Vaught's Views: Extra practice will help Calipari's Cats

**BestdamnUKfanperiod** Sun Jul 25, 2010 7:15 am

Vaught's Views: Extra practice will help Calipari's Cats

By LARRY VAUGHT
larry@amnews.com
July 20, 2010

John Robic thinks there could be a lot of similarities between John Calipari’s second team at Kentucky and the one last year that went 35-3 and produced five first-round NBA draft picks.

The Kentucky assistant coach will start to know more when the Wildcats begin practice in early August for a three-game exhibition trip to Windsor, Canada, Aug. 14-17.

“We will probably have 18 to 20 practices before we go,” said Robic.

That’s because there is no 20-hour per week limit during the 10 days allowed for practice to prepare for an exhibition tour. This is also the first year the NCAA has allowed incoming freshmen to go, another huge incentive since the Cats have five returning players and seven new players.

“We are going to Windsor because it is close and economical,” Robic said. “It’s not like going to Europe. You can actually play 10 games on these trips, but we will only be gone four days and will pay three games. But we get the 10 practice days.

“We won’t look great, but we will find out a lot about where we are. We will see if the returning guys have improved. Have they worked on their bodies and games? We will get to see the new kids get their first taste of college basketball. It should be good. Ohio State went there last year and played the same teams.

“Guys will get to come home from the trip, go home a week and then come back to start school. We felt like this was a perfect scenario for us. We felt with the new rule letting freshmen go the first time, we are going to take advantage of that.”

Robic said the new players on campus — Enes Kanter, Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, Stacey Poole and Jarrod Polson — are all doing well in summer school.

“They are anxious to get on the floor and we are anxious to see them practice,” Robic said. “You can go double sessions, triple sessions or whatever you want for 10 days. We won’t go 10 consecutive days.

“I know he (Calipari) took a team to Memphis prior to when I was at Memphis on a trip and when I was a head coach at Youngstown State I took one of my teams on a trip like this my first year and it was invaluable to me,” Robic said.

“I think it will be beneficial. If we can get 18 to 20 practices, that is basically like from the middle of October to the first exhibition game. Now there will not be as much introductory teaching. It will speed things up when we do start back in October.”

At this time last year, Kentucky was getting ready to incorporate John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe — all first-round draft picks — along with Jon Hood and Darnell Dodson into a team with six returning players.

Now UK again has the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class — junior college transfer Eloy Vargas is not on campus and won’t make the Canadian trip while he finishes course work — to mesh with returning players.

“They are a very similar group to last year. They are all good kids. They have really done a nice job with reports we have gotten from weight, strength and conditioning. They have done a good job academically. They are fun to be around. At this time, they are feeling their way through being away and being in college, but they have handled it well,” Robic said.

“I think it is a little unfair to compare them to last year’s group because you are replacing four first-round freshmen picks. Everybody forgets Pat (Patterson) still had a year left last year. On paper, they are talented. Now we will see how well they mesh. Do they mesh as well as last year’s group did? That is what our job is and why the trip to Canada gives us a head start determining that.”

Kanter, a 6-9 Turkish center, has impressed Robic.

“You have to keep him out of the weight room. He is a big, big young man,” Robic said. “He is a nice young man. He is a very, very hard worker. He is adapting to the academic side of it well. It is a little tougher with the language, but he is a nice kid. People on campus love him. The students and teammates really like him.”

There have been concerns about his eligibility since he played on a team in Turkey where other players were paid.

“It is in the final stages right now, but we think he will be fine,” Robic said of Kanter’s eligibility.

He called Jones an “exceptional player” and says Poole, Lamb and Knight have all “been good” from reports he has heard.

“This group has bought into weights and conditioning. We want to be in better shape this season because of the way we will play,” Robic said. “They are all good on paper. They seem to get along very well. That’s why we had success last year was because the freshmen got along and got along with returning players, and I think that will happen again. These kids really seem special. They have done an outstanding job adjusting to college life and with their academics.”

Robic said the players have made his family, which stayed in Memphis last year when he made the move to UK, feel welcome.

“My wife and youngest daughter just moved to Lexington,” he said. “The players have embraced my family already. It is a neat thing to see that, too, and I really appreciate that.”

Copyright: AMNews.com 2010