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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-21-2015, 08:26 PM:

Gotta love it! It's a long report but your going to enjoy "every word of it". The Cats are back!

Kentucky head coach John Calipari has alluded to it over the past couple weeks, and on Saturday he finally got his wish: It was time to coach his team.

Kentucky is allowed two hours of team skill instruction per week at this time of year, and Coach Cal got his first look at his guys Saturday afternoon at the Joe Craft Center. As we have done on this website in years past to try to appease the Big Blue Nation’s never-ending appetite for all things Kentucky basketball, here is your first practice report of the fall.

Please note that all observation and opinions are only that of Metz Camfield.
As always, Coach Cal began his practice with his normal drills and exercises, including the “two-minute layup drill.” As previous CoachCal.com editor Eric Lindsey pointed out in practice reports of seasons past, Calipari uses the same structure for each practice because everything the Cats do throughout the year builds off these drills. The difference this time was Calipari had to really explain some of the opening drills to his team with so many newcomers on board.
It was really nice to see Alex Poythress out on the court. Even if he wasn’t going full speed sprinting up and down the floor – he was doing what I’d call a slow run – just to see him on the court, taking jump shots and talking with the guys was great. Poythress’ injury was a major blow to the Wildcats last year. They were able to continue with their winning ways thanks to unprecedented depth, but they sure could have used him. Having Poythress healthy and ready to go this season will be crucial for this team, which has to replace seven players now in the NBA. As Coach Cal has said many times before, Poythress does things that no other player on Kentucky’s roster can do, nor many other players around the country. He did not participate in the five-on-five drills or the scrimmage.
First thing Coach Cal said when he walked out on the floor was, “Man, it’s good to see Alex out here!”
Coach Cal really stressed on the opening drills to only use four dribbles to get down the length of the court. He told Skal Labissiere, specifically, don’t take five dribbles when you can do four. He then showed Marcus Lee, who only needed three dribbles before hammering down a dunk.
After watching practices from last season with so many guys who had been at UK for two or three years, I think I got spoiled at just how good and in sync they were in practices. There was definitely some rust at the beginning of the practice Saturday simply because, one, it was the first team practice of the year, and two, there are eight newcomers, including six on scholarship.
For example, after a few misses, whether they be shots or layups, the players continued going without putting the ball back in the basket. Calipari had to blow it dead and tell them to always finish it after a miss. There were also a number of the newcomers who would turn to a returner every now and then and ask for further instructions on how a drill works.
During one warmup drill a player dropped a pass because, according to Calipari, the pass was too hard and the player tried to catch the pass with one hand. “We’re not losing a game this year because a guy tries to catch a ball with one hand and it goes out of bounds,” Coach Cal said. “We may lose a game another way, but not that way. We always rebound and catch with two hands.”
Tyler Ulis was giving instructions to a few players throughout the practice. He and Andrew Harrison last year are two of just a few point guards Calipari has had in recent memory who have played a full season for him and then been back for a sophomore season. That experience and knowledge of the system and of what Coach Cal wants is going to pay dividends. More on the 5-foot-9 point guard later. He was very impressive.
It appears Coach Cal wants Isaiah Briscoe to be a shooter and driver, and Charles Matthews to be a slasher and finisher. When each player didn’t do that he would blow the play dead immediately and remind them of how he wants them to play. On one particular play, Jamal Murray raced the ball down court and hit Briscoe on the wing. When Briscoe paused and kept the ball along the perimeter the play was blown dead. He wanted Briscoe to drive and simply see what would happen. “We’re not running plays!” Calipari said. “I’m trying to teach you how to play. There are no right plays.”
One of the overall impressions I took from the opening practice was just how much athleticism this team has from the guard position all the way through to the forwards. When you talk about Briscoe, Dominique Hawkins, Labissiere, Marcus Lee, Matthews, Mychal Mulder, Murray, Poythress and Ulis, you’re talking about ultra-athletic options that can all handle the ball, penetrate and get up and down the court in a flash. The other thing they can all do is defend. While Coach Cal wanted them all to drive the ball more, the on-ball defending around the perimeter made that much easier said than done. Ulis was up on Murray throughout the entire afternoon, and Labissiere is a second pogo stick to go with Lee.
Calipari doesn’t want the fancy dribbling. “You’re too strong, you’re too quick and you’re too athletic. You should get it and go!” Seeing Calipari do the mock behind the back and between the legs dribbling was a sight to see. Some of the players couldn’t help but laugh, but the message still got across.
There are some things never change and more things that I’ll never get tired of watching. Among them: Ulis’ floater and defense, and Hawkins and E.J. Floreal’s athleticism. “The way EJ jumps he might as well be 6-10,” Calipari said.
Alright, let’s talk about some individual player thoughts.
Mychal Mulder is really long. I never really noticed it before, but the junior college transfer has some really long arms. As many of us have seen from his highlight tapes, he can definitely get up, and that was on display a few times throughout practice. He can sky effortlessly and really throw it down. Mulder hit a few 3-pointers on the afternoon and has a pretty stroke. Expect to see plenty of that this season. His 3-point percentage at Vincennes of 46.3 percent is a lot to ask for, but he’s going to post a healthy number and is going to be a very nice piece for the Wildcats. His length is going to help him a lot defensively, and make him that much more difficult to defend when he’s on offense.
It’s going to be difficult for opposing defenses to deal with Ulis, Briscoe and Murray on the court at the same time. That’s a whole lot of weapons. Watching Ulis and Hawkins go against Murray and Briscoe was a treat. Ulis and Hawkins seemed to have an advantage in that they knew what Calipari was looking for each time and are as good as you’ll find when it comes to on-ball defense. All the whispers Big Blue Nation has heard about Ulis’ play in pick-up games appears to be true. He was fantastic Saturday, especially during the scrimmage at the end of practice. Add in Briscoe’s build and ability to drive (Coach Cal really wants him going north-south), and Murray’s vision and scoring ability and you have a nightmare for opponents.
Leave Ulis open from 3-point range and you have to put it on the board. When dribbling in the lane the ball may as well be on a string for the sophomore point guard. I cannot say enough how confident and in command Ulis appeared. He did a hesitation move in the scrimmage that allowed him to burn past his defender and get to the basket with ease.
As previously mentioned, Murray’s vision is great. He hit Floreal in stride through traffic for an easy dunk. The Canadian guard didn’t take too many shots Saturday, but made many nice passes and showed glimpses of how special he could be.
Labissiere is so athletic for someone his size. He can get off his feet for a dunk or lob so quickly and is going to be trouble for fellow forwards/centers to try and defend. On the very first play of a five-on-five drill Murray lobbed it up and he caught it and dunked it over Isaac Humphries. It wasn’t that Labissiere was in the best position for the play, either, but instead he jumped higher, made a nice catch and finished well. Impressive. The Haiti native had blocks on back-to-back possessions (though one may have been goaltending if there were officials there), and finished the practice with at least four. He is going to be a menace this season on the defensive end of things, and offensively, as I just mentioned, he dunks every opportunity that he gets – and hard. He can also hit that 10-15 foot jumper just like Humphries, and he showed that Saturday, making him a difficult player to defend.
Hawkins drained a few 3s without hesitation, as well as a nice floater or two. His confidence was apparent from the outset. He defended Briscoe hard the entire afternoon and his build is that of a running back. During the scrimmage he sprinted back hard after a missed opportunity and came back to knock the ball loose on Briscoe, who was in transition himself, for the steal. He had a number of steals and deflections throughout the practice and there’s no doubt his experience in the system is helping him against the newcomers. Strong showing.
The team scrimmaged for 50 minutes to close out practice and they really got up and down the court throughout. If there was a missed basket and the other team wasn’t ready defensively it was an easy basket in transition.
Play of the day was more of a sequence of the day. Matthews skied for a rebound, immediately threw the ball up three-quarters of the court to Murray, who jumped and threw it backwards in one motion to Briscoe. The freshman from Newark, N.J., then did what Coach Cal had asked of him all practice and drove to the rim, doing a very nice 360-degree spin in the lane and laid it in with his offhand.
Lee showed off his jump shot in the scrimmage, pulling up from just inside the 3-point arc and hitting it. His teammates loved it too, with numerous guys giving him dap. Lee, like Hawkins, also displayed an obvious sense of confidence. It’s the Californian’s third year at Kentucky and you can tell he knows that he has a great opportunity this year to see significant playing time. He grabbed some strong rebounds, made a few nice putbacks and tough layups through traffic, and, of course, displayed his usual mind boggling athleticism.
Humphries is money from the elbow and Coach Cal knows it well. During one drill he told Humphries where to set the pick and where to take the jump shot and told him he would make that shot every time. Sure enough, I don’t know if Humphries missed it once during that drill. To have a physical 7-footer who can step out like that from 10-15 feet is a very nice weapon for the Cats. The fact that he’s only 17 leads you to believe he still has plenty of room to grow as well. He also caught Coach Cal’s eye on one particular play in the paint. “I like that Isaac! You went right by Skal. I didn’t know you had that quickness.”
Matthews can really jump and his athleticism and ability to get to the rim is impressive. He didn’t hit too many baskets in Saturday’s practice, but did have one ferocious dunk during the five-on-fives.

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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-24-2015, 02:29 PM:

Humphries is young but may be the surprise player on this years team as Cal had some nice thing to say about his play.

Posted by WildcatFanatic (Member # 2932) on 09-24-2015, 05:58 PM:

The talent on this team is mind boggling! Great detailed description of the practice. We truly have a great coach. I could picture him teaching and working with the players as they're starting to learn his system. This could turn out to be a very special season!

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-24-2015, 06:18 PM:

What I like is that none of our players are me guys and will play within the system that Cal teaches. WF has it right that this could turn out to be a special season.

[ 09-24-2015, 10:15 PM: Message edited by: catmandoo ]

Posted by WildcatFanatic (Member # 2932) on 09-24-2015, 08:43 PM:

Would love to see video of Cal doing his "fancy dribbling" imitation to discourage the practice; Also the part about always catching the ball with two hands as opposed to one. I like how he starts with the basics on getting rid of some bad habits right off the bat. This was a well written article. Clicking on the link helped as it was a lot easier to read. Thanks for posting catmandoo

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-28-2015, 12:48 PM:

Here is information on the latest practice report.

Here are the highlights and some of my thoughts from the latest report:

•Charles Matthews has been the forgotten man in the recruiting class, but his skill and athleticsim continues to wow his coaches and teammates. John Calipari wants him as a finisher around the rim, but Matthews is showcasing a nice little jumnp shot to compliment his game. The buzz around this kid continues to grow.
•Marcus Lee has been a vocal leader at practice, encouraging his teammates and letting them know where to be during practice. I am happy to see Lee take this role. I woiuld love to see this kind of leadership transfer to his play as well.
•Apparently Mychal Mulder has the green light to shoot whenever he is open. That's a great sign that he is as good of a shooter as advertised.
•Jamal Murray is still learning, but he's doing it at a fast clip. Calipari wants him to see all of his options before making a final decision with the ball. His court vision is there but he needs to hone it.
•Calipari is still trying to figure the team out. They aren't running set plays, rather, he wants to see their skills and their decision making. He continues to implore them to not to over-think and to make plays.

Cal wants the team throwing lobs to Skal Labisierre, Marcus Lee, and Alex Poythress. They are three of the most athletic big men in the country and he wants his guards to use them appropriately. He focused an entire drill session on lobbing the ball correctly.
•Like the previous report, it points out that Tyler Ulis is another coach on the floor and Cal is treating him as such. He is sharpening his point guard's mind in anticipation of letting him run the team during the season. Ulis continues to make "Wow" plays at practice.
•Alex Poythress participated in all of the five on five drills on Saturday. Really great news.
•Briscoe and Humphries are works in progress. Cal wants Briscoe to shoot the ball more, continuing his transition into more of a shooting guard role. Humphries has a ton to learn but his jump shot is a nice weapon for a seven footer to have.
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Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 09-28-2015, 02:14 PM:

How can a five-star recruit be a 'work in progress'? Briscoe came highly regarded... but I understand that Ullis, Murray, Mulder, and Matthews are tough competition.

Damn. We have a TEAM!

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 09-28-2015, 02:17 PM:

Nary a word about Willis. Has he chosen the easy route, preferring girls and popularity to working his way into the rotation?

I had high hopes for him coming in, but those hopes are fading fast.

Posted by SCWC (Member # 2464) on 09-28-2015, 04:09 PM:

Tip, I have come to the conclusion that Willis is just happy being on the UK basketball team. I follow him on IOS and there is never anything about basketball posted by him, only girls, girls and more girls. I also read on KSR that he was the one player Cal made no mention of after the first official practice. A terrible waste of a pretty decent talent but it appears it is all self inflicted.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-28-2015, 05:11 PM:

What is so surprising about this team is how deep they are and talented to use a 5 man rotation. It's amazing how this team got so deep in such a hurry.

Two centers- Scal and Humphries

Two power forwards in Poy and Lee

Two small forwards in Mathews and Mulder

Two shooting guards in Murray and Briscoe

Two point guards in Ulis and Hawkins

Cal can mix and match a lot of his forwards and guards. So many options. Add to that even the "possibility" of Wynyard coming and playing in the second semester.

Posted by SCWC (Member # 2464) on 09-28-2015, 07:13 PM:

I am certainly looking forward to the season but I just do not see us having the talent we had last season. I hope I am wrong. Skal will be very special but I am taking a wait and see attitude toward the rest of this team. I just do not see an upgrade at any position over last year's team. That being said, I do expect us to have a very good season with no more that six or seven losses and an elite 8 at best.

Last year's team had 4 NBA lottery picks on it, I doubt we will ever see that again in the college game.

[ 09-28-2015, 08:20 PM: Message edited by: SCWC ]

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-29-2015, 09:36 AM:

Ray, Last year was special with the talent we had, no doubt about it but will be awhile to get over that loss to Wisconsin. I would bet we would beat them 8-10 times but it just wasn't our night as our lottery picks other than KAT didn't play up to their normal capabilities. Ryan had a awfully good game plan and took WCS and Lyles out of their normal games.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 09-29-2015, 10:19 AM:

I think we upgraded our guard talent considerably over last year. Murray is going to be extraordinary, and Ullis has the potential to be an all-American caliber guard. Once Briscoe gets his game on track, we have three interchangeable 'lead guards', all of which can distribute and score. Throw in specialists like Mulder and Matthews, and it is looking pretty good on the perimeter.

Losing WCS and Townes will mean we will not be so strong inside defensively, but offensively I think Poythres, Skal and Lee are the perfect complements to our guards in a motion-type offense, or a pro-style pick-and-roll offense. Certainly, they are not 'space eaters', nor great at a straight-up post game, but they are long, lean, athletic players that can shoot (well, that remains to be seen with Lee), throw down the lob, or score on put-backs.

I like this team. It will be a different feel than any other Cal team (this is the first year that we won't have a dominant big man), so it is very likely going to be a prototypical 'small ball' team. But, If they gel, submit to Cal's philosophy, and play with abandon, this team has the potential to go all the way. It actually reminds me a little of the 2012 team. [Smile]

[ 09-29-2015, 10:21 AM: Message edited by: Tiptree ]

Posted by ukcatfannfl (Member # 1425) on 09-29-2015, 10:31 AM:

I dont know Tip I think Scal is a Noels type player and AP is big and strong - small ball?

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-29-2015, 11:00 AM:

Poy can run and shoot, in his freshman year he shot 58% from the field and 42% from the 3 point line. He will easily fit into a running team if Cal decides to run. Scal would do better in a slower paced style of play but certainly could adjust, especially if he was given breaks now and then and moving Lee to the center position.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 09-29-2015, 01:18 PM:

Ed,

I agree, we will have at least one 7-footer playing, but not a real "aircraft carrier" type of center.

I have heard that Skal is not a shot-blocker of the same caliber as Noel, Davis, or even WCS. Yes, he can block shots, but not at the elite level. But I understand that he is a very polished offensive center. With his slight build, I would think that opposing bigs might be effective against him, but he will also get his points on the other end.

And Poythress, though athletic and chisled, isn't really tall. At 6'7" with shoes on, he would be the prototypical small-ball power forward instead of a normal, 6-9 or taller power forward.

So, yes, a lineup of Ullis, Murray, one other guard, Poythress, and Skal would make a running, driving, shooting nightmare for opponents, but nothing like the twin-tower lineups we have seen the past few years. Hence, "small ball".

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 09-29-2015, 07:55 PM:

Here is what Draft Express has to say about Alex. It's impressive to say the least as Draft Express have measured and tested a lot of athletes.

Alex Poythress measured as expected, standing 6'7.25 without shoes with a 238-pound frame and a 6'11.25 wingspan, but performed tremendously well in the athletic testing, registering a terrific 3.16 second ¾ court sprint and a 41.5 inch maximum vertical leap, which would rank as one of the top-20 or so marks in our database regardless of position. His 37.5 inch no-step vertical leap would rank among the top-10 in our database. His 26 reps on the bench falls just short of our database record of 27 recorded by the 270-pound Jason Keep in 2003.

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