Kentucky-UNC Asheville Postgame Interview with John Calipari
By Jason Marcum
Q. Considering the emphasis on fouls, how concerning is the free throw shooting? You mentioned that, too.
COACH CALIPARI: Well, if we play the way we did, we want to get fouled, playing through bumps, and again, you understand my three guards went 12 for 21. So like I said, how do I get you the ball late in the game? What, so you’ll get fouled and miss? Then I said, is there anybody in the (Joe) Craft (Center) tonight? Go over and shoot free throws. Walk 12 steps across the street and go shoot free throws.
I mean, this is ‑‑ we’ve got a group here, everything that happens is new to them, and I’ve got to have ‑‑ there’s a gentle balance between patience, and what I said after the game, I shouldn’t expect or shouldn’t accept you not playing on a full possession, or should I? I said, no. And I should look at you guys and say, pass the ball to each other, pass it quickly, give it up early. You can do those things. You’re going to miss shots, you’ll turn it over some, you’ll get beat to some balls, but the scrambling, the fight isn’t there right now. It’s almost like we’re okay, we can come back and just win it anyway. We’ve got a ways to go.
Q. Again on the emphasis, how much more important and critical is a team’s bench this year compared to previous years?
COACH CALIPARI: Well, I’m happy that we’re deep because it is going to play a part, no question about it. So I think we’ve got enough guys, and you think about the experience of Jon Hood and Jarrod (Polson), what they went through last year; how about Dominique (Hawkins), his toughness. You need to go for a guard, you can put him in and let him guard somebody.
Derek (Willis) is thinking a little bit too much. Had that shot in the corner. Don’t think, just play, react, be instinctive. And what he does is it slows his game down and he’s not nearly what he is. I think we can go to him, and obviously Marcus. We’re fine, but again, I don’t want our guys fouling where a guy drives and you try to steal a ball. Think of our fouls. How many of them were like grabbing a guy’s arm? What? How many of them were leaving our feet and fouling a shooter?
I mean, we had a bunch of those, and that means you stopped playing by the time you went to guard him, you know you gave him a shot so you left your feet. Again, I’ll watch the tape, and for our guys, like I said, we’ve got some stuff we’ve got to get done.
Q. Does Willie think of himself differently now? Does he think of himself as a shot blocker? You talked about leaving your feet. It seems like he’s got that mentality that even a Nerlens (Noel) had early last year, trying to go get everything.
COACH CALIPARI: He is. He’s way better than he was. He had four assists and four blocks and three steals. You know, he probably could have scored a few more baskets just forcing himself to go get the ball, but you know, again, in 18 minutes that’s pretty good.
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