After the glitz and glamour subside from Big Blue Madness we always seem to enter a lull in excitement surrounding the basketball program. Now that the yearly lull has been entered it's time for players and coaches to start building towards the ultimate goal at two-a-day practices.
Yesterday marked the first instance of Kentucky practicing twice a day and Eric Lindsey of CoachCal.com was fortunate enough to cover the events. In his lengthy and detailed report, he reviewed anything from players' physical ailments, initial performances, and behind the scenes schematics from Coach Calipari himself. Here are some of the key notes from yesterday's practices.
Talking about Freshman, Archie Goodwin
One guy Calipari doesn't have to worry about is Archie Goodwin, who continues to exhibit a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist-like mentality. The more competitive the environment gets, the more he rises to the occasion. When the pads were out, Goodwin seemed to bounce off the punishment like he was a running back with shoulder pads and a helmet on.
On Senior Julius Mays.
Although Julius Mays has only been on campus a few months, he’s grasped the idea of getting the ball high on the glass. Short in stature, Mays almost never gets his shot blocked and routinely leaves the ball to where it’s either going in or a player is tipping it in. “That’s why we’re the best rebounding team in the country, because we drive and shoot floaters so we allow our bigs to get off their big and rebound the ball,” Calipari said.
Discussing the development of Ryan Harrow.
Harrow is starting to get it. On plays where he would almost always try to lay it in himself, he’s giving it up for the lob pass. He’s developed such a crafty layup over the years that he can put a pass just about anywhere he wants to.”
It's not all easy for Freshman, Nerlens Noel.
Noel showed nice touch around the rim, particularly with his jump hook against Cauley-Stein and Wiltjer, but you could tell that two full practices on top of Big Blue Madness was starting to tire him out. Calipari challenged him to fight through the fatigue. “Make him stay out there for 10 minutes,” Calipari said. “He’s getting tired.”
The remainder of the lengthy report can be found at CoachCal.com.
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