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Kentucky Wildcat Quickies: John Calipari State of the Union Edition

Coach Cal talks last season, NBA draft, and this season, Bye-bye Bertha, Mark Stoops gets a new coach and so does Matthew Mitchell, more!

By James Streble
Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday afternoon John Calipari held court in front of the media in order to deliver the State of the Union of Kentucky Basketball before he goes on vacation.

Here is the entire transcript of what he said.

And here are my opinions about what he said:

  • John Calipari claims he was not directly throwing shade at Duke and then told the media that, essentially, they put words into his mouth. Love ya coach, but we all knew what you were doing and it's cool. We know you can't admit it.
  • Cal also talked a little bit about the loss to IU in the round of 32. He put the blame on himself for not adjusting. Honestly, I don't put that on Calipari at all. His best shooter had an off night and he had three complete no-shows on the team. No amount of adjusting could have compensated for that and there wasn't another player that he could have put in to change the game. That game was a microcosm for the entire season. But he didn't throw his guys under the bus and that is the sign of a good, caring coach.
  • I fully expect Isaiah Briscoe to return after the comments Cal made. He laid out exactly what Briscoe has to do to become the best player he can be, which is improve his shot. I think he let the cat out of the bag a little bit on that.
  • I think Marcus Lee will stay in the draft and so does Cal.
  • I'm not a fan of player comparisons, but Cal made a few. He compared DeAaron Fox's speed to John Wall's and he said Malik Monk had "Derek Rose stuff" and that he doesn't even know how good he is yet. Derek Rose and John Wall in the backcourt? Sign me up.
  • Calipari says Bam Adebayo is a beast and he wants the student section to dress like Bam-Bam from the Flintstones. I 100% endorse this suggestion.
  • Sacha Killeya-Jones is still growing and he can't wait to get Wenyen Gabriel on the wing. He said that Gabriel has been forced to play multiple positions and he thinks he will flourish if he only has to focus on one. I think Gabriel is kind of an unknown. Yes, he is big, skilled, and athletic, but does anyone really know how good he is?
  • Calipari talked about the returning guys a bit. He said Derek Willis isn't the same person that stepped on campus as a freshman. With his work ethic, his improvement on defense, and his dedication to rebounding, Willis has finally found his role on this team.
  • He said JUCO players generally struggle their first year in D-I and what we saw from Mulder last season will not be what we see from him this season.
  • I think Cal confirmed that Tai Wynyard wasn't ready to play last season and that he, along with Isaac Humprhies, has a great deal of work to do in order to get up to speed. If Marques Bolden opts for Duke over Kentucky, Humphries and Wynyard will play a vital part on the team.

Tweets of the Day:

Look, the skills weren't the problem. It was the lack of toughness and will to rebound. Skal is about as skilled as any player in the draft, but can he do the dirty work in order to become a good NBA player? I'm hoping he can.

Your Quickies

Kentucky Men’s Basketball Announces Exhibition Schedule - UK Wildcats News

Kentucky will once again have two exhibition contests before opening up regular-season action. UK will take on Clarion, the alma matter of head coach John Calipari, on Oct. 30. A week later UK’s final tune-up will pit Asbury vs. the Wildcats on Nov. 6.

Kentucky’s Mitchell hires ex-guard Amber Smith to basketball support staff - Lexington Herald-Leader
Matthew Mitchell brings back former star point guard Amber Smith in player liaison and development role on his coaching staff.

Calipari denies taking specific shot at Duke - Cats Pause
Kentucky basketball head coach John Calipari said he wasn't aiming criticism at any certain program in a recent blog post.

UK Track and Field Poised for SEC Championships - UK Wildcats News
The Kentucky track and field teams will begin the postseason at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships on Thursday and running through Saturday at Alabama’s Sam Bailey Stadium Complex.

Kentucky expected to fill football assistant spot with FIU’s House - Lexington Herald-Leader
Kentucky is getting close to hiring its next defensive assistant coach.

Booker invited to play with USA Select Team - WKYT
Phoenix guard Devin Booker has been invited to be on the USA Select Team that practices against Team USA in its preparation for the Summer Olympics.

Kentucky tops in 2016 247Sports Composite five-stars - Cats Pause
UK leads the way in five-star recruits in the final 2016 247Sports Composite ranking with all five Wildcat recruits ranked as five-stars.

Big Bertha sound system in Rupp Arena taken apart - Lexington Herald-Leader
This is hard to watch without tearing up.

Little Richard Pitino is in hot water because he exceeded the private jet budget at Minnesota- CBS To be fair to Richard, it was with the permission of the AD at the time. But the new AD doesn't seem to be on board. The Gophers won a lousy eight games last season, had multiple off the court issues, and one has to wonder how in the hell Richard got that job in the first place. Oh, yeah! Daddy.

Rick Pitino alludes that he has spoken to the NCAA and is more enlightened on went down between Andre McGee, Katina Powell, Uofl players, and recruits Card Chronicle Ricky P also suggests that the team should go ahead and use one of their reduced scholarship bans this season. Mainly because they aren't going to get anybody else to commit to that trainwreck at this point. I hope the NCAA crushes them. Weasels.

Who are the five biggest sleepers heading into the NBA combine?- CBS Brisoce and Lee do not make the list.

With Steph Curry seemingly at 100%, the Warriors again look to be the favorites in the West- ESPN.com The MVP hit a dagger three and knocked the Trailblazers right out of the playoffs in game 5.

Patrick Patterson scores 8 points as the Raptors take a 3-2 lead in the East over the Heat- ESPN.com Neither one of these teams should give the Cavaliers much of a problem. It's actually been a difficult series to watch.

10 music publicity stunts that went completely wrong- Rolling Stone Who can forget Garth Brooks sabotaging his own career at its most powerful peak by introducing the world to his alt rock, moody alter ego. But Garth survived and is still selling out arenas all over the world.

Astronomers are baffled by a star's strange behavior.One of the theories is an alien megastructure that is harnessing the energy of the star for their own use.

And last, Happy Birthday to our fearless leader Jason Marcum! Thanks for all that you do for all of the readers, writers, and editors on the site. We appreciate all that you do.

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