The Kentucky basketball preseason is over. What did these Wildcats learn about themselves?

Two exhibitions, the Blue-White Game and a few weeks of fall practice behind them, this Kentucky basketball team can now focus fully on its future.

An off day Friday. A weekend of preparation. And the season opener against New Mexico State on Monday night in Rupp Arena.

What did the Wildcats learn from their 99-53 victory over Kentucky State on Thursday night? And what was gleaned from the 92-69 win over Georgetown College before that?

Exhibitions like these are often tough to get a gauge on where a team really is with their collective development. What everyone witnessed for 80 minutes against preseason competition is a fraction of what these Wildcats have been doing on the court since practice ramped up six weeks ago.

So, all told, what did John Calipari learn about his team during that time?

“The Georgetown game was a great thing for us to get bumped around and not block out, not go body to body,” he said. “So that is all we have been doing — three or four things a day to go body to body. I thought they did good stuff today.”

What else?

“Some of the guys’ motors are not where they need to be,” Calipari said. “So we will have to do some conditioning with a couple of these guys, because they go three times up and down the floor and they can’t breathe. And we’re training, practicing, going two hours and 20 minutes with no subs. … I can remember PJ Washington, we had to do extra training to get him to lose some weight. We have a couple of guys like that. I thought Tre (Mitchell) played with more of a motor today than he has played with.”

And?

“And our guard play, you know — last game I said, ‘You can’t end a game with one assist, D.J. (Wagner), you can’t do it.’ And so he has seven (Friday). We talked to him about cutting. He cuts. I mean, they listen.”

Calipari probably could’ve sat there all night and talked about the things this team needs to do better to get where they want to be by the end of the season. The takeaway from the few things he did specifically mention was pretty much the same. “They listen.”

They also seemed to agree with their coach’s preseason critiques.

Mitchell — the 6-foot-9, 231-pound fifth-year player pressed into the 5 spot — talked about these games as an opportunity to get in a little better shape. He knew going back to the summer that he was going to have to start this season by playing the 5 — out of position from the stretch forward spot that suits him best.

“They expect me to play with a better motor,” he acknowledged Thursday night. “They expect me to rebound the ball. They expect me to get their biggest guy out of the way, so he can’t get the rebound if I can’t get it.”

Mitchell said these things independent of Calipari. Sounds like he’s listening.

What did Mitchell — a 23-year-old graduate transfer playing for his fourth college team in five seasons — take away from the past six weeks?

“A lot of it is going to come from experience,” he said. “That’s just flat out how it’s gonna go. Because there’s some things that you can tell people over and over and over again, but it’s not always going to click until they experience it.

“We have a lot of talented dudes that can do everything on the basketball court. We stay together. We play hard. I think the sky is really the limit. We have so much talent, and we have so much depth on this roster, that I don’t see many teams that are gonna stop us. (Short of) maybe starting a fight or something. We got dudes that are gonna get after it.”

Mitchell walked into this situation in July knowing exactly what he was getting into. Antonio Reeves was a fellow fifth-year player. Adou Thiero and Ugonna Onyenso were two sophomores with little experience. The rest of UK’s scholarship roster consists of eight freshmen.

With a group like that, one of the biggest opponents is time.

That’s what Thiero sees when he looks back at the past six weeks and forward to the season ahead.

“I feel like we’re gonna find that out as this season goes on,” he said of what this team needs to do to improve. “It’s early now, so we’re gonna have a couple of moments in games where we realize, ‘Something’s not working. We gotta change it up.’ And I think we’ll be able to take that and adjust, because we do a pretty good job of finding out what we’re doing wrong and taking it into the next game and trying to fix that.”

Listening and learning. That’s where this season will have to start. Especially with so much uncertainty.

Calipari said after Thursday’s exhibition that he expects freshman center Aaron Bradshaw to miss the first week or two of the regular season as he recovers from foot surgery. He said sophomore center Ugonna Onyenso is still behind him in that process. The Cats’ other center — 7-2 freshman Zvonimir Ivisic — was expected to join the team in the pregame layup line Thursday as he waits on the NCAA to make a judgment on his eligibility. Instead, he was absent from the arena. A UK spokesperson said he was sick, and Calipari later told reporters he had food poisoning, noting he participated in Wednesday’s practice and looked “great” in Thursday’s shootaround. There’s no timetable for clarity on his eligibility case.

So the Cats are likely to go into Monday’s opener with all three 7-footers sidelined. And a rotation heavy on freshmen with no college basketball experience. And a lot of listening and learning still ahead of them.

“I know fans want the end result right away,” Mitchell said. “But just (have) a little bit of patience with these guys. Because, over time, I think fans are going to be able to see the strides that they’re making. And the adjustments they make out there on the court.”

As an “older guy” on the team, Mitchell said he’s ready and willing to ease them along.

“I’m one of the most calm dudes you’re gonna meet,” he said. “I’m as patient as they get. I will sit down and break something down with somebody till they understand it. So, for me, it’s easy.”

That’s not the same for everyone.

“Coach gets a little irritable sometimes,” Mitchell said. “But he understands, too. He comes from the right place. Once we start getting into things, I’m sure he’s going to put his foot on the gas a little bit more and maybe get frustrated a little easier.”

For everybody else, pump the brakes on the expectations. And strap in for the ride.

“I would say, from a fan perspective: just give these guys an opportunity,” Mitchell said. “I think the more love and support that is shown to them, the better they’re gonna be night in and night out. And the better strides they’re gonna make.”

UK season opener

New Mexico State at No. 16 Kentucky

When: 8 p.m. Monday

TV: SEC Network

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Series: Kentucky leads 1-0

Last meeting: Kentucky won 82-60 on March 12, 1999, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at New Orleans

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