Slice of Kentucky Basketball

By LARRY VAUGHT

LEXINGTON — Kentucy assistant coach Barry "Slice" Rohrssen says his first year at UK has been “exceptionally unbelievable” and he hopes it keeps going.

“Certainly feel blessed to be around such a good group of guys and staff and community and fan base,” said Rohrssen Monday.

Kentucky is 27-0 and ranked No. 1 going into Wednesday night’s game at Mississippi State.

"Well, they look much-improved from last year. They've been in a lot of close games recently, beat LSU at home. Good inside players there. We're going to have to be ready for a conference road game,” Rohrssen said.

He says UK has to be “confident and prepared” for every game — and will be.

“There are no stones that are going to be unturned with coach Cal (John Calipari) and (assistant) coach (John) Robic when it comes to their scouting. So in that regard, all the bases will be covered. But, again, keeping everything that you need to improve on as a team is always a priority,” Rohrssen said.

Here’s more that Rohrssend offered on a variety of subject during his media time Monday.

Question: How has he seen Andrew Harrison change over the last few games?
Rohrssen: “He's really done a tremendous job. He and coach Cal have a very good relationship, and they speak a lot one-on-one. One of the things Cal has told him is he wants him to be aggressive. He's not worried about Andrew making poor decisions. Andrew is gonna do well. He just wants him to play fast and pick up the pace, get everybody involved. And the other day he probably tied his career high for assists with nine."

Question: Has the relationship between Calipari and Harrison evolved this year?
Rohrssen: "Well really I could only speak for this year being that this is the year I'm here, but what I witness on a day-to-day basis it's a very good interaction between a head coach and his point guard."

Question: what has been most important about Devin Booker's progression this season?
Rohrssen: "His defense has gotten a lot better, which we might have mentioned earlier. It's one of the parts of his game where he knew he wanted to work on, needed to work on. He's stepped up to that. Obviously he puts a lot of time in with his shooting, both before practice and post-practice. And on game days and shoot-arounds he puts in a lot of extra work perfecting his shot. It's nice to see that work that he's putting in be rewarded because he's really shooting the ball very well."

Question: Which assistant came up with the nickname 'Karlito' for freshman Karl-Anthony Towns?
Rohrssen: “I know who came up with it. I think it was me. Karl is as good of a guy as you're ever gonna wanna coach. If they were all like Karl Towns, more people would want to get into coaching. He's just a wonderful guy and somebody's who's as talented as he is and likes to work, you know, he's doing a lot – especially for a freshman. It's usually a year where you have to transition and learn a lot of things, you know, being on a college campus for the first time, but he's doing well."

Question: How is Towns developing physically?
Rohrssen: "He's maturing. Physically, emotionally to the demands that come along with this. He came in here wide-eyed, like wanting to learn, which is good. And those are some of the things that every player but especially freshman need to learn. A lot of times post guys, it's uncomfortable to play low, but the better balance you have the closer you are to the basket really helps you fortify your position down there. It gives you explosion, it gives you some strength, so he's learning all that day by day."

Question: What kind of problems does an uncertain roster for next year create for recruiting?
Rohrssen: “Recruiting is a daily process. Somebody once said it's like shaving: if you miss a day it gets ugly. So you just have to keep on top of it every day."

Question: How good has this team been at keeping engaged?
Rohrssen: "This group, it's so pleasant when you see them come out to practice each day, and even in games. It's amazing that you can get a group of guys on one team that care about each other so much, that like each other so much, that are selfless. We probably have – we have over 400 assists on, you know, 700 made field goals — somewhere in that number. And probably go as far to say it's probably the highest assist average per game during the Calipari era here, and that says a lot about these guys.
"One of the best things that's been noticeable to myself has been just the team-building and team bonding with our group, everybody being their brothers' keepers and looking out for each other and pulling them along each game."