Behind-the-scenes of a John Calipari pregame meeting at Kentucky

Kentucky basketball is back, the start of a four-game exhibition tour in the Bahamas for the Wildcats. UK is set to take on the Dominican Republic National Select Team starting at 7 p.m. ET, with the game broadcast live on SEC Network.

How does the team get ready for a summer matchup in paradise?

“We’re going to handle this as though it’s a normal season game in the season,” John Calipari told the Wildcats in a late-night team meeting in his suite at Baha Mar with KSR in attendance. “In fact, the shootaround is going to be exactly how we shoot around for every single game this year from the beginning of the year till the end.”

Team practice in the afternoon, followed by dinner at the hotel, late-night pregame meeting, curfew at midnight. Wake up for breakfast at 9:30 a.m., rest, shootaround at noon, rest, game at 7 p.m. It may be an exhibition game in August, but Calipari wanted the team to prepare the same way they will when the real battles start later this year.

And that’s not to say this won’t be a real battle for the Wildcats. It will be just that, actually, taking on a Dominican Select Team with seven players standing 6-5 or taller and six weighing at least 200 pounds. It’s a team of grown men, to put it simply.

“You’re going to be playing older guys,” Calipari said. “… I coached those guys 10 years ago. They’re dudes. I said, ‘How old are you?’ They said 25, 26, 25. Damn, that’s a hell of a thing. They’re professionals. One kid had a grey beard [laughs].”

Justin Minaya, who played four years at South Carolina before closing out his career at Providence, is a key point of emphasis for the Wildcats. Standing 6-7, 210 pounds with five years of high-major experience, Calipari stressed that he’s a pro-caliber talent who will try to put on a show.

“OK, he’s an NBA-level player. He’s going to come in and try to get 40 — he can play.”

That’s just the competition. What about Kentucky’s gameplan and how the Wildcats — who are loaded with size and skill in their own right — plan to attack?

Well, we’re obviously not going to get into specifics. The opposition doesn’t need any tips leading up to the matchup — they already have the age advantage. I can, however, share some insight into the team’s mindset going into its first exhibition game of the year.

First off, Calipari wants his team to get up and down the floor playing with a controlled speed.

“You want to play fast, but you don’t want to be in a hurry,” he said. “You’ve got to play fast where your feet are fast, but your mind is slow.”

It’s a pace he believes will create easy lay-up, post-up, floater and dunk opportunities — four things the Kentucky head coach “loves,” he says. 3-point opportunities will be there, obviously, but the goal is to set up scores elsewhere at this point of the offseason. “I like threes, but I love this other stuff. Be that attack dog.”

As a unit, there are four core values Calipari wants this team to show in the Bahamas and beyond. It starts with playing for each other and having a selfless mindset — that’s the big one. He feels the players have a genuine respect for each other and wants that to translate to game action. From there, he wants the Wildcats to show the world they play hard, play fast and have fun.

“If you do the right stuff, you’ll be fine,” he said.

It’s also a new territory for Kentucky’s four newcomers in Antonio Reeves, Cason Wallace, Chris Livingston and Adou Thiero playing their first games as Wildcats. You can say the same about CJ Fredrick, who will also take the floor for the first time at UK. If the team plays well, the praise will come and expectations will change. From there, though, the nitpicking begins.

It’s why the team needs to come together and ignore the outside noise. Worry about each other, not what’s being discussed beyond the floor.

“The initial thing is to brag on you. They’ll say you’re the best, I’m talking media, fans and all of the others,” Calipari said. “Then what do they have to do? They’ve got to pick us apart. This guy is this, that guy is that. You have to (be close) throughout the season, because you need each other. … All you’ve got to do is be your best version. Be about each other and protect each other.”

Do that, and it’s a group capable of making a statement.

“You’re going to have to go in and fight like hell and have fun playing and competing at a high level. I’m anxious to see it,” Calipari said. “I don’t know what will happen, but I think people will say, ‘Wow, this team has a chance.’ The chance is if we stick together, because I’m telling you, there will be a point in this season where they’ll try to pick us apart.”

It starts this evening at 7 p.m. ET against the Dominican Select squad. Calipari doesn’t know how the game will unfold, but he knows what it will look like, at least.

For starters, he won’t be coaching from the sidelines. Instead, he’ll be watching from the stands while Orlando Antigua leads the Wildcats in game one. From there, Kentucky’s three other assistants will take turns coaching the rest of the week, a rotation between Chin Coleman, KT Turner and Bruiser Flint.

As far as the rotation is concerned, there’s a set starting lineup, with all scholarship players set to play an equal number of minutes outside of Fredrick and Thiero. The Wildcats hope to ease Fredrick back into action following his season-ending hamstring injury in 2021-22, with the plan being to play him 15-18 minutes. Thiero is going through some growing pains — he’s up to 6-7 and continues to sprout up seemingly by the day — and he’ll be kept on a similar pitch count.

The players have been enjoying their time out in the ocean and splashing around in the waterpark the first few days in the Bahamas. Now, the real fun begins on the floor.

It’s a unique opportunity for the Wildcats to be in the national spotlight in August, months before the season begins. Calipari wants his team to use the platform they have both here in the Bahamas and beyond for good. Don’t just be selfless as a team on the court and around the facilities, do it for others.

“It takes you five seconds to make somebody feel good,” he said. “Every one of you, you make their week, you make their month and so on. We’re not teaching you here that you’re better than everyone, you’re not doing that here. The elitist stuff, you’re not doing that here. You’re blessed. Think about where you came from, what’s happened for you, the great opportunities you have.

“Now you’re sitting here, use it for good. Help somebody, make somebody feel good. And you’re doing that already.”