We’re not lying to kids. We’re not telling them you’re going to do this, that and the other. My question would be, are they going to be able to leave at midseason? Can we rebuild our team if we know we’renot quite good enough at midseason and play right away? And what does it do to mid-major schools where they invest in a kid and after his freshman year he says, ‘You know what, thanks for all your help, now I’m going here.’ What does it do to those schools? I mean, there is unintended consequences to all this stuff. You want to talk about level playing field and this is unfair advantage, wait a minute, that is damaging to programs if you’re not sure And I said it, if anybody tampers, that head coach should be fired. You tamper with another guy’s program, you should be fired. ‘Well, it was my assistant.’ Too bad, you should have known. You’ve gotta do something if you’re going to let these kids leave, and they should be able to if they were not told the truth, if they were told, This is the way it’s going to be,’ and its nothing like that. Then kids should be able to leave. But there is consequences to that.