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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 10-03-2015, 10:46 AM:

I don't blame him especially when they are 6'2" and taller.

Question: Does it feel like guards Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe are distinctly different?

Calipari: "Yeah, they all three are different. Jamal is 6-5, long, big hands. I think he has size 17 shoe or something. I'm like, 'What size foot do you have?' And then Isaiah is more of a pit bull at 6-2-and-a-half, 6-3, whatever he is physically. Then Tyler is what he is: 5-9, 155.”

Question: How good could your guards be?

Calipari: “So you don't know, but the good news is that we've got guards that are positionless. I mean, look, either one of those other two guards could be on the ball with Tyler away from the ball. And he's going to make shots and still make plays and be fine. He could be on the ball, they could be away from the ball and they'd be fine. Then you have Dom (Hawkins). Dom has gotten better. Shooting it better. He's one of the great kids. He's another one: you've got to find your ... you've got to create your space because there's no given. I mean, when you look at this, you know, I've had guards that I've played 38 minutes before, now. 39 minutes. I've done that before, because they were just so much better. Now it's like, do people separate? Do they separate from the pack? If they do, you know. As a player within this you're trying to say, 'Hey man, I'm going to have to catch up to this and make sure.'”

Question: Have you had previous teams as positionless as this one?

Calipari: "I have, but we haven't talked in those terms as much. But I would tell you this one is, because Alex (Poythress) obviously has been trained as a three and is playing four. Even Skal, who is not a true five, but a five, he's so big. He's 7-foot. What you would like to have is a bunch of guys that are from 6-6 to 6-9, 7-foot and can play every position. Because we're playing basketball. We got into, 'Well, the way I coach, this kid has to be like this. This kid has to be like that.' That's not what we do. Let's figure out who we have. I've told them I still don't know how we're going to play pick-and-rolls. I don't know exactly what we're going to do in transition, what we're going to flow into. I don't know how much zone we play, if we play zone and how we'll play against zone. Don't know yet.

“I mean, will we press? This could be a good pressing team. Not would it be a good pressing team because your guards can just pick up and play? Or do you press with one of those big guys on the ball like a Marcus Lee or Skal, who can move their feet? Do you put Alex on the ball or do you just say, 'Let's all pick up our guards and we'll look to run and jump or run and trap just off...' I mean, that's why a summer trip with this team would have been good, but you know you can only do that one every 15 years or whatever they do.”

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