aiw said:

Kentucky signs some 7 foot Australian guy who reclassified from 2016

Click to expand...

DurhamSon said:

Kennard 30 mins a game

Click to expand...

Others have adopted the model, even Duke, which won a national championship this season with one-and-done players Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow, and Tyus Jones. “It doesn’t hurt the program,” Calipari said. “It doesn’t hurt the university. It helps the kid. Because it was done by another coach this year, it [has] become OK. Now, it’s like, ‘Wow, it’s good stuff.’ For our kids, it was like, ‘Well, they didn’t care about academics.’ You’re finding out, ‘Geesh, that wasn’t true.’ They all finished the term. They had a B average. All I know is, it’s helped a lot of kids and a lot of families.”

Even after declaring for the draft, Kentucky players finish the year’s schoolwork, which is crucial to Kentucky maintaining its high Academic Progress Rate. If a player leaves in bad academic standing, it damages the school’s cumulative score and can affect its number of future scholarships. “We’re going to be loyal to you,” Calipari said. “And we’re going to do whatever we can to help you. Just be loyal to the program. If you don’t finish the term, you hurt the guys that follow you.”

Click to expand...

But Cauley-Stein’s game eclipsed his modesty at summer league, where the big man helped Sacramento on both ends of the floor. “We could beat these summer league teams easily,” Cauley-Stein said of the Kentucky squad he had just departed. “I mean, not like a real pro team with starters and vets and stuff. There’s no way.”

Booker was also confident. “That’s a big statement saying that we [could] beat a lot of teams in the Eastern Conference,” he said. “I know we’d win some games, but I don’t know if we’d make the playoffs or anything like that.” Booker had started the summer struggling from long range. “[I’m] off to a slow start, but overall, the game’s just faster, more physical and I’m getting used to it.”

Lyles ended summer league by nailing four of seven 3-pointers against the Lakers. “I’m not going to say it’s easy, but it hasn’t been that hard for me going from Kentucky and playing against NBA players every day in practice,” Lyles said.

Click to expand...

For Calipari, his players’ NBA success has inspired a new ambition. “I have a goal,” the coach said. “Before I retire — which may be longer than I first thought, because I’m having a lot of fun — I want to have 12 guys in the All-Star Game. DeMarcus, Anthony, John Wall, Derrick Rose, you’ve got four right now. It means I only need eight more. And you think of the guys in the league that have played for me that are on the edge of All-Star status. Brandon [Knight], [Eric] Bledsoe. We could go on and on. Now, you’ve got Karl in there. It may take a couple of years. We haven’t seen Julius [Randle] play yet. You’ve got Nerlens [Noel]. They’re all young. So my goal would be that: Let’s have 12 players in that All-Star Game and every basket is one of our guys.”

Click to expand...

ZackM said:

Brandon Knight is on the edge of All-Star status?

Click to expand...