Calipari Has "Heart To Heart" With Cats

Calipari Has "Heart To Heart" With Cats

Posted: Jan 2, 2012 5:49 PM by Brent Carney

John Calipari wants his young team to understand that improved offensive execution begins with strengthened friendships among teammates. To try to get the point across, he had a "heart to heart" conversation with the team in the days following its win over Louisville.

"Like I told them when I was done, you all like that Cal keeps it real, until I keep it real with you. Then you don't like it so much. And I kept it real with just about everybody in the room and I didn't even have to raise a voice," Calipari said.

The focus of the conversation was about playing together, especially on offense. According to Calipari, too often players are diverting from a set play to try to freelance on their own, including on the first play of the game against Louisville.

"You have to understand, we went through it the day before, we went through it at the shootaround, we talked about it prior to the game, we talked about it when we walked out, I put it on the board and the dude walked out and didn't do it," Calipari said.

Calipari wants his team to understand that like a football team, if one player is out of position, the play will likely fail.

"If you line up with eleven guys and there's one guy out of whack it's like, ‘Whoa! Go where you're supposed to go!" he said. "It's no different in basketball."

And in Calipari's world, a player choosing to do his own thing doesn't simply make him a bad teammate.

"You're not a true friend," he said. "You're not thinking I got to do my job for my team. And that's where we're trying to get these guys that there's a sense of responsibility that you have for these other guys."

He is the TRUE GENERAL who is that Knight guy? bully not a General!!!!!!

"LOL. I doubt Cal gets bent out of shape when someone says, "What's up Cal?"