Monday night, Coach Cal sat down for his weekly radio show with Tom Leach. This week he discussed Kentucky’s recent success, EJ Montgomery, and more. Here are Wildcat Blue Nation’s five best quotes from his show:
1. EJ Montgomery
This enigma is a tough one to figure out, unlock EJ Montgomery and these Wildcats are close to unstoppable. People said it last year, and the point holds true to this day. The problem with that? He has seen little to no progression, even halfway through his sophomore year.
Of EJ, Calipari said:
“EJ, it’s really important. We’re trying to the anxiety of ‘How am I playing? What am I doing?’ gone and have him stay in the moment. The thing for him is, conditioning, and then some toughness. We want him to get where he wants to get bumped. I come back to focusing on one thing and doing it over and over again. If you don’t like to get bumped? Drive in there and get bumped. Like, purposely, I’m going to get bumped. And then you’ll want to drive in there in games and get and-ones. And then all of a sudden, we see a confident player.”
Calipari knows what type of player EJ can be:
“He is a terrific player. He led us in shooting today. He made 65 out of 75-80 shots today. You should be shooting the ball with great confidence. I’ve seen it, so I know he’s capable of it. It’s just about confidence. He’s one of the best kids I’ve ever coached, one of the nicest.”