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[I]Holly Smallwood is a friend of mine who attends the UK Basketball Women’s Clinic every year and always comes back with great stories and pictures. She is a huge Kentucky fan and knows her basketball. This year I asked Holly five specific questions regarding the clinic, below are her answers and pictures.[/I]
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[COLOR=”blue”][B]Todd:[/B] What was your opinion of the freshmen, did anything stand out to you about their personalities?[/COLOR]
[B]Holly:[/B] I think that Cousins and Wall had such large personalities last year, and I remember when Patterson was a freshman, he also had charisma. (This year’s freshmen) were very nice and polite, but they did not have that spark that draws you in. I’m sure by the end of the season we will be crazy about them, but when Demarcus Cousins walked in the room last year, it was electric. He could light up a room, and John Wall was a star from day one. Brandon Knight was probably the one that women were most excited to meet, and he did take the time to talk to everyone. You could tell (Enes Kanter) didn’t know why 500 women were there and he didn’t know how to interact with them. He was respectful and polite, but he wasn’t going to put his arm around you.
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[COLOR=”blue”][B]Todd:[/B] Have you noticed any change in the returning players, especially Miller and Liggins?[/COLOR]
[B]Holly:[/B] Miller is bigger by far, larger than last year. His build has changed. Also, he seems more in charge. His attitude has changed and you can tell from how he walks and how he interacts with the crowd. This is his 3rd (and my 4th) clinic. He knows what the women want and he jokes and talks and flatters. When he was a freshman, he was skinny and unsure of himself – three years later, he’s a man.
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Liggins is Liggins. He is terribly shy, but one of the nicest on the team. When I was getting my picture taken with him, he was looking away and I patted his arm and told him to smile at the camera. One of the ladies in line laughed and said, “Look at her patting his arm and telling him to smile.” Liggins and I laughed and I said, “Oh, me and Deandre have been together forever now. How long Deandre, 2, 3 years?” and he laughed and said, “We’ve been together 3 years.” He is just shy but he is one of my favorites.
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[COLOR=”blue”][B]Todd[/B]: What did you think about Erin Andrews?[/COLOR]
[B]Holly:[/B] Erin Andrews was okay. She was funny, well-rehearsed, and talked a lot about her (stalking) incident. But I would have rather spent the time with the players or coaches. She also spent a lot of her time talking about [I]Dancing with the Stars[/I]. I would have rather heard some behind-the-scenes stories about her actual job with ESPN, but she didn’t talk much about that. She did talk about how much she loves Coach Cal.
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[COLOR=”blue”][B]Todd[/B]: Did Calipari do anything different this year? Did you learn anything new?[/COLOR]
[B]Holly[/B]: The only new thing we learned was that they are working more on pick-and-rolls. He went through exactly how that would work, and in what situations we would use it. Cal goes through a very detailed and specific lesson on dribble drive. He talks to the women like we know exactly what he is talking about. He assumes we know basketball, and I think all the women are glad that he respects us enough not to “dumb it down.” We know what it means when he talks about spacing, when he talks about the 4 spot, and when he talks about open lanes. A lot of us, myself included, watch tape after the game. Cal knows that, and his explanations of the game are fantastic.
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[COLOR=”blue”][B]Todd:[/B] What is the one thing you remember most about the clinic?[/COLOR]
[B]Holly:[/B] Best part, hands down, was the fashion show. My face hurt from laughing so hard. Josh (Harrellson) was the star of the entire event. He was unforgettable, and he has the best personality. The funniest part was the other player’s reaction to Josh’s dance. Even if he only plays 5 minutes a game, he is a fan favorite.
