John Calipari discusses Adou Thiero, finding the right position for him

After another strong performance in a big game, Kentucky forward Adou Thiero continues to garner praise from head coach John Calipari.

Thiero’s been a key piece of the roster since its inception and was one of the only forwards available for the first month of the year prior to the returns of Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso. Bradshaw came back a few games ago and Onyenso was first back against Carolina — and both bigs played well — but Thiero has made sure to show Calipari that his skillset and effort level still demand big minutes.

In the massive win over North Carolina this past Saturday, Thiero came off the bench for the first time, giving up his starting spot to Bradshaw, but brought all kinds of energy off the bench. He drove the lane, crashed the glass on both sides of the ball and even came up with a few emphatic blocks.

Calipari shared in the postgame that Thiero’s performance impressed some friends of his father. Adou’s father Almamy Thiero actually played for Calipari back at Memphis, and some of the guys who played with Almamy back in the day were in the building last night telling Calipari how impressed they were with young Adou.

“His dad played for me, and Jeremy Hunt and Joey Dorsey were at my room last night from Memphis. Jeremy Hunt said to me: ‘I can’t believe how much better he’s gotten,'” shared Cal in the postgame, comparing Thiero to his father.

“Now, here’s the issue. He wants to be the point guard. But his dad is 6’9″ and built like him, probably bigger shoulders, so he’s probably still growing. I doubt if you’re going to be a point guard.”

Now that Adou Thiero has filled out his frame and looks much like his father did back in the day, Calipari sees one more skill for the sophomore forward to add: shooting!

“But the way he’s playing right now, he’s got one thing he’s got to improve. You know how you do that? You live in the gym. You can do that. They wanted to say (Tyrese) Maxey couldn’t shoot. Yeah, that’s true. That wanted to say Cason (Wallace) wasn’t that good a shooter. Yeah, he leads the NBA. I’ve heard it all. You live in the gym, he can improve. The guy is going to make it.”

Thiero did knock down an open three in the North Carolina game, but his season-long numbers aren’t strong from three and it’s largely a weakness of his overall. Fix that and the sky is the limit for this kid.