John Calipari discusses UK players, upcoming season

Terrence+Jones+laughs+with+Doron+Lamb+after+the+second+half+of+UKs+win+over+ETSU+at+Rupp+Arena+on+Friday+Nov.+12+%2C+2010.+Photo+by+Britney+McIntosh

Terrence Jones laughs with Doron Lamb after the second half of UK’s win over ETSU at Rupp Arena on Friday Nov. 12 , 2010. Photo by Britney McIntosh

On Sept. 4, UK head coach John Calipari talked extensively about the upcoming season with a group of writers. That information was embargoed until Oct. 1.

Here are Calipari’s thoughts about the players on his team:

Anthony Davis: (Davis and Marcus Camby) are two different guys.  They both went through those spurts where they had guard skills. Anthony can make threes and has those skills. Physically, they had the same kind of body.  I’ll be honest with you, Anthony is probably a little ahead, but Anthony is not as tall as him.  Physically ahead, (and) skills shooting the ball. … It will be exciting to watch.

Marquis Teague: I told Marquis, he’s got the hardest thing going because not only does he have to play point here, which is a hard position to play in the way we play.  But, two, he’s following Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, and then you follow up with Brandon Knight and now him.  He’s got a tough load to carry, which means being in the greatest shape of your life, come every day with an attitude to get better, all those things. … I think he’s up for the challenge.  I wouldn’t have brought him here if I didn’t think he was up for it.  But it’s not going to be smooth sailing.  There’s going to be ups and downs, he’s going to turn the ball over.  Offense and defense will be spotty.  By the end of the year, you’ll see another guy in that line who can really get it done for us. … Now we have Marquis, who may be the best pick‑and‑roll player (of the five previous point guards). On this team it may be something we do.  We may do more pick‑and‑rolls than I’ve ever done in my career.

Terrence Jones: Terrence set a goal he wanted to be a top‑10 draft pick and it wasn’t going to happen.  Don’t listen to whoever is telling you it would have happened.  It wasn’t going to happen. … He’s on that path right now.  I’m loving it because I’m seeing him physically grow.  I’m seeing him mature as a person.  I’m seeing him grow, the maturity.  I’m really proud of what he’s doing.  Now he’s going to have to go out on that court and perform, and perform with this group.  That will be his challenge.  But he’s on a good path.

Doron Lamb: I think if he’s in great condition and he has a sense of urgency, he’s our best basketball player.  He’s not our fastest.  He doesn’t jump the highest.  He’s not our toughest. I don’t think he’s going to be our best handler. But as far as knowing the game, having a feel for the game of basketball, he’ll have it.  He may be one of the top five in the country.  Now, will he have a sense of urgency?  Will he have the toughness?  Will he have improved his skill level?  If he does all that, then, one, he’s real good and we’re real good.  If he doesn’t, he’s a nice player

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: The biggest thing I want him to add to this team is a sense of urgency in practice, a work ethic in practice, just raise the intensity, the fire, the passion that we practice with. I’ve never seen him go anything but absolutely all out.  What will happen is he’ll either take over practices or guys will try to step up with him and then it becomes a team on fire, an absolute team on fire.  So what I’m asking him to do is every day I want him to raise that level that we practice with and raise the level that we play with. … I would say Michael can guard a point guard, a shooting guard, a 3‑4 and if he has to a 5. First of all, he’s got really long arms, so he may be 6-foot-7, but his arms make him 6-foot-9, 6-foot-10.  He’s gone from playing post to moving out on the floor each year.  He knows how to guard inside.  On the outside, he gets down and he can give space, yet put his arms out there.  He’ll fight a 2 guard on strings because he’s tough.

Kyle Wiltjer: (He’s) a skilled, skilled big man who’s a pick and pop, a trailer in the break, a skilled passer. … Kyle Wiltjer may shoot it the best. … He’s got a great feel for the game.  He’s been well‑coached.  His skill level is really ridiculous.  It puts us at more of a European game, which I’ve always wanted to get, to be all long guys who can all put it on the floor and score.  It opens up the court now.  Now the court is huge because you can’t leave anybody. … So when I watched him, he can score around the goal, he’s got long arms.  He’s got that kind of body, no neck, long arms, small torso, that kind of body, like a swimmer’s body is what he has.  So he plays even bigger than his size. But his skill level, you pick and pop him, you trail him on the break, let the other guys do their things, let him do his thing, he becomes like a point guard behind the defense.  You don’t play him, he can shoot.  Don’t make a pass, he can pick‑and‑roll.

Darius Miller: we’re expecting a lot out of him in leadership. the team needs it. He was the MVP in the conference tournament.  Think about that.  So he’s capable, got to bring it every day. … He’s improved himself every year.  He was the MVP of our conference tournament.  You know, there were times that I said he could be as good as anybody in our league.  We got to get it out of him.  He’s got to get it out of himself. … There’s never been a question in anybody’s mind that this young man is one of the best human beings, cares about people, humble.  I’m happy he’s on my team.  Let me put it that way.  And our players are happy he’s on their team.

Ryan Harrow: Ryan has got to really use the year to take his game to another level both physically, his body.  He’s got to do that for him and us.  But the other side of it is, he gets to go against a guy nose‑to‑nose every day.  Let me throw a third caveat in there.  We have to have another point guard.  There are times I have to play another point guard against Marquis because if he’s not in there…  We’ve got to figure that out without Ryan playing. He should be in the best position of any point guard I coached in that he’s got a year to be tutored without the pressure of having to play.  He’s got a year to visually see it.  He’s got a year to learn it. … He can go right down the middle and dunk on a team.  He’s a scoring point guard, kind of like a Tyreke Evans that we’re going to have to teach how he gets everyone else involved yet stay aggressive.  That’s a challenge.  That’s not easy.

Stacey Poole: In Stacey Poole’s case, he has the knee injury.  Hopefully it’s not going to hold him back.  But we go out there, he should be the first one.  He should be in at night.  He should be physically in the greatest shape of his life.  He wasn’t last year, he knows that.  This is his opportunity now.  We don’t have 12 guys here.  So fight for time. … You know what, he’s a great kid.  I’m telling you, we all want him to play.  He’s got to go out and do it now. … So in my mind he just has to step up and earn his way, and he can do it.  He’s got the talent to do it.  Now he’s got to go fight.

Jon Hood: I feel bad for Jon Hood with his knee, but it doesn’t look like he’ll play this year. … Well, I wouldn’t want him to take his time.  You’re either walking or running.  You run as long as you can and then you walk and then you start running again.  I think in my mind with him, I haven’t talked to the doctors.  I would tell you if he were able to play 75 percent of the season, you come back and play.  If you’re not able to play 75 percent of the season or more, then you don’t come back and play.  It’s all what he’s chasing. It may be that we look at this, come back, see how this team is playing.  But we don’t know that.  All I know is before Jon leaves here, he should be leaving his mark on this program. … In Jon’s case, he’s gotten better.  He wants to do this.  He’s a wonderful person.  There’s nobody that is rooting for him more than me.

Twany Beckham/Jarrod Polson: Twany may have an opportunity to play.  When I tell you we’re looking for a backup point guard, it could be Twany, it could be Jarrod.  Now they have to go early and I’m not going to give it to somebody.  If they’re not good enough, we’ll look elsewhere.

Sam Malone/Brian Long: Well, I’ve known those two young men for a while, known their families.  I think anytime I’m adding to the team, I want it to be, whether it’s Twany or Jarrod, I want them to be good teammates.  If they’re not going to be good teammates, I don’t want them on my team. … Both Sam and Brian are great young men who will add to the team and be good teammates.