[B][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]Kentucky Men’s Basketball [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]February 15, 2012[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]Open Practice Media Opportunity[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][U]UK Head Coach John Calipari[/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][U][/U][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how much of this practice is about keeping an edge for his players …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“That’s the whole idea. It kind of mushrooms like everything else we seem to do around here. But it was only supposed to be an open practice. I want the students into it. I want our players alert and focused and to not get numb through the week. Our practices are pretty consistent in how we go about it and that’s what I was feeling. It turned into, ‘Why don’t we call (WKYT General Manager) Wayne Martin?’ and then its like, ‘Why don’t we call ESPN?’ and then its like, ‘I bet you it rates higher than games.’ It’s crazy. It’s Kentucky. That’s the Kentucky Effect.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how useful it might be to have recruits be able to watch this practice …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Unless they’re not in school, and that’s probably someone we don’t want, I would tell you that most of them won’t see it, but our fans will see it. They’ll see it around the state. It’s funny, when we did the practice, the open practice, and streamed it, people went bonkers. And then they wanted it again. Right now, the response we’re getting, they’re getting mad that they couldn’t be here but there’s no parking. So, faculty would have gone bonkers if we opened it up, but they’re all wanting to see us practice. I don’t know what’s the big deal in this state about watching a practice but it’s a big deal. Like, ‘We’ll want to see how they practice and how you coach,’ and that’s what makes this place crazy. I would tell you, that this television will rate high. Let me say this, in this state it will rate high.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On whether he’s paranoid about other people seeing his practice …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“If someone gets something from our practice that helps them help another player, I’m good with it. (It) doesn’t bother me at all.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On whether he will have a microphone for the practice and if it will affect his tone …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I will be mic’d. You’ve seen me in practice. The people who have been to my practice will say, ‘That’s exactly how he is in practice.’ When we did the stream, people would say, ‘It won’t be like his practice.’ Then people watched it and said, ‘That’s exactly how he practices.’ This’ll be 45 minutes of an hour of our practice and then we’ll do a little shooting contest with the kids and we’ll do some scrimmaging. It’ll be an hour and a half time, wrapped around some interviews and interviewing me at the end. It’ll be what we normally do.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On whether or not he will incorporate the helmet …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“You know what, I’ve got to tell [Coach Robic] that if someone gets dunked on, to do the helmet. It’s good. You need to be in the meeting, I didn’t think about that.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow] [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On whether he’s worried at all that this practice will be a distraction for the players …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Well it’s not an abnormal practice. It’s our practice. It’s not abnormal that way. The stuff that surrounds us gets them more focused so we’re really not changing anything. This isn’t like okay let’s go have a volleyball game. We are practicing and you will see that. Then we’ll scrimmage a little bit. Here’s the thing, you might say, ‘Well what if this doesn’t work?’ I know the other doesn’t work because I lived it. The other thing we did absolutely didn’t work after North Carolina. I’m trying something different. Maybe it won’t work, but we’ll see.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On whether he’ll look to do this again if it does work …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“If it’s allowed; it may not be allowed.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how far Kyle Wiltjer has come …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Wow. He even will tell you if you talk to him. He’s getting to understand angles, staying down. He just has to get stronger. When he gets stronger from the waist down, you’re going to see one of the best players in the country. He will be one of the best because he’s one of the most skilled, he’s long, he’s tough, [compassionate], he runs. He just has to get stronger.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On whether he’s feeling better about the number of things that could beat his team in March …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“The thing I would tell you is that the way we’re playing them, happy. But I’m not satisfied. I’m just not satisfied because I want to make sure that we’re getting better and I’m looking for areas, where can we grow? But, I’m happy with how we’re playing. To go on the road and show the kind of poise we showed, down four with a couple minutes to go. To play Florida, who is at the time playing everybody. To do the things that we’ve done this year with three freshmen starting, a freshman off the bench and two sophomores and then Darius [Miller]. I guess we could be more perfect but the reality is, I’m happy with how we’re playing but I’m not satisfied. I want us to improve on that.”[/FONT][/COLOR][/B]
