KENTUCKY (9-3, 0-0 SEC)
vs. Eastern Kentucky (8-3, 3-1 OVC)
Saturday, December 30 – 12:00 p.m. ET
Rupp Arena (23,000) – Lexington, Ky.
TV: Big Blue Sports Network
Following a short holiday break, Kentucky returns to the hardwood by hosting Eastern Kentucky in the final game on the 2006 calendar.
The game represents the third in a four-game home stretch to close out UK?s non-conference schedule. Kentucky will be looking to improve upon its perfect record against the Colonels. The Cats hold a 9-0 advantage in the series.
The Wildcats come into the game on a season high five-game winning streak, including an 82-68 win over Massachusetts in the team?s most recent outing on December 22. UK has won those five games on the strength of its defense, which has limited those five foes to a combined .320 field goal percentage and just 58.8 points.
Meanwhile, the Colonels (8-3, 3-1) come into Rupp Arena on a two-game winning streak. They defeated conference foe Tennessee-Martin, 82-69, in their most recent game.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – DEC. 29
Head Coach Tubby Smith
Opening statement?
?I know it?s a busy time of the year, with people traveling to different tournaments throughout the country. I?m talking about our coaching staff and I, we?re continuing our recruiting. So, we?re pretty busy with that. A lot of coaches are out on the road. Coach Hobbs and I have pretty much been handling practice. The guys came back, I thought, ready to work. We?re ready to get some things done. We?ve had some good practices, and have been running two-a-days since they got back. Hopefully they?ll get their legs back under them and be ready for a very good Eastern Kentucky team. Their last time out they played extremely well. We need to come up with a very good game plan and execute our game plan. Coach (Jeff) Neubauer was at West Virginia where they do a lot of different things. They change their defenses and try to keep you off balance. They run some motion offense, a Princeton-like motion offense, with a lot of flash and flare involved, some weaves and dribble weaves and handoffs. So, we?ll have to be really focused and ready to concentrate. We?ve played defense pretty well. I think the big key will be for our point guards Derrick (Jasper), Ramel (Bradley) and Michael Porter to be able to recognize what defenses they are in and get us organized so we can attack their defenses the proper way. I?ve been impressed with their personnel; they?ve been doing some good things. They have a young man on their team, (Darnell) Dialls, he?s from this area and I know Darnell pretty well. He?s a very talented player; he played against us in the 2005 game in the NCAA tournament. I know he?ll be fired up, as well as all of the other players they have who are playing well. Mike Rose, he?s been very impressive and I?ve been impressed with the way he?s been shooting the ball. He looks like he?s their go-to-guy, and somebody we have to be concerned with. (Julian) Mascoll and (Adam) Leonard are both solid players as well. Most of our guys are healthy, other than Jared Carter who is doing well after that shoulder surgery.?
On whether or not he studied the 2005 game?
?I haven?t watched it. I usually go back and watch film of the last game we played a team, but not this one. It?s a different coach, a new system, and there are only one or two players still with them. It?s just a totally different style of play. So, we?ve only been concentrating on their games from this year.?
On regrouping after the UMass win and the time off?
?It seemed to be (easier to get the kids refocused). Their spirits seemed to be up. It was good for them to get some time off, and be able to get home and spend some time with family. I don?t think it has been really any different. I do think it is easier to get them refocused after a win than a loss. If we had lost to UMass it would have been really tough. I thought we played well enough to win the other night. We just didn?t finish the game the right way, so a lot of things we didn?t do well we need to improve on. Those are the things we?ve been trying to get better at this week at practice. Our free throw shooting, we didn?t get to the line because we?re still not attacking the basket. We need to continue to do a better job of protecting the basketball, and we need to rebound better. Those are the things we need to focus on. Teams are just killing us at the offensive end, getting offensive rebounds and second chance shots.?
On getting to the free throw line, whether it is being smarter or more aggressive?
?We have to be patient enough to not let a team off of the hook by taking a quick shot or taking a bad shot. We need to have to make them defend the entire court for the full shot clock. What happens is we are settling for things, and not waiting for the best shot. I thought Bobby (Perry) did a better job of taking the ball to the basket against UMass. I thought he was off to a good start there but, then he got into foul trouble. He ended up fouling out, but I was glad to see him taking the ball to the basket. We?re not doing that enough as a team, as a whole. It?s a focal point, being more mindful and more aggressive.?
On how being more aggressive is the key to finishing out games?
?It is a big, big key. If you?re not finishing out games, you?re too busy thinking the game is over. We have a lead and we?re not staying focused on each possession. That?s something we?ve had trouble with.?
On offensive rebounding?
?We generally get a higher percentage of offensive rebounds than our opponents. Our opponents are just getting too many offensive rebounds. When you shoot the ball with a high percentage you don?t have as many offensive boards, but we haven?t really been lighting it up. So, there should be more opportunities to get more offensive rebounds.?
On whether this team is better defensively than last year?s team at this point in the season?
?Yes, we?re doing some things better. It?s a better team, we?re better defensively. We?re starting to understand how to play together and move the ball. We had a tough schedule to start the season and we learned some things from that. It?s a matter of retention, on being able to retain the things that we need to improve at. We?ve gotten better in transition. We?re not giving up the easy baskets in transition. That?s probably the most drastic improvement we?ve had. Then also playing without fouling, that has been a big key as well. Fouling really negates hustle, and that is really the worst thing.?
On Eastern Kentucky?
?Rebounding, getting to the free throw line and things like that are things we measure every game. Again, Eastern is a team that takes care of the basketball. They?ll force you to sustain your defense for a longer period of time. If you?re impatient they will burn you with back doors if you get too aggressive. They?ll do things that will try to force you to do things you don?t want to. If you?re not in the right spot defensively they can really burn you.?
Kentucky Players
#33 Randolph Morris
On his time home for the break?
?There wasn?t really anything special, just some good food and family.?
On the advantages of having some time off?
?It gives you some time to recuperate. It also gives you the time to mentally prepare and reflect. We?ve had a lot of games so far and it gives you some time to think about it. It?s also time to just get focused again.?
On the UMass game?
?I think offensively we played really well. Defensively I think we are still working on what we can do. There are still a lot of adjustments we can make, but I think offensively in that game we played really well.?
#32 Joe Crawford
On Eastern Kentucky?s shooters?
?I think we have to get out on the perimeter and contest shots, to make them shoot and make tougher shots. He (Coach Tubby Smith) hasn?t told us that (about Eastern?s shooters) yet. We?re going to have to shut them down, and I?m sure that will be an emphasis tonight at film session.?
On the team being overlooked and playing with a chip on their shoulder?
?I think we?re going to be overlooked until we go into SEC play. We?re going to play good teams and we have to prove we?re one of the best teams in there. We?re going to continue to get looked over. I think we are playing with a chip on our shoulder. We?re playing better. We had a good game against UMass and I just think we?re going to continue to get better throughout the season.?
#3 Ramel Bradley
On the team playing better defense since Maui?
?I think we?re better, and it just feels better. We?re playing man to man. I think your defense helps keep your intensity up. I think we just need to continue to play the way we are capable of playing defense.?
On playing seven consecutive games in the state of Kentucky?
?When I first saw that I thought it was kind of fun. We?ve done well so far, but we?ll see how it goes.?
On the team playing with a chip on their shoulder?
?I don?t think we?re really playing with a chip on our shoulder. I think we just need to continue to play the way we?ve been playing. Sooner or later people are going to see that and recognize that.?
