Five Things John Calipari Said To Close The Preseason

Kentucky Basketball’s preseason concluded Friday night with an exhibition game victory over Miles College. It was a little closer than it needed to be, but the ‘Cats escaped with a second-half rally in response to Miles’ onslaught of 3-pointers.

After the game, John Calipari held a postgame press conference in the bowels of Rupp Arena. He talked about Miles College’s hot shooting in the first half, his own team, and what’s ahead with the season opener only days away.

These are five quotes picked from the pile. Hear everything from Calipari’s mouth at the bottom.

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1. “Oscar hadn’t practiced… He was injured and I think it kind of showed.”

Oscar Tshiebwe didn’t capitalize on a mismatch inside against Division II Miles College. Kentucky’s big man had 12 rebounds, but only one made basket and early foul trouble.

“Oscar hadn’t practiced,” Calipari explained afterward. “He was off about four days. He was injured and I think it kind of showed. Second half he played a little bit better. First half he was just out of sync, wasn’t with us.”

He also noted CJ Fredrick is expected to return to practice on Saturday for the first time in months.

2. “I didn’t expect them to make this many 3s, especially in a row.”

Like everyone else, Calipari was surprised to see Miles College up big in the first half with its insane shooting from outside. The Golden Bears began the game 6-for-6 on 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game and hit 11 in total before halftime.

“The things that they did perimeter wise, I didn’t expect them to make this many 3s, especially in a row,” Calipari said.

He blamed his team’s poor closeouts for allowing Miles open shots. “We’re closing with our hands down, and then when he goes to shoot the 3 we go like this, and as it goes over our hands we go like that and they make another 3.”

3. “We have to have some post presence.”

Kentucky’s guard play appears to be in great hands with Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington sharing the point guard responsibilities. They matched each other offensively with 15 points and six assists apiece.

Inside, however, is another story. Oscar Tshiebwe is foul-prone and behind him Kentucky got little production out of the frontcourt players. Calipari noted this weakness in his postgame comments.

“We’re going to have to play better,” he said. “We have to have some post presence. You guys know what I say when you have no post presence. You’ve got to be able to throw it there and get a couple easy baskets. So, it’s both defensively and offensively.”

Kentucky will really need inside help against Duke, his next topic…

4. “We got beat bad that game.” (2018 Champions Classic)

Asked if Tuesday night’s Champions Classic will be a good barometer for his team, Calipari replied, “No, because I can remember,” referring to the 2018 Champions Classic game.

“We got beat bad in that game and came back and were an Elite Eight team. We made free throws. Would have been in the Final Four and could have won a national title.”

5. “It’s like the biggest game in a decade.”

Looking ahead, Calipari said the upcoming Champions Classic game against Duke is “like the biggest game in a decade.” As for the opponent, he said, “They have one the great coaches ever. It’s his last season, and they got terrific players. The guys that came back are really good. The guys they’ve added are really good. It’ll be a hard game.”

Hear it all and more for yourself. And get ready for Duke.