“I’m a lot stronger. I’m a lot more confident.”KERRY KITTLES
Everyone has noticed the change in Kerry Kittles. From his teammates. To his coach. To Kittles himself. And the change is for the Nets’ good.
Some, like Jayson Williams, notice that Kittles wears muscle T-shirts, displaying some obvious bulk and muscle on his upper arms.
“Kerry used to never wear those kind of shirts. He was ashamed of his arms. But he worked out the whole summer,” Williams said. “Look at his arms now. To read his tattoo, there was a little arrow on his arm that said, ‘To be continued on the other side.’ Now he looks a whole lot better.”
Coach John Calipari has observed the bulk, as well as Kittles’ ability to absorb and withstand punishment.
“He took some shots in practice where he should have fallen to the floor but instead he did this,” explained Calipari, demonstrating a back-pedal.
But of all those in Net training camp, the one who senses the change most is Kittles himself. The young veteran – this is just his third season and yet only Williams and Kendall Gill have Net seniority on him – feels it and shows.
“I’m a lot stronger. I’m a lot more confident,” said Kittles, who then quietly made a promise he never would have expressed in his first two seasons. “This is going to be my year.”
Strength and confidence will do that to you. Kittles worked out all summer and then during the lockout with Williams, doing weight training five days a week. And it got to the point where Kittles could confidently wear the muscle shirts.
Some joked that maybe he was doing it to go after Calipari. Kittles, the first player ever drafted by Calipari, was a constant target of Calipari’s in-game sideline yelling. The coach always downplayed it and said it was “aggressive counseling.”
Others saw it as sideline yelling. Kittles never 101 . 0000.00publicly complained but it grew on him.
Calipari usually griped that Kittles was wussing out, that he didn’t finish and too often settled for a 101 . 0000.00jumper over a hard drive to the rim. Kittles gave icy stares at the time but in hindsight, the 24-year-old multi-talented two guard said Calipari was right the ma101 . 0000.00jority of the time.
“At times, it was hard for me to swallow as a player, hearing a guy ride me so hard. It was 101 . 0000.00difficult. And it was distracting, too,” Kittles offered. “I had to take it in stride and know it was nothing personal, it was just a matter of making 101 . 0000.00me a better player.”
But many times it was tough. And many times, Calipari yanked Kittles for short spells.
“There were a lot of times I wanted to 101 . 0000.00say, ‘Hey Cal …'” Kittles offered, leaving the most intriguing part to the listener’s imagination. “But I just tried to 101 . 0000.00tune it out and it worked. Hopefully, it won’t get to that point this year. But looking back, I admit nine times out of 10 he was right.
“I made some plays last year I shouldn’t have made and I took some shots where I should have dribbled into the hole and he was, ‘Kerry, take it to the hole, be stronger.’ And I was like, ‘Damn, leave me alone.’ Then I’d watch the tape and I was saying, ‘Kerry, you had the lane to drive to the hoop.'”
Calipari never backed off on Kittles. He said it was because of the respect and concern he has for him as a player.
“Kerry doesn’t have a bigger fan,” Calipari said. “I care so much for him, I get on him more than others. So he said, ‘Well, then care less for me.'”
This is an intriguing year because Kittles and the Nets have a window to re-do the pact he received under the rookie scale before allowing him to play out the season and sail into free agency. Calipari admits that Kittles one day – “maybe in a year, maybe in three years” – will be judged among the top 10 players in the league. So the Nets would like to keep him around.
And why not? He is as good a defensive guard as there is, with arms that extend from the Meadowlands to just short of the George Washington Bridge. He can shoot. He can drive. And he is a downright nice person who wants to assume more of a leadership role this season. A leader by example. He’ll never talk your ear off.
“I try to let my play speak for myself and if I think guys should be playing tougher defense or guys should be trying to help more, maybe instead of saying it I’ll go out and try to show it. That’s my tactic as far as leadership,” Kittles said. “The negotiations? They’re talking. But I don’t have time to worry about it. That will take care of itself.”
Spoken with true confidence. 101 . 0000.00 00000