John Calipari says practices "have been fabulous," team is "ambitious"

Kentucky head coach John Calipari likes his team. It’s a group that has bought in, putting others before themselves for the betterment of the unit overall.

With over a month of practices, workouts and scrimmages under the team’s belt, Calipari says things are going as well as they could be, especially with the Bahamas trip coming up in August.

“Practices have been fabulous,” Calipari said Tuesday. “You’ve got some vets, you’ve got some new guys, you’ve got some rookies. They’re all coming together. I’m using the phrase, ‘You’re either ambitious or you’re entitled.’ ‘This is supposed to happen because I am and I…’ No, that’s not this team. They are ambitious.”

There isn’t a sense of entitlement with this group of Wildcats. The team is selfless and growing together both on and off the floor. It’s a culture Calipari has gone out of his way to implement around the basketball facilities, and this group has bought in.

“They don’t feel entitled like someone is going to do it for them,” Calipari added. “You know it when you go to Kentucky — I don’t have a magic wand, I can’t make you do it. I can put you in a culture that does two things: develop players — done that my whole career — but the other part of it is, you’ve got to also build the team. You can’t just develop the players, because they’ve also got to play the games. Building team has also been a part of our culture. The third part is, building kind hearts, which gets them to become good teammates.

“Our players, Pat Riley said the best part of our team in our league, they’re good teammates. They learn how to share, there are other good players. They weren’t told, ‘You’re going to shoot every ball, you’re going to start and play 30 minutes.’ This is, ‘You’re going to have to be with other really good players.’ I’m excited about the group.”

Individually, Calipari likes the pieces. Right off the bat, he can tell this will be a fun group to coach.

“It’s fun. We’re fast, guys can score, we’re downhill runners,” he said. “Jacob (Toppin) is way better, Daimion (Collins) is way better. It’s just good to see. CJ (Fredrick) is getting healthy, thank goodness. We can start with him now. … Antonio Reeves, you know? Lance (Ware) has put on pounds. … We’ve seen the impact he can have on games when he plays, his energy, he’s a really smart player. Now add on the weight so he can physically dominate.”

And it’s not just the on-court success turning Calipari’s head, either. It’s the team’s approach to day-to-day life around the basketball facilities.

“Every day I walk into the gym, I’ve got another Jamal Murray,” said Calipari. “Cason (Wallace) will say, ‘Where’s your energy, Coach? Come on!’ I just flew in from Spain and he wants to know where my energy is. It’s a good group.”

That’s not to say they haven’t had their mistakes, either.

“Oscar (Tshiebwe), we’re scrimmaging and keeping stats, and there are guys shooting more balls than him,” said Calipari. “The other day, I had to stop practice — it was one of the young guys. I said, ‘You may not know this, but he was Player of the Year.’ I looked at one of the assistants, ‘Was he unanimous?’ He said, ‘Hm, yeah, it was.’ So I said, ‘He was a unanimous Player of the Year. Why don’t you throw him the ball? He’s Player of the Year, throw it to him!'”

Even still, the good continues to outweigh the bad.

“What does (Tshiebwe) say? Nothing. Not a word,” he added.

Calipari has to spend time on the road recruiting throughout the summer, pushing to add the next wave of talent for Kentucky basketball. It helps to come home to a group ready to work, one fighting to get better every time they step on the floor.

“I enjoy being in the gym with them,” said Calipari. “I travel, it’s part of my job, getting out — I was in Serbia, I was in Spain, bouncing around different places. It’s what I have to do. The enjoyment I get is when I walk in that gym and I get to work with guys. … If they don’t become a team, they can’t do all of the things they’re trying to have done. This gives me a chance to do more individual development — we’re as good as anyone in the country with that.”

He’s excited for Kentucky fans to see that first-hand when the Wildcats head to the Bahamas in August.

“The biggest thing is, let’s get these guys to be a team,” he said. “We’re going to the Bahamas, and I hope everybody watches and says, ‘They have fun, they play hard, they play for each other. And wow, this is only the summer.’ We do have good players, guys who came back, some of the freshmen that came in. … This is a great group.”