Off to camp for Cal’s Cats
December 5, 2012
By Les Johns | @KernelJohns
Christmas is coming early for the UK basketball team.
The holiday tradition known as “Camp Cal” is now scheduled to run the next three weeks because head coach John Calipari believes the team ran out of gas in the second half against Samford.
“We’re going to condition in the morning for the next three weeks and then practice because I can’t think of any other reason why you wouldn’t come out in the second half and play,” Calipari said after the 88-56 win over Samford.
The Cats held the Bulldogs to 14 points on 4-of-20 shooting in the first half but allowed 42 points and 51.5 percent shooting in the second.
“First half, I thought — OK let’s go do this in the second half. Obviously they don’t get it yet, but they will. They’re not going to have a whole lot of choices here,” Calipari said. “Either you’re not in shape or you don’t care. I don’t even want to hint that way, so they’re not in shape then.”
Freshman forward Willie Cauley-Stein thinks that the team is in shape, but said he is trying to approach the conditioning exercises with a positive attitude.
“There is no way we can’t be in shape. It’s all mental,” Cauley-Stein said. “You have to approach it like it’s going to make us better and in three weeks it’s going to be crazy how good we are.”
Calipari said he would be out of town recruiting Wednesday, but the 7 a.m. conditioning drills would start Thursday and last three weeks.
