Calipari says next year's team could be his best defensive team yet

by:Mrs. Tyler Thompson04/15/16

@MrsTylerKSR

Screen Shot 2016-04-01 at 8.58.46 AM John Calipari went on the Bob Valvano show this afternoon to chat with Bob and Mike Pratt about Hall of Fame week, since you know, he's a Hall of Famer now. Cal covered a variety of topics during the 30-minute segment, including next year's team. Cal was careful to point out that there's still a lot of uncertainty around the squad, but he thinks it may be his most defensive team ever. From Calipari, that's saying something. "This team coming up could be the best defensive team that I've coached," Cal said. "They could be unbelievable on the ball with length, length behind, athleticism, shot blocking, which makes your team different. I don't know yet. I'm excited about the team, I'm excited about what we have, but it's too early to figure out stuff." ...Especially when you don't know who will be on that team. Calipari said both Isaiah Briscoe and Marcus Lee are still mulling over their options. "Isaiah Briscoe and Marcus Lee are still going to explore their options and probably go to the [NBA Draft] combine without an agent, finish academically." Even with so many pieces still up in the air, Cal admitted that he does daydream about his new group from time to time. "This team could be a huge team. It could be one of those 6-11, 6-9, 6-10 front line kind of teams. Or, it could be three guards again. I don't know yet," Cal said. "And I haven't coached the guys. I know how good De'Aaron [Fox] is, but how good is he at pick and rolls? Is he physical enough to go and play the way that Tyler played? I know how fast and quick Malik [Monk] is. I know how strong Bam [Adebayo] is. I know the length of Wenyen [Gabriel] and Sasha [Killeya-Jones]." And... "We may end up getting one more guy," Cal said cryptically. "How is that guy? How does he fit in to all of this?" I can't wait to find out. Here's the entire interview for your listening pleasure. The quotes above come around 20-minute mark.

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