LEX18.com - Lexington, KY

Posted: Nov 20, 2009 6:06 PM

John Calipari met with the media Friday afternoon before his team's only practice between the win over Sam Houston State on Thursday and the matchup at Rupp Arena with Rider on Saturday.

Here are a few notes from the press conference.

- Calipari still was awfully upset about the team's defense against Sam Houston State and reiterated that the unit has to improve its communication and effort. The Cats poor transition defense has a lot to do with 23 turnovers, all but 8 of which he said were made because of carelessness, not aggressiveness.

- A few weeks ago Cal said that John Wall and Patrick Patterson were his two best defenders. Today he was critical of Wall's defense and says he is often caught out of position because of trying to go for a steal or refusing to get over a on-the-ball pick.

- Interestingly, Calipari said Ramon Harris played the best defense in the win against Sam Houston. If Harris could make a shot or two he would play 20 minutes a game, according to Calipari.

- John Wall and Eric Bledsoe were responsible for 12 of Kentucky's 23 turnovers against Sam Houston State. Calipari watched the tape of all the turnovers with both of the point guards today and said they saw that nine of the turnovers were because they were trying to make the hard play instead of the easy one.

- Don't expect big changes before tomorrow, the Cats were having a light practice today to make sure that they're fresh for their third game in six days.

- Calipari said he'll continue to give Jon Hood minutes but he needs to play better to continue to be a part of the rotation.