Chris Livingston plays with a fearless streak that assistant coach Chin Coleman really likes. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky assistant coach Chin Coleman has one word — “fearless” — he likes best about freshman basketball players Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston.
“They’re fearless. These two guys, Chris and Cason, they’re fearless. They have fear but they’re fearless,” Coleman said.
The Kentucky assistant coach has his own way with words and expressions and explained how the two UK players could have fear and be fearless at the same time.
“The fear that they have is fear of whether they’re good enough. That’s why they work so hard. That fear, you want that fear. They’re fearless in the way that they play in terms of not being afraid of a car crash, attacking the rim, dunking on people, really being those dudes that play downhill and that obviously can make shots and do other things,” Coleman said.
“But the best word for them is that they’re fearless, but they have fear. The fear that they’re not good enough, so they work so hard trying to get better.”
That fear/fearlessness could help Kentucky in an unexpected way. John Calipari wants to emphasize better rim protection with more blocked shots – a staple of his best teams – because that leads to extra offensive possessions.
“Challenging Oscar (Tshiebwe), challenging Daimion (Collins), challenging Lance (Ware), challenging Jacob (Toppin), challenging Chris, and surprisingly enough, you’ll get some shot-blocking and chasing down from Cason. He’s pretty athletic,” UK assistant coach Orlando Antigua said about Wallace even though he’s a guard.
