Cal still not pleased with where his team is

by:Thomas Beisner01/12/11
After his team blasted Auburn from the opening tip, Coach Cal did not appear to be pleased in his post-game meeting with the media.  He expressed some frustrations with Terrence Jones' record-setting performance, while also noting that he liked the way he played off the bench and could keep him in that role for a bit.  But, keeping with his "committed, not content" theme, Calipari had some suggestions and take-aways for a number of his players after the game that he expects to see improvements on as the season continues to evolve.  Here are a few... On the Hood-Vargas-Poole-Polson quartet...
It's not working right now (with Eloy). But it's early. It's the same. Jon Hood and Stacey Poole, only had four workouts. One of them, I won't tell you which one, after 15 minutes threw up. So that's where they are right now. They're far behind.  So I'm going to keep spending time with them. But like I said, my whole mindset is Stacey (Poole) and Jon Hood and Eloy (Vargas) are going to help us before this season's over. It's on. It's on. That's how I'm looking at it. I'm gonna just keep working and pushing, but I'm also going to be hard on them. If you can't take me, how are you going to go on a high level game that's on national television and make a tough play? You can't take me. How? That's why the guys that can take me when I get on 'em and they respond to that, they're not fazed in the game. The guys that are like rattled and get petrified, how are you going to play in a high level game? That's part of the reason why I got on guys.
On Darius Miller...
I got on Darius (Miller) today. I told him, I said some things in the huddle. I said, ‘You guys watch, he won't do this, this and this when I put him back.’ Well, he did one of those things. If I was him, I'd have looked right at me. I'd have looked right at me. Yeah, you don't think I can do that? May not have said anything, but I'd have looked right at the coach. I would have loved it. Something came out. Where is that lion, tiger? Where is it? Come out. He's too nice a kid. Well, career's over. When we're done here, you're done. You either need to come out and fight, that toughness... He's a great kid. Like I said, I see him as being All Conference. There are times he is. There are other times he reverts. We got to get him steadier.
On Eloy specifically...
That's our crowd trying to help coach this kid. That's our crowd knowing, Eloy (Vargas), you got to get balls. When he got one, think about what you just said. He grabbed a ball, they gave him a standing ovation. He got a standing ovation for grabbing a ball because they know if he can do that, he can leave you in the game and we need you to stay in the game. Those were our 25,000 coaches that sit up in the stands behind me....Our fans are smart. They know.
On Doron Lamb...
He's fine. I still don't think he's playing hard enough, runs the floor hard enough. You know, but he's a skilled guard. He's doing what Chris Douglas (Roberts) did when I was at Memphis. Chris Douglas didn't have enough of a motor. I used to be on him every day in practice, ‘You got no motor, kid.’ Go watch Rip Hamilton play, you'll understand what a motor is. You got to come off screens hard. You got to be shooting balls before you catch it. All those things. It's typical of younger kids.

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