< Previous68 @UKFootball T he 2020-21 college basketball season was unlike any before it. This was espe- cially true at Kentucky, which went through some things that are not often seen in Lex- ington. Through battles with COVID-19, inju- ries and scheduling, Kentucky finished last season at 9-16. It was the first time in more than 30 years that UK finished a basketball season with a record under .500. UK head coach John Calipari had also never been through anything like last year. In 29 seasons as a college head coach, Cali- pari has finished under .500 just twice – last year and in 1988-89 at UMass, which was his first year as a college head coach. Calipari hopes that last season, in many ways, was once in a lifetime. "Last year was a pandemic, so I'm by that. I mean, it was once in a hundred years," Calipari said. "I feel bad for the kids. I feel bad for the students. What an awful thing. It's done. Last year is a blip. That's so far behind me, what we went through, and I learned from it, and you move on." The 2021-22 season, so far at least, looks more like what Calipari has seen before. Both in returning to "normal" and with what he's seeing on the court. "Well, this is like a normal season for us," Calipari said. "I told them yesterday, we have not had a bad practice yet. I said, we go through seasons without a bad practice here. Seasons. Those are the teams that are winning 38, 35, 32, those are those teams. There's a bunch of them." Three things have stood out to Calipari so far during his team's practices – depth, experience and speed. Calipari and his staff hope to exploit both of those factors. "Yes, we do have depth," Calipari said. "So now you have guys that are similar skills offensively. Who would you play now? It's you. They're very similar offensively. Who are you going to play? It's done in practice but how about defends better, rebounds bet- ter, takes care of the ball better. Those guys get a leg up, and I keep telling them, you're competing with each other, yet I'll play as many deserve to play." The experience that this team has is unique in that not all of the experience came at Kentucky. Sure, Keion Brooks Jr. is in his third year in the program and Davi- on Mintz is in his second (along with Don- taie Allen, Lance Ware and others who are coming back). However, transfers CJ Fred- rick (Iowa), Kellan Grady (Davidson), Oscar Tshiebwe (West Virginia) and Sahvir Wheel- er (Georgia) all got their starts in other plac- es. But Mintz likes how the team has come together. "The beginning of July came and I imme- diately saw the kind of feel that guys already had for each other," Mintz said. "The off the court behavior translates to on the court. That's how you trust your teammates in late- game situations." The experience also shows up on the court because the older players generally communicate much better than their young- er teammates. Brooks knows there are sev- eral "talkers" on this team. "I think we've got a lot of guys that talk really well," Brooks said. "Sahvir, being the point guard, directing traffic, he's a great communicator. Lance (Ware) is also really good, playing the five, being on the back line. We got a whole bunch of guys that are not afraid to speak up and help direct traffic out there on the court." Calipari cannot emphasize communicat- ing enough. "Well, the older guys, we still have guys that don't think it's a responsibility to speak, and the problem is they're not going to play that much because your team is way better when everybody is chattering," Calipari said. "You're just way better, your team. Yeah, but I'm this and this. Yeah, but our team isn't the same. You have to talk." The transfers have experience but play- ing at UK is a different animal, according to Grady. "The first few weeks of September weren't my finest," Grady said. "But I've been pretty happy with myself the last month. I've been making shots at a much higher rate and the game has really slowed down." The older players are also making sure that freshmen like Bryce Hopkins are tran- sitioning well. "They've been pushing me day in and day out," Hopkins said. "Especially Keion. I've been going against him a lot in practice. He's been helping me a lot." Calipari also likes this team's speed and he will look to exploit that advantage this season. "First three steps, we're flying," Calipa- ri said. "Doesn't mean you just play fast, it means you're running fast, and then you have poise, and then you have pace to your game." But it can't just be fast. It has to be fast with a mind that's going slowly. "The biggest thing when you run fast to most of these players, their feet are moving real fast and their minds are moving just as fast," Calipari said. "Well, you can't play that way. You've got to run fast and have a slow look at what's going on around you. So we've been working on it." The speed of the game has been an ad- justment for Hopkins. "It's been an adjustment, coming from high school," Hopkins said. "Coming in here, I did have to change my speed. Physi- cality is much stronger here." Practices have been very competitive so far this fall, according to Grady. "That's been the best part of my experi- ence here," Grady said. "Every practice has been a dog fight. Every point matters." And the team continues to want more. "A lot of times when Cal blows the whis- tle to end practice, a lot of us will petition him to keep going for a bit," Grady said. "That's special and it's unique." The goal, as it always is at Kentucky is to be playing at the end of March and in early April. Calipari hopes this team can get to that point. "I want them to know if they spend the time and you sacrifice and you're about each other you'll win your share of games, and you'll have a chance to be the last team standing," Calipari said. A result like that would, once and for all, put the 2019-20 season to rest. Calipari Looking to Exploit Team's Depth, Experience and Speed By Tim Letcher UK Athletics70 @UKFootball UK Sports Network Radio Information Market Call Letters Frequency Ashland, KY WCMI 92.7 FM / 1340 AM Ashland/Greenup, KY WLGC 105.7 FM Benton, KY WCBL 99.1 FM / 1290 AM Bowling Green, KY WGGC 95.1 FM Cadiz, KY WKDZ 106.5 FM / 1110 AM Campbellsville, KY WCKQ 104.1 FM Cincinnati, OH WCKY 1530 AM Columbia, KY WAIN 93.5 FM / 1270 AM Corbin, KY WCTT 107.3 FM / 680 AM Dry Ridge, KY WNKR 106.7 FM Elizabethtown, KY WQXE 98.3 FM Flemingsburg, KY WFLE 95.1 FM Grayson, KY WUGO 99.7 FM Harlan, KY WTUK 105.1 FM Hazard, KY WSGS 101.1 FM Henderson, KY WSON 96.5 FM / 860 AM Hopkinsville, KY WHOP 98.7 FM / 1230 AM Jamestown, KY WJRS 104.9 FM Jenkins, KY WIFX 94.3 FM Lancaster, KY WRNZ 105.1 FM Leitchfield, KY WKHG 104.9 FM Lexington, KY WBUL / WLAP 98.1 FM / 630 AM London, KY WWEL 103.9 FM Louisville, KY WHAS 840 AM Madisonville, KY WKTG 93.9 FM Mayfield, KY WLLE 102.1 FM Maysville, KY WFTM 95.9 FM / 1240 AM Monticello, KY WKYM 101.7 FM Morehead, KY WIVY 96.3 FM Morganfield WMSK 101.3 FM Nashville, TN WPRTHD 102.5 HD Owensboro, KY WBKR / WOMI 92.5 FM / 1490 AM Paducah, KY WKYX 94.3 FM / 570 AM Paintsville, KY WSIP 98.9 FM / 1490 AM Pikeville, KY WDHR / WPKE 93.1 FM / 103.1 FM Pineville, KY WRIL 106.3 FM Prestonsburg, KY WQHY / WDOC 95.5 FM / 1310 AM Providence, KY WWKY 104.9 FM Somerset, KY WSEK 93.9 FM / 910 AM Whitesburg, KY WXKQ / WTCW 103.9 FM / 920 AM Williamsburg, KY WEZJ / WEKX 104.3 FM / 102.7 FM 2021 Schedule Sept. 4 ULM W, 45-10 Sept. 11 Missouri W, 35-28 Sept. 18 Chattanooga W, 28-23 Sept. 25 @South Carolina W, 16-10 Oct. 2 Florida W, 20-13 Oct. 9 LSU W, 42-21 Oct. 16 @Georgia L, 13-30 Oct. 30 @Mississippi State 7 p.m. Nov. 6 Tennessee 7 p.m. Nov. 13 @Vanderbilt TBA Nov. 20 New Mexico State TBA Nov. 27 @Louisville TBA (Don Franklin Auto Countdown to Kickoff begins 2 hours prior to kickoff} UK HealthCare Mark Stoops Radio Show (Mondays 6-7 pm) August 30, 2021 UK Sports Network September 6, 2021 UK Sports Network September 13, 2021 UK Sports Network September 20, 2021 UK Sports Network September 27, 2021 UK Sports Network October 4, 2021 UK Sports Network October 11, 2021 UK Sports Network October 18, 2021 UK Sports Network October 25, 2021 UK Sports Network November 1, 2021 UK Sports Network November 8, 2021 UK Sports Network November 15, 2021 UK Sports Network November 22, 2021 UK Sports Network November 29, 2021 UK Sports Network@UKSportsNetwork 71 UK Sports Network Television Information Monday – Friday at 7:30 pmSaturday at 9:00 am UKATHLETICS.COM UK SPORTS NETWORK KENTUCKY FOOTBALL @UKSportsNetwork @UKFOOTBALL uk_sportsnetwork UKFOOTBALLNext >