John Calipari on Skal Labissiere's 0-fer: 'This is all new to him'

There is talk about Kentucky freshman Skal Labissiere being among the first three picks in the NBA draft next season, but Saturday against Arizona State he showed he has a long way to go to make that speculation a reality.

Labissiere scored zero points and failed to grab a single rebound before fouling out in 13 minutes of play. His teammates managed to win the game without him 72-58 at Rupp Arena.

Coach John Calipari acknowledged he is somewhat concerned with Labissierre's confidence and where he is in his development early in his freshman season, but he also cautioned against an overreaction pointing out how inexperienced Labissiere is compared to many players at the college level.

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"This is all a great thing that he's got to work through and it's the first time in his life," Calipari said. "You have to understand. He came from Haiti. He played basketball for a year-and-a-half and then he played church league for two years. He's never been through any of this. This is all new to him."

Calipari said Labissiere is struggling with the rules and how to defend properly and it is getting him in foul trouble. He said the 6-foot-11 big man has to learn to bend his knees and not reach with his hands to become a better defender.

Calipari said his team is one of the youngest in the nation and it shows at times. He said some of his young players are still adjusting to being criticized and corrected and coached after being able to get by on their talent at the high school level. He said he often tells young players that what got them to Kentucky might not be good enough to get them to where they are the best they can be.

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Calipari said he plans to meet with his players individually during finals week before traveling to play Ohio State in New York next weekend. At the end of the day, he knows getting Labissiere playing with more confidence is a process but one not unlike others he has experienced in the past where the results are big rewards.

"I love Skal. Skal is going to be good," Calipari said. "If you think it's tough on you to watch it out, think about I'm watching it, too. And I want so bad for him to play well. We were running plays for him to shoot jumpers later and he wouldn't shoot them."

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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo