By Ryan Davenport, WSON Sports Correspondent
The 2021-2022 season didn’t end well for the Kentucky Wildcat fans and theBig Blue Nation as the 2 seeded Cats suffered an upset from the 15 seed the St Peter’sPeacocks in the East Region 1st Round game of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament with the final score 85-79. The Wildcats and its fanbase look to rebound this upcoming season with about 7 guys returning from last year’s roster.
The 2022-2023 UK Men’s Basketball Media Day was this past Tuesday afternoon, October 25th, at Memorial Coliseumin Lexington. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the event and interview a few players during the player portion of the event. The first player I was able to interview was sophomore forward #4 Daimion Collins. When interviewing Collins I asked him what he thought he had improved in his game this offseason, “ I think I’ve improved my jumper being more consistent, my ball handling and building my self confidence, I think that was something I improved on a lot,” Collins said. My second question that I asked Collins was if he had any pregame ritual that he does before every game and Collins responded by saying, “I just listen to music and get ready.” My third question I asked Collins was what he thinks his biggest challenge is as a basketball player, “I would say the biggest challenge is probably just keeping the right mind set, staying grounded and staying humble and just keep doing what I do,” Collins said. My fourth question that I asked Collins was what NBA player he looked up to as a role model, “ I think my favorite player to look up to is probably Kevin Durant because we have almost the same skill set, the same body structure, he’s a guy I look up to a lot,” Collins said. My fifth and final question I asked Collins was what his team’s goal was for this upcoming season and Collins responded by saying, “I think the main goal is to win a national championship, get number nine not for just only us but for all of Lexington and all of our fans.”
The second player I was able to interview was junior forward #55 Lance Ware. When interviewing Ware I asked him what his greatest strengths as a basketball player was, “ I think some of my strengths are playmaking, having a high IQ and being able to help my teammates get the ball,” Ware said. My second question that I asked Ware was who his favorite NBA player was and what NBA player he looked up to as a role model, “My favorite NBA player, I probably have a few, probably guys like Anthony Davis, just people that play hard and get their game and learn something from everybody,” Ware said. My third question I asked Ware was what his team’s goal was this upcoming season and Ware responded with this answer, “ First, obviously contend for a national championship and be in the running ultimately win the national championship and just have a fun season and win a lot of games.” My fourth and final question I asked Ware was any personal goals he had for himself and anything he wanted to improve on for this season, “Just become a better free throw shooter and just make the right plays more often,” Ware said.
The third and final player I was able to interview was senior forward #34 Oscar Tshiebwe. When interviewing Tshiebwe I asked him who he looks up to in the NBA as a role model, “As of right now, I like Bam (Adebayo), Bam Adebayo has a good game, I like the way he plays a lot. Back in the day Hakeem Olajuwon, I watched that man a lot, the dream shake, I don’t think anybody is going to guard me with that this year, “ Tshiebwe said. My second and final question that I asked Tshiebwe was how he would describe his work ethic and Tshiebwe responded with this answer, “I’m a hard worker. I don’t take a day off. I work and my mentality and I just see things different from what other people see.”
During the Coach Calipari press conference, different media members got to ask any question and one media member asked Calipari about the veteran aspect of this team and how during early practices has it allowed him to move through things more quickly than in the past and Calipari responded with this answer, “The two things are, Bahamas and veterans. So, the way I coach when I have veteran teams it’s, ‘Here’s the drill, watch them, now go and do it.’ You don’t have to break the whole thing down. You’re watching. We are ahead offensively and we’re behind defensively, and we, you saw it in that game. I mean, we played together, low turnovers. We did it. We’re ahead offensively. So now I’m like, okay, now we got to get this defense right. Our pick-and-roll defense was so bad it’s like we never taught it. Players played their man and when they were off the ball, they turned their head. It was awful. But by having veteran guys, they know, and they can talk. One of the veterans talked to one of the young kids that had a tough game. He met him in the hallway, and this is what’s great about having great kids. He said, ‘Look, you got to put this behind you now. You’re going to have a great night’s sleep.’
Stuff like this happens when you’re playing here. Because every game is a Super Bowl for someone. This is the biggest thing in everybody’s city that we go to. So, it’s nice to have veterans that can say, I’ve been through it.”
Another media member asked him about Daimion Collins getting more jump shots in the blue-white scrimmage and asked if that is something Calipari has seen growing in him, “He’s getting better. He’s getting more confident. He’s more self-disciplined. He’s doing stuff that he needs to do. So, I’m pleased with him. Again, shot blocking is a big part of this. So, he blocks shots. That’s what I’m telling Jacob. You should be blocking shots. That’s a big part of what we do,” Calipari said.
Another media member asked him about Calipari’s relationship with Sahvir Wheeler and how it has evolved in his second year at point guard and Calipari responded by saying, “The other thing is we got Tyler Ulis who is rehabbing and taking some courses in the gym with us watching and helping there too. But, yeah, he’s way better.
And now he’s just got to — what I want to be able to — and I told him, if I had known, if we back up the defense for him, it hurts him. If he’s got to play a guy from the top of the key and in, it hurts him. Because it shows some of what he isn’t. 6′-5″.
When you pick up and you’re disruptive in the full court and we give you space to be disruptive in the pick-and-roll, all of a sudden — and your speed — and now all of a sudden you’re shooting the ball better?
I told him, ‘You got to be guarded. You can’t be a player out there that’s not being guarded, or you won’t be in. So, you got to be guarded. They got to respect you and your shot.’
And he knows that. And he’s in the gym. I just looked today, he was in there shooting and getting a workout in. The guys, we got guys spending time in the gym, I can say that.”
One final media member question I thought was interesting was when someone asked Calipari if he feels like he has shot makers not just shot takers and Calipari responded by saying, “Well, look, you can’t, I just read somebody, somebody just lost a game and said, ‘We had all kind of looks. They just didn’t drop.’ That stuff happens in this sport.
But I thought we had pretty good shooters last year. Led the league in 3-point shooting for a while. And I think this team can, they’re good shooters but we need makers. You need makers more than you just need guys that will shoot it.
But we got — I like the group. I like the guard play. I like the wing play. I like the big guys. We’re doing it without Oscar right now. You put Oscar in it makes it a little bit different.
What will happen is where they will expect him to rebound. Right now, they’re having to go get balls, which is a good thing. But we’re better with him.”
The Kentucky Wildcats will open with two exhibition games, one this Sunday, October 30th, at Rupp Arena against the Missouri Western State Griffons with the tip-off at 6:00 P.M. Central Time on the SEC Network, and the second on Thursday November 3rd at Rupp Arena against the Kentucky State Thorobreds with the tip-off at 6:00 P.M. Central Time on SEC Network+. The Cats will open up the regular season on Monday November 7th at Rupp Arena against the Howard Bison with the tip-off at 5:30 P.M. Central Time on the SEC Network.
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