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Kentucky guard Devin Booker has not been overwhelmed by UK’s NBA combine, media day or Big Blue Madness.
“You know when you come to Kentucky that you are going to be on the stage each and every day. That is why you want to come here,” said Booker.
That doesn’t mean the guard from Mississippi, one of four UK freshmen, has had an easy adjustment to college basketball.
“The speed of the game and the pace is a lot different from high school. Bigger players, faster players, more athletic players so at the end of the day it’s just an adjustment. I feel will it help us practicing against the guys we are,” Booker said. “I have seen a lot of these players, so I knew it was going to be a competitive nature around here. That’s what it has been. It has turned out good for all of us.
“I am adjusting to how much bigger guys are. You go into the lane and there are all 7-footers down there where in high school you could just dunk and now you have to switch if off and find ways to get shots off. Competing against Aaron (Harrison in practice) helps me the most. He is a great player and comes to play every day and that brings the best out of me and is good for me.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari said Booker has “really helped himself” with his recent play in practice.
“Not only his shooting, physically, athletically, he's been good. He's been shooting the ball well. He's got to get it off a little quicker, so he's been working on that. But when he shoots it, we all think it's going in,” Calipari said.
He struggled with his shot during UK’s exhibition trip to the Bahamas in August.
“I just couldn’t make a shot. I guess it was just confidence in my shot. Now I feel like I’ve got my swagger back or whatever they say so I think I’ll be good. My dad and I have talked a little bit. He told me to just stay in there and keep doing what I’m doing and stay focused,” Booker said.
“The defense is different high school and college. The game is played a little bit faster and people are bigger and more athletic, so it is an adjustment you have to make and I will be good with it on my shot. It’s not a big deal to get my shot off quicker and I will adjust fine.”
Same with the proposed two-platoon system that Calipari is embracing.
“That’s what Coach wants us to do so I feel like you just have to get the best out of it. And I feel like it’ll be really good for us. We’ll get a lot of fresh bodies so you can play at full-potential the whole game,” Booker said. “You have to be unselfish. You can’t just be about yourself. There’s everyone else on the court with you can play. But really it takes pressure off you so it’ll make your game easier.
“Just practice and competing. That’s what’s most important with such a good team. Practice is going to be tough competition for us, so I just have to compete each and every day.”
He likes the way he performed in front of 90 NBA scouts at UK’s combine.
“I felt like it was good for us overall,” Booker said. “At first you’re a little nervous because you know we haven’t played in front of many NBA scouts yet, but you know we adjusted to it. Coach told us to focus on our own game and that’s what we did, so it turned out well for us.”
Calipari noted at UK’s media day that on-court communication had not been what he wanted from his team. Booker agreed.
“I think it’s because at the beginning of the year we’re trying to get more comfortable with each other,” Booker said. “I feel like when we get to know each other better, even though we do know each other well, it’ll make it easier for us to talk and tell each other what to do on the court.
“When you first get here, you’re a little nervous and don’t want to step on anybody’s toes, but we come together as a brotherhood so it’ll be easier for us to talk.”
Booker said Calipari has stressed the importance of defense daily.
“It’s been drilled in a lot. Cal stresses that a lot, getting back on defense. We’ve been doing defensive drills and I feel that it’s going to help us a lot. You have to focus on both sides of the court. You can’t just be a one-dimensional player. That’s what the college game will force you to do because if you’re not playing defense, then there’s better players out there that will expose you,” Booker said.
That’s one of many lessons he’s learned from junior Alex Poythress, the player he says he would be most prone to ask for help if he needed it.
“He has helped me a lot telling me about the college game and how it is different from high school and how they are going to play defense and things like that,” Booker said.
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