How John Calipari will deploy the diverse set of weapons at his disposal is one of the most debated questions in the Bluegrass State these days.
Speculation about who will wind up in Coach Cal’s rotation and in what capacity continues, and fans watching Tuesday’s Blue-White Scrimmage will be trying to glean every bit of information on the subject from the event.
Calipari, meanwhile, is interested for an entirely different primary reason.
“I just want them get out in front of people,” Calipari said.
He’ll get his wish, as a crowd of more than 15,000 is expected at Rupp Arena for the annual Blue-White Scrimmage, which will tip off at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network. The Wildcats have been under the lights once already at Big Blue Madness, but this will be a different deal, even though it’s still only an intrasquad scrimmage.
“We’re really going to compete hard,” senior Alex Poythress said. “We have a lot of competitors on this team. It’s not just going to be a, ‘Oh, let’s just throw lobs and show a good show.’ We’re actually going to be going hard after it.”
Considering what he believes to be one of two things that will define the success of this team (along with valuing possessions), that has to be good for Calipari to hear.
“We’ve got to fight,” Calipari said. “Fight doesn’t mean punch and swing and grab. Fight means 50-50 balls. Fight means you’re not afraid to dive on the floor. Do extra things, take charges, full rotations. You just fight. The other thing about fight is, before you catch the ball you’re in a fight. Before the man you’re guarding catches the ball you begin to play. That’s fight. We don’t know that yet.”
For Poythress, Calipari believes that kind of fight is the best path back from a torn ACL that cut short his junior season.
John Calipari Press Conference
“Lead the nation in rebounds,” Calipari said. “Just be a beast. All the other stuff will come in time, but focus on one thing: Let’s get that down and build your confidence in yourself and in your body and through that you can do that. Then let’s begin to rebuild the rest of the stuff.”
Poythress might be a work in progress when it comes to his knee, but the rest of his body is in pretty good shape. At 6-foot-8, 230 pounds, Poythress is a physical specimen unmatched by anyone on a UK roster that features six scholarship newcomers and few people on any roster anywhere.
“I know by far I’m the strongest on the team,” Poythress said. “Just use my strength to my advantage, and use everything else to my advantage – rebounding, blocking shots, getting those tough rebounds, everything like that.”
Coach Cal has talked often about the importance of Poythress to this team’s ultimate success. His teammates agree.
“He’s going to be a key to our team, I think,” junior forward Derek Willis said. “He’s a fantastic rebounder. He can do a lot of things a lot of other players in college basketball can’t do right now and he’s going to be big for us.”
Poythress’ significance is clear, but how else playing time shakes out remains to be seen. Though the way players react to a crowd is the first thing Calipari will be watching, he did give fans a little something when it comes to rotation speculation.
“No real rotation yet, but we will split the teams and then we’ll also play with the three guards (Tyler Ulis, Isaiah Briscoe and Jamal Murray), so I may change teams as we go,” Calipari said. “We’ll all get a look at stuff.”
From UK Athletics/Guy Ramsey