Labisissiere learning how to work

By: LARRY VAUGHT



Freshman forward Skal Labissiere stayed the night at coach John Calipari’s house after failing to get a point or rebound in last week’s win over Arizona State.

Calipari said it was not the first time he’s had a player stay at his home.

“”Normally, I have a steadfast rule: If I throw you out of practice you must stay at my house. So, don’t get thrown out of practice or you’re staying with me. I’ve had that rule over the years,” Calipari said. “This (with Labissiere) was more based on, he’s getting it from all angles. I want him to know and my wife wants him to know we love you, we’re here for you. Let’s talk. Let’s, just, you have to get more at ease.

“A lot of times these kids have so much stuff on them they become paralyzed. Then you see a kid that can really, really play and he’s not playing at all, and you’re like, wait a minute. And so, we had him over, my wife made him a great breakfast in the morning, we talked to him, and he said, ‘I gotta go, Coach!” And I said, ‘Alright, Skal, I’ll see you at practice.’”

Calipari said he’s trying to do something similar with Labissiere that he did with former player Josh Harrellson when he transformed from a little used player into a key on UK’s 2011 Final Four team.

“He’s doing extra training before, and it kind of buries you. So he will probably take that step back before he starts taking those steps forward, similar to Josh. He’s going to do fine,” Calipari said. “Just like Josh, he wasn’t in the kind of condition you need to be in to perform at a high level. It’s hard. A lot of it is mental, so you do things to make it tough where he has to convince himself I can do this. It’s a will you have to have. I can do this vs. I can’t do this.”

While Calipari was Massachusetts this week having a banner hung in his honor for leading UMass to the 1996 Final Four, he talked with former UMass star Marcus Camby about his freshman season.

“I played Marcus 20 minutes a game that freshman year and that was every single minute I could leave him on the court. I said, ‘Now, let’s throw in the adage you should be able to leave after a year. What if you had that hanging on you?’ And he said, ‘Oh, wow.’ That’s where Skal is right now,” Calipari said.

“He’s learning how to work. Look, what happens to young kids, they start training for the first time, they start really working for the first time, (and) they start pushing their bodies for the first time. They don’t know how far they can go and when they hit a point they kind of whither. That’s not just Skal, that’s all these young kids.”