John Calipari was interviewed by the “Salt Lake Tribune” about Brandon Knight. Calipari gives some great insight to Brandon’s work ethic and how he compares to former Calipari point guards, John Wall and Tyreke Evans. He also compares Brandon to former Utah Jazz great John Stockton.
Enjoy the read.. If you like these highlights, make sure to check out the complete article. It’s a great read.
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[QUOTE=Salt Lake Tribune][B]Calipari on Knight’s best attributes:[/B] Well, there are a couple of things there. Kevin and the guys there now that he wants to play for an organization like Utah. This kid’s a straight-A student. A 4.0 his entire life. Sixty college credits, because he transferred in 23. Sixty college credits after one year, and he wants to come back and finish up — which he will, because I just know how he is. From beginning to end of the year, he just got better and better and better. What’s amazing for Utah is, he’s a lot like a John Stockton. In that, hey, you may have a guy right now — Stockton didn’t start right away. And what you have is a young man who would be with you for a while, you know what I mean? The biggest thing I can tell you, I’ve never been around — yeah, I’ve been around some that have worked as hard as him — but none of them have worked harder, and whatever you think he’s going to become, he’s going to become. A lot of players in the draft you say, ‘Potentially, this guy could be this, that and the other, but we have no idea whether he’ll be that.’ Well, with Brandon, whatever you think he’s going to become, he’ll become. I just think over three years, you’re going to say ‘Wow.’
[B]Comparing Knight to the best point guards he’s coached:[/B] He’s right there. I’ve had four of them, and two of them took my teams to Final Fours. One of them’s playing in Chicago, and Brandon’s the other. And I’ll be honest with you, the team I had in Memphis was a better team, a more talented team and a deeper team. We played six guys last year. … But they’re all different. You can’t say, ‘Well, what’s he like with Derrick, or what’s he like with Tyreke?’ They all have different strengths, they all have different weaknesses. John Wall and Tyreke, they’re all different. Here’s the other thing that sets him apart: He wants to make game-winners. But more importantly, he’s not afraid to miss a game-winner. And you know in that league, how many times do you come down to the last two possessions? And then how many guys want the ball, and how many guys don’t want it? I was in that league — not everybody wants the ball.
[B]True point guard or combo guard who shoots very well:[/B] They try to say that, is Tyreke a true point? You had John Wall who they tried to say that about. Derrick early on, they were trying to say, ‘Well, I don’t know if he’s really a point?’ We’re in the Garden, and that’s Dicky V. going crazy on me. And I’m like, ‘What?’ [Laughs] But he’s a terrific player.
[B]Basketball intelligence:[/B] Oh yeah. But what he does is, he’ll break down what he’s doing, and then he changes it to get it right. Aw, man. He’ll get it right. And what would happen is, they’d be coming back from a road trip, and the dude would go right back to the practice facility and say, ‘I got to get this down,’ whatever it may be.
[B]Struggles going to his left:[/B] Well, here’s the two things. When I tell you his skill level is just going to get better and better and better. And the one thing I’ll tell you, what you find out is, with shooting when I was in the league — well, I’ll give you an example: Tracy McGrady. I had him in, he was in high school. I had him in three times — I may have brought him in three times, because I was going to pick him. And he didn’t make any shots — he didn’t make free throws. By the time he left the league, if he was open, it was a knock-down shot. So shooting, whether it was Bird, whether it was Magic, even Jordan — that kind of stuff, what the hardest thing to judge is heart. The kind of mind he is. What are we adding to our locker room? What are we truly adding to our team, and what are we about? Everything. The biggest thing I can tell you, there are a lot of players out there — well, there’s two things. If you’re undersized, you’re not going to have the same kind of success you think in that league. You can’t. So if you’re undersized in your position — I don’t care what it is. And undersized means, you can only be 6-7, but you play 6-10. OK. There are guys like that. But you’re talking about a kid that will play bigger than his size, and you’re talking about a kid that the whole organization and everybody in the city will want to be around.[/QUOTE]
Read[URL=”http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsjazznotes/51982901-62/guys-john-ball-league.html.csp”] the complete article here..[/URL]
Since there was a John Stockton comparison, I thought it’s only appropriate to include some Stockton highlights…
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And now for the Brandon Knight highlights. After watching this, I’m definitely going to miss watching Brandon play next year.
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