Jan. 22, 2001
Coach Tubby Smith
Ole Miss was just tougher than we were and I don’t think we responded the right way. They really do a good job of knocking you off screens, not allowing you to make cuts, really overplaying and denying, and I don’t think we made the hard cuts or the effort to get people open. Then we had people trying to do one-on-one things and I think that really created a problem for us. We allowed a six- or seven-point swing and we never really recovered from that.
Playing on the road is something this team has to learn how to do, and that takes a really tough mentality.
We now play an Alabama team that is coming off a tough loss to Arkansas. Arkansas has their way of making you look bad, but Alabama was in the ballgame right up until the last few minutes of the game. But when you score 22 straight points in any game, that is unbelievable. So Alabama is not as bad as the score indicated, they were competitive throughout the game.
We have to try to go down there, be tough, execute, and not allow ourselves to taken out of our offense. Defensively, we are going to have to have a great effort against Ron Grizzard, who is a real threat any time he touches the ball. Erwin Dudley is one of the premiere big men in the country. He is gifted, strong, quick, athletic, and at 6-8, he is a pretty mobile guy. Gerald Wallace is as athletic a sixth man as you will find in the country. They have some solid experience, so we have to go in and do a better job at rebounding the ball.
One of the things that concerns me at this point in time, when you have six losses, is where you stand. I was hoping if we could have gotten a win against Ole Miss we could have gotten back into the polls. A young team as this is, they look at the polls, whereas a veteran team probably wouldn’t care as much. This is a team that needs some external rewards and they haven’t really come along yet.
This should be a good test for us. This is obviously one of the bigger games on their schedule. They will be sky-high.
We really need to have some success playing on the road. For a lot of these guys, this is the first time they are experiencing hostility on the road. Not just the freshmen, but guys like Keith Bogans. That was his first time in Mississippi and this will be his first time in Alabama. It just takes time to learn and you can only get that experience by experiencing it.
Although we forced 18 turnovers, we still have to get our toughness from our defense. It is one thing when you are at home because you have the energy of the crowd, but it is tougher when you are on the road. We need a warrior’s mentality. And that takes some time. I think we learned that at Ole Miss. If we don’t play hard and be more aggressive and physical, then we are going to lose.
Marquis [Estill] is leading the league now in free throw shooting and he is deserving of that. He needs to get more quality time. His minutes have gone up and I think that has increased his production. You have to understand, too, that even though he was with us last year, he didn’t even get to practice with us until January, so he is still learning our system.
Marvin [Stone] will be back. I thought he had a good practice. His sister is doing better and I think he is doing better. He pretty much has most of his immediate obligations out of the way.
On Keith Bogans’ shooting: I think what has happened is that people are paying more attention to him. He isn’t getting as many open looks, and he is being guarded by guys that really can challenge his shot. Consequently, they guard him and he has to shoot over them as well as get the shot off quicker. I have really been on him about shot-faking and shooting the mid-range shot.
On blocking shots: I think Tayshaun [Prince] has stepped up and I think Marquis [Estill] is a better shot blocker than we thought he would be. He is quick off his feet, but he doesn’t get up high, however, he has long arms for the reach, so I think he is deceptive.
We don’t have a real physical game. I think we need to be patient because we kind of rushed through some things. You have to take advantage of physical play, which takes some patience. I thought Keith [Bogans] especially, lost some patience the other day and took some shots he should not have taken. When you get a little more pressure on you, you have the tendency to be a little more anxious.
UK Player Quotes
#11 Saul Smith
On what was learned from the Ole Miss loss
I hope the young guys learned that no one is going to lay down for you. If anything, they are going to play their best game against you in their own gym, and they’re going to get their crowd involved. We have to withstand that, and we’re going to have to deal with it tomorrow night.
On his sore knee
It’s not affecting my shot. It slows me down when I want to turn, but it’s not going to stop me from contributing.
On not being ranked
It probably affects some of the younger players more than it does the older players. I really don’t care about the Top 25 until March when seeds come out. This is when we have to build up our strength as a team for the seedings. If we get in the Top 25, I hope our confidence stays high with that ranking. If not, we’re going to keep grinding it out.
#4 Gerald Fitch
On being overconfident
We went into the game a little out of our heads, thinking that we would beat them easily, and it doesn’t work like that in the SEC. Every team gets up to play against us. We have to come out with the same intensity that we had against Tennessee.
On how the loss will affect the team
It will affect us a little bit, but I don’t think it will upset our confidence because we know that if we play to our potential we can beat anybody. Right now, we are trying to get our confidence back to the highest level and keep it there.
On whether their backs are against the wall
Nobody wants a loss. We don’t look at it from the point of view of having a must win game. We are trying to focus on one game at a time and beat every team that we play.
On Coach Smith warning the team of a let down
He told us before the game that we had to come in and play hard. He saw that we had the intensity in warm-ups, but we weren’t focused like we had been in other games. He told us that it would backfire on us, and it did. We learned a lesson.
#42 Jason Parker
On the Alabama game
We are going to have to go down there and play hard like we have been doing. We will have to crash the boards hard and execute to come out of Bama with a win.
On Alabama’s Gerald Wallace
I know a little about Wallace. He is athletic, can jump and was a McDonald’s All-American. We are going to have to put him on lockdown and keep him off the boards. His athleticism is where he can hurt you the most by getting rebounds.
On the importance of the Alabama game
This is a must-win game for us. If we want to stay atop the Southeastern Conference we are going to have to go down there and steal a game from Alabama.
#10 Keith Bogans
On road games in the SEC
I think that the younger guys have a feel for what it is like to play on the road in the SEC. We know that it takes a lot of focus because every team we play comes at us with everything they’ve got.
On the Alabama game
Alabama is a great team and they are going to be a great challenge just like Ole Miss was. We have to suck it up and play the basketball that we are capable of.
On his jump shot
I think that people are really guarding my jump shot now. I have not been as fortunate with finding open jumpers as I was earlier in the season. I am going to have to find other ways to score and take the jump shot when the defense gives it to me. I will take it to the bucket or get offensive rebounds instead of forcing the shot.
#24 Marvin Stone
On his academic situation
I am caught up now and I am ready to face Alabama. I had to finish up some work this weekend and now it is all behind me.
On the Ole Miss game
I watched it on tape and it seems like we came out a little stale and didn’t execute. It is hard to play on the road in the SEC, and we have to face another hostile environment again tomorrow.
On going home to Alabama
This will be a special game for me. I will be going home where people who haven’t gotten a chance to see me play at Kentucky will get to come to the game. It will be a great game. The crowd will be loud and we will need to focus to come out with a win.
