JAN. 9, 2021
EXACTECH ARENA at STEPHEN C. O’CONNELL CENTER– Gainesville, Fla.
Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari
Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari
On if what Keion Brooks Jr., did today surprised him …
“No, he’s been, the only thing he wasn’t able to do with us, was anything that was with contact. So he was practicing, conditioning and I told him I said, ‘You better get ready because we are going to know something in the next couple of days. You better condition.’And he has been. He’s really disciplined, consciousness. It’s just nice to have a steadying force. Did you notice what I did at the end of the game with him? I love it when you guys don’t watch the game and ask questions. I had him take it out of bounds, because he was the one I knew would throw it to the right guy and that’s what he gives us. But, I thought there was a lot of good. Eighteen assists.We ended up out rebounding them and they played hard. Dontaie(Allen) didn’t make all these shots, he plugged one then he passed up one because everyone has him thinking he has to be this guy. Please leave him alone and let him be that guy that we are begging to shoot balls, it’s not like he has to make eight 3s a game. The ones he made gave us the burst to lead at halftime. I tell you whatm, I’mhappy with him. Oliver (Sarr), I grabbed him after I said he had a great first half but I liked the lineup at the end of the game, so I stuck with it and he was fine. How about BJ (Boston)? BJ played for us played to the training. Here’s the greatest play he made. He dribbled it up and threw it where he could have tried to shoot it and he threw it Davion (Mintz) in the corner for a 3. He hadn’t done that all year. He would have gone in the middle and loop-deloop and spun and thrown. I mean just play the game as it comes, and so I was really proud of him. The biggest thing I told him in the first half if you don’t come up with loose balls, I’m not playing you. So, you see he started diving for balls including the last one. Devin (Askew)was good too.”
On Isaiah Jackson …
“Well again, with him, you’ve got to just know, know that he can do things no one else on this team can do. He can go get a block. He can go get a rebound. He can just do stuff other guys can’t do and so you know there are points in the game he needs to be in there. He’sa skilled player, you know? But I’m like I said, ‘Jacob (Toppin) did ok. He wasn’t the same as he was, but he was fine.’ I went crazy, when he every time he has a breakaway that he tries to dunk that’swhat it looks like. Why not lay it in and if you miss it you and tip it back? And I said we aren’t settling for that. And I told them at the end of the game I’m coaching like it’s a close game. But we needed to let them know that if you defend and you execute and you pass to each other you will beat some people by 20. But you can’t be selfish offensively, breakdown defensively and then have to make plays at the end of a game. Like I said this was a great win for these kids, they are moving in the right direction and again I come back to our fans have been great to this team letting them buy time and understand that they didn’t have 16 games under their belt like normal teams and we didn’t have the kind of schedule that we have and Cal’s making excuses and they never turned on these kids and that’s what great about Kentucky fans, class, class, people; and they supported Devin, BJ. Or you could bury them and try to be so nasty and I understand COVID’s hit a lot of people, but you know like I said our fans are unique and special.”
On the team’s decision to kneel for the anthem …
“We didn’t have a whole lot of conversations. I heard that they wanted to do it when we were on our way to the arena and so I called the three leaders in and said, ‘Talk to me.’ And they said, ‘We want to kneel.’ I said, ‘Tell me why.’ And they said, ‘This is why.’ I said, ‘Ok.’ They said, ‘Will you kneel with us?’ And I said, ‘Do you want me to?’ They said, ‘Yes. We do.’ And I said, ‘Ok. I’ll kneel with you.’ So, I think again, it’s something that speaks for itself. These kids are good kids. They care about this country and all of the other stuff. They’re trying to figure out life and making statements that they think they have to make. I want to listen to what they’resaying and then I’ll support them if they want me to be there. If they said that we’re good by ourselves, I probably wouldn’t have been out there.”
On Keion Brooks Jr.’s impact …
“Well first of all, when – I told the team this – when he talked to the doctors, he was scared to death and thought it was going to go longer this, that and the other. Hands were shaking and he came to see me and that they cleared him. He and I got emotional. I hugged him. I said, ‘We’ve got to figure out how we slide you in.’ He looked at me and said, ‘Coach, I trust you. You do whatever you think is best for this team.’ And I told the team that. And I said, ‘Think of some of you. You get subbed and you’re like, why’d he sub me? Think of you. Think of how he responded to this. He’s a leader by example. He’s not a confrontational guy. That’s not who he is.’ You saw the kind of athlete he is. You see that he’s way physically stronger than he was. Way more patient mentally. The game has slowed down for him. But it’s a good deal. We’ve been playing without him, come on. But again, I come back to that’s why you want to have a great fanbase that understands and isn’t going crazy, that gives kids a chance and that’s why you want those kinds of things.”
On the offensive balance …
“I hope so. You know that my teams historically have had five guys in double figures unless someone is an unbelievable scorer then they’ll go between 16 – the most anyone scored was Jamal Murray and he averaged 20. When he’s getting 50 in a pro game, you think he probably could have scored a few more. But he sacrificed for his team so we could have five guys in double figures. But the reality of it is, it’s who has it going? It’s how we play here. This is a culture of learning to fight, learning to be a teammate, learning to execute for each other, playing and worrying more about your team than yourself. That’s what this is here. Having a competitive spirit. Knowing that you’re not just exchanging baskets, it’s that you’re trying to beat that other guy and that other team. That’s the culture here. If you don’t want that culture, then you can’t be here. So that’swhere we’re now going to. This was a good game for us, but look we’ve got other games. Alabama (UK’s next opponent) is terrific. You know? The way they play and how they space the court and tough veterans, guys that have been around. It’s going to be a hard game for us. Let’s enjoy this. Let’s enjoy these kids. Let’s enjoy their growth. I know there was probably some people that put dirt on the coffin. We pushed the coffin open and said, ‘You ain’t putting that dirt on this.’ That stuff was out there, but look – I kept saying to you. We’ve got good kids. I’m proud of these kids. They just need time. And I’m not changing that thought. We just need time.”