Associate Head Coach Kenny Payne
On his message to Kahlil Whitney …
“The first thing is his character. High, high-character kid. Works hard. Tries hard. And in situations like this where you try so hard and it’s just not quite working right, you have to take incremental progress. So, for him it’s being solid defensively. It’s fighting to get rebounds. It’s shooting the ball – whether it goes in or not – shooting the ball with confidence. Because when you – ‘I’ve gotta make this shot, I’ve gotta have something good, I’ve gotta, I’ve gotta’ – it doesn’t happen. It’s when you let go and relax and do it with confidence, and if it goes in great; if it don’t and you shot it with confidence and you executed, fine, we live with it. I feel confident that he’s going to fight through. I’m happy with the progress he’s made the last game, the last two games really where he shows signs that I’m going to lock down and be into it defensively. We just need a little more.”
On his assessment of Whitney also sounding a lot like EJ Montgomery …
“With EJ, I would tell all of you guys that, recruiting EJ, EJ is a basketball player. And what happens is, guys sometimes want to rely on scoring the ball because that gets your name in the paper, that gets you notoriety. EJ Montgomery is a 6-10 great passer who is now saying, ‘I’ve gotta get a shot, I’ve gotta get a shot.’ You don’t have to get a shot. The shot will come to you. Drive the ball and throw lobs. Drive the ball and make passes, skip passes. Drive the ball and get fouled and make two free throws. Get an offensive rebound. He does the things that helps a team win and it’s not relied on by just shooting a basketball. But that’s really hard at a young age with that kind of pressure on you to deal with, ‘I really want to score the ball.’ Well, you’re a basketball player.’ I played for a coach in college who told me get 12 points, six rebounds and six assists. I didn’t know what that meant – I averaged 35 (points) in high school – but now as a grown man, I look back on it, he’s saying be a complete basketball player. Do the things that your instincts do naturally. Embrace that. And it’s not just centered around shooting the ball. If you take the emphasis off shooting, other things come up that you find that you can get confidence in. Then shooting becomes a non-issue.”
On if there was a moment where he saw Nick Richards was figuring it out …
“Great question. You probably won’t like the answer. I will tell you that Nick Richards had it figured out last year – as he walks by [media laughs as Richards walks past]. He had it figured out last year. Nick Richards from last year – and I’m going to go back to last year instead of talking about now – he’s not playing against an opponent. He stopped playing against the opponent as a freshman. Going into his sophomore year, he was playing against Nick. It’s mental. So, there’s nothing more skill wise (he needs). He can shoot it, he can catch the ball, he’s got a left hand, he’s got a right hand. One of the hardest things to do in this game as a post scorer: the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sky hook. Well, I’m watching him and we’re working on running hooks across the lane. I’m seeing it with either hand. I’m seeing him become confident in shooting 15-, 18-footers. I’m seeing him get offensive rebounds. So, it’s mental. It’s not a moment. The moment happened last year.”
On how Richards handles Coach Calipari always raising the bar on him …
“Well, a couple things. One is Nick growing up was late to the game, so he didn’t start playing at a young age. Nick was a piece to the puzzle, not the puzzle. So, coming here and particularly this year, he’s a big piece to the puzzle. We need Nick Richards to be great. So, what happens is, most kids when success happens and he’s doing great, ‘I’ve arrived.’ No. We’re going not going to let you relax and think you’ve arrived. We’re going to—when you play good and we win, the next day at practiceyou’ve got a smile on your face, ‘Get your behind on that line.’ Like, we need you hungry every moment that you’re on the court. You will never relax. Not here.”
On if there is a line that could be crossed in terms of never feeling like he can please someone …
“There’s a lot of that. He says that to me quite frequently [media laughs]. But there are times when – I think a couple days ago – he was like, ‘I know you’re proud of me. Hug me.’ ‘Nick, I’m not hugging you.’ ‘KP, I know you’re proud of me. Please hug me.’ So, I hugged him [Payne and media laughs].”
On if there is something particular he likes about Richards’ game …
“I just like the fact that he’s putting it all together. He’s showing that he can shoot the ball. He’s always had a left-hand, right-hand jump hook. I would like to see him—the best post offensive players, they make contact with the defender. Nick has a tendency to, if he’s not feeling a defender in the post, he has a tendency to step out and the ball. That isn’t our goal is to catch the ball. Our goal is to catch the ball with a defender feeling him and rolling off him and make a shot.”
On South Carolina being a tough place to play …
“Well, I think the first thing is definitely the culture. Frank Martin is a tough coach, a tough Miami coach. His culture is physicality, toughness, rebounding, fighting, you’re not just going to walk into his arena and play basketball and it’s free flowing. He’s going to make the game hard. You’re going to get hit at times and you’ve gotta be ready for a fight. If you’re not, the aggressor wins. So, the records go out the window. It’s not about how many games they’ve lost or won. It’s about, do you have a mindset going in there and not being hit and being on your heels. You may have to hit first and not let the physicality take you out of what you’re doing.”
On Richards being feared as a rim protector the same way that Anthony Davis, Nerlens Noel and Willie Cauley-Stein were …
“Well, you are correct. I think that what has happened with Nick, what we all have seen, is when he’s in foul trouble in the first half, we’re probably going to struggle a little bit. When he’s playing and he’s not in foul trouble, that rim protection whether he blocks the shot or not, they’re a little hesitant about going in there. So, we need him playing without fouling and he’s vital in those areas. The other piece to it is, we teach here that you have to be able to, as a big man, be versatile defensively. You have to move your feet. That’s EJ. That’s Nate (Sestina). That’s Nick Richards. All of them. We want them to be able to switch off ball screens, to be able to play on the perimeter and do it with confidence. Not the old school, ‘Well, the only time I’m going to defend is when the ball is in the post.’ No. We need you to move your feet and guard guards. That’s your value to this team. That adds value to you personally. So, it’s important for Nick to continue to build on that without getting in foul trouble because his shot blocking is important.”
On how much satisfaction he can take from Richards’ improvement …
“Well, I’ll tell you that it reminds me a little bit of Willie, Willie Cauley-Stein, and the fact that year one he was really good. Nick probably wasn’t as good. And when I say good (I mean) defensively. Willie was off the charts feet wise. He could move his feet with anybody. Year two, Willie came in and said at the beginning of the year, ‘KP, I think I want to leave at the end of this year.’ ‘Willie. You can’t leave here just being one-dimensional. You have to have a confidence that you can play some kind of offense.’ Well that was in November. We leave to go to the NCAA Tournament and there’s a note on my wall. Well, the wall is closed. ‘I’m coming back for year three because of what you said in November.’ So that transformation to his junior year, he was the sixth pick in the draft. So, when I think about Nick, I think about how much he’s concurred mentally but how far he has to go as well. So, yeah, I’m pleased. But by no stretch of the imagination has Nick Richards reached how good he can be. He still has a lot of blocks, mentally, that he has to overcome. But a 7-footer that runs like that, that has the ability to shoot the ball like that, that jumps elbows at the top of the square, he has physical gifts that are off the charts. His only issue is how he perceives those physical gifts. It’s not skill wise. There’s a lot left in him.”
On Johnny Juzang’s status …
“Johnny is getting better. I think he started practice a couple of days ago. He’s been doing well. Got to work him back into the rotation and see where he helps us. It starts with defense. I know everybody wants to talk about his shooting and he’s known as a shooter, but we need guys that can defend and get us stops.”
On what the staff needs to do to keep the team humble and hungry …
“Great question. I think Ashton (Hagans) is another example where everybody is talking about national defensive player of the year. Well, from our standpoint, from Coach’s standpoint, it’s not close. He’s not as disciplined as he needs to be to be the best defender in the United States in college basketball. He’s not close. So, we’re on him about that. Like, you’re getting these accolades for doing something that we know, we work with you every day, there’s more. Give it to us. Focus on it because your livelihood depends on it and our livelihood depends on your disciple defensively. Knowing your assignments, doing your assignments. That would be the best way to answer your question.”
On the health of the team …
“I think we’ve been through a lot of that earlier with Ashton, Nate, we had guys – EJ. We’ve had guys throughout the beginning part of the season have dealt with that a little bit. I hope and I pray that we don’t have no more.”