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04-09-2009, 11:16 AM
Posted at 5:04 p.m. EDT – Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations
I had the privilege, along with about 20 other media members, of watching the men’s basketball team practice again under Coach John Calipari. Based on the positive feedback I got last time, I’ll keep them in note-style and offer some observations of what I saw:
Wednesday’s practice started at 3:15 and was 45 minutes long. The team practiced the day before for an hour and 15 minutes. Per NCAA regulations, the team is allowed two hours of drill instruction per week until April 15.
The entire 2008-09 roster, minus guard Michael Porter, who announced his intentions of leaving the program on Wednesday, was at practice. That includes departing senior Jared Carter and junior Jodie Meeks, who declared for the NBA Draft earlier in the week, but will not hire an agent. Matt Pilgrim tweaked his hamstring in Tuesday’s session and did not practice Wednesday.
Much like the first practice I watched, the drills were once again very dribble-drive oriented. It’s no secret that Calipari runs the Dribble Drive Motion Offense, and he’s wasting no time implementing it. I could already tell a vast improvement from the first practice. The drills were much smoother, guys were playing faster and the ball handling, which was extremely sloppy the first practice, was considerably better.
Layups continue to be a theme as well as a problem. Too many easy layups are being missed, much to the dismay of Calipari. He said he doesn’t want to hear excuses about getting bumped or getting fouled if they miss a layup. “If you can’t play through bumps, it’s going to be hard for me to play you on the court,” he said.
Calipari said the goal is to make 50 layups a game. While maybe a bit unattainable, the message is pretty clear. “We’re looking to shoot layups,” he said. He doesn’t want to settle for jumpers and he doesn’t want his players looking to pass. He wants their first instinct to go straight to the basket as hard as they can.
A strong emphasis continues to be on speed. When a UK player has the ball, he wants them to dribble straight at the defender as hard and as fast as they can. Calipari doesn’t want his players going around them, and he stopped play repeatedly when he saw guys making small stutter steps or slowing down.
One last note on layups: After a five-minute segment in which there were about eight or nine blocked shots, Calipari pointed out that the layups have to be higher off the glass. That seems to be a problem for Meeks so far and Calipari had him stop and go back and do a play over again so he would bank it at the top of the square. Meeks looked a little awkward doing it, but Meeks will need to adjust to cut down on the blocked shots.
Having said that, Meeks and Darius Miller continue to impress me in Calipari’s system. Their speed and athleticism seem to fit perfectly into the dribble-drive system. During the final 3-on-3 drill, which was probably the highlight of the practice in terms of execution, Meeks and Miller gave a great glimpse of what the UK offense could look like in just a few short months. On one drive, Meeks blew past the man at half-court, drew two defenders in the paint and then kicked it to Patrick Patterson for a wide open jump shot. The next time, he beat his defender again and took it straight to the rack for a layup. Miller then followed with two lightning-quick drives that ended in a pair of floaters. “I love that shot, Darius,” Calipari said. Miller has all the makings of becoming a stud in Calipari's system.
I’m starting to believe that DeAndre Liggins is going to be one of Calipari’s projects. At times, Liggins looks like he’s completely lost on the court, and at others, he looks like he could be the starting point guard. His biggest problem so far is his lack of speed and aggressiveness. Calipari wants him to play faster and take it straight to the basket instead of slowing down and looking to pass. He told Liggins that if he keeps playing how he wants him to, people won’t even recognize him next year because of how improved he’ll be.
Kenny Walker and Richie Farmer stopped by during practice as well.
I had the privilege, along with about 20 other media members, of watching the men’s basketball team practice again under Coach John Calipari. Based on the positive feedback I got last time, I’ll keep them in note-style and offer some observations of what I saw:
Wednesday’s practice started at 3:15 and was 45 minutes long. The team practiced the day before for an hour and 15 minutes. Per NCAA regulations, the team is allowed two hours of drill instruction per week until April 15.
The entire 2008-09 roster, minus guard Michael Porter, who announced his intentions of leaving the program on Wednesday, was at practice. That includes departing senior Jared Carter and junior Jodie Meeks, who declared for the NBA Draft earlier in the week, but will not hire an agent. Matt Pilgrim tweaked his hamstring in Tuesday’s session and did not practice Wednesday.
Much like the first practice I watched, the drills were once again very dribble-drive oriented. It’s no secret that Calipari runs the Dribble Drive Motion Offense, and he’s wasting no time implementing it. I could already tell a vast improvement from the first practice. The drills were much smoother, guys were playing faster and the ball handling, which was extremely sloppy the first practice, was considerably better.
Layups continue to be a theme as well as a problem. Too many easy layups are being missed, much to the dismay of Calipari. He said he doesn’t want to hear excuses about getting bumped or getting fouled if they miss a layup. “If you can’t play through bumps, it’s going to be hard for me to play you on the court,” he said.
Calipari said the goal is to make 50 layups a game. While maybe a bit unattainable, the message is pretty clear. “We’re looking to shoot layups,” he said. He doesn’t want to settle for jumpers and he doesn’t want his players looking to pass. He wants their first instinct to go straight to the basket as hard as they can.
A strong emphasis continues to be on speed. When a UK player has the ball, he wants them to dribble straight at the defender as hard and as fast as they can. Calipari doesn’t want his players going around them, and he stopped play repeatedly when he saw guys making small stutter steps or slowing down.
One last note on layups: After a five-minute segment in which there were about eight or nine blocked shots, Calipari pointed out that the layups have to be higher off the glass. That seems to be a problem for Meeks so far and Calipari had him stop and go back and do a play over again so he would bank it at the top of the square. Meeks looked a little awkward doing it, but Meeks will need to adjust to cut down on the blocked shots.
Having said that, Meeks and Darius Miller continue to impress me in Calipari’s system. Their speed and athleticism seem to fit perfectly into the dribble-drive system. During the final 3-on-3 drill, which was probably the highlight of the practice in terms of execution, Meeks and Miller gave a great glimpse of what the UK offense could look like in just a few short months. On one drive, Meeks blew past the man at half-court, drew two defenders in the paint and then kicked it to Patrick Patterson for a wide open jump shot. The next time, he beat his defender again and took it straight to the rack for a layup. Miller then followed with two lightning-quick drives that ended in a pair of floaters. “I love that shot, Darius,” Calipari said. Miller has all the makings of becoming a stud in Calipari's system.
I’m starting to believe that DeAndre Liggins is going to be one of Calipari’s projects. At times, Liggins looks like he’s completely lost on the court, and at others, he looks like he could be the starting point guard. His biggest problem so far is his lack of speed and aggressiveness. Calipari wants him to play faster and take it straight to the basket instead of slowing down and looking to pass. He told Liggins that if he keeps playing how he wants him to, people won’t even recognize him next year because of how improved he’ll be.
Kenny Walker and Richie Farmer stopped by during practice as well.
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04-09-2009, 01:54 PM
wish it would have been televised. Instant ratings. 
04-10-2009, 01:26 PM
IISnakE Wrote:I wish they could take their practices on the road all over the Commonwealth... LOL!
didnt Joe B Hall do that back in the day?
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