Reporters already wear the hat of a quasi detective, but the postgame locker room Tuesday night had the feeling of an investigate mystery.
The only difference between a real investigation scene and the relaxed Kentucky locker room is these reporters were trying to find out more about the “The Breakfast Club” that John Calipari mentioned a couple of days ago, a group of four or five players who have been waking early in the morning to eat and lift weights together as a sort of team bonding exercise over the holiday break.
In terms of the seriousness of the questions, think of Tuesday’s “who did it” as a game of “Clue.” The weapon was weights, the motive was to bond and the mastermind was Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
While the media couldn’t come to a collective agreement as to who the four or five players are that are participating in the club – Coach Cal declined to tell the media – the one consensus is that Kidd-Gilchrist started the workouts.
“We just want to get better,” Kidd-Gilchrist said after the game. “(It adds) a lot of chemistry still and we’re just having a good time. It was Coach (that brought it up) and we just wanted to do it, so we did.”
Kidd-Gilchrist said he was reluctant to lead at first because he didn’t want to intrude on the veterans, but leading comes natural for the emotional forward. Although he’s just a freshman, Coach Cal has no problems with a first-year player leading.
“It all develops within your team,” Calipari said. “It develops with performance and effort. You can’t be sitting in the ice tub yelling at guys to work harder. He’s out there spending the extra time and it’s neat to see.”
Calipari said leadership is about dragging other people with you up the ladder of success, similar to what John Wall and Brandon Knight did on the their way to the NBA.
“(Kidd-Gilchrist) will drag the intensity of this club because it is embarrassing if you don’t play with the intensity this guy has out there because it really shows,” Caliapri said. “It raises the intensity in practice and there will be guys mad, ‘Michael, you’re trying to kiss butt.’ No, I’m just trying to be the best player I can be.”
Coach Cal said getting up early and putting in extra work isn’t for everybody, but neither is being a basketball superstar.
“If you’re cutting corners and say the most important part of your life is getting 14 hours of sleep, OK, that’s fine, but success isn’t the most important part of your life,” Calipari said. “Getting two days worth of sleep in one day is.”
