We're two months into the season now, and we've already had plenty highs and lows. We've let a few games slip away, but I've also learned a lot. So this feels like a good time to share those lessons, along with some of the memorable experiences I've had thus far.

I've found out Kentucky isn't much different from the NBA. Kentucky gives you the sense that you're already an NBA player. That's just a testament to how well the program is run and how great the coaching staff is. So I felt totally prepared for this transition. The travel has probably been the biggest thing, because we're always traveling. I'm not used to doing it for such long durations.

I haven't felt the difference in coaches as much as I have with the players. Think about it. Your whole life you've been playing with one group of guys for a long time, whether it was in middle school or high school. All of a sudden you're in college with a new group of guys who are the best of the best—but you're only there for one year and then you've got all new teammates again. So you've got to learn everyone's strengths and weaknesses all over again. That's the major difference for me. Just getting used to a whole new team.

As far as goals, coming into the season, my priority was getting over .500 in the Western Conference. Personal accolades and stuff don't mean much when you're losing. So I only wanted to win a lot of games and prove to everyone that we are a legitimate threat in the West. So far, we definitely could've played better. But we've been getting better every day, every game, and every practice. So we're making steps in the right direction, and making the playoffs is still my only goal.

I think I've done well with things like learning to play the pick and roll a different way than I had in college. I mostly look at results of the play, but it's good to know analytics because it allows me to know where I'm shooting most proficiently and where I'm shooting least efficiently. It starts with "Why am I shooting poorly here?" and coming up with ways to fix it. I mostly take it up myself.

People ask me a lot, and it may sound cliché, but I didn't have one player I was looking forward to matching up with. I just look forward to my opponent every night. I'm always extremely excited and focused on stepping out on the court to compete. But Kevin Garnett is one of the most demonstrative and energetic guys this league has ever seen. You feed off his energy. Having that on the team and having always demonstrated my emotions, I feel like I have a brother on the court. Those are awesome moments. I started soaking it up right away because I love that competition. There's nothing better than being able to play with and against a Hall of Famer.

Nothing he does surprises me anymore. KG is one of a kind. He's not one of a kind once every other day or week. He's one of a kind every single day, and that's what makes him special. Something small like tipping a ball out of bounds on defense will happen and we'll clap, but KG is just standing up going crazy like someone just got dunked on with the best poster of all time. I think everyone needs his energy. It pushes us to be great. When you have someone who is so energetic, so passionate, that passion starts to flow through you. For us, it's a big boost when we make a layup to see how happy he is. It makes us want to keep making our brother happy.

We're a young team, but it's nice being able to learn together. We don't have guys on so many different levels, and that allows us to have that continuity where we're not learning a lesson where one guy doesn't know before another. We all have our own strengths and our own games where everyone grows together. Off the court, I'm different, though. I don't like watching basketball when I'm not playing. Unless it's to learn and watch tape, I try to stay away. I love the game and everything about it, but I like to be in my Zen. I just like to be home doing other things than just basketball. Sometimes it overloads my mind.