FAYETTEVILLE -- New Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari met with the beat writers on Monday to review his first summer of hoops in Fayetteville.
Calipari admitted he took over a program that ended up only having one player return and in need of a schedule.
"It’s been kind of exciting," Calipari said. "No roster, you know what the advantage is? You hand pick every guy. We hand-picked them all, so that’s exciting.
"Schedule was really hard because there was no schedule. So now, where this schedule will be, right now we’d like to get another home game. We have Michigan in New York City, we’re playing in Kansas City, not far. We chose there for a game with Illinois where our fans can get to. We’ve got an exhibition with TCU in Dallas. We’re in the works with Kansas on an exhibition here in Bud Walton. We play at Miami. We’re trying to get another home game or another game maybe in Dallas or neutral site, obviously. We play in Little Rock. But this was hard, now, and we’re still not done because most people have most of their stuff done when we took over. And then, I did not ask about schedule until after I had five players so I knew I could field a team. Wouldn’t be a nice warm-up line, but I could field a team. Can I see the schedule? There is no schedule. There’s got to be a schedule. There’s no schedule. So that part of it is a little bit…"
Calipari now has a full roster and a schedule that is very challenging. He admits it's time to take a short break.
"But I’m going to catch a breath," Calipari said. "I’m going to the Jersey Shore for a while. The players leave here in two days, three days and I’m going to catch my breath. This has been… It’s exciting. Now, I go to bed early. Because you wake up and you’re going until you sit in the chair at home and my wife says, ‘Do you think you ought to go to bed?’ But it’s been great that way. Moving around the state, it’s been great. I just want everybody to be patient and know this isn’t…
"Can I go back? Coach (Eddie) Sutton did a great job here. Coach (Nolan) Richardson, think about the mid-90s. They could have won back-to-back championships. (That) is not done very often. It’s doable. Muss (Eric Musselman) did a great job. Coach Muss, look, last year they struggled. But you think about where he took the program. It’d doable. Maybe I do it different, it takes a little longer, I don’t know the history of everybody. But this thing, what we’re about to do, is always going to be about players, it’s going to be about putting the best talent on that floor and then my job is to get them to come together and play for one another. And I feel comfortable doing those things."
Calipari likes the roster he has been able to put together. He went into more details about it.
"I just talk about what I want," Calipari said. "Have you guys not understood that yet? You can ask me whatever you want, I’m going to say what… No, the roster, I feel good about. Eight or nine, it’s nine. We still have 10, 11, 12. We still have those guys, but that eight-man roster is kind of hand picked. The others, if they can work themselves into a rotational, that’s fine. They all can shoot. I want guys that can make shots. So, no, I feel good about the roster.
"Well, I feel pretty good. Three guards, three wings, three bigs. Trevon (Brazile) is better than I thought he was. So I’ll just, a story: He’s in there laying on his back and I said, you’re better than I thought you were. He looks at me and says ‘I told you’. But that’s the confidence that I want him to feel, but he’s got to get into wars and be comfortable in those situations. My whole thing with what I do, I try to make guys uncomfortable and let them know you must be comfortable when you’re uncomfortable. You’ve got to learn. You’ve got to understand that’s all part of it. But no, I’m feeling good about who we have and what we have, and they’re going to compete. We have a few point guards. Probably have three or four guys that can play point."
Two key additions were guard Johnell Davis from FAU and big man Jonas Aidoo from Tennessee.
"You could tell they’re experienced," Calipari said. "They’re like vets. The other guy that’s been good is Adou Thiero. I keep telling him, you’re turning into his father. I coached his father, and his father is truly cut out of granite. You’re going to see him, and you guys saw him a year ago, but the things he had to work on and needs to continue to work on, he has.
"I’m not letting (Zvonimir Ivisic) shoot any threes. Big Z, 7-foot-2, he wants to shoot — no, no, no. You’re not shooting threes, so now he has to shoot twos. You know why? An elbow jumper, when you miss that, it’s kind of embarrassing. A three when you’re 7-foot-2 and you’re way out there, ah man he almost made that. No, you’re shooting twos and that means you’re going to get in the gym and get better or you’re going to be embarrassed all the time. And you know what, he’s getting better.
"Jonas was all conference, we already know. We’re trying to work on his wheels, I want him to run better, run smoother, but he’s still a beast. Shooting the ball better, but getting his legs. Boogie (Fland) is better than I thought. I know what DJ (Wagner) is, just needs to continue to get healthy with that ankle. And then Karter (Knox) and Billy (Richmond), both I’m trying to say, ‘Karter you’re not settling on jump shots. Nope, not happening.’ And any time he drives and gets to the rim, I stop the practice. That’s what I’m talking about, why doesn’t he do that more? Because he’s uncomfortable. It’s easier shooting jump shots, I don’t need you shooting jump shots, I need you to be that guy. And Billy Richmond, he’s just got to get more consistent shooting, and where can you shoot where they have to guard you because when they guard you, you’re going by people. Like, he’s good. I coached his dad, DJ’s dad. And that doesn’t mean I’m getting older, it means I coached when I was very young."
Calipari and the Razorbacks recently picked up a commitment for the Class of 2025. They added Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy five-star point guard Darius Acuff Jr., 6-3, 180.
Photos Courtesy of Craven Whitlow CW3 Sports Action
