John Calipari recaps Kentucky’s win over Team Germany in Canada
By Keith Farner
Published:
John Calipari was pleased with his Kentucky team pulling away from Team Germany on Wednesday, as the Wildcats secured an 81-73 victory at GLOBL JAM, a worldwide basketball tournament hosted in Canada.
After the game, Calipari spoke to Sportsnet about the win, and when there was a turning point.
“Made some shots in the second half, Tre (Mitchell) came out and made those 3s, now you’re playing a 9-point lead and their shots become a little tougher now,” Calipari said. “So I think making some shots. I thought Antonio (Reeves) was fabulous, he went on an unbelievable run, and the dude rebounded, it was like nutty. It was a good team win and for a team that has practiced 10 times, and don’t know (each other), I’m happy.”
Reeves had 24 points on 8 of 16 shooting, including 3 of 7 from 3-point range. Mitchell had 20 points and 6 rebounds.
About the newcomers at UK, Calipari said, “We’ve got a bunch of competitors, bunch of competitors, which is good.”
On Thursday, UK will play Canada.
“It’ll be a hard game, we’re on their court, we’ve got a great group of fans here too, but it’s going to be an overwhelmingly Canadian (crowd),” he said. “I think Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) is coming home and I bet you he roots for Canada, which will make me mad. I don’t know if Jamal Murray’s dad, I think Roger may come. He’ll probably root for Canada, what are you going to do?”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
