Bam Adebayo, Malik Monk like what they’ve seen from new UK players

Bam Adebayo and Malik Monk returned to Lexington this week to take part in John Calipari’s UK Pro Camp, but that was not the only basketball they participated in while they were in town.

Adebayo, Monk and De’Aaron Fox all had the opportunity to play a game of pickup with the current UK team, and Monk and Adebayo each shared what they thought of the new players.

“You know Quade (Green) stood out, I feel like he’s going to be great for them,” Adebayo said.

Monk said he had already seen and worked out with most of the new Cats, but not Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

“He surprised me because I never seen him before,” Monk said.

Monk also offered up some players who fans should keep their eyes on this season.

“PJ (Washington), Quade, Hami (Diallo) for sure, Jarred (Vanderbilt), everybody,” Monk said.

Adebayo is well acquainted with UK’s frontcourt, which is expected to be a strength for the Wildcats. He has played with Wenyen Gabriel, Tai Wynyard and Sacha-Killeya Jones, but got to go against Nick Richards for the first time.

“I feel like they did well, they got a long ways just like I did when I was here,” Adebayo said. “This year’s going to be good for them, and we’ll see the outcome at the end.”

While Adebayo and Monk likely showed the new Wildcats some moves on the court, they also helped educate them on dealing with their new coach.

“Don’t take the Fox approach,” Adebayo said, though he didn’t go into detail of what exactly the “Fox approach” was.

“If you think you’re right, you got to be right, because the next day we watching film, and if you’re not right, something going to happen,” Monk said.

Monk would know this advice to be true from experience when he made the game-winning three-pointer against North Carolina in December when Calipari told him to drive to the basket instead.

“I think I made it every time he told me that though, so I was good,” he said.

Monk also offered some advice that the new Wildcats can take with them into the season.

“Each person’s different, everybody can’t approach a certain thing one way,” he said.

Chris Leach: 859-231-1326, @chrisleach250

This story was originally published August 2, 2017 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Bam Adebayo, Malik Monk like what they’ve seen from new UK players."